Industry Gathers at SIA Snow Show to Shape the Future of Snow

Industry Gathers at SIA Snow Show to Shape the Future of Snow
DENVER, CO (February 1, 2013) ­- The largest snow sports industry gathering continues illuminating key style trends for 2013.14, innovative business solutions and the future growth of snow sports during the 2013 SIA Snow Show at the Colorado Convention Center in  Denver, Colo., open until Sunday, February 3rd.

Most attendees can’t roam the Show Floor without bumping into people they want to catch up with, like legendary pro snowboarder Terry Kidwell, aka ‘The Father of Freestyle’ who is known for bringing skate style to snowboarding. He took a 15-year hiatus from attending the SIA Show, but hasn’t missed the last three years.

“It has been great getting back into attending the show and seeing first hand where all the companies are going, plus meeting up with old friends is always good,” commented Kidwell.

“I just love the people. Anybody who can take this sport and make a living out of it is somebody who’s very, very lucky. It’s like a big family-it’s a very small industry, so the people that you meet become friends. Now I have friends all over the nation-actually, all over the world,” commented Suzie Parnell, SIA’s Southern Rep of the Year for Spyder, Neve, Kompberdell and All Terrain.

Like most families, the snow sports industry brands have a slightly competitive and symbiotic relationship. “At the Show, you get to hear what the retailers are saying about trends and what is working in their store on a local or regional level. You get to talk to your competitors, see what their impression of the market is and what they think is going on,” said Bruce Barrows, vice president of sales and marketing at Lorpen.

Connecting with industry peers is one of the most valuable parts of attending the SIA Snow Show. For instance, the annual Shmooza Palooza networking event and job fair hosted by Malakye.com and SIA united a dozen companies with snow sports industry talent for in-person interviews and shmoozing.

Other industry gatherings throughout the week included the annual SIA Alumni Breakfast led by master of ceremonies Ian Ferguson (formerly of SKI Magazine) and UNH Alumni Gathering of Industry Employees. Delegates from around the world also attended SIA’s International Research Forum and presented research and discussed growing snow sports participation.

Retailers learned about safety in backcountry participation, social-media driven customer service and engagement at the Backcountry Experience and the Bluebird Social Zone at more than a dozen seminars and events involving a variety of brands, companies and industry leaders. These were just some of the more than 50 seminars taking place throughout the SIA Snow Show.

Voile is one of the many companies featured in the Backcountry Experience. “With the growth in splitboarding and the growth in backcountry in general, it is a pretty bright future. Even if the snow ebbs and flows, people are still interested in earning their turns,” said David Grissom, the company’s sales and marketing manager. “Because there is so much backcountry gear out there, avalanche education is going to become a more important.” The SIA Business of the Backcountry panel discussion with avalanche awareness experts covered these proactive solutions for educating the end consumer about the dangers of the backcountry.

One of the Show’s most popular seminars, “Fall/Winter ‘14 Color and Megatrends,” hosted by NYC-based trend forecasters Stylesight examines what will be hot with consumers in the next season.

“We look to Stylesight all the time,” says Lauren Myatt, women’s product line manager for Obermeyer. “We love adhering to the trends but unless you take it further, you’re not using what Stylesight is giving you.”

The Snow Show is also a time when brands and buyers can put any differences aside to collectively recognize leaders who have made indisputable contributions to the snow sports industry. Klaus Obermeyer took home the SIA Industry Achievement Award, Colorado Senator Mark Udall was recognized by SIA, National Ski Areas Association, Choose Outdoors and Meier Skis for promoting sustainable treatment of the beetle kill wood in the Western United States and Skiing Business awarded shops, sales reps and brands for their support of the industry.

Member-owned, industry-inspired and dedicated exclusively to snow sports, the SIA Snow Show is the industry’s largest annual global gathering. It’s where the most influential and visionary brands connect with leading retailers, resorts and media to unveil innovations, exchange ideas and build solid relationships that shape the industry.

Stay connected to 2013 SIA Snow Show news with the SIA Social Dashboard, with feeds from the SIA Facebook page, SIA’s Latest and @siasnowsports on Twitter. Use #SIA13 to join the Twitter and Instagram dialogues with thousands of snow sports industry professionals at the SIA Snow Show in Denver and On-Snow Demo at Winter Park and Devil’s Thumb Ranch, Colo. through February 5.

– SIA –

SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is the national not-for-profit, North American member-owned, trade association representing suppliers and service providers of snow sports products with constituents in the retailer, rep and resort communities. Annually producing the SIA Snow Show, the largest snow sports industry trade show, on-snow demo and networking environment globally, SIA delivers invaluable data/research reports including the Snow Sports Market Intelligence Reports, SnowSports RetailTRAKâ„¢ and Executive Market Summary. SIA also produces the Supplier Show, Sourcing Snow, at the SIA Snow Show; learn more at siasnowshow.com/sourcing. SIA is dedicated to growing the industry through consumer initiatives and websites, snowlink.com and wintertrails.org, marketing resources, services and collaborative programs to increase participation and move product. Ford is the official partner of the 2013 SIA Snow Show. For more information, visit snowsports.org. SnowSports Industries America, 8377-B Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA 22102-3587 (Washington, DC Area). Phone: 703-556-9020, Fax: 703-821-8276, Email: SIAmail@snowsports.org.