A select group of brands, CEOs, outdoor journalists, and content creators descended on Missoula, Montana this week for the Outdoor Media Summit (OMS) to share ideas about the future of the industry, put new products to the test, and network.
More than 80 members of the media, including 20 editors-in-chief, attended the show and conference at the Holiday Inn from Oct. 14 to 16. The event was capped at 250 people this year, and more than 100 applications to attend the event were rejected by organizers, said Yoon Kim, founder of OMS.
Colton Farley of Mystery Ranch. Photo by The Daily.
“We’re very intentional about making sure that the event is very tightly knit, and then everyone can meet everyone,” Kim said in an interview with The Daily.
A lot of thought went into the programming of the three-day event, which combined small one-on-one meetings, breakout sessions and smaller group activities, and large sessions that included everyone, Yoon said.
Tim Presley of Coast. Photo by The Daily.
Day One kicked off with a gear “speed-dating” session, where attendees visited with brands such as Simms, Coast, Nemo Equipment, Passenger, Kavu, Mystery Ranch and more to check out new products up close and collect gear for review purposes. In the evening, attendees headed to the historic Wilma Theatre for drinks, games, and line dancing.
Field & Stream Editor-in-Chief Colin Kearns set the tone on Tuesday morning with a moving keynote about how country stars Morgan Wallen and Eric Church brought the beloved outdoor magazine back to life, and shared his tips for how to stay sharp, relevant, and inspiring to audiences.
Passenger’s Jordan Williams. Photo by The Daily.
The Executive Track Debuts at Outdoor Media Summit
OMS’s Executive Track, new this year, was 10 years in the making, Kim said. OMS always welcomes the CEOs of emerging companies that are between $1 million and $30 million, and while they’re often excited to meet with media, they haven’t previously had conference breakout sessions tailored to them.
That changed this year, with OMS running Executive Track sessions hosted by industry insiders such as Will Decker of venture and innovation firm SVG and research and data company Circana’s Julia Day.
Circana’s Julia Day onstage at OMS. Photo by The Daily.
Todd Frank, the owner of the Trail Head stores in Missoula, joined Gabe Maier, president of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance (GOA), to share insights and data about the state of specialty retail. Sales among GOA members grew by 28% in 2021 – likely the highest growth year the industry has ever seen, Maier said. Sales grew by another 6% in 2022. But as so many retailers and brands know, those record-breaking years are over.
“August of 2024 was our first sales growth month aggregate in the group for over 16 months prior,” Maier said. “So it’s still a challenging period. But it’s notable to us that we finally see a month with comp and sales growth, signaling that sales are starting to stabilize a little bit.”
Consultant and former CEO of Moosejaw Eoin Comerford. Photo by The Daily.
Consultant and Daily Columnist Eoin Comerford, the former CEO of Moosejaw, shared his idea for an e-commerce business model that could solve the tension between retailers and brands competing for dollars online by having them share the same inventory.
“The problem is we’re actually fighting with each other within our industry, right? We’ve got brands on one side, we’ve got retailers on the other, and really, the two don’t really want to talk to each other or seemingly help the customer just buy stuff,” Comerford said. “Shouldn’t we be working together to make it as easy as possible for customers to buy the products in our industry?”
Sawyer’s Katie Houston demonstrates how to use the brand’s water filtration system. Photo by The Daily.
New and Emerging Brands Showcase Innovation and Hero Products
Attendees got plenty of sun and fresh air Tuesday afternoon, teaming up for a Scavenger Hunt planned by brands such as Camp Chef, Flate, Eddyline, OM System and more.
German brand Roof Space showed off their innovative car tent. Photo by The Daily.
The Camp Chef station asked teams to make pancake art on their grills, giving everyone an opportunity to try the grills out. OM System brought a red-tailed hawk and a screech owl, both rescues, to pose for photos as teams tried their hand at wildlife photography while testing the new features in their cameras.
Kim said he and his team are still deciding where next year’s OMS will be. They’ve received five bids from potential host cities and he could only say there was one he was especially excited about so far.
Testing out kayaks by Eddyline on the Clark Fork. Photo by The Daily.
The survey results aren’t in yet, but Kim said the goal is to come away with a higher net promoter score (NPS) of 81.
“We’ve never dipped under 79. That has been our low NPS score,” Kim said. “Last year we were at 81. So if we can get above 80 again, then we can celebrate.”
Kate Robertson can be reached at kate.robertson@emeraldx.com.
