OR Blog

'Granite Frontiers' sign of our maturing industry

Last night I had the pleasure of visiting an art opening, of sorts... not with edgy paintings or strange sculpture installations (like the ones that are the rage in my old East Culver City neighborhood) but one that featured climbing videos from the '30's, hand-written letters and quotes from legendary figures of Yosemite climbing, some of Yvon's personal gear, and interactive displays of how camming devices and pitons worked (fun for the kids).  This was the opening of the new 'Granite Frontiers' exhibit at the Autry, running from June 12 thru October 4, signalling a coming of age for the once 'daredevil' and 'circus trick' sport of rock climbing in America. 

The black suits and ties were donned by some of the 300 or so patrons in attendance at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, in Griffith Park, but most were in casual wear, especially the climbers that managed to get invites to this posh affair.  Most notable though, were the green felt hats donned by those in attendance who contributed significantly to enrich not the coffers of the museum, but the history of climbing in The Valley;  John Long, Dean Potter, Royal and Liz Robbins, Don Reid, and many other legends of climbing.  Appropriately, all the glorious food (pumpkin ravioli, even) was served on fully compostable pressed wood flatware and plates, and there was nothing plastic anywhere to be seen.  Free food and open bar?  They knew how to get the climbers to show. 

Pretty cool slideshow here, but there is nothing like an in-person viewing of this 3000 sf testament to the creativity and boldness of those that came before, and even current events like Hans and Yuji's 2 hr. 37 min ascent of The Nose last Fall are covered.  Huell Howser was even in attendance, the ex-NFL TV personality of 'California Gold' and other travel and adventure exposes. 

Love this, which captures the essence of the exhibit;

.''These determined free spirits, vagabonds, and visionaries of one of the West's last truly wild experiences guide visitors to the edge of infinity to experience the exhilarating rush and harrowing perils of this most extreme of Western adventures

Check it out if you can.  If you can't, at least check out the historic video clips they put up on the site.

 I'll work on bringing it to the shows someday...

KH

Lessons from the Fishing market and the 'Jim Range effect'

I just spent the past week in D.C. on an interesting mission; to advocate for the trade at OIA's Capitol Summit, and then a few days later to do the same for AFFTA, the Fly Fishing industry's trade association; their lobbying event was called the 'Jim Range National Casting Call'.  The OIA event was clearly organized at a high level, and put the industry agenda in front of some of the most important lawmakers in the Obama administration, including a face-to-face with former Colorado senator Ken Salazar, the new Dept. Of Interior Secretary and a key friend of the Outdoor industry in Washington.  A friend of the industry award was given to both Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) for their work on behalf of enhancing outdoor recreational opportunities for citizens in their respeective states and for advocating on the national stage.  The Casting Call was a different approach... a softer, closer to the ground affair that brought kids and lawmakers together to learn about fishing and the interface between recreation and environment.  Jim Range was the spearhead for this event 10 years ago,  and was a political dynamo who applied his passion for fishing to his work as a senior policy advisor to Senate Majority leader Howard Baker, chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.  Sadly this was the first event after his passing in January, and the mood was both somber and reflective of his powerful spirit.  Read here to learn more about this amazing man's legacy of conservation advocacy.

The two approaches were markedly different, and both had great value for me personally as well as for the respective industry's I serve in my work here at Nielsen.  While my suit was donned (one of it's rare appearances) for my presence on Capitol Hill, I was wearing a volunteer shirt and running shoes for the AFFTA event, which took place very near D.C. on a historic section of the Potomac River (Fletcher's Boathouse).  For OIA it was clearly an adult affair, with little discussion about the actual activities involved in human powered recreation.  For AFFTA, day one was a participation-fest with nearly 500 kids from in and around DC learning how to catch fish for the first time, with parents in tow and at least 50 logo-shirted volunteers from teenager to elder statesman.  Day two of the Casting Call brought congressional players to partake of the Potomac's revived Shad population, as well as bear witness to 'shad planking', roll-casting, fly-tying and a host of other related hands-on displays related to resource protection and the art of catch and release.

 

Youngster's first catch!  Can you remember that time for yourself? 

 

former Senator John Warner (co-author of Gore's Repower America initiative just testified to in Congress last week) and the good folks at Living Classroom/

Below, one of the Potomac's famous Hickory Shad, caught and released by Alan Gnann, Board Chairman of  AFFTA

 

Ken Burns interview from WM09 about 'The National Parks; America's Best Idea'

If you came to the Industry Breakfast (hosted by OIA) at the winter show,  then you heard Ken Burns speak eloquently about his latest film project, 6 years in the making: 'The National Parks; America's Best Idea'.  This national PBS special will run for nearly two months starting this September 2009, and will inspire millions of viewers to take advantage of a uniquely American resource that their taxpayer money already pays for; access to wild lands and protected natural treasures.  OIA has even made available to retailers a resource called a 'Retail Tool Kit' that shows you how to capitalize on the PBS special airing this Fall. 

OR Exclusive!  Listen to a post-presentation interview with James Mills and Ken Burns here

Be sure your salespeople watch it and talk about it, and wrap your local programs and advertising around it... especially if you are reaching out to new audiences in your region this summer.  As we say on the Left coast, 'gotta surf when the waves are up'. 

This is a wave you can see coming a mile (and a few seasons) away.  Take full advantage of it!

KH

Return to Beijing for ISPO China

My second time to Beijing in so many years felt more familiar than was reasonable... I was in a new role this time (presenter), spent an unplanned night in SF, and had an unusually rough patch getting into country this time.  In customs check, they actually took out my books, asked me about them, and gave them quite the gander before letting me through ('Sex, Time and Power and The Kite Runner, if you must know).  By far the most 'communist' treatment I've personally had, but it was subtle, even friendly, like he really just wanted to know what a guy like me was reading. 
Then again, there was that lady at the Forbidden City last year... hm, better come to Beijing (and ISPO China) and have your own communism moment!  Beijing is a beautiful city, in a very bustling upheaval change center kind of way.  That mix of ancient dust and construction cranes and emergency mobile tech vehicles alongside people cycling on faded, wobbly bikes.  And it just got ranked by some high-profile magazine as the 6th Laziest city in China!  That bodes well for the outdoor specialty scene...

The Chinese Outdoor Retailing Conference took place on the last day of ISPO China, Saturday Feb. 21, 2009, and was sponsored by Gore  and ISPO China.  It started with some (what seemed to be) pretty ho-hum growth figures from the industry group doing the market research.  The jyst I got was that sales were up and margins, profitability were up but not much growth in the number of independent retailers.  Department Stores, in the north at least, have the lions share of the business at this stage.  Nevertheless, a spirited presentation by Jiang, President of Sanfo Outdoor (one of the top specialty retailers in China), fired up the crowd (160 or so) and is rumored to be opening 3 stores in 2009, making the total 17 in China for Sanfo.  I, on the other hand, bored them slightly in English (thankfully Isabel Yu was translating) about e-commerce and how some specialty retailers use the internet here in the US. 

They seemed appreciative, anyway. 

How was the ISPO China show, you ask?  Well it was very well attended (well above last year), but the exhibitor count was not in step with the dealers.  The Chinese companies like Black Yak and Ozark were showing STRONG, and Vasque, Teva, and Marmot were there with new or stronger presentations, with traffic in lockstep. 
Patagonia had a little pop at the CORA booth, where a few other US brands dipped their toe in.  Seems the economy does affect Outdoor after all.  It's too bad, because when it really goes off there, I suspect it's going to be the 'next coming' for our industry.  Those of you familiar with the Korean and Japanese outdoor industry history, know what I'm talking about?  Everyone seems to be guessing the right timing.

The show drew very well from the north and I met many from Shanghai and Hong Kong too.  Hopefully next year more domestic brands (which were represented in the aisles) will be there to support the show and their business relationships in the East.  We'll try to make it easier too, if and however we can help.

The presence of many good ski brands, as well as machinery for tuning and even Doppelmayr, the ski lift maker, made sense in the northern  half of China (where Beijing is), where there are now 200 ski areas in all of China.  There was an entirely separate education track riffing on a myriad of topics related to operation of ski areas/resorts.  Early days, and it'll be fun to watch that go off.  Rip Curl apparently sponsored a rail jam event the day before the show, which I missed with my rain-delayed flights here in the US.  Too bad, last year's was fun.

Given the world economic upheaval, ISPO China 2009 felt very much reflective of the state of the industry here; cautiously optimistic that the people will return to the basics of life (as in past recessions), and understand once again that keeping one foot on the trail and one paddle in the water is a fun, healthy and prudent way to spend (one's limited) time and money.