Coronavirus Coverage: Show and Event Updates

May 12: Outdoor Media Summit rescheduled
The new dates for the event are October 19-21.

April 27: Kahtoola hosts virtual charity run
Kahtoola is hosting a virtual run benefiting the Havasupai Tribe’s COVID-19 relief fund in hopes of raising $10,000. Runners, joggers, and walkers can register and begin fundraising through May 8 to complete the 5K or 8-mile distance races between May 1-10.

April 20: Outdoor Writers Association of America votes to postpone 2020 conference
The Board of Directors of the Outdoor Writers Association of America voted unanimously to postpone the organization’s 2020 conference scheduled to be held at the end of June at Vermont’s Jay Peak Resort.

April 15: TerraTrike’s three-city tour goes virtual
The 2020 RiderFest tour will take place digitally through Strava. Details are here.  

April 15: REVEAL conference announces new winter session
After gaining widespread support for their new digital media conference, REVEAL, the organizers at ECHOS Communications have announced a second session happening this winter.

April 15: Tour de France postponed
The race will be delayed by more than two months. It’s now set to start in August.

April 14: PeopleForBikes hosts webinar series
PeopleForBikes is hosting a series of webinars to connect and advise retailers, manufacturers, and advocates within the bike industry struggling to weather the pandemic.

April 7: The Big Gear Show is still on
Organizers say the show will still run with modifications to protect public health.

April 3: The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market is cancelled
Organizers made the decision to call off the industry’s largest annual gathering completely, rather than postponing it.

March 30: Grassroots Connect Show cancels, goes digital
To protect public health, the in-person show will be replaced by a digital substitute.

March 26: OutDoor by ISPO cancelled

March 23: Overland Expo West postponed
Originally scheduled for May 15-17, the expo has been delayed to July 24-26.

March 23: Western Colorado Outdoor & Sportsman Expo postponed
The event has been moved to September, with exact dates still pending. 

March 19: The National Ski Areas Association‘s annual convention is off
For the first time in 58 years, the NSAA’s National Convention and Tradeshow, originally scheduled for May 4-7 in Florida, has been cancelled.

March 18: Emerald Holding suffers losses
Outdoor Retailer’s parent company has cancelled or postponed dozens of events.

March 17: Outdoor Media Summit pushed to the fall
Organizers of the conference confirmed that the event would be delayed until after the summer.

March 16: Canoecopia cancelled.
“The world’s largest paddle expo,” the consumer event sponsored by Rutabaga Paddlesports, was set to stage in Madison, Wisconsin, this week. Darren Bush announced in a letter that the event will happen March 12-14, 2021.

March 15: Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) cancels AdventureElevate 
ATTA’s event was scheduled for early May in Eugene, Oregon. Organizers are working to secure a date in September.

March 12: Sea Otter Classic canceled
The big bike event slated for next month has been rescheduled for October 1-4, 2020. The Bicycle Leadership Conference will precede the Classic and be held Sept.29-Oct.1.

March 10: American Alpine Club dinner cancelled
The annual benefit dinner will be held virtually instead.

March 6: Footwear events cancelled
Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) have cancelled all its spring events including the Executive Summit in Washington D.C., the Diversity & Inclusion Workshop in Boston, and Brews & Shoes in Boston. 

March 6: Shoptalk conference canceled
The four-day retail and technology slated to happen in Las Vegas at the end of March is cancelled.

March 4: No changes to spring rep shows
Stacey Gellert, executive director of 360 Adventure Collective, told SNEWS today that no changes are planned for the outdoor industry rep shows starting this June, including the Mid-Atlantic Summer Expo in Edison, New Jersey; the New England Summer Expo in Manchester, New Hampshire; the Southeast Summer Expo in Greenville, South Carolina; and others. “As of today, we are not making any alterations or changes for our summer show program. We are moving forward as scheduled. All of our calendar dates are posted on our website for Retailers and Reps to plan ahead,” Gellert said.

March 4: No altered plans—yet—for Grassroots Outdoor Alliance‘s Connect show
Grassroots Outdoor Alliance’s spring trade show, Connect, is scheduled to proceed uninterrupted in Knoxville, Tennessee. Says spokesperson Drew Simmons, “Like everybody else, Grassroots is keeping an eye on coronavirus updates. Right now, we’re mainly interested in how it may or may not affect the supply chain and affect delivery dates to our retailers. But as for speculating about changes to our event plans, it’s still too soon. Connect is still three months out.”

March 4: Outdoor Media Summit will proceed as planned
Outdoor Media Summit founder Yoon Kim said that he currently has no plans to cancel or postpone the show happening April 21-23 in Estes Park, Colorado: “We have no plans of cancelling the show. Most of our attendees are local to the Colorado area and there is no international component to what we’re doing. I could see why a show of 10,000 people on the West Coast with attendance from Asia might get cancelled, but a show of 150 people mostly from Colorado getting cancelled—it’s not quite the same.”

March 4: The Big Gear Show‘s Kenji Haroutunian urges caution, not panic
“What’s important for all event planners is to communicate with their audience. At this point, when I see events cancelling, it seems almost like a panic reaction. People just pull the plug without much communication. It’s important for people to have the facts. Look at the Surgeon General’s comments for a sober assessment. We’re doing a site visit for BGS next week to get some insights and start conversations with people on the ground in Salt Lake. There are questions coming in from retailers and we’re addressing those; mostly, people just want to know what the plan is, what to tell staff and families. We’re trying to communicate to them that we’re on top of it, we’re gathering info from the city of Salt Lake, the CDC, the various regional jurisdictions. We have retailers registered in 38 states for BGS, so watching things carefully is important. But we’re trying to send out a more level-headed, factual kind of communication.”

March 4: Emerald has no plans to alter the Outdoor Retailer Summer Show
A comment from the company reads: “Emerald has nine shows staging in March alone, so the coronavirus developments have certainly been top of mind, but the focus has been on the immediate needs of those shows. We are all systems go for Summer as scheduled, but are constantly monitoring any and all developments. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.” Read the company’s official statement here.

March 3: North American Handmade Bicycle Show rescheduled
The NAHBS has been postponed from March 20-22 to August 21-23. Organizers report that exhibitors have responded positively to the decision. Founder and president Don Walker wrote in a statement, “With the new dates five-plus months out, it seems less likely that [the virus] would still be hanging around causing problems. That being said, if it is, we will probably just cancel and skip this year and come back in 2021. The support we have received is amazing. So many of the exhibitors and sponsors like Shimano and Campagnolo have agreed it was the right decision and that they support it wholeheartedly. Even smaller companies like Screen Specialities Shop, Ink said the following: ‘Thank you for thinking this one out on such short notice. And it makes total sense!'”

March 2: Natural Products Expo West postponed
After hesitation and concern from many participating exhibitors, the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, has been postponed. The official statement reads: “It is now clear, despite continued advice from local government and health authorities that the City of Anaheim remains open, that the majority of our Community want the show, but they do not want it now.” Read the whole statement here.