Exhibitors at the first day of outdoor industry event The Big Gear Show on Thursday said that while the show’s traffic was a little on the slower side, they were making good connections, particularly with media.
In its third year, The Big Gear Show (TBGS) runs from June 8-11 at the Denver Convention Center alongside sister electric bike event (e)revolution.
The first two days of outdoor-focused TBGS were organized as an industry trade show with exhibitors presenting gear to both specialty retailers and media. For the consumer show June 10-11, the public can buy a ticket and outdoor enthusiasts can learn about new gear and products.
The event also offers education sessions as well as gear demos at its “experiential zone,” which includes an indoor course for testing electric bikes.
The Big Gear Show had about 120 brands exhibiting. Between the two events, there were more than 240 brands with booths at the show, said Kenji Haroutunian, Lost Paddle Events’ outdoor show director, who is leading The Big Gear Show.
That’s up from last year’s show in Park City, Utah, where they had about 175 exhibitors.
About 220 retailers were registered to attend, and about 80 media representatives. Haroutunian couldn’t provide an estimated attendance number because he expected significant walk-up traffic on the consumer days, though he said they’d already sold hundreds of tickets for the weekend show.
“The thing we’re most excited about is we’ve got this new model, this B2B2C model, off the ground,” Haroutunian said.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis visited on the first day, and Haroutunian said the governor recognized the importance of the outdoor industry’s contribution to the state’s economic development, tourism, and responsible use of public lands.
The Daily walked the floor of the show on Day One and spoke with exhibitors and attendees to get their impressions.
Founders Market
One of the more active areas of an otherwise fairly quiet show floor was the Founders Market, where REI Co-op’s Path Ahead Ventures featured outdoor brands that are owned and operated by people of color.
Muna Mohamed, founder of modest activewear brand Kalsoni, said she had met a lot of different people coming to learn about her business. For example, she had connected with a company that has a manufacturing lead in Bangladesh.
“I came over to the trade show for brand awareness and to share my story,” Mohamed said. “It’s definitely a nice opportunity to get out of Minneapolis and come to Colorado.”
Another founder in the REI group, Martha Y. Diaz of Latin backpacking food business Itacate Foods, said exhibiting in the Founders Market lowered her barrier to entry to participating in the show.
“I don’t think I would be hearing from anyone without them facilitating,” she said. “I’ve had high interest from wholesale and from media, which will really help my brand. Even though the show may not be huge, I think the exposure is good.”
Media Exposure
Other exhibitors pointed to the amount of media contacts they made at the show.
Mitch Milbaur with sport watch company Suunto, said that while the show was not as large as a trade show like Outdoor Retailer, it had met his expectations.
By late in the afternoon, he’d met with 8-10 media representatives who he’d shown the features of the watch.
“We’ve had some great, engaging conversations,” he said. “The value we’re getting is definitely from the media.”
Stuart Born, owner of bedroll system Born Outdoor, said TBGS was a great opportunity for Denver to support the outdoor industry.
“As a Colorado brand, we want to be here and just be a part of it,” he said. “We’re meeting a lot of media folks, which is excellent. They’ll help us get the brand out there.”
John Van with start-up glamping tent system Acacia Outdoor echoed that, saying that the morning traffic was “pretty busy.”
“We’ve had a lot of press come through and a lot of retailers,” he said. “We made some good connections.”
A Little Slower
Others had a slightly less favorable impression of the traffic, though they were hopeful the consumer event over the weekend would bring in more interest for their brands.
Alexandra Villalvazo, relationship manager and logistics lead at Oru Kayak, said, “It’s going a little bit slower than past shows. We knew that was going to be the case based on talking to other retailers and whether they would be attending.”
But Oru Kayak still wanted to give the show a try, especially since it was open to consumers, she added.
Michael Wellnitz with overlanding equipment company Intrepid Camp Gear said that even though the show was a “little slower” it still seemed like a good investment.
Slower shows mean he has a better chance to speak with people stopping by his booth, for one, he said.
“They also talk more than just business, which is my favorite part,” Wellnitz said. He also said he would have liked to see more retailers in attendance.
TJ Taylor, manager at outdoor brand accelerator ICELab, said while the “traffic hasn’t been insane, the conversations we’ve had have been really, really good.”
Taylor also pointed out that he was glad the show had relocated to Denver, “back in our state. A little hometown pride.”
Bart Schaneman can be reached at [email protected].
