Sporting Goods Intelligence Europe and its new sister, The Outdoor Industry Compass, have agreed to be among the sponsors of the first European Outdoor Forum. Scheduled to be held Oct. 11-13 in Annecy, home to Salomon, Millet, Patagonia Europe and many other outdoor-related companies, this convention aims to put together key players in the outdoor market from all over Europe and beyond to share information and develop relations in a relaxed, no-pressure environment away from the trade shows.
Leading speakers will address various topics including the market situation, future trends in outdoor activities, the impact of the internet, the future of e-commerce, collaborative innovation, sustainability, corporate social responsibility and branding. The conference will take place on Oct. 12 and 13 in the Imperial Palace facing the Lake of Annecy.
While Ispo will sponsor the dinner on the eve of the conference, SGI-Compass will sponsor the lunch on Oct. 12 and Performance Days the lunch on Oct. 13. The European Outdoor Group (EOG) has agreed to be a partner of the whole event and has been working with its organizer, Outdoor Sports Valley (OSV), on building up the program. The French Sport Achat fair and the OutDoor show Friedrichshafen are also supporting the initiative.
The European Outdoor Forum is going to be one of the first concrete initiatives of the OSV, the new association created a few months ago in Annecy with the support of local and regional authorities. The OSV is chaired by Jean-Luc Diard, former president of Salomon and currently vice president of Tecnica Group.
Rémi Forsans, executive director of the OSV, is organizing the conference along with Clive Ripley. Both have accumulated experience by putting together a similar event, the European Snowboarding Industry Forum, for the past six years, with the backing of Ispo and other sponsors. Forsans also runs the mountain division of EuroSima, the European surf industry association, and Ripley is publisher of the Boardsport Source media platform. For new information on the convention you can register at www.europeanoutdoorforum.com.
