{"id":13726,"date":"2010-02-02T15:28:57","date_gmt":"2010-02-02T23:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=13726"},"modified":"2010-02-02T18:16:37","modified_gmt":"2010-02-03T02:16:37","slug":"sia-2010-getting-it-done-in-denver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=13726","title":{"rendered":"SIA 2010: Getting It Done In Denver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sia<\/a><\/p>\n

When the Snow Industries of America<\/a><\/strong> announced it was moving the SIA Trade Show<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t looking forward to making the trek. No matter how many times C3 Worldwide<\/a><\/strong> president and SIA Board Secretary Bob Gundrum<\/strong> 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\u2019s Center Bar<\/a><\/strong>. After 20 years in Las Vegas we had it down and weren\u2019t into everything changing.<\/p>\n

\"012810<\/a>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\u2019ve 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 \u201cHey,\u201d 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\u2019s at 8 in the morning, and Denver\u2019s 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\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

Follow the jump for the rest of the story or click the links for photos: People<\/a><\/strong> : Booths<\/a><\/strong> : Product<\/a><\/strong> : Parties<\/a><\/strong>
\n\"013010N<\/a>Shaun Neff<\/strong>, founder of the Ventura, California based Neff Headwear<\/a><\/strong> also had initial doubts about about leaving Las Vegas. \u201cMy first feelings were like, \u2018Whatever, but I wish it was still in Vegas,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cNow 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\u2019 and hangin\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Neff came out of it with positive feelings about the show, he did have some concerns regarding a lack of West Coast retailers. \u201cI do feel we did not get as many Cali accounts out as I would have liked,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the regional shows have been amazing so if there is no party like in Vegas it\u2019s easy for people to say, \u2018No.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"012910<\/a>Others noticed the missing Coastal accounts, too, pointing East as well as West. \u201cI 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,\u201d said Jeff Galbraith<\/strong> publisher of <\/em>Frequency: The Snowboarder\u2019s Journal<\/a><\/em><\/strong> and The Ski Journal<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (on the right with C3’s Bob Gundrum). \u201cThat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those happy to skip out on Las Vegas was World Boards<\/a><\/strong> Owner Jay Moore<\/strong>. \u201cIt was an easy, short flight from Bozeman,\u201d Moore said. \u201cVegas is a slog. A lot of the upside for us was that it\u2019s real quick and easy. I love Denver. The food is great, the people are cool and once you\u2019re inside the building it\u2019s the same as Vegas. Plus, thinking clearly is good. I really don\u2019t know what the downside is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"013010N<\/a>Even those happy about the venue change had concerns over the travel expenses. \u201cDenver seemed busier than I expected and I heard very few complaints. We liked the town, for sure,\u201d said Mervin\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> VP of Sales Greg Hughes <\/strong>(right with Danny Kass<\/strong>). \u201cTransportation and lodging were more expensive than Vegas\u2014<\/span>i<\/span>t<\/span> turns out I should have gambled and waited to get better hotel rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t 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\u2014even if it meant making a family vacation out of it. \u201cI\u2019m from Colorado. My family is here. My wife\u2019s family is here,\u201d said Steve Klassen<\/strong>, owner of Wave Rave Snowboard Shop<\/a><\/strong> in Mammoth Lakes, California. \u201cPlus, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mikey<\/a>If there were fewer shops from the coasts in attendance some, like Holden Outerwear\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> Mikey LeBlanc<\/strong>, saw this as an opportunity to meet with new people. \u201cWe had a lot of people who hadn\u2019t heard of us before and that\u2019s always good,\u201d LeBlanc said. \u201cPlus, there were a lot of local Colorado people who don\u2019t go to Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n

And even though it was Denver, there was no shortage of partying. \u201cThe after parties were as good as Vegas and the ones in my hotel room were even better,\u201d said Sole Technology\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> SVP Don Brown<\/strong>. \u201cThere were good restaurants, bars and things to do. If anyone finds a liver on the streets out there let me know as I can\u2019t find it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown turns serious for a moment. \u201cOverall I was impressed with everything SIA did,\u201d he said. \u201cGood times, good business and good job to SIA…Viva Las Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leblanc agreed. \u201cWe 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,\u201d he said. \u201cLong story short; if any brand wants to sell product, it needs to be presented. SIA is currently the<\/em> platform to meet and show, and it was a success. \u201c<\/p>\n

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\u2019t, and so far they haven\u2019t. It seems they prefer to be vaguely up-beat:<\/p>\n

\u201cSIA’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,\u201d said SIA in a press release. \u201cFinding 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u2019ll likely have something else to worry about; like some great convention offer being served up by the City of Detroit. . .<\/p>\n

Click the links for: People<\/a><\/strong> : Booths<\/a><\/strong> : Product<\/a><\/strong> : Parties<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,4,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13726"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13738,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726\/revisions\/13738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}