We Can't Wait to See You
Education Lineup
The education Lineup will be updated accordingly as we continue to add top-tier speakers.
Reinventing Retail Marketing with Data
Presented by Pivot Point
Greg Squires – Pivot Point / Teddy Schiavoni – Locally / Ben Tindall – Yakima / TBD
8:30 AM – 9:40 AM
Creating Meaningful Online Presence for Retailers
(Moderated by Yoon Kim)
Chase Kim – Gear CoOp / Bart Luther – Biloxi Bicycle Works / John Williams – Pack & Paddle / Ben Barenholtz – Quivers
9:50 AM – 10:35 AM
Mentorship in Outdoor Specialty Retail
(Moderated by Dave Petri)
Panel Discussion with Madela Echefu / Jahmicah Dawes / Steve Green / Danica Carey
10:45 AM – 11:30 AM
How Retailers Can Support a More Inclusive Outdoors
Presented by American Alpine Club
(Moderated by Cody Kaemmerlen)
Eddie Espinosa – American Alpine Club / Matt Burbach – Mountain Hardwear / Dr. Leandra H. Hernandez – Salt Lake Area Queer Climbers & Salt Lake Climber’s Alliance DEI Committee / TBD
11:40 AM – 12:25 PM
Presented by NBDA
Doug Dalton – SRAM
8:00 AM – 8:45 AM
Shifting from Passion to Excellence
Presented by NBDA
Robb Zbierski – Sales and Leadership Consultant
8:55 AM – 9:40 AM
E-Bikes and Retailer/Rider Safety
Presented by NBDA
Mike Fritz – Chief Technology Officer at HPS
9:50 AM – 10:35 AM
Ben Barenholtz – Quivers
10:45 AM – 11:30 AM
(e)revolution: The E-Bike Revolution Q & A Session
Lance Camisasca – Show Director / Dave Petri – Marketing & Communications
11:40 AM – 12:25 AM
The Role of Specialty Retail in the Circular Economy
(Moderated by Dave Petri)
Panel Discussion with Nicole Basset – Founder, Renewal Workshop / Ben Cranson – Owner Wanders Outpost / Barruch Ben-Zekry – Founder Out and Back / Chase Anderson – Utah State University
Engaging the Plus-Size Audience: The $20 Billion in Buying Power You’re Missing
Kara Richardson Whitely – Author of “Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds”
8:55 AM – 9:40 AM
How Retailers can operate in a Hybrid Retail Environment
Presented by Locally
Mike Massey – Locally / Teddy Schiavoni – Locally / Ben Tindall – Yakima
9:50 Am – 10:35 AM
Your Website Can Look Like REI
Presented by NBDA
Suzie Livingston – SmartEtailing
Presented by NBDA
Doug Dalton – SRAM
Reimagining the Customer Experience for Buying a Bike
Presented by NBDA
Taylor Essick – Kitzuma
Pull Through: Winning Strategies to Keep Customers Loyal
Presented by NBDA
Rob Solomon – Ascent 360
So you didn’t Marry a Marketer
Presented by NBDA
Kristin Sundin Brandt – President, Sundin Sports Marketing
Co-owner & Marketing Manager, Steve the Bike Guy
Going Above and Beyond with the Bicycle Friendly Business Program
Presented by NBDA
Amelia Neptune – Bicycle Friendly America Program / League of American Bicyclists
Day 1 - Track 1
Reinventing Retail Marketing with Data
Presented by Pivot Point
Overview: Most brands and their indie retailers say that co-op marketing programs lack scale, effectiveness, and measurement. There’s a better way, and POS data is the key.
Details: This presentation brings together PivotPoint, Locally, specialty retailers and brands to discuss the many ways point-of-sale data can be used to boost store foot traffic and improve profits. Hear how brands are allocating co-op marketing funds for retailers who provide sell-through information. Learn from retailers who are anonymously using their POS data to strengthen their own shops, enable smarter merchandising and improve the shopper experience.
Creating Meaningful Online Presence for Retailers
Overview: Discussion on how retailers can create a meaningful online presence to attract, educate and support their customers?
Details: A group of panelists from across specialty retail categories will discuss the various ways they engage their customers online. Joining them will be a marketing expert from a specialty retail commerce services company to discuss the importance of online engagement.
Topics will include:
- Creating Online Content for Website and Social Media
- Using E Commerce Storefronts to increase sales and improve customer engagement
- Ways to engage the local community with information and service beyond selling gear.
Mentorship in Outdoor Specialty Retail
Overview: Discuss the role that experienced outdoor retailers can have in mentoring newcomers to the industry.
Details: In this panel, we will have a conversation with industry veterans and new business owners to discuss their mentorship relationship. We will discuss how the experience of these industry veterans proved invaluable and can be critical in the ongoing health of outdoor specialty retail.
How Retailers Can Support a More Inclusive Outdoors
Eddie Espinosa
Dir. of Community Programs, American Alpine Club
Matt Burbach
Global Marketing Director, Mountain Hardwear
Dr. Leandra H. Hernandez
Co-organizer, Salt Lake Area Queer Climbers Salt Lake Climber's Alliance DEI Committee
Cody Kaemmerlen
AAC Board Member + DEI Consultant (Moderator)
Description: Issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion are ubiquitous in outdoor retail and the industry has come a long way from the days of “pinking and shrinking” to address capturing more of the consumer market. Especially in the last decade, underrepresented and traditionally marginalized groups are organizing and inspiring one another to access the outdoors and enjoy the same transformative benefits many of us have already experienced. We’ll discuss ways retailers, from small to large, can be responsive to a much more diverse consumer base.
Day 1 - Track 2
Pathway to Profitability
Presented by NBDA
Doug Dalton
SRAM
Overview: Introduction to SRAM Recourses, STU.SRAM.com, Trailhead, B2B, Warranty and service portal, SRAM Service, Shockfinder and many more. Knowing your resources leads to efficiency, efficiency equals profits
Shifting from Passion to Excellence
Presented by NBDA
Robb Zbierski
Sales and Leadership Consultant
Your brain is the single biggest driver of your energy, your focus and the results you achieve every single day. It lets you tap into your Passion for all things bikes and allows you to operate with Excellence in order to capitalize on every opportunity for revenue and profitability.
Unfortunately, your brain is also naturally hard-wired to to completely sabotage you in both ways. Most professionals never learn how to proactively manage their mindset in order to achieve the results they want, they tend to sit around and wait for their ship(ment) to come in. Join industry veteran, bestselling author and P2 Consultant Robb Zbierski to take your first step towards finally understanding what it means to take an active role in effectively managing your mindset in order to achieve consistent, next level results regardless of inventory availability, pricing, staff, distribution strategy or pandemic.
In this interactive session, You’ll learn:
- Three ways in which your brain literally creates both your experiences and your results every single day. So we’ll discuss how and where to actively focus for optimum shop efficiency and profitability.
- The mental “addictions” your brain suffers from and how NOT paying attention to them drives customers, staff, productivity, accounts, professionalism and money right out the door.
- How to overcome these “addictions”, and put you in charge of your brain, your business and your results. The good news is that there are simple and effective strategies for making your brain work FOR you instead of AGAINST you. So we’ll wrap up our session by providing a game plan for ongoing improvement.
Every product you sell comes with an Owner’s Manual. Your brain never did. Join us on and FINALLY gain access to an owner’s manual for your brain.
E-Bikes and Retailer/Rider Safety
Presented by NBDA
Mike Fritz
Chief Technology Officer at HPS
Electric bicycles (eBikes) have become the fastest growing segment of the bicycle business. This development is changing the face of conventional bicycle retailing. Forward looking bike shops have embraced the sale and service of eBikes as an important and profitable aspect of their business. But just as gas stations take special safety precautions to minimize the chance of an uncontrolled release of energy (fires), so too must bike shops take safety precautions with the maintenance, storage and delivery of the lithium-ion battery packs used to power the eBikes that they sell and service. Recent news in both trade and consumer publications around e-bikes risk and safety have prompted attention on the classification of bicycles, certification to UL 2849 and lithium-ion batteries. Join in this seminar where information will be presented on safety precautions with the maintenance, storage, and delivery of the lithium-ion battery packs used to power the e-bikes that are sold and serviced, and advice for retailers to provide to consumers on this very topic.
New Tools for a New World:
How Retailers & Brands Can Collaborate to Diversify DTC Fulfillment and Meet Consumer Demand
Presented by NBDA
Ben Barenholtz
VP of Marketing at Quivers
The massive disruption of the pandemic has perhaps forever changed the ways people buy and pay, join in to discover which consumer behaviors and preferences are temporary due to COVID 19 and which are long lasting changes post the pandemic. Data shows us where shoppers prefer to spend and how conveniences like “buy online, pick up in-store” and “buy now, pay later” will continue forward.
Consumers expect retailers and brands to make shopping seamless and easier to use across channels. That means better experiences in the physical, online and virtual shopping spaces. Consumers will continue to support brands that take a stand on issues from climate to gender to race. In this enlightening seminar you will learn about these topics and how retailers and brands must shift now to thrive in the future with this forever transformed consumer.
(e)revolution: The E-Bike Revolution
Q & A Session
Lance Camisasca
Show Director, (e)revolution
Dave Petri
Marketing & Communications, (e)revolution
e)revolution is coming to Denver, Colorado in June 2023. Come learn about this new E-Bike B2B2C Trade show!
Day 2 - Track 1
The Role of Specialty Retail in the Circular Economy
Overview: Discuss the role that specialty retailers can have in supporting the circular economy
Details: According to Forrester, the circular economy is predicted to be a significant retail trend in 2022. Moreover, the outdoor industry has been a leader in the role of product sustainability and brands like Patagonia and large retailers like REI offer buyback programs for gear and apparel to minimize end-of-life impacts to the environment.
In this panel, we will have a conversation with several experts to discuss what the circular economy is and how specialty retailers can participate, and potentially identify new revenue streams and provide value to their customers.
Topics will include:
- Business Case for circular economy
- The role product design has in circular economy
- The operational infrastructure refurbishing and resale
- Business Models for Retailers interested in refurbished gear sales
Engaging the Plus-Size Audience:
The $20 Billion in Buying Power You're Missing
Kara Richardson Whitely
Author of Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds
When brands omit extended-size offerings from apparel to kayaks, they are competing for the same 33 percent of the market. That’s because 67 percent of US women are size 14 and above. This oft-ignored segment makes up $20 Billion in buying power in apparel alone and that’s when the offerings are scant. Meanwhile, Covid has welcomed a more diverse (including body types) group of folks to outdoor activities, so it’s more important than ever to engage with this market.
Kara Richardson Whitely is a plus-size author, adventurer, influencer and advisor who will share how this isn’t just an “if you build it they will come” opportunity. The customer journey for many in larger bodies is rife with stereotypes and stigma. Kara will share simple steps on how retailers and brands can welcome this market without pitfalls, prejudice and peril.
How Retailers can Operate in a Hybrid Retail Environment
Presented by Locally
Overview: Retailers need to embrace online shopping as a critical part of their customers’ path to purchase. More and more consumers are shopping in a hybrid retail environment where people are shopping online but head to their local shop to make their purchase.
Details: According to Forbes, traditional brick & mortar retailers should expect most shopping/buyer journeys to begin online. How are you adapting your business model to operate within this new environment? In this panel, we will have a conversation with several experts on how the hybrid model is trending in retail with specific discussion on how a brand and retailer collaborate to facilitate this new paradigm – creating profitable opportunities for both.
Topics will include:
- Business Case for embracing hybrid retail
- Examples of how retailers can engage in hybrid retail
- Real life examples of hybrid retail in action from a brand & retailer
Your website can look like REI
Presented by NBDA
Suzie Livingston
SmartEtailing Communications + Marketing Manager
This interactive presentation will help you compete with the biggest brand in specialty retail. Your website marries technology and merchandising to create an engaging way for customers to discover and shop at your business. SmartEtailing provides websites for 20% of independent bike shops in the US and are experts in creating effective online experiences that help local specialty stores deliver the omnichannel shopping experience that customers expect from national brands like REI.
Day 2 - Track 2
SRAM- AXS Echo Systems
Presented by NBDA
Doug Dalton
Technical Field Specialist, SRAM
Overview: AXS Families, Power, AXS app, AXS Web, SRAM
Reimagining the Customer Experience for Buying a Bike
Presented by NBDA
Taylor Essick
CEO & Founder, Kitzuma
As the bike industry (like every industry) continues to evolve at lightspeed, customer expectations have significantly changed. COVID has accelerated this change exponentially. Selling bikes and P&A online is no longer a “nice to have”. It is a baseline consumer expectation that is non-negotiable. However, selling online within your own ecommerce environment truly limits your reach and narrows your addressable consumer base considerably. In order to compete today, dealers need to be able to sell effortlessly across multiple digital channels and do so with ease. This seminar will discuss the ins and outs of what you need to do to sell with confidence to today’s digitally savvy customer base. In addition to this, we will share our full-cycle approach to enabling a delightful customer experience for buying and selling online with the end result being the careful and timely delivery of your brand new bike right to your front door.
Pull Through: Winning Strategies to Keep Customers Loyal
Presented by NBDA
Rob Soloman
Senior Account Executive, Ascent 360
On average, loyal customers are worth 10 times as much as their first purchase — How targeted, personalized communications build more profitable customer relationships.
So you didn't Marry a Marketer
Presented by NBDA
Kristin Sundin Brandt
Senior Account Executive, Ascent 360President, Sundin Sports Marketing
Co-owner & Marketing Manager, Steve the Bike Guy
Starting Steve the Bike Guy (STBG) an independent bicycle shop outside of Boston, mechanic Steve Brandt had a not-so-secret resource available,he was married to an experienced marketer and agency owner.
For the past 10 years, Kristin has applied her efforts to building and supporting Steve the Bike Guy. In that time, she and her husband have learned what marketing can do for their business – building your brand, acquiring and retaining customers, pricing and competitive analysis, communicating and storytelling, and evaluating ROI, just to start – and what it cannot.
During this session, Kristin will share real-life examples and arguments conversations she and her husband have had along the way, as well as answer questions you may have about marketing your business – because not everyone is “lucky” enough to be married to a marketer. Or a bike mechanic.
Going Above and Beyond with the Bicycle
Friendly Business Program
Presented by NBDA
Amelia Neptune
Director, Bicycle Friendly America Program League of American Bicyclists
Of course every bike shop is friendly to bikes, but what does it take to become certified as a Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) by the League of American Bicyclists? Why would a customer choose a bike shop, brand, or company with a BFB designation, and what’s the difference between a business that earns Bronze-level BFB status and Platinum status?
The BFB program can help your shop or brand to build a network of bike educators and advocates for bicycling, reach more customers, spread more bike joy, and advocate for better bicycling in your community and beyond. Over the last 14 years, the League’s BFB program has helped over 1,500 businesses including over 300 bike shops across the country to go above and beyond the standard “bikes are our business” model and become the heart of growing and empowering their local bicycling community. Please join us to learn how the BFB program has worked for others and what it can do for your employees, your customers, and your community.
Learn more about the League of American Bicyclists and the BFB program at bikeleague.org/business.