This article syncs up with all of the feedback I've received from local OR exhibitors:
Quote:
"It seems like they've been looking for an excuse [to leave Salt Lake City]," said Austin Moyes, national sales manager for Logan-based Aquamira Technologies, which produces filtered hydration packs and water bottles. "To say that Utah is not an outdoor-friendly state is bogus."
"We think the name of Utah has been tarnished a bit in that endeavor … especially from out of state.
"As a Utah company, we're really proud of Utah," Keller said. "It's extremely important to protect public lands, [and] we acknowledge Utah is not perfect in that capacity. … [But] we're not agreeing to the villainous [reputation] we've been given."
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They, except for perhaps the deplorable Black Diamond (please for the love of god, Peter "Lord Jesus" Metcalf, move your company to Colorado), are almost universally pissed off about OR leaving Utah and they form a massive coalition within OR. The smart people at DA, VSL and SLC need to pounce on this yesterday and form an alternative OR convention. OR's influence is waning due to competing conferences anyway. Now is the time to pounce.
I would like to see a bi-annual conference that turns OR on its head by including both the public, like Comicon, and the industry. Integrate with existing food, beverage, tech and music events: Tastemakers, Taste the Wasatch, Park City Food and Wine, Twilite Concerts, Crucial Fest, etc. Make it a two week mish-mash, market the hell out of it it and welcome 200,000 friends to SLC. Sort of like our very own SXSW. Salt Lake is already a sneaky destination city, now let's capitalize on ti.