SIA: Latest Edition of Nick's Notes

It’s been a month since I last reached out, and what a month it’s been! We have been neck-deep in planning not only for the transition of the Snow Show, but also for the future of SIA.

A few quick notes with regard to the show: In the coming weeks, we will send you an email introducing you to your new sales contact at Emerald. They are looking forward to working with you on any and all trade-show issues. In the meantime, although we can’t accept any more booth-space contracts, we can work with you to better understand your trade-show needs and to get your name and request(s) on a list that we will pass along directly to Emerald. Also, it’s important to note, that in order to take advantage of the SIA member discount for booth space at the Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, you must be a SIA member no less than 90 days prior to the show. As a reminder, your membership reps are also here to help answer any questions you may have or provide any support you may require, whether it’s about the demo, research, or anything else you can throw at them. They are here to help! 

Speaking of research, as you will read below, data and research will be a major focus for SIA moving forward. As a benefit to SIA members for 2018, many of the research products are available for free. We will send an email out soon outlining what you have access to as a member (at no cost) and what additional products may be of interest to you and your business (for a fee). Research is an important tool that all businesses should be using. Here’s Kelly Davis, SIA’s Director of Research, for a June Research Update via Brandlive.

Now on to more business…

We have spent the bulk of our time over the last month preparing a forward-thinking strategic plan for the association. Many of you have reached out and asked, “What is next for SIA?” And, “How will you reinvest the proceeds of the show?” While we can’t share the plan until it’s approved by the board at the end of July, we can say that the plan will speak to both of those questions. It will also present a path for building a healthy SIA and, more importantly, a path for providing better support to our members and helping grow the industry overall.    

In my last email, I shared with you our strategic filter that we developed in conjunction with the board and is worth a fresh look. It’s a great piece that we developed to frame up the strategic priorities of SIA. Moreover, this filter underscores the importance of the three pillars that SIA will focus on moving forward: research, education, and participation. We feel that these three areas, taken alone or together, will best serve our members and the industry in the short and long term. Here’s a preview of what each of these pillars means to us:

• Research. Every member should be using the latest and greatest research to their advantage. Research gives you an insight into the marketplace and the mind of the consumer. Moving forward, we will focus on generating greater research in the areas of consumer, participation, trends, sales, and order trends, among others. Providing current and actionable data will help you make better business decisions and is an exceptional member resource. We also recognize that sometimes research and data can be difficult to approach, if not intimidating. Our entire team’s priority is to make the research more accessible and digestible through our communication channels (blogs, social, video presentations, as well as one-on-one time with the research and membership team). Our goal is to make the research and data as relevant and valuable to each of our members as possible.

• Education. As I mentioned above, we will bring the data to life in a number of ways to better educate the members on its importance and relevance to their daily business. In addition, we will be placing a high priority on the overall education of the industry. Whether you are a supplier, retailer, or shop employee, we are going to develop tools and programs to help arm you with knowledge that makes you and your business more effective. Our industry is better served if we are all making more educated decisions. Furthermore, we need to be engaged in cohesive conversations to find industry-wide solutions to current and future problems. We have to work together to achieve success. We will create programs that generate regional and national dialogue among industry stakeholders in an effort to address these impactful issues.

• Participation. This is a big one, and by no means do we have the silver bullet here. But what we can do is create a dialogue, raise the tough questions, and generate an industry-wide conversation. We will also highlight best practices—what is working to increase participation—in different communities across the U.S. (and the world) in an effort to get our creative juices flowing. Participation is something that impacts each and every one one of us, so we need to get the entire industry on board to find creative solutions and opportunities for generating growth.  

We look forward to sharing the overall plan with you once we have board approval. Until then, I hope this gives you a better idea of what we are thinking and where we are planning to go. 
 
As always, we welcome your comments and feedback.

Find out more here.