Outdoor: Did you hear?…Looking for a little courtesy, plus Hooked on the Outdoors, Access Fund, Horny Toad, Backpacker magazine, Black Diamond, and more

For the week of Aug. 23-29

>> Act fast…Hooked on the Outdoors Magazine is accepting entries for its annual Outdoor Person of the Year Award now through its deadline of Sept. 15. The winner and two runners up will be featured in the January/February 2006 issue of the consumer magazine. Criteria for the award are “someone who lives and breathes the outdoors, has accomplished a significant outdoor achievement and has given back to the outdoor community — someone who has remained selfless in the pursuit of a love for the outdoors.” Once the nominations are received, the Hooked staff will narrow the list to 25 people who meet the eligibility requirements. Then they’ll enlist the support of colleagues and contributors to pick the top five. Nominations can be sent to hookededitor@ruhooked.com.

>> Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., along with the Uinta Brewing Company, are sponsoring the 12th annual fund-raiser party to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center (UAC). Slated for Sept. 22, the festivities will include dinner from Barbacoa Mexican Grill, music of Zion Tribe and a silent auction featuring donations from various outdoor manufacturers. The Utah Avalanche Center is responsible for providing daily avalanche advisories for the Wasatch Front and relies heavily on community funding by backcountry users and local and national businesses. The event will be held at Black Diamond’s headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tickets purchased by Sept. 10 are $30 per person; $35 at the door. Advance tickets are available at the Black Diamond Retail Store (2084 East 3900 South). For more information, contact BD’s Colleen Graham at 801-365-5522.

>> The American Canyoneering Association and Southern Utah University are teaming up to present the 2005 ACA/SUU Canyoneering Conference, Sept. 26-28. Held in Cedar City, Utah, the conference will include a series of breakout sessions, panel discussions and hands-on workshops. Participants will have the chance to meet and exchange ideas and information with others who are involved in the sport, including recreational canyoneers, professional canyon guides, land managers, backcountry rangers, rescue trainers, tourism office representatives, travel agents, gear manufacturers and outdoor retailers. The event’s special guest speaker is Steve Allen, a well-known canyoneering pioneer and guidebook author. Also, prior to the conference is a Canyon Rescue training course, and following the conference is the annual Fall Canyon Rendezvous at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort. Additional information, conference schedule and registration instructions are available at www.canyoneering.net/conference.

>> The Access Fund doled out $25,757 in its second round of grant funding for the year, bringing its total to $68,757 across 15 grants in 2005. Awarded three times annually, Climbing Preservation Grants provide financial assistance for local climber activism and protection of the climbing environment. The grants will be distributed for trail improvements, education and assistance for a newly formed local climber organization. Grants were given to Wisconsin Outdoor Access and Coopers Rock in West Virginia. Wisconsin Outdoor Access, a grassroots organization that will focus on statewide access and stewardship issues, received a grant to help with organizational expenses and outreach to climbers throughout the Midwest. The Coopers Rock Regional Climbers Coalition received a grant for start-up and organizational expenses, and to help with trail and impact mitigation efforts. It is a newly formed group that will focus on access and stewardship issues throughout the region.

>> Backpacking Light Magazine, a consumer magazine for lightweight backpacking trends, lightened the mood at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market by awarding its first-ever Lightitude Awards. Among the winners were: best solo tent, Six Moon Designs’ Lunar Solo E; best water-treatment technology, McNett’s Aqua Mira; best soft shell apparel, GoLite’s Momentum Jacket; best single-wall tent, Tarptent’s Squall 2; best insulating apparel, Western Mountaineering’s Flight Vest; best navigation device, Garmin’s Geko 301 GPS; and best hydration accessory, Cascade Designs’ Platypus bottles. For more about Backpacking Light, visit www.backpackinglight.com.

>> Scarpa North America has finished hiring reps for its remaining available territories. It’s hired Chris Lathrop of Lathrop and Associates for the Northeast; Fred Trezise of Trezise and Associates for the mid-Atlantic; John Juraschek of StoneNSea Sales for the Southeast; Tim Andis of Treeline Sales LLC for the Pacific Northwest; Dave Cockburn of Kiwi Outdoor Representation for the Southwest; and Tim Nightengale and John Gramig for the Middle East. Additionally, Michael Down of Mystery Mountain Enterprises, Inc. has been hired to handle Western Canada.

>> GoLite has promoted two long-time employees: Kevin Volz has been tapped to spearhead its international and domestic sales efforts, and Jessica Jaret will lead its public relations efforts. Volz was formerly both customer service and marketing manager, while Jaret had served as customer service manager and marketing production manager. Volz is available at 303-339-2324, Kevin@golite.com. Jaret can be reached at 303-339-2408, jess @golite.com.

>> Horny Toad has hired the Great Lakes Outdoor Group to handle sales for… well, the Great Lakes region. The group includes partners Scott Parr and Chris Rounds and associates Jodi Parr and Brent Anslinger. The group has worked with Hind, Pearl Izumi, Dale of Norway, Sportif and Goleta in the past.

>> Allison Hudson has joined Backpacker magazine’s staff as an account manager. Previously with Health magazine, Hudson will be based in New York and handle New York City-based agency/client accounts as well as the Southeast territory.

>> A little courtesy can go a long way according to senior execs and managers polled in a NFI Research study. Sixty-five percent of them said that in conducting business today, people are “somewhat” courteous, while 27 percent said that people are more likely to be “not very” courteous. Only 5.4 percent said they were extremely courteous. An 85 percent majority of managers said that business would be better, i.e., easier, more pleasant and more manageable, if others would respect people’s time. What else would help? Running meetings efficiently (79 percent), being punctual (75 percent), thanking people (70 percent), and starting meetings on time (68 percent), just to name a few. One respondent said, “People are ‘too busy’ to be courteous. With email and instant messaging, everything is a shortcut. The part that is left out is the little things that tell people we respect them. In the very busy world we live in, a little common courtesy would go a long way toward helping us all work together in a less stressed more enjoyable way.”

>> Turning 30 isn’t always a bad thing. Just ask the Yoga Journal which is celebrating its 30th anniversary issue. Launched in September 1975, it was created in the hope that a few hundred people who loved yoga would read it. Guess it caught on — more than 16.5 million people reportedly practice yoga in the United States and more than 1 million read the publication. The magazine said that while the magazine has evolved and its readership grown, its purpose has remained the same — to publish the most medically accurate, socially relevant, best writing on yoga available today. The anniversary issue includes articles on dedicated yoga practitioners in small towns across the country and what yoga in America might look like in the year 2030.