Did you hear?… Snowboard sub-committee displeased with SIA's decision to move show to later dates

SNEWS® has learned, before many SIA board members it appears, that the snowboard sub-committee recently met in Las Vegas and expressed the group’s sincere displeasure with the SIA board’s recent decision to move the show to later dates — click here to read our story. The snowboard sub-committee serves to represent the snowboard membership to the tradeshow committee. Insiders from the snowboard side told SNEWS® that the subcommittee has informed SIA that the snowboard community is evaluating how best to proceed by considering a number of options. One option is to support the 2004 show at the later dates for now and make the best of it, noting to the board that they are not happy. Another option is to explore other show possibilities, such as asking the board to produce a smaller show just for snowboard at earlier dates, to hold their own show, or even to migrate to an existing show. A third is to request that the board change the dates back. SNEWS® View: It’s becoming very clear that the SIA board’s decision to opt for a later 2004 date has not resolved the show timing issue one bit. Not by a long shot and frankly, the show timing issue won’t be solved until EVERYONE stops screaming “me, me, me and this is what I want” and looks at the collective big picture for the good of the industry. For snowboard’s part, right now they appear at their word to definitely want to keep the entire program as one show for the good of the overall industry — and that is refreshing. The Nordic SIA contingent will be holding its own meeting next week, and SNEWS® believes it will tell the board much the same thing as snowboard. Later dates don’t make them happy either. Retailers say the earlier dates don’t work for them, and they may have a point too (and without retail support, any date repositioning decision will be doomed to failure). However, a look at SIA retail attendance numbers over the last 10 years shows a steady decline in the number of retailers no matter what the timing of show. So, is it really the dates? Or is it simply becoming very convenient to blame a show’s timing for industry sales woes? We wonder.