Picture 5767 « Outdoor Retailer 2010: Photo and Video Gallery | TransWorld Business#ngtop#ngtop#ngtop#ngtop

Here is some fresh perspective on OR Winter Market 2010, from Transworld Business, a publication group (owned by Bonnier) that focuses on Action Sports business in North America. There is beauty in hearing the word from outside our little 'band of brothers', and lessons to be learned. Check it out....

Picture 5767 « Outdoor Retailer 2010: Photo and Video Gallery TransWorld Business#ngtop#ngtop#ngtop#ngtop

Tons of coverage evident too on the OR website http://www.outdoorretailer.com ; whether you dig video, images, stories from the OR Daily or social media content, it's all there for your perusal.

FYI - I spoke with Paul Fish, and he has worked up a program that will help Haiti on the ground and not go through the Port Au Prince nightmare that is the airport and transportation hub currently.

Doctors United for Haiti

A couple references:
http://www.dufh.org/
http://media-newswire.com/release_1111153.html

For follow up to get gear on the ground, please contact

Paul Fish
Mountain Gear, Inc6021 E Mansfield AveSpokane Valley, WA 99212Phone 509.242.4545

SPREAD THE WORD, you industry insider you.

Peace
Kenji

1999-2009 a post mordem

The decade 1999-2009 involved some pretty major shifts in my life; in work, in climbing and teaching, in music, in family, death of friends, and in personal growth.  A third child born on the millenium year (a major gift in asian superstition as prescribed by my mom), a shift in work style, location, business sector, skills required and scope, a short stint making money on TV, a shift away from car-based commuting (AMTRAK, bike, and RTD), and finally a move to a different country (well, really it's only a different county but MAN what a difference).   The work change started off with a bang, or a whoosh at least, at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show in 1999. 
A tornado (F2+) touched down in downtown SLC and wreaked havoc on hundreds of booths and people setting up in the temporary structures ('pavilions') that were erected across South Temple Blvd.  80 injuries, 12 critical and 1 death were incurred by exhibitors setting up, and the thought of carrying on the show was a tortured discussion (without the benefit of social media or quick web communications) that went into the wee hours of the next day.  It was surreal to be part of a team, led by Dieter Tremp and Joan Alvarez,  that went forward to create an impromptu structure that enabled the show to continue, accomodate hundreds of businesses displaced by the tornado, and encourage brands in the main center (who were unaffected at least physically by the twister) to share their space with unknown, even competing brands. 
This resulted in an epiphany about industry, enthusiast communities, and human behavior for me.  In a sense, the tornado of 1999 spelled out a future scenario that we are just now seeing come to fruition, as the internet enables communities to assemble and interact in much the way a trade show works.  And just like during the tornado affair of '99, crisis tends to evoke response and activism in the community; hence the incredible win of Barack Obama over the unified right wing in America.  Never before had a groundswell (enabled by internet apps and social media communication) been used to such effectiveness by the typically scattershot left wing in American politics.  This was the first big lesson that I'm still studying as my life unfolds, but was begun with that catastrophic event a decade ago.
Today it's called Crowdsourcing, but back then it had no name....it's simply what had to happen given that literally zero people, of the thousands in town for OR, had ever experienced anything like what had happened (at a large trade show anyway) and had to conjure solutions from the comments and feedback of individuals without regard for where they came from, how old, how young, how smart, how 'core' they were.... we needed ideas quickly that could turn into action quickly.  Since there was no easy platform to set up (like a writeboard, LinkedIn or yahoogroup online) it had to happen in the lobby of a hotel, where nearly a thousand people were packed like sardines to listen and feed back to the show management on what could and should happen next.  That crowdsourced solution, where a few exhibiting brands offered up their hard-earned space to share with others, was a crucible in which the character of an entire industry could be shown.  I've been overtly proud to work in the business ever since, not just smug cuz I'm a climber dude, but truly proud. 

Turning the corner in Y2K my youngest child was born into a situation that just did thread the needle logistically.  At about the time of conception I scored a gig (Ford Commercial) that would provide additional income to my family just at the time we would be venturing into the domain of unmanageable.  With 3, no single caregiver/sitter could deal, and Susan would for sure need to stay at home (unless she could pull a job making double what she was, so that other people could raise the kids).  The checks from that commercial, running nationally and continuously on network and cable for a year, helped us make the transition from double income to single.  Now of course, it's a different story and we're scrambling financially, but often it's the transition zones that create the hardest times, and we were able to cover.  What I learned most there was the value of 'residuals'.  This is when you do something creative once, but get paid for a long time afterwards for your work.  Songwriting, book writing, film making, and voice acting come to mind.  I couldn't find an appropriate Wiki definition. We shall see about transition zones up ahead...

The other personal pursuits of musical performance, climbing and ski mountaineering, enlightenment through reading and pondering the death of friends in the mountains, and teaching all went through transition in the past decade.  Some places taking less risks, some taking more.  The most interesting trend in my personal life was that despite my increased time constraints from family, I managed to improve far more as a musician with less practice and study time.  I attribute to another lesson that is unnamed but I'll call for now 'mindful playing'.  'Focus' would be another term.  After painful years struggling to sing and play at the same time, it came together in 2002 as I started playing with Bruce White in what became a duet, often with guest artists.  We only made one CD together under the moniker Random Joe Citizen, and it got spotty play in Louisiana (Bruce's home state) and we never drew a big crowd.  Nevertheless it enabled me to step up to the mic and play simultaneously... a big personal hurdle to get over.  I did not experience this dynamic in my climbing however... with less time on the rock, came less ability to push my personal limit, at least as far as rated climbs and pulling power go.  This may have had a lot to do with the fact that in the previous decade, I was seriously injured once and nearly died another time due to careless backcountry behavior.   
The decade ended in 2009 was more painful than the previous; there I had injured and brought pain unto myself, but in the first decade of the millenium it was the loss of loved ones and friends that shook me from the roots and have me more contemplative and introspective than ever before.  I stopped teaching climbing, and after a few years of volunteering with Big City Mountaineers and other youth-service orgs that had outdoor programming, decided I needed to focus on my own family for now.  Raising kids that don't understand the value of wilderness or of personal challenge, sacrifice, and team dynamics would be rueful.  Downright irresponsible.   Hope I'm not too late.

KH

Aussie girl sends in the Buttermilks

This is just a cool dose of bouldering magic, with the story told through some funky rapping.  It works.
First female ascent of 'Stained Glass' (V10) in the Buttermilks outside of Bishop, CA.  She makes it look easy... (that's not her below, that is friend and strongman Kevin Thaw on the route giving it a try some years ago).

OC surfer beats Kelly Slater in big-wave contest | long, wave, contest - Life - The Orange County Register

This is just some wild stuff.... I willingly dangle my ass on a thread over yawning chasms of rock, but somehow that seems like mere child's play compared to the balls out nature of the Eddie Aikau contest in Waimea, where waves topped 25 feet today.
OC surfer beats Kelly Slater in big-wave contest | long, wave, contest - Life - The Orange County Register

This blog writeup from the SF Chronicle tells the story better.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/threedotblog/detail?entry_id=53166

I'm not sayin, ... I'm just sayin'!

KH

Lally's Alley: CHRISTOPHER ALLPORT R.I.P.

A sweet remembrance of my friend and partner in all things outdoors and in music. I miss you Chris!

Lally's Alley: CHRISTOPHER ALLPORT R.I.P.

Now as far as the anonymous post about how out-of-bounds skiing is irresponsible, that is simply ignorant. Backcountry skiing is a legitimate sport that does have inherent risks, just like basketball, boxing, car driving or going for a walk. I skied maybe a dozen times with Chris, always in the backcountry, and though he didn't carry avy tools (transceiver, probe, shovel, etc...) he was an aware and intelligent wilderness traveler. All those safety tools wouldn't have helped him anyway, since all skiers on the slope were buried in the once in a century slide.

So Thanksgiving is behind us now, and there is snow in the local mountains (Mammoth is dumping as I write). Is it irresponsible for me, as a parent of 3 school age kids, to venture off piste? I encourage the conversation.... but I will maintain (unless otherwise influenced) that it would be irresponsible for me NOT to go.

KH

http://blip.fm/ropefriend

OK so mostly this is supposed to be an outdoor adventure thingy, but occassionally I get going on some adventures of a musical sort. 
had a blast of a jam session last night with Lance and Erik. It's amazing what going over songs for an hour or two before getting together with the band will do.
Some songs came up impromptu (as usual) including the Pretenders' 'Mystery Achievement'. I'm still struggling to sing Pearl Jam (which the boys seem to be obsessing on) but nailed You Wreck Me and somewhat 'Watching The Detectives'. Of the songs we meant to do but didn't, this song is regrowing on me http://blip.fm/ropefriend

blip.fm has been my go-to for listening to full versions of songs, although YouTube could work just as well I suppose.  Blip also lets me find obscure tunes (Green Eyed Lady by Sugarloaf, for example) and broadcast them on my 'channel'.  It's a DJ thing, if you're interested,...follow the link.  Set up your DJ name, and password, and I'll be one of your first followers! 

Sadly, many songs that are friendly to trio setups have singers that can climb high into the tenor realm...my voice don't do dat.  My pipes sit happily in the 'Folsom Prison Blues' range, so Sting-like wails sound utterly painful (some of you may be able to bear witness...).    So the adventure for me here is to find songs that
a) can work with just guitar, bass and drums
b) don't require testicular compression to hit the notes
c) are fun to play
d) are listenable

The last adventure of the night was when power to the entire block of the studio location was cut off, and we had to pack up in the dark.  We were right at quitting time but were going to ask for a little extra time to finish working through the set.  Didn't even get a refund. 

So, we're motivated to get together again next week... stay tuned. 
KH

quoted in Tradeshow Week Nov. 17

This is a little social media synopsis of the TSW Fastest 50 Awards, which Outdoor Retailer Summer Market received for the fourth consecutive year.  If you're a twitter newbie, it's a nice primer, and an interesting commentary from Stephanie on how twitter is being used at events...


Twitterverse Goes to TSW Fastest 50


November 17, 2009

If you were at Tradeshow Fastest 50 this past weekend and had Twitter, you were privy to a whole other conservation happening.

I have four Twitter accounts on my phone: my personal Twitter (I’ll give it to you if you ask, but don’t judge me), my work Twitter @stephaniecorbin, our magazine Twitter @TSWNews and our TSW Fastest 50 Twitter @TSWFastest50. Because I noticed some tweets on the other sites, I didn’t want to risk two people tweeting, so I just stuck to @stephaniecorbin.

We used the hashtag #tswf50 to trend the event. From what I saw, the executive-level conference session on Saturday got the most attention on Twitter, apart from the gala dinner later that night when the awards were announced.

But what I enjoyed the most was the ability to participate in a conversation during the conference portion (or, watch it in some ways) without disturbing those on stage. During the State of the Industry Panel with TSW’s Michael Hughes, this conversation took place:


• “stepnold: Virtual Tradeshows? Hughes answer vague – isn't point of conducting research? Help us define what is VTs? What industry is doing? #tswf50”


• “melissaooi: Sick of the term "virtual tradeshow". Gets wheeled out every recession! Everyone needs to have good content on sites! #tswf50”


• “stepnold: Good point @melissaooi. Speak up. It is about a convergence of new solutions and web assets – not rehashing past methods. #tswf50”


I was surprised by just how many people were using Twitter at the event. Plus, I noticed yesterday once we got back that all three of the big winners from TSW Fastest 50 have Twitter accounts (@AWEA, @Official_PAX and @ABCKidsExpo).

I guess this highlights one of the things that I took away from a conversation I had with Kenji Haroutunian, group show director of Outdoor Retailer and Fly-Fishing Retailer, Saturday night after the gala. He said he knew the shows needed to be using social media tools like Twitter, even if he wasn’t sure how they would monetize it.

I guess our event really highlights that. If we weren’t tweeting, we wouldn’t even be part of the conversation at our own event. That’s the last thing someone would want.



Posted by Stephanie Corbin on November 17, 2009
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