It was a tornado tour at 2013 SIA Snow Show in the Denver Convention Center, but we survived. While we’re thinking about what it all means, here a few of the people (like Jack Mitrani, Jake Burton, John Jackson, and Gabi Viteri above), products, and booths that we saw in Denver.
– SIA 2013 People Gallery
– SIA 2013 Products Gallery
– SIA 2013 Booth Gallery
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While most of the snow industry is descending on Denver for the SIA Snow Show, those who stay at home don’t have to feel left out. Nope, thanks to Transworld Business we all can get a solid overview of many of the new boots, bindings, and boards (along with the company line from each brand) in Transworld Business 2011/12 Preview.
Nice of them to share it all with us, isn’t it?
[Link: Transworld Business]
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In past years our policy has always been to roam the SIA Snow Show and see what catches our eyes or ears. While this create epic moments of serendipitous discovery it also means that we often miss some really cool shit.
This year we won’t have that problem because the SIA has created an iPhone app (and Blackberry and Android apps for those sad lonely, beaten down workers forced to use shoddy tools). It’s called SIA 2011 and was created by Core Apps.
Use the SIA Snow Show App to navigate the Show with interactive floor plans, exhibitor lists, twitter feeds, events schedules, listings for Denver bars and restaurants and create your own Show schedule.
The digital map is reason enough to download the app, but add to that a searchable exhibitor list (with booth numbers and full contact info), an events schedule (which has not been updated yet), Twitter feed, Denver Guide, and contact info for all the speakers at SIA and it is a mandatory piece of software for anyone attending the show. One of the coolest bits is that exhibitors in the list can be starred and or checked off the list and later viewed in an “exhibitors visited list.” Keeping track of who to see and who we’ve seen has never been easier.
After years of being at SIA adrift and unguided, the SIA Snow Show app comes like a light in the darkness. Click this link for the iPhone version. You other smartphone heathens are on your own.
For the latest on the 2011 SIA Show follow the jump.
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According to the SnowSports Industries America trade organization the SIA Denver Show held January 28-31, 2010 had the highest attendance rate of the last six shows. They say the four-day show attracted 18,932 attendees, 3,100 booths representing 845 snow sports brands, and that it featured 125 new exhibitors. We had some pre-show issues with what exactly a “new exhibitor” was but lets just say there were a lot of new companies at the show and while we didn’t see huge crowds anywhere, it was definitely better attended that we expected.
“For the first year in Denver, in the middle of a recession, we’re very happy with the attendance numbers. We were lighter in some regions but we hope they’ll come back next year after hearing all the positive experiences people had this year,” said David Ingemie, president of SIA.
We do have one question: do the attendance numbers include all the kids bussed in from Denver schools? They all had badges. . .
[Update March 12, 2010: The SIA has answered our questions regarding all the school kids at the show. Here’s what they had to say . . . “Kids from Denver schools were bussed to the Show for a special ceremony. They were a part of a Youth Summit that was held at the Show. In conjunction with the Summit, a press conference was held on Saturday, the day that you must have seen the kids on the Show floor, that took place to announce a bold initiative to get 1,000,000 kids involved in outdoor programs over the next 10 years, The Recreation Outdoor Initiative (ROI). SIA is a supporter of this initiative and any other programs that help get more people on snow.
The kids involved in the press conference were given the chance to briefly walk the Show floor to get them excited about snow sports and for some of them, their first time on snow. They were able to go skiing or snowboarding following their visit to the Show. These kids were not counted in our total numbers.]
For the rest of the press release follow the jump.
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We’re not in Denver, Colorado this week for the 2015 Snow Industries of America Show. In fact, we haven’t attended the Denver show since January 2013. Why? The most simple reason is that it’s easier not to go, but the truth may be that like many other companies who are skipping this year (Burton, Mervin, etc. . . ) our SIA cost-to-benefit ratio had been sliding for years.
Seeing as this is SIA Season (not to mention Throw-back-Thursday), join us as we look back on all the people, parties, products, and booths that we’ve covered over the past few years. Here’s the breakdown:
2013: People, Products, Booths
2012: People, Parties, Products, Booths
2011: People, Products, Booths
2010: People, Parties, Products, Booths
2009: Day 1, 2009 TWS Rider’s Poll
Now that we’re all teary eyed, lets ask one question: has anything changed, progressed, or improved? If so, please let us know.
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Hey, shredders. Just got word that a new hotel has been added to the Snow Industries of America trade show block. That means special low-rate deals all around. The new hotel is the Four Seasons Denver and their new, extra special SIA rate is only $225 a night. Cough cough. Yeah, that’s half off the regular rate of $465 a night. Guess when you’re a high roller on the corpo dime, $225 a night keeps your T&E budget right on track. Just makes us pine for SIA’s return to Las Vegas all the more. SIA’s Denver contract is reportedly up in 2020 so it’s T-6 and counting down.
For all the official details on wonderful lodging deals being offered by the Four Seasons Denver and by SIA for the 2015 show, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
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Just look at all those sweaty balls and stinking trade show feet!
The SIA Snow Show kicked off in Denver, Colorado yesterday with snowy streets, a warm convention center, and the omnipresent smells of weed (Okay, we’re guessing on that last part. We thought we’d be able to smell it from here, but we can’t.) The Western states may not know it, but according to the SIA’s RetailTrak report for the August through December 2013 period, the industry set a new sales record of $2.2 billion at retail. So we’ve got that going for us. We’re also guessing that local marijuana merchants will experience similar sales spikes this weekend. What other news did you miss if you weren’t there? A little Olympic fever, it seems:
The Show kicked off with a special “Sendoff to Sochi” Opening Ceremony led by Doug Lewis, 1984 &1988 Olympian and Alpine Analyst for Universal Sports. Lewis named team members and revealed the official uniforms for the U.S. Alpine, Freestyle, Freeski and Snowboarding teams developed by Spyder, Columbia, The North Face and Burton. . . “The relationship between SIA and USSA is really pivotal to the success of our athletes,” said Tom Kelly, Vice President Communications, USSA. “USSA athletes could not accomplishment their goals without the support we get from the industry and the companies that supply us with ski, snowboards, outerwear and uniforms,” . . The Opening Ceremony also included video messages from athletes to the industry, thanking them for their support and encouragement. Officials from the city of Denver, U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA), SIA Board Members and industry leaders took to the stage to officially ring in the Snow Show with cowbells. To wrap things up, Klaus Obermeyer added his signature yodel, which he’s done at the end of the Snow Show for over 30 years.
Sounds to inviting. Doesn’t it? While we continue to man the controls, click the links below for up-to-the minute coverage from all the poor saps who had to make the dreary trudge to Denver from one more year from the SIA fun zone:
Yobeat’s Justin Leveille Buys Weed And Hits The Show
Snowboard Magazine’s Day 1
Transworld Snowboarding’s Day 1
Snowboarder’s Day 1
Transworld Business’s Day 1
And, you’re correct. GrindMedia is paying not one, not two, but three separate editorial crews to follow each other around talking to the same people, shooting the same photos, and drinking the same beer in Denver. Occasionally we do pine for the days of big media redundancy! For the official word from the SIA, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
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Photos from days one, two, and three of the SIA Snow Show Denver are all here in one place. Day four? You’re on you’re own.
Click the links for complete galleries: Booths, Products, and People.
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After shuttling in from the airport, getting our badges, and spending about 15 minutes figuring out that the 2011 SIA Snow Show floor is actually upstairs in the Denver Convention Center, we finally made it in for the last half of day one.
The show floor was ghostly quiet in the ski section when we arrived at 1:00 PM. People were milling about, but it seemed that everyone was speaking in hushed tones. Off in the far back distance, we could hear the low roar of the snowboard section like a siren song. Once we made it back the isles were nicely filled with people doing business, hanging out, and catching up.
Click the links for photos of some of the people and products we saw on day one: Booths, Products, People.
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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
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