When the Snow Industries of America announced it was moving the SIA Trade Show to Denver after a few decades in Las Vegas we were not happy about it. In fact, every time we thought about making travel plans for SIA 2010 we remembered where it was being held and put it off to another day.
Having spent part of a late January in Denver in the past, complete with 30 below zero temps and 50 mph winds nearly blowing us off the highway, we weren’t looking forward to making the trek. No matter how many times C3 Worldwide president and SIA Board Secretary Bob Gundrum listed the reasons why the show would be better without the all-night partying and drinking that Vegas delivers, all we could think about was those $49 flights, $35 hotel rooms and nights at the Hard Rock’s Center Bar. After 20 years in Las Vegas we had it down and weren’t into everything changing.
But that was before the show. Now, at the other end of four days with friends in one of the nicest, cleanest, convention centers in the world, we’ve mostly forgotten about the rest. And there was a lot to forget. Police storming our hotel the night before we arrived, the drug dealers who said “Hey,” as we walked down the street, the pimp having words with two of his employees in the lobby of our hotel, bums fighting in McDonald’s at 8 in the morning, and Denver’s general urban-blighted-ghetto feel faded into the background. We left town with a much more positive view of the SIA venue change and it seems we’re not alone.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story or click the links for photos: People : Booths : Product : Parties
Shaun Neff, founder of the Ventura, California based Neff Headwear also had initial doubts about about leaving Las Vegas. “My first feelings were like, ‘Whatever, but I wish it was still in Vegas,’” he said. “Now that the show is over, it was great for us as a brand. We met and showed over 150 accounts and did some real business. It felt like less of a party vibe for us. In Vegas we would always have 30 kids chillin’ and hangin’ in our booth. That was not at this show. Overall hype traffic was down, but looking at the amount of business that went down I am pumped and thought it went well.”
Though Neff came out of it with positive feelings about the show, he did have some concerns regarding a lack of West Coast retailers. “I do feel we did not get as many Cali accounts out as I would have liked,” he said, “but the regional shows have been amazing so if there is no party like in Vegas it’s easy for people to say, ‘No.’”
Others noticed the missing Coastal accounts, too, pointing East as well as West. “I liked the fact that on the first morning it was snowing outside the snow sports show, and I like the fact that Denver is in a “real” city,” said Jeff Galbraith publisher of Frequency: The Snowboarder’s Journal and The Ski Journal (on the right with C3’s Bob Gundrum). “That said I have real concerns about the attendance. Lots of Colorado and Utah pride, but it felt like there was a lot less attendance from both coasts where the bulk of dollars are spent in the industry.”
One of those happy to skip out on Las Vegas was World Boards Owner Jay Moore. “It was an easy, short flight from Bozeman,” Moore said. “Vegas is a slog. A lot of the upside for us was that it’s real quick and easy. I love Denver. The food is great, the people are cool and once you’re inside the building it’s the same as Vegas. Plus, thinking clearly is good. I really don’t know what the downside is.”
Even those happy about the venue change had concerns over the travel expenses. “Denver seemed busier than I expected and I heard very few complaints. We liked the town, for sure,” said Mervin’s VP of Sales Greg Hughes (right with Danny Kass). “Transportation and lodging were more expensive than Vegas—it turns out I should have gambled and waited to get better hotel rates.”
It wasn’t all Utah and Colorado shops in attendance. Though they may not have brought as much staff as in years past, most core retailer store owners made an appearance at the show—even if it meant making a family vacation out of it. “I’m from Colorado. My family is here. My wife’s family is here,” said Steve Klassen, owner of Wave Rave Snowboard Shop in Mammoth Lakes, California. “Plus, there is a great skatepark here and having a trade show close to a great park is always good. The show here feels the same as it did in Las Vegas to me. But most importantly my mother-in-law is happy that she gets to see her grandchild. And you should never underestimate the value of a happy mother-in-law.”
If there were fewer shops from the coasts in attendance some, like Holden Outerwear’s Mikey LeBlanc, saw this as an opportunity to meet with new people. “We had a lot of people who hadn’t heard of us before and that’s always good,” LeBlanc said. “Plus, there were a lot of local Colorado people who don’t go to Vegas.”
And even though it was Denver, there was no shortage of partying. “The after parties were as good as Vegas and the ones in my hotel room were even better,” said Sole Technology’s SVP Don Brown. “There were good restaurants, bars and things to do. If anyone finds a liver on the streets out there let me know as I can’t find it right now.”
Brown turns serious for a moment. “Overall I was impressed with everything SIA did,” he said. “Good times, good business and good job to SIA…Viva Las Denver.”
Leblanc agreed. “We had a great show, not sure if that was a result of being in Denver in any way. Or more of a result of that we had a good season in F09,” he said. “Long story short; if any brand wants to sell product, it needs to be presented. SIA is currently the platform to meet and show, and it was a success. “
In this age of transparency it would be good for the SIA to release some numbers regarding show attendance. The numbers could give some concrete evidence on just how many retailers attended and where they were from. But they didn’t, and so far they haven’t. It seems they prefer to be vaguely up-beat:
“SIA’s inaugural Snow Show in Denver brought together plenty of A-list media, athletes, personalities and politicians to the halls of the Colorado Convention Center,” said SIA in a press release. “Finding their way around a new city and convention hall took a little practice for longtime Show attendees, but it was hard to resist the friendly city that holds the number one spot for urban snow sports purchases. People on the street, elevators and at bars were asking– “Are you with the Snow Show?” And, the industry took notice.”
Yes, we did. We noticed all kinds of things. The even better news, however, is that we have nine more years to figure Denver out. By then we will have found all the cool spots and this entire here vs. there discussion will be forgotten and we’ll likely have something else to worry about; like some great convention offer being served up by the City of Detroit. . .
Wow. What a bunch of whiners. I guess it was a terrible idea to have the show re-located to a city 2 hours or less from 10 different mountains and possessing a population who embraces the snowsports scene more than almost any other city…right?
From what I could tell the population of Denver all wanted to sell me drugs…
Denver makes Reno feel like Paris.
See Here.
http://applepwrs.blogspot.com/2010/02/sia-denver.html
BTW, Reno is Paris! I hope they move SIA to Reno next.
^^^^^^that. is. awesome.
Overall the show was pretty good. Very clean nice friendly staff at the Convention Center. Hotels were very close to the event. Travel costs were very high compared to Vegas. But that was expected. Booking last hour on Hotels.com saved some coin versus going with the negotiated SIA room rate.
From what we saw at the show, it was very good for large brands. Plenty of time to meet with their key accounts. With a lot less smaller shops in attendance it meant more face time in the booths with less interruptions. Since most large brands have already shown all their major accounts and placed PO’s it seemed like brands were able to work on marketing and merchandising tactics as well as talk about ways to improve sell through etc. The more business oriented vibe also allowed VP’s and owners to spend more time with their accounts.
Smaller brands were at a huge disadvantage at this show. The small amount of coastal shops and smaller scale doors was noticeable. Booths that once had 100 – 150 shops come through now are looking at 50 – 75. Of course the Rockies, Mid West and other central region retailers made the trip.
Also noticed major brands really pushing their reps to keep their shops in their booths longer, giving them less time to go out and see other product. Also noticed larger brands demanding more time of their multi line reps forcing them to spend less time with their smaller lines.
We expect the major players to make it more difficult for shops to buy smaller brands in the coming years. Using their resources to push out the underfunded and shell shock brands who are still struggling to get their AR’s from 09/10 cleared up.
The regional shows should be interesting this year. Small brand Sales Managers will have their work cut out for them going on a non stop gauntlet of coast to coast trips, attending demos, shows, and going door to door to scrape up the remains of budgets that the big brands have devoured already.
Does everyone know that The Shag Bar (above pic with marquis) is
well known as a spot where girls get roofied! A 21 year old girl who
worked for an exhibitor was drugged and robbed of $100 from her
purse two nights before SIA at an SIA Exihibitors Party. She fell to the
floor after 3 beers and woke up in the hospital at 8am the next morning. From what I heard the owner of the bar tried to blame the girl claiming
that she was dehydrated and the altitude was what made her pass out. Supposedly it sounded like he had told that story before as it seemed
like a very canned reply.
I would recommend all who read this and plan to attend the next SIA
be very aware that roofies are commonplace in Denver. Please pass this
around. We do not need anyone
STAY AWAY FROM THE SHAG.
THEY DO NOT CARE IF THEIR PATRONS ARE DRUGGED AND ROBBED.
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