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Twice a year outdoor gear companies the world over converge on Salt Lake City for the Outdoor Retailers conference. This year’s four day summer show (plus a demo day on Tuesday) was just last week at the Salt Palace Convention Center downtown. It included booths from the largest companies in the gear industry – Arc’teryx, Big Agnes, Black Diamond Equipment, North Face, Columbia, Goal Zero, Camelback.
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Every kind of outdoor product was represented at the show – climbing equipment, tents, stoves, camping supplies, trailers, kayaks, stand up paddle boards, clothing, shoes, food. This was my first time to Outdoor Retailers and the sheer volume of things to see was overwhelming. I spent my time in one small section of the Salt Palace Ballroom and only scratched the surface of what possibilities there were.
While checking out the new items coming to market in the spring I was able to meet some great people at Lodge, Pakems, Avex, AGS Brands and Klean Kanteen who generously donated gear for future product reviews. With the tots in tow I was only able to spend a short time at the show, but I look forward to more opportunities in the future.
The best part of the show was an outdoor family bloggers meetup that was coordinated by Kathy from GoAdventureMom.com. It was great to meet the bloggers behind talesofamountainmama.com, kidproject.org, garagegrowngear.com, BackcountryParenting.com and some of their cute kiddos. I’m a big fan of supporting families to get outdoors and bring the kids along. All in all there’s a lot to look forward to in the outdoor industry coming up.
