By Channel Signal Analysts James Mills, David Sweeney and Paul Kirwin

At the 2010 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market boosters of specialty products and services had a unique opportunity to participate in a conversation about the show, brands and events. Broadcast over the #ORWinter Twitter feed hosted and monitored by Channel Signal, even outdoor professionals who couldn’t attend the event were able to login and share the flow of information
“From my perspective, it was great to be able to participate with OR, without being there,” said William Roth (@williamroth), social network coordinator of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming. “I liked seeing twitpics with new/conceptual products. I was able to learn about #guerillapanel and build my outdoor industry base of twitter users. It also made me realize just how much I need to be attending OR in the summer.”
By simply including #ORWinter in their entries of 140 characters or less Twitter users shared photographs, videos and abbreviated links to blog web sites. Anyone on the planet with Internet access could see and follow the comment stream in real-time throughout the four-day event, including the on-snow demo. And on the show floor, exhibitors and key industry influencers were able to use the power of social media to generate excitement and drive traffic to their booths.

Those brands that hosted exciting industry events generated the most traffic. Teva’s live music party on the 2nd night of the show raised the conversation quotient among Tweeters with large followings, posting 29,250 social media impressions at the show. For each Tweeter who shared information about Teva, an equal number of their total followers got the word. Keen Footwear also had an impressive showing with 24,241 impressions during the show. In-booth promotions to benefit Haitian earthquake relief as well as several videos posted to YouTube were likely contributors to Keen’s success. The brand encouraged its fans to become engaged throughout OR and for a few days afterward
“We wanted to keep it simple and authentic so that people could have real-time interaction with our brand, “said Keen spokesman Chris Enlow. “ We wanted to come up with creative ways to reach our fans and not just the people at the show. If we just focused on ‘Orwinter’, the hash tag, we would have missed out on an opportunity to build our community.”

But it wasn’t just the big brands that did well in the social media rankings. The company Naturally Bamboo was ranked 4th with 18,754 impressions. Owner and exhibitor April Femrite aggressively used the #ORWinter channel to talk up her business and she enlisted the help of others. For example this message was posted by leading outdoor industry social media influencer Sara Lingafelter AKA @theclimbergirl: “Wardrobe change thanks to @naturallybamboo. This dress is so incredibly comfy, I feel like I’m running around naked. #orwinter”
Original messages like this one about @naturallybamboo were shared repeatedly across the Internet. It’s likely that a conversation about a naked @theclimbergirl was passed around peer to peer with more than a few chuckles. And with each re-tweet was also sent and received a message about the comfort of a dress made by Naturally Bamboo.
“I hope this proves to be a social media success story,” said Femrite. “I don’t have a huge marketing budget. All I have is social media, Facebook and Twitter, to build buzz and bring my brand to the attention of my customers.”

Two of the most talked about exhibitors weren’t brands but non-profit organizations, 1% For The Planet and The Conservation Alliance. With the help of key influencers who support these groups the issues of wildlife conservation and environmental conservation became top-of-mind.
“Social media makes the connection between brands, causes and adventurers clearer than ever before,” said Emily Nuchols, an industry influencer and a principle at Under Solen Media. “It’s not about who gets the most action on Twitter, it’s about who uses their social media to take action on things that matter. We believe in the power of social media to make positive change, and we believe in people who are passionate about their causes — be they businesses, advocates or adventurers.”
Nuchols posted information about the groups bi-annual breakfast meeting and spread the word on several promotional fundraising events held on the Conservation Alliance’s behalf at the booths of many different exhibitors.

On the other side of the issue, Malcolm Daly, founder of the climbing equipment company Trango has been attending OR since the 70’s and is a self-described skeptic. “I have high hopes but low expectations for the #ORWinter channel,” he said in a blog post a week before the show. “It’s already inundated with 140 character versions of the 40 year old press release, posted (tweeted) up by people and companies who don’t get it. Why would I bother to take notice of those if I never even bothered to take notice of them before?”
To Daly’s point if users of social media employ traditional techniques of one-way communications to connect with their audience very little of the conversation will change. But those brands and individuals who actively engage in a dialog, sharing and responding to pertinent and compelling information, can indeed use networks like the #ORWinter feed to their benefit.

Many will likely ask: “Was the #ORWinter experiment a success?” That’s like asking if a conversation at a cocktail party was successful. The more pertinent questions are: Was the discussion lively and informative? Did you discover anything new? Did you come away with the knowledge that you were not only heard but also listened to? Would you engage in this kind of conversation in the future?
Social media neither succeeds nor fails, it simply is. In the free exchange of ideas one will only get out of a conversation as much as he or she is prepared to put into it. Those who created meaningful content, those who responded directly to the questions or comments of others and those who shared what they discovered with the conversation at large will inevitably be the most successful users of social media.

Below are the top tens in both Brands and Influencers.

Note: Possible impressions= the number of  mentions of that brand by unique users (X)  their followers. This number excludes retweets, ( people who were passing a tweet along).

Top Ten Brands                                                           Impressions

@TevaMeansNature (Teva)                                                        29,250

@keen_shoes ( Keen Footwear)                                               25,241

@conservationall (The Conservation Alliance)                   21, 252

@naturallybamboo (Naturally Bamboo)                               18,754

@DfaDogs (D-fa Dogs)                                                                9,981

@hardwear (Mountain Hardwear)                                           9,633

@1PercentFTP (1% For The Planet)                                         7,276

@haikubags (Haiku)                                                                    6,780

@montrail (Montrail)                                                                   4,917

@chacousa (Chaco)                                                                      4,045

Total generated by the Top Ten                                             118,375

Top Ten Influencers                   Mentions                           Followers

@theclimbergirl 15                                  3,370
@PembaServes 12                                  1,123
@Eliz_Castro 11                                  1,662
@undersolen 10                                     461
@wude72 10                                11,181
@saralingafelter 9                                      549
@canoelover 9                                       461
@RepGirl 8                                       215
@TheGearJunkie 7                                    3,191
@highsteph 7                                    1,758

Total number of Followers                                                   23,971

Jeremy Collins

Jeremy put together two beautiful collage installations facing the aisles. Showing images of climbers, yogis and environmental activists the works of art gave passersby a glimpse into the company’s corporate culture. Depicting its social values, a blend of conservation, fashion sense and athleticism Prana is sending a message. By supporting Jeremy’s work in the media of painting, photo illustration and sculpting, the lifestyle clothing company is reaching out and connecting with its customers. With the help of an influential professional artist who graciously and generously shares his talent with the world, Prana is engaging in social media.
Among the many other hats I’ve been wearing lately is that of a journalist. I’ve been wading through our ideas about social media and I’ve taken it upon myself to help better define our understanding what it means. The first thing I can tell you is that it’s not all about technology. Social media has been around long before the creation of the iPhone and the Blackberry. Throughout human history people have engaged one another through works of art, literature, cuisine and music. For millennia we’ve gathered around the campfire sharing stories, singing songs of day’s events. We’ve painted on cave walls and communed in the passing of food. These artifacts of our society endure to this day.

Media, plural of the word medium, are intermediate agents that communicate information. In ancient times a medium was a person or thing that conveyed specific spiritual messages. Today we use various media as social currency to communicate our ideas, our beliefs and our understanding of the world in which we live. Really the only difference now is that new social media offers everyone the opportunity to communicate and freely exchange their ideas on a global scale.

Throughout the week at OR there’s been a lot of talk about social media. The proliferation of online networking web sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter has manufacturers, retailers and PR professionals in the outdoor industry scrambling to figure out how they’re going to make this new technology work for them. The common belief is that by capturing the attention of a large audience of consumers companies will be able to successfully sell all kinds of products and services.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters

But the reality is those actively engaged in social media aren’t interested in being shouted at by some 800-pound corporate gorilla. People who send tweets and texts and post their images and updates to Facebook want to find themselves in a dialog sharing ideas in a social exchange on equal ground. This new generation of social media users wants every bit as much to be heard as they are eager to listen in.

When companies engage their customers as equals there’s a wonderful opportunity to communicate the values they both share. One of the best examples of this was an event I attended at the Depot in Salt Lake City. The companies KEEN, Marmot, Suunto and others partnered with Backpacker Magazine to put on a concert performance of Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Playing to a sold-out crowd the rock band raised money and awareness for the fight against cancer. The event benefited the organization Love Hope Strength who registered more than 100 bone marrow donors between the opening act and the headliner. Sharing the medium of music each of the sponsoring companies designed a custom made artistically rendered guitar that they raffled off to show attendees.

Shannon Folley Executive director of Love Hope Strength

What matters most in social media is human interaction. Sharing art and music, food and literature we can communicate to one another those things that are important to us. And as we shift hats from one medium to next we can use the power of online networks to connect with more people who share our values and perhaps (though not necessarily) engage as well in commerce. Just so long as we keep in mind that media (plural) at they’re best are social.

These are the CRAZIEST days of the year. I’m up at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City Utah. Check out the first round of photographs on the Joy Trip Project Facebook page.

Through weekend I’m connecting with old friends and building new relationships with some of the incredible people in business of outdoor recreation. I’ll continue to post pictures and stories as time and energy allow. But you can follow the goings on at the live Twitter feed sponsored by Channel Signal.

Search for #ORWinter on Twitter pull down the conversation coming direct from the show floor. You can participate in the conversation and find out what’s new from your favorite outdoor companies. Let me know if there’s anything you want to know about products coming out for 2011. I’ll also keep you posted on some amazing new initiatives to get kids outside and work being done on behalf of the environment. Just drop me a tweet www.twitter.com/joytripproject

Where ever you are today, make sure you get OUTSIDE!

This show promises to allow attendees to be better connected than ever before. Several different platforms both online and on the show floor have been established to network new ideas and messages. Bloggers and tweeters of all varieties are going to post detailed information about the latest outdoor products in real time over the Internet. When the show opens on Thursday outdoor manufacturers and their retail customers will have an unprecedented opportunity to build strong brand identity and communicate their company’s compelling proposition. All anyone has to do is post a thoughtful message over Twitter with the call sign #ORWinter, and the conversation will take care of itself.

“Having the #ORWinter channel to communicate about events and what’s cool is a fantastic use of the technology,” said Seattle-based blogger Sara Lingafelter(@theclimbergirl) in a recent post. “It’s completely appropriate for brands to use that channel wisely… this time around, someone is definitely listening.”

The feed is being monitored and managed by the new social media company Channel Signal. The wisdom of following the conversation comes when people on the show floor share their thoughts on what they’ve seen or heard and allow others to comment. But industry professionals like independent sales rep Megan Kress(@repgirl) are concerned that any good information she might glean will be drowned out by all the noise.

“I’ve been watching the tidal wave of #ORWinter tweeting this week and a couple things have caught my attention. But so much of the time it seems like regurgitation of press releases and self-promotion,” she said in response to Lingafelter’s post. “I’m curious if “they” are listening. And will “they” have time to listen at the show where it’s running from one side of the Salt Palace to another?”

There’s nothing technology can do to slow down the frantic pace of OR. But as you’re race-walking to your next appointment or standing in line for coffee there will be brief moments when you can jot down and post an observation to the feed. In the morning while checking your email take a few seconds and respond to a thought someone else has shared about an event or a new product that interests you.

There will be three flat screen monitors set in high-visibility locations on the show floor. Plus you can always use your web-equipped cell phone or wireless connection on your laptop to stay connected to the feed and get involved.

Retailers like Darren Bush (@canoelover) of Rutabaga here in Madison recognize the value of social media. But he doesn’t look at it as a silver bullet that will instantly bring success to his business.

“It’s just another (means) to get your message out there in a different way,” he said in a text exchange on Facebook. “Your message, I believe, should reflect who you are as a person, group, or corporation. If done correctly, it’s great. If it’s done poorly, it’s a complete waste of time.”

Re-tweeting press releases shouldn’t be your only contribution to the feed. Any observation that reflects your personal opinion is value added to the conversation. Even short expressions like Loved it! Hated it! Good concept but flawed application!, help to move the conversation forward. Just make yourself heard.

By sharing your thoughts you’re encouraging others at the show to share ideas about your business as well. The benefit to you is a candid analysis of the things you can do to improve the quality of your product. Or perhaps you’ll get feedback that affirms the decisions you’ve made to keep moving forward in a positive direction.

And if you absolutely have nothing to offer, you can always work at connecting with the many influencers out there who have nothing but opinions to share. Many are professional journalists. Some are athletes. All will be chiming-in with their thoughts, suggestions and criticisms. There will be hundreds of blog and twitter posts uploaded to the Internet throughout the week. Make a good impression. Tell your story. Talk up your products. But if you want to be heard above the noise share ideas that are interesting, thoughtful and compelling enough for those who listen to share them others. This week at OR even your silence will be saying something.