Both play a significant role in the bike industry – the BLC is one of the industry’s leading get togethers for big wigs — and up-and-coming big wigs — in the bike industry to discuss the business of selling bikes, and Sea Otter has become one of the biggest season opening races and bike festivals in the nation.

An often-discussed topic at the BLC is how to get more butts on bikes. One of this year’s conference sessions was “Reaching Hidden Markets – Some Great Ideas Fast.”

Following a TedX/Ignite format, during the “Reaching Hidden Markets” session five presenters were given five minutes apiece to present their ideas on how to find and reach new consumers. One of the presenters, Jim Sayer, executive director of the Adventure Cycling Association suggested rather than trying to get people to ride for sport or take week-long bike tours, he suggested promoting people to take one or two night bike vacations around where they live – bike vacations that don’t require lots of luggage, of ride time or difficulty to plan.

While sitting there listening, I got of excited about his idea for personal reasons. My wife and I used to ride a lot, but life got in the way a little bit, and we don’t ride as much. I thought Jim’s idea was a fun simple way for my wife and I to take a ride together and explore where we live. My wife’s birthday was coming up, and not having been on the bike much, I thought we could do a ride/train combo date night to Ogden, Utah.

My wife is a schoolteacher and has developed a great range of facial expressions to keep her kids in line. She tries to turn off her teacher face when she gets home, but it’s hard to do so when she has me around. When I told her we were going to Ogden, she gave me one of those faces, then asked, “What is there to do in Ogden, Utah?!”

I have a little bit of inside knowledge of the town. Several years ago, SOAR used to handle PR for Visit Ogden. City managers have been repackaging the town as a culturally rich, outdoor recreation oriented city to attract new residents, tourists and outdoor businesses, such Salomon, Suunto, Quality Bicycle Products. Goode, Hart, and Geigerrig to name a few. Ogden residents and business people have revitalized its 25th Street historic district into a cool place for a weekend visit. The first Friday night of the month is the 25th Street Gallery Stroll, so we decided to give it a try.

To make a long, personal story short, we packed a daypack and messenger bag with a change of clothes and toiletries, and Deb and I rode 6 miles from our home to the UTA FrontRunner Station in downtown Salt Lake, took the train to Ogden (the FrontRunner has two special cars with bike racks inside), rode our bikes less than a mile from Ogden Union Station to the Ben Lomond historic hotel, checked in, walked to 25th Street, had dinner at Bistro 258, walked along the street after dinner, called it a night, woke up Saturday, and had breakfast at Karen’s Café. The USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships happened to be in town, so we watched some of the women’s criterium, caught the 3:30 p.m. train back to Salt Lake, rode to Bruges Waffles for dessert and then to the light rail station on 4th South and 3rd East where we caught the train up to the University of Utah Station, then rode our bikes 3 miles home to end a great Friday night date-bike-train-nearby-town-exploring-fun-time-with-my-wife weekend.

We didn’t spend lots of time in the saddle on an epic ride, but we had a fun time exploring the area around us, and came away with a desire to do that more and to ride our bikes more. And, it was a great way to kick off National Bike Month.

I hope you’re inspired to go for a ride, long or short.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

What’s UP Public Relations and SOAR Communications
Partner on New Clients

Bergans of Norway and Road Warrior Sports name
What’s UP PR/SOAR agency of record

Denver, Colo and Salt Lake City, Utah – February 17, 2012 - Taking advantage of a new partnership begun for 2012, iconic Scandinavian apparel-maker Bergans of Norway and startup premium sport trailer manufacturer Road Warrior Sports have named What’s UP Public Relations and SOAR Communications as agency of record to promote and establish the brands in the U.S.

The brands will benefit from the more than 40 years of combined experience in the outdoor, snow and cycling markets thanks to the partnership of the two established agencies and gain the knowledge of company presidents Beth Cochran and Chip Smith, who have specialized in core active markets for most of their careers.

“Chip and I have discussed working together for years now and these winter opportunities presented themselves where we could team up to best serve new clients,” said Beth Cochran, head of What’s UP PR. “We kicked off the new year and our new partnership with a very successful Outdoor Retailer show for both brands and we’re looking forward to continuing through 2012 and beyond.”

While both agencies focus primarily on public relations, the new partnership has opened opportunities for What’s UP PR clients to access SOAR’s broader marketing and creative services, and existing SOAR clients are benefiting from Cochran’s long history in the snowsports industry and media relationships.

“Both What’s UP PR and SOAR have a similar outlook when it comes to how to give clients the best bang for their buck and combine flexibility to act quickly and the ability to step back and take a strategic look about what’s best for each brand,” said SOAR President Chip Smith. “In just a few weeks the benefits of working with Beth and her team have made themselves apparent to our staff and our clients.”

In addition to the new clients for 2012, What’s UP PR serves as the agency of record for Chaos Headwear, Gramicci outdoor performance and lifestyle clothing, FITS Socks Co., FabricLink Network, and Nüwa Textiles. SOAR Communications serves Outdoor Retailer, Liberty Bottleworks, Sea Otter Classic, Bicycle Leadership Conference, Primal Wear, Vittoria Cycling Shoes, Coldpruf Base Layer and non-profit groups Trips for Kids and Bikes for Kids Utah.

New client information:

• Premier European outfitter Bergans of Norway has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Bergans USA LLC, to serve the North American market. For the past ten years, an independently owned, Seattle-based distributor has assisted Bergans with U.S. sales. Located in Longmont, Colo., Bergans USA will be led by longtime industry executives Patry “Pat” Loomis as CEO, and Keith Patterson as vice president of sales and marketing. Loomis and Patterson last worked together introducing Deuter to the US market.The new company, Bergans USA, re-introduced a select range of packs, tents, and packable canoes in 2012, and launched its 2012/1013 backcountry and resort ski-clothing line at last month’s Outdoor Retailer and SIA trade shows.

• A new company for 2012, Road Warrior Sports launched the Atlas 8, a multi-function sport trailer for family adventures and epic outings, at the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake last month.The Atlas 8 (MSRP: $5,695.00) uses two compartments to organize an epic’s worth of gear from coolers to camping gear and bikes or boats on top with optional roof racks. The sport trailer can be towed by vehicles large and small thanks to its low weight. With a resin transfer molded fiberglass body on an aluminum frame, the Atlas 8 has an empty weight of 550 lbs., making it easy for anyone to move or reposition the trailer without requiring them to hook it up to a vehicle. Total cargo capacity is 1,000 lbs., for a total gross axle weight rating of 1,550 lbs.

Together Cochran and Smiths’ teams will position the brands to all core specialty markets in trade and consumer news including an integrated social media campaign, athlete program and events communication plan.

About What’s UP Public Relations

Serving national and international clients since 1997, What’s Up is a pioneer in communications and brand marketing for the outdoor industry. With expertise in customer-focused, personalized public relations, the firm has built a loyal client base of both new and established high-end specialty manufacturers in the outdoor, ski, and sport industries. In addition to public relations, Cochran’s firm also offers below-the-line event planning, promotions, and athlete programs. www.whatsuppr.com

About SOAR Communications

SOAR Communications is a one-stop, full-service agency delivering strategic marketing communications products and services for clients in the Sports, Outdoor, Athletics or Recreation industries. SOAR Communications is based in Utah and was formed in 2004. We provide a variety of services, including advertising, strategic media services, collateral development, database-marketing, graphic/web design, investor/financial/analyst relations, public/media relations and sales support programs. www.soarcomm.com

###

Media Contacts:

Beth Cochran, What’s Up Public Relations, cochran@whatsuppr.com, c: 406.579.7909

Chip Smith, SOAR Communications, csmith@soarcomm.com, o: 801.656.0472 x1, c: 801.597.7515

Exhibiting at a tradeshow like Outdoor Retailer is a serious investment for any-sized outdoor company. So it only makes sense to maximize EVERY marketing and media opportunity that presents itself, right?

Enter the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market PR Toolkit, to help you do just that.

As always, the Toolkit will help you navigate:

• Obtaining a copy of the Winter Market media list
• Uploading electronic press kits to the Paperless Press Room
• Submitting news and event information to the OR Daily
• Prepping your show staff to work with the media
• Sponsorship and advertising opportunities, etc.

In case you (or your client) is in need of convincing, check out a couple relevant results from our most recent OR Attending Media Survey.

Seventy-seven percent of survey media said they used exhibitor press kit materials from outdoorretailer.com in their coverage of the show or in news stories during the year.

“Please encourage vendors to make their press kits available on thumb drives. The days of enthusiastic, large format, paper press kits are over.”

“The more press kits the better; these are an excellent way to identify items of interest before the show.”

Media expressed frustration with exhibitors who lacked information on their profile or failed to respond to media meeting requests. One example would be:

“I requested meetings and info from many people who did not respond and I believe it was because they simply did not use the website tools.”

Not sure which exhibitors were missing these invites but I guarantee you don’t want it to be you or one of your clients. Log in and use those Planner Tools!

Lastly, several media mentioned how much they appreciate when exhibitors provided additional samples, food and beverages in the Press Room. Do you want to get samples of your latest goo or nutrition bar into the hands of media? Consider bringing free (no strings attached) samples to the press room for attending media. Wanna spring for special seating, a meal or happy hour? Contact your OR account executive for pricing.

As always, we’re here to help you get the most for your every trade show dollar!

Chip Smith, csmith@soarcomm.com, 801.656.0472 x1

Maura Lansford, mlansford@soarcomm.com, 801.656.0472 x2

Alex Strickland, astrickland@soarcomm.com, 801.656.0472 x3

But after a little dabbling (and a friendly shove) in triathlon last year, I signed up for a few local races during the summer to see if I was made of tough enough stuff. After decent results, overconfidence and some dubious well-wishers convinced me to sign up for the Utah XTERRA Off Road Triathlon, by far the hardest race I’d ever attempted.

I’m always amazed at the vast range of people who show up to compete in local races, whether a 5k fun run or a competitive sprint triathlon. XTERRA didn’t disappoint. For every chiseled, rippling hammerhead (Hi, Lance!), there were half a dozen housewives, desk jockeys (your’s truly) and senior citizens.

There’s a special inspiration in seeing the pros, to just stand there slack-jawed at their speed and appreciate truly exceptional talent. But I come away from events like this motivated for the next early morning run or cold swim by the people who find the time to make themselves into athletes in the margins of their “real life,” something that requires a passion for sport that I don’t always possess.

While cursing my lack of commitment to training during a particularly brutal climb along the run course, a steady stream of competitors blew past with their age group stamped prominently on their muscled calves. As cramps turned my legs into knotted lava, a woman motored by and threw some encouraging words in my direction. On her calf was “60″ and on my face, I’m sure, was self-loathing followed immediately by immense respect.

For the next 12 months, each a time a morning bagel sounds better than a morning run, I’ll have turbo granny front and center in my mind to get me out the door. And not because I want to beat her (I do, though), but because I can think of nothing more motivating than enjoying that kind of fitness when I’m 35, much less 60.

Later, I was sucking down orange slices along the finish straight, a guy in his 30s who was at least 70 pounds overweight came across the line. Clearly hurting, the big guy walked over to a waiting group of friends and family and loudly declared “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done!”

I couldn’t agree more. See you next year.

We’ve had a blast jumping in and learning about new products in a market we already know and love.

So, by way of introduction…

Gyrobike believes in the freedom to ride for all. The company’s bicycle products deliver high stability at low speed to help keep the rider upright. The rider learns correct riding technique and enjoys a safer, easier and faster learning experience that is more effective than training wheels. While the company’s current focus is providing children’s products, it plans to release larger models designed for all ages and abilities. All Gyrobike products are designed in the United States. Gyrobike was founded in 2007 and its technology was developed at Dartmouth College. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., U.S. www.thegyrobike.com. Interbike Booth #13151.

The 2011 Sea Otter Classic, “A Celebration of Cycling,” will be held April 14-17, 2011 at Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, Calif. This four-day, action-packed cycling festival features a full schedule of amateur and professional events, as well as other activities for family members of all ages. The Sea Otter Classic also plays host to the largest consumer bike exposition in North America.

Made entirely in Italy, Vittoria’s shoes range from the most technologically advanced road racing shoes to mountain bike shoes for racers and enthusiasts to casual, trendy shoes for leisure riding. Available in combinations of 27 lengths, four widths and a multi-length option (for riders with different size feet), Vittoria can also custom-build any shoe and ship quickly because all manufacturing occurs at the same Italian facility. Interbike Booth 15088

Sponsored by the Bicycle Product Supplier Association, this three-day event draws together the top executives of the bicycle industry for an intensive program of panels, receptions, and discussions to determine how to improve the industry’s overall business climate. The event includes the annual BRAINy Awards, sponsored by Bicycle Industry and Retailer News, to recognize excellence in the bike business. The event is held in tandem with the Sea Otter Classic, held at the nearby Laguna Seca Raceway.

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) was founded in 1970 to promote Taiwan’s foreign trade and competitiveness in world markets. Over the past 40 years, TAITRA has played a key role in the development of Taiwan’s economy. TAITRA is jointly sponsored by the government as well as various commercial and industrial associations, and is viewed by all as the business gateway to Taiwan for the international business community.

All of the awesome companies listed above have a presence at Interbike 2011. Come by and say “Hi.” We’d love to see you and give you a sneak peek at the latest and greatest from these manufacturers and events.