Celebrating the Magic of the Big Gear Show
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Celebrating the Magic of the Big Gear Show
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Today’s guest is Lance Camisasca, bike show director at the Big Gear Show. Having served in the trade show industry for over 20 years, Lance is an experienced event creator and director who is globally acclaimed for hosting productive and purposeful gatherings whose blueprints are proven to be years ahead of their time. Learn from this conversation more about Lance, takeaways from Big Gear show 2021, and a glimpse into the future ahead.
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Celebrating the Magic of the Big Gear Show
Tue, 8/17
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
retailers, working, brands, event, big, people, bike, called, bike shop, pandemic, years, thought, industry, bicycle, moment, press, invitation, lance, director, pulled
SPEAKERS
Heather Mason, NBDA , Lance Camisasca
NBDA 00:10
You are listening to bicycle retail radio brought to you by the National bicycle Dealers Association.
Heather Mason 00:16
Welcome to another episode of bicycle retail radio brought to you by the NBDA. This is President Heather Mason. Thank you for listening. If you’re a first time listener, be sure to check out the previous episodes, please do us a favor and leave a review. Today’s guest is Williams Cami saska bike show director at the big gear show having served in the trade show industry for over 20 years. Lance is an experienced event creator and director who is globally acclaimed for hosting productive and purposeful gatherings whose blueprints are proven to be years ahead of their time. I welcome this conversation today to learn more about Lance has some takeaways from big year show 2021. And a glimpse into the future ahead. Welcome, Lance. Thank you for joining us.
Lance Camisasca 00:57
Great to be with you, Heather.
Heather Mason 00:58
Oh my gosh, what a show just a super huge effort, a great organization. I’m still recovering. How is your week that it’s been just a week now. I was surprised to wake up and realize a weekend already passed. I couldn’t believe it. I am doing well. I mean, I have some bags under my eyes, obviously. And I really was exhausted being outdoors for five days straight 18 hours a day with the wind in the sun. I’m not complaining. It’s a beautiful office to work in. But it did take its toll. But I am recovering. And we’re really busy with posts, event duties and looking forward to 2022 I gotta be honest, I’ve never felt so tired walking away from a trade show in all my life. I mean, I spent two days completely like down. So I can’t imagine the effort you and your team put in Do you live near that location is that when you’re lucky enough to live literally 10 miles away from the show site, I relocated the Park City about two years ago, after many years of traveling back and forth to Park City Deer Valley with my previous events in my life, I kept coming back to Southern California and saying, I love that area. I want to live there. But I have kids in school and other ties to Southern California. I couldn’t break at the time. But finally two years ago, my wife and I made the decision to make the move and we live just down the road from where we were such an amazing area. I fell in love with it just for the brief time we were there. Lance, I have to say it was an incredible experience working so closely with you and your team. You know, we met weekly, and I really want to get into the show. But I always love to start with like the person. So in this case, it’s you. And I want to know, we haven’t had a chance to really catch up the two of us. How did you get into the bike industry? Well, this could be an entire separate podcast probably. But I’ll try to be concise and brief. I mean, I grew up in a bike shop, really I fell in love with cycling at 13. And I pinned on my first number at 14. And I actually wasn’t working at my local bike shop just yet. But I was hanging out there so much, a buddy of mine, same thing. And we were always in the bike shop. And finally the owner came up to us and said if you’re going to be here this many hours, we might as well put you to work. So I started working on my local bike shop at 14 work all through high school. Absolutely. It was my home away from home, I loved it. I was racing my bike, I was hanging at the bike shop. And if I wasn’t eating or sleeping, I was trying to get school and going back to the bike shop. And I did that all the way through high school left to go to college. And then even all my years in college, all I wanted to do was get back to the bike shop because I just love the environment. I love working retail. And I did I returned back to that same bike shop which by the way, it was originally a cycle in northern Jersey, where I grew up, the store is still going strong. And sadly I should say the owner that I’m referring to Don McKinnon just passed away last month. And it was sad because this is the man that was responsible for getting me so involved in retail and Mike’s and always be appreciative of his his hard work and effort. But at any rate, I got into retail then back after college and they opened up a satellite store which was an absentee owner store that I ran for about three years. During all this time, my family, my immediate family, my mom and dad, my brother all relocated in Southern California. They were getting a little tired of New Jersey and I stuck it out but I was longing to go home if you will. So I picked up and moved to California stumbled into a legendary store forum one main street, Huntington Beach, California called two wheel Transit Authority. Those are old enough to know probably people more my age will remember that that was the bicycle store retail store in the United States. And my big break and when the current manager at that time said to me Hey Lance, you know I like what you’re bringing to the table. I like your experiences. I want to make you the manager I’ll be leaving in six months which was completely unbeknownst to me that he was leaving so I became manager of that store and it was an absolutely incredible time in retail for me I it was one of the best bike shops maybe on the planet. We had guests coming from all over
Lance Camisasca 05:00
The world to see the story was big. It was merchandised beautifully. It was all top level equipment for enthusiasts. So we weren’t even dealing with, not to say there’s anything wrong with his bikes. But you know, as an enthusiast and a racer to be working with all those products exclusively was pretty amazing. Anyway, I’m getting a little long in the tooth. But I worked there for a couple of years. And it was the epitome of what I thought retail was, but I was wanting to get on the other side of the fence, I wanted to be working for a manufacturer. So I got an offer to work with suntour, another old brand that was really tied closely with Fuji bikes, they were really attached that to hc perspective product. And I flew back to my hometown bus in New Jersey, and picked up a job working with suntour. That led me to Fuji. I was with that group. There’s two brands for about nine years, and decided I wanted to be back in California. So I flew back to California, I was living in California again when the phone rang. And it was a dear friend of mine who was the director of mazak, USA. And he said, Hey, we’re going to be taking marvic dealer direct, which is more commonplace today. But back in 92, it would have been going dealer direct was a big deal. And not too many European brands in particular did it. The most recent one at that time was to Lee if I recall. And we were admiring the work they did to turn the key and bilgiler direct. So they brought me in for six months, I worked ridiculous amounts of hours and got that brand turned around to go dealing direct. And it was really exciting time I loved marvic. You know, again, as a former road racer, everything about mother and the yellow cars, and the service course was a dream come true. So that was really a dream job, most of the end, so hang in there. So finally, Mother, I was purchased by Solomon, nice company. But they immediately wanted to move the company in New England. And my family was ringing the bell again to come home. So like, once again, go back to California. And I was just hanging out really and helping my brother with a business that he has unrelated to cycling. And somebody said, Hey, interbike is looking for a tradeshow director. And I thought, I love the show, I was an executive for 13 years, I always got a charge out of being at interbike. And seeing everybody and being a part of that. So I applied for the job. And by some dumb luck, I got it. So that was my jump into trade shows. And I was an underbite show director, probably during the best time. I mean, we were on fire and the show was huge. I got bigger and bigger every year. And I was there for 10 years directing, I finally decided I just wanted to do something on my own, I was tired of the Big Show, I didn’t think it was necessarily touching all the points that I thought a trade show should do. And understandably, here was a big show. I mean, it’s like cruising the Queen Mary, and you go by beautiful beaches, and you can’t stop because the ships too big. I felt like I wanted to stop and get off on one of those beaches. So I formed my own little company called lifeboat events, and immediately launched a series of press caps that I did for the next decade. And dealer cap in the middle of all that. So that was kind of the last part of my career in the cycling industry until I decided to I sold the brand that I started. And I was working on consulting when I met Sutton bacon, who launched the bigger show. And that’s where we are today.
Heather Mason 08:13
So much to unpack there. You know, I don’t think that was realized at the time where we’re headed. And that is what is so fantastic about the bicycle industry. You know, if your passion filled for which I can tell, you know, our listeners can’t see you. But I see you just smiling and lit up talking about your past and the reflection talking about the retailer in New Jersey you worked for this industry just continues to open doors if you want them to come to you. I have so many questions. So we went from interbike to launching your own company lifeboat events and press camp. Can you tell us more about press camp because that doesn’t exist anymore crash. But I remember being a very particular thing for the industry.
Lance Camisasca 08:54
I can it’s pretty interesting story. But I’ll get I’ll try to be as brief as possible. So during my tenure with interbike, I always had this vision of doing small, intimate, experiential style targeted events that weren’t for the masses, but they’re really for a targeted audience. And even during my 10 years with interbike, I did a thing in New Jersey, Vernon, New Jersey called the open air trade fair, which now in hindsight, was really what the big gear show was last week. It was an outdoor experiential event where we brought in retailers and manufacturers that would have been 1999. And then throughout my tenure, I was always trying to saddle up alongside other gatherings. I did a series of events with VLC, which wasn’t the VLC at the time, but similar platform. I did a condo in a condo, kind of a speed dating event one time or again targeted, you know, intimate, you know, personal type of events. But it was really towards the end of my time, my dear friend Chris sigma, and I he was working with pedras and it was an event you may remember well called the angels festival in New England. And he said to me one day he goes, I’d like to Bring in some media and have them meet, you know, with the manufacturers that are actually present at the Pedro’s festival, and let them get to know each other and let them demo some products. And I was all over it. I said, that is a brilliant idea. So I was still with interbike. And we actually did that we hosted a little tiny event within the big Pedro’s Festival, where we hooked up the media with the brands. It didn’t make any money. It didn’t really make any media coverage. But it was cool. I thought it was really cool. So the first idea I had in leaving interbike and forming my little company was to try to do that again. And it was just me and my business partner at the time, Chad data stone, and we kind of resurrected that idea to bring the media together, particularly brands who wave their arms in the air, and they struggle to get the media’s attention. Because let’s face it, I mean, the media’s attention is pretty much taken up by the major brands, particularly at other events, we felt like these guys needed a leg up. So we launched our first press cap, which is what we called it in 2009. And that would have been in Sun Valley. And it was hugely accepted. We had I think the first event we had 20 brands, and I think we had 20 plus members of the media. It was again that speed dating thing that I resurrected from another event I did with interbike to have the media Satan have scheduled appointments throughout the three days that we gathered. And that meant everybody would see everyone and in between all that we’d be on bikes and we eating great food and drinking a few beers and having fun. So it was really well received. The only problem with it that came out of the air was I wasn’t pleased with Sun Valley. Nothing wrong with Sun Valley. It’s a beautiful place, but it’s a little hard to get to and airports tiny and if it follows up, you’re out of luck. So I came to Deer Valley. That was my first year in 2010. I walked the venue and met a gal named Julie Norcross, who was super kind to be and drove around in her car and we stuck there ever since. So we did. I don’t know how many I think we did 15 Press caps there from 2010 to 2017. I never very exciting that I did a bunch of them. I did one in Washington DC we did three in southern no more. Five. And we did in Southern California. We tried to launch one in Europe almost got off the ground. But we ran into some struggles. It was critically acclaimed around the world. And we had literally had journalism brands from around the world. It was a great time. Yeah, I
Heather Mason 12:18
remember being on a couple brand specific marketing events and hearing the media that was on this, you know, trip that I was on talking about press camp and their excitements ago. And you know, lists are something that I witness at the big year show that I really need to give you kudos on, you know, being someone who’s gone to interbike for several years as a retailer, and also as a vendor, you just don’t know the way you approach everyone in your, your attitude. It’s very friendly. And there’s a certain level of passion and caring that you don’t get all the time and it’s recognizable. When your son was there working like it truly means something to you. And you can tell, I want to know how you became the bike show director for the big gear show. How did that role come about?
Lance Camisasca 13:01
Yeah, so in 2017, well, actually, in 2015, I actually sold the press camp brand, not my company, but just the brand of Press Club to another tradeshow organizer out of Cleveland area, Ohio, and they end up hiring me back to be the director of the press caps that they inherited from the purchase. And I was working on that until 2017. And sadly for another long story for another podcast, but they end up shelfing the press cap events, because they were moving in a completely different direction. And quite honestly, when they bought us we were kind of the black sheep of the family anyway, so the relationship came to an end. And I was for the first time, I guess you could call me unemployed, I didn’t have a job. And I was kind of trying to figure out my next steps. And I decided to hang a shingle and be a consultant for brands who do events. Because I you know, in all the years I was doing events, I was seeing some people doing really well. And I was seeing a lot of others doing really poorly. I thought I could make a living helping people do a better job at events, whether their consumer events or trade events. And lo and behold, got a few gigs. And I was making some money and surviving. And in the meantime, I’m keeping my ear to the ground on what’s going on in the tradeshow world. And I hear about this guy named Sutton bacon, I didn’t know at all. And he had an experience of doing this event called paddle sports retailer, which was a break off from the Outdoor Retailer show for the paddle sports industry. So I knew a little bit about that. But I didn’t know who Sutton Baker was. And then I heard that he wanted to integrate other active lifestyle segments into his paddle sports retailer event changed the name to the big beer show. And it was going to include cycling, camping, and hiking and climbing. And I thought that’s a brilliant idea. Because really, we’re all outdoors. We’re all one big family to think about it and we’re all fighting for the same consumers and let’s face it when you’re going to garage anywhere, particularly here around the noun Park City, but many, many places around the country. What do you see you see kayaks, you see skis, you see bikes, yeah, we’re all addressing the same end user and we really ought to be working close. And we are. So I called the guy I call this diamond seitan bacon. I said, Hey, I’m living right where you’re planning to do an event. And I think your idea is brilliant. And we literally talked that first day, we talked for an hour and 45 minutes, so we just hit it off. We clicked on everything. And the next week, he hired me. So I really was calling to say hi more than anything else. But I got a gig out of it. And it became a full time job. And the only piece of the puzzle that we were kind of really missing was somebody like me that could speak for the outdoor industry. And Kenji, our attorney, and who I’d known forever, because he was the director of Outdoor Retailer, when I was the director of interbike, we worked in the same building right down the hall from one another. And he, interestingly enough, was doing the same thing I was doing was consulting and helping brands do better jobs, we even find a band together best another podcast, so I knew he super well. And I mentioned him to Sutton and he goes, Well, yeah, he’s my next call, I’m willing to call and we got him on board and my two weeks. So the three of us came together and started work, it was magical. It really does. I
Heather Mason 16:02
was gonna say the word I had was magic. I mean, the three of you coming together, that’s amazing. And so the concept of this invitation only, you know, multi sport show that was already there. And then you guys kind of expanded on this.
Lance Camisasca 16:16
So someone had the vision. And we all agreed that it was a great vision. And we started working on it. Some of the pieces of the puzzle were in place, we were contracted to have an event at the salt Palace in Salt Lake City. So it was going to be a more traditional indoor events, some of the features that we just did last week, like Invitational and making sure that we’re putting the best retailers with the best brands that type of thought was in place. One thing that wasn’t I wasn’t too keen with was they were going to devote a whole lot. So some, some demoing. So the vision at that time was to take one of the halls of the salt palace and have a climbing wall and maybe put in a bike course and do some things like that. And I immediately raised my hand and I said, Hey, you know, 30 minutes up the road is Deer Valley resort, you know, they know me really well. I’ve done a lot of events there. It’s a beautiful, let’s get a demo day or two, whatever we can do about your Valley resorts. So at the time, when we incorporated that concept of the show, you can imagine where I’m going here was 2019, March, and all of a sudden the world stopped. That was the way I was literally almost a week the world just came to a complete halt about the pandemic simply be carried on because we didn’t know if it was going to be as serious as it was. And we were we worked really hard on putting that whole concept together until June. No, I’m sorry, it was May of 19, we had to pull the clock. So we pulled the plug on the show. And we all kind of got on a call like you’re in Iran now and looked at each other. And so what’s next and Sutton literally admitted said printers are working on 2021. And I was like, great. So that’s what we did, we had first read it the 2021. But we decided to bring the event entirely up the hill, as I say, with your Valley. And what you saw last week was the culmination of you know, that thought process and putting everything outdoors. And I do want to say one thing that I hear all the time, and it really is incorrect. I hear a lot of people say, you guys created the greatest event and you could possibly host during a pandemic, good thinking you guys are brilliant. And I don’t know, we’re not that we didn’t design that event to be a pandemic event. We designed it to be outside because we want to be outside. We believe outdoor industries need to work outside, we need to have experiential components of the event. We want people to try product and get on it and really test it before they buy it. And it’s a hard, good show. We can live outside, our goods belong outside, they’re used outside. And the whole show’s theme really was to bring the brands together that make the products to get people outdoors. So why are we even considering going indoors. So we really designed this event with that in mind, pandemic chemin demick. It really had nothing to do with that. As it turned out, it was the perfect event, being in a post pandemic world. But that was never the intention. It was really just about doing an event that we think is meeting the needs of retailers and brands going forward.
Heather Mason 19:05
I mean, it felt so healthy. I mean, how many trade shows have you worked for the lower back is cramping up at the end of the day? Or you’re just like, give me some fresh air? I have to tell you Everyone was smiling. And when I heard were retailers saying Did you see the guy riding the bike on the water? I don’t know if there was like a paddle boat bike or something. But like, you know, they were interacting with many different brands in other industries. And then you know, you go to a bike show, you’re looking at bike stuff all day, bicycle retailers actually got to look at some stuff outside of bike and it was like Christmas morning, you know, they were getting to see cool stuff, you know, so I’m still glowing about you know, just the interactions we had. Alright, so early August, I felt like it was perfect timing that you guys always have early August
Lance Camisasca 19:48
on the radar. We did for a variety of reasons. Looking at it in a couple different ways. I mean, I think early August was the compromise for product cycles across the segments that we’re working with. I think it fits pretty Well with pipe Now, of course, in 2021, everything’s out of kilter. But I’m convinced that will return to a cycle, no pun intended of products. And I think August, two years ago felt correct. And I think August will feel correct going forward. So I think in terms of finding that compromise for product cycles for outdoor, and for paddle, bike, it is the best time. And then your focus is always on retail and retailers. I mean, I know that the knee jerk reaction is Oh, my God, I’m so busy, I can’t leave my store. But I also believe that the first week August might be and you’re an expert on this better than I am. But we felt as if the first week of August, the staffing, most bike shops are still at the greatest quantity. And if there’s ever a week that maybe an owner, buyer or manager could slip away might be best the first week of August. So I think most people tend to agree with that thought. And I think between that and the product cycles returning and, you know, really having an event that works across all segments, first week of August was the best choice.
Heather Mason 20:59
Yeah, I heard many positive reviews on that. And like you’re saying it was a good time for retailers, they were ready to get away, you know, to reward them. So when I’m looking at so Billy Michaels was your photographer, he did an amazing job, we see the aerial view of the tents set up fantastic photo that was in bicycle retailer with a fantastic review of the show, you know, working with you weekly bringing brands and retailers to the show. I mean, I know the conversations that we’re hearing, you’re hard to leave the store, I really want to go, you know, just the global crisis, How was it for you reaching out to brands get them to come?
Lance Camisasca 21:35
Well, it was a mixed bag, to be quite honest with you. I mean, we heard everything that we thought we were, you know, there was certainly product shortages. There were people saying I have product coming, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet. There were people saying I have a lot of new product that we can’t wait to introduce. But it’s not the right time because of the pandemic, then there was maybe the polar opposite. A lot of brands say, you know, I don’t have anything to talk about right now. But I really want to be there, it’s been a year and a half, I need to meet with my dealers, I need to have dialogue, one on one with them. And quite honestly, that was the prevailing attitude of many of the brands that were there. I mean, fortunately, some of them did have new products. And they did have products, the demo, but a lot of them are just really jonesing to get back together and have quality face time with the retailers. And that’s what we pretty much anticipated. It was a proud moment really, for me. And I think my colleagues to see brands hugging the retailers and telling them you know, I’m sorry that we’ve had troubles on this front, left front. But that’s what you know, personal b2b events are supposed to be about you can’t do that virtually you can’t do that on a telephone, you need to really see people and that was a great moment. I got tingles just thinking about it. Because that’s what a good trade show does.
Heather Mason 22:43
Yeah, I noticed that every brand that was there had a predominant person. So like the president of highlights who was there, you know, co founder of Shreya was there, it seemed like every brand, had someone who was, you know, in a Leading Role ready to talk to retailers and ready to have those conversations. It’s something I’ve never seen before lanson. You know, congratulations, kudos to you to pull it off. I know, that was probably a large ask in your 20 years of trade show. I I can’t imagine you’re ever faced with this sort of circumstance. But you did an amazing job.
Lance Camisasca 23:13
Well, thank you. I mean, it was a lot of enthusiasm from my side, and really, for my colleagues to have really good dialogues with the retailers. And you know, we had we made the argument that if you have great brands, you’ll bring great retailers and vice versa. So it didn’t surprise me that some of that some great quantity of CEOs from the brands that were there were present the luxury pieces of the world and Ryan border from highway two and on and on. The list is long of high quality brand interaction with high quality retailers. That was our goal from the get go when we started. It’s a lot of work, but I never let it drag me down. If you stay passionate and keep your enthusiasm high. It’s contagious. And I think it helps. I mean it really helped bring this group together.
Heather Mason 23:57
Yeah, I can’t agree more with that. And you know, speaking of retailers that MBDA we did definitely reach out to our P two group members, our bicycle retailer excellence awards partners, you know, talking about the big year show and inviting them to join us. We were centrally thank you for centrally located us it was fantastic to have you know the interaction throughout the show.
NBDA 24:18
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Heather Mason 24:41
I have never seen a show offer travel reimbursement. This is something that I thought was extremely unique to the big gear show. Can you talk a little bit more about this? I mean, I’ve only heard positive feedback, but I’ve never seen it done before.
Lance Camisasca 24:53
Yes. So I mean, I can go back to something bacon and I talking first long talk Before we even came together as a group, saying that trade shows are out of control with costs for everybody. And the first thing we got to do is we have to have an affordable option for people, because it shouldn’t cost as much as it has been to bring people together and your good work. So I mean, that was kind of the mantra, if you will, from the get go. And then, you know, certainly recognizing that retailers are having their own struggles and that go into a trade show is pretty expensive. We immediately said, Why don’t we do a subsidy program. And the easiest one to address is lodging, you know, you set up some lodging options. And you offer a lodging subsidy that covers essentially the nightly charge for being at the hotel. And that was the program that we ran with, we thought that would be a big help for retailers. I mean, we get, you know, better and more retailers, if we did that. But you’re on the other side of the fence, we did everything we could to keep the event kind of hassle free. You know, there’s not three agents Nope, none of those crazy, extraneous costs that we see at the big shows that even ran for years. And they were $100, kegs of beer, that type of thing. So we tried to keep the cost down across the board, I think we were pretty successful. And that’s going to be the mantra going forward as well.
Heather Mason 26:11
I really liked the travel reimbursement I liked the host hotels being someone who was you know, in and out of those hotels, picking up a retailer guests, it was neat, the environment in those hotels, because you had a bunch of people there for the show, and you can almost continue those conversations and you know, after hours, so great idea. So many positive moments, so many quality conversations. from yours perspective, Lance, is there any I’m not gonna ask you to pull out one, but any like moments of the show that are sitting with you that you would share?
Lance Camisasca 26:41
Absolutely, I’m gonna pull out one involves you, I can’t tell you how my hair stood up almost when I saw the state of the industry panel come together with the quality of the folks you had on the panel, and the standing room only crowd. What was amazing about that, to me not wasn’t that it was the fact that you pulled it off at 5pm after day one. Typically, and you know, this all too well, I trade shows at five o’clock, it’s everybody scatters, they run out and grab a beer somewhere or whatever. And you put together this fabulous group of people. And nevermind how stimulating the conversation was, I was really proud of that moment. I thought this is beyond what we had in mind when we wanted to have the NBDA vr partner in bringing education and content to the show. So that really was a big moment for me. And I’ll just say secondary, I think it was an I know I was asked the same question by brain, they said, you know, what’s going to be the big moment for you. And I said in the magazine, and I’ll say it again, it was the big moment was seeing people that hadn’t seen each other for a very long time. And brace while they were reading the green line, or they were embracing with another story, but I mean, generally speaking to see people so pleased to be with one another was what I was really anticipating. And that happened so many times in three days. It was hard to count. On many of those moments I saw, you know, specifically I think you’re standing in front of the industry title. And then generally speaking across the three days, it was just people seeing each other and doing great work together.
Heather Mason 28:08
Yeah, thank you for pointing that out. I definitely myself, I was like, Oh no, it’s five o’clock. Everyone was like, I thought it was beer time. I was like, Yeah, but I’m so thankful to the panel members for joining me and I had to be honestly as I called my father, like right after it. I was like, I just had like probably the moment of my career like it wasn’t, I thought it was great. And thank you for allowing us that platform. It was good night. I’m thinking back to your team, you know, nissa nissa was absolutely fantastic to work with and everyone on the ground was helpful is this 20 years of experience lads like assembling this crew. Like these are people you worked with before, I would probably say is dumb luck. And then there was a little bit of pulling some tricks up my sleeve. I
Lance Camisasca 28:51
mean, believe me Michaels was my photographer for nearly every press gap that I stage, he also shot dealer cap, which we didn’t talk about too much. But those three dealer camps I did in the middle of all those press caps. Billy was the guy in the valley. He knows how to climb onto the roof of the silverburn Lodge and take the shots he took. He knows where things were hidden. He knows exactly what to do. And he’s a great photographer. So Billy was a ringer I think to bring in. And my other guy Brady who did a lot of my events in the past, super hardworking guy who enjoys every moment of being there was my other ringer. So I pulled out my Rolodex and called a few, you know, pretty big your show helpers that I had. So they really didn’t make a difference. And then the other team members are just new recruitments like we somehow lucked out and got some great people. So it all worked out. Well. Yeah, kudos to you on that. And you know, thinking about the photos. You know, I saw the one article Do you expect that we’ll see additional photos, videos or more press coming out about the show this year? I absolutely adore his job was not just the capture moments, but the capture moments that we could use going forward and we spent the entire day free, maybe not the whole day, but almost half doing video testimonials, which we’re going to put into a loop and have those available. And I did that idea back in my press cap time, because when you’re posting a new event, particularly one that’s only had one experience, and you’re talking to new clients, whether they’re retailers or brands, it’s very hard to visualize, you know, with the big gear show really isn’t. And if you have a video that has some still photography and some video interviews, explain that you know, what to expect when you come to the show is super helpful. So we’re producing that as we speak. I’m kind of directing that with Billy Michaels. And we’ll have that video probably available in the coming weeks. And then there’ll be a ton of style photography we’re going to use in our campaigns going forward, trying to give people your rather than say, squint and imagine we’ll have something visual on the shirt on.
Heather Mason 30:45
Yeah, I’m trying to get across to people, you know, with my words, and you know, an idea of bringing you on for this podcast, so people can understand really, you know, what the experience was, and hopefully plan for next year? And yeah, there’s certain things like video and images help, you know, create that. I have to say the weather was wonderful. We totally lucked out. I don’t know, I’m sure you saw on Friday, the smoke rolled in, right. And it was like, thank God, the show ended yesterday.
Lance Camisasca 31:09
In the still river, it’s actually finally faded. Yeah, it’s we got lucky. I mean, why, since then, we got lucky. I mean, the weather here is always pretty good. But we did have that thunderstorm week leading up to the show. And then we had three great days, day one in particular was selling that’s commonplace and otherwise, and then as soon as everybody was packing, I could do left on Saturday, that smoke from the Oregon fires really rolled in pretty thick. And I shared with you one experience I had that was even worse. I alluded to an event I did in 1999. In Vernon, New Jersey, called the open air trade fair. And of course, in New Jersey, where I grew up, I knew the weather could be anything you know, so I was crossing fingers and toes the whole week, prior to leading up to eight, and three days before that event, a hurricane, which typically don’t go through New Jersey did, and took down trees and flooded and pretty much wiped out the venue. But amazingly, they got it kind of resurrected. And we had three perfect days for this event we did with interbike in burning, and we moved out on the fourth day and the place burned to the ground. The fire and they burned down all the lodges. So I thought I thought maybe I exhausted my man upstairs. Oh my God, we did it again, this time with that smoke and stuff. So
Heather Mason 32:24
that is the story plans. Do you think that this is a location, we might expect to see the show come back to next year?
Lance Camisasca 32:32
Yes, we’ve been really quite busy since you left last week discussing this with your Valley resort, discussing strategies on how to make it larger, but still wanted to run smoothly and have the charm and intimacy that we had just last week. Deer Valley resort is very interested in having us back. I mean, I would say unless something happens dramatically, we’re going to be right back where we were last week and 2020 looks really promising. And then those soon, because there are going to be launched in early September.
Heather Mason 33:00
Very excited to hear that. And the NBA. You know, again, you know, our partnership, we got to get those weekly meetings going again, Lance, any other things you can give us into 2022. I’m going to just call you out here a little bit more. Any other things? You know, you talked about expanding? You know, you think we’re going to be growing next year? And you know, all indicators are ago from your side?
Lance Camisasca 33:23
Yeah, I mean, across the board, I think the event will be bigger. I mean, we had so many brands, numerous brands, who came to me personally and said, Hey, Lance, I want to support your show I want to be there, I just can’t do it for this reason that I really genuinely think they’re going to call me back for 2022 and give the event. So I know the on the brand side, we’ll have more brands. And we’ll probably have more bikes, and we’ll have more demoing. So that part of the show is undoubtedly going to grow. And we hope to do the same with retailers. I know like you said earlier in the call, I think there was a number of retailers who really truly wanted to be there. But for one reason or another they couldn’t because of staffing challenges or, or certainly the COVID pandemic lingering on so it would be bigger, but I’m really being cautious. And I’m being cautious with my own colleagues and say, I want to be bigger, I don’t want the magic to leave. That show was pretty magical. I’ve had this experience in the past where honestly, with dealer camp, I did my first dealer camp, it was unbelievably magical. It was everything we hoped for and more. And then frankly, we got intoxicated with our own success. And we grew it way too fast. And way too big in year two, and it was the magic and people were not as happy as they should have been. So I learned my lesson with the other camp and this concept is nearly identical. So I can say with authority that I think we should be really careful how fast we grow. We want to make it a high quality event again, but I mean there’s a Donnelly will be bigger and it will be probably better.
Heather Mason 34:47
Yeah, I’m stuck in that word magic because I’m with you on that. You know, I don’t want to lose that feeling that you know, I guess if you were there, you know what we’re talking about, but you couldn’t help but come away with like a little your heart was beating bigger and stronger. So today Lesson 21. Lance was invitation only limited to I think, 500 retailers. You know, if we’re talking about maybe growing, would you envision that 500 retailers to be similar for 2022? Or, you know, what would you think in that regard?
Lance Camisasca 35:16
Well, I think we all want to be bigger. And I think we want to grow that number over 500. But what’s keeping a lid on it at the moment is making sure that we have the proper amount of lodging, so people aren’t staying, you know, 25 miles out of town, making sure that we have enough space to grow the brand coordinate that justifies the greater intelligence of retailers. And all that right now is being negotiated, things are looking promising. I mean, we’re starting very early. But also, I should say, for anybody producing an event, there’s still a lot of people who hadn’t gotten married or hadn’t had their national sales meeting or didn’t do something that has taken care in Park City. So a lot of people are booking right now for things that may take up lodging capacities and so forth. So we want to be really careful that we choose our quantity as our ceiling as our capacity. As I keep saying it keeps the event highly purposeful and magical as it was,
Heather Mason 36:07
I’m almost thinking that retailers are going to be wanting to get those invitations like in ASAP, you know, like lands when you expect the retailer like talk more about that invitation process? Because I know that I told some retailers to reach out to you on a, you know, on behalf of the NBA and gave those invitations but how to retailers, maybe who weren’t sure how to navigate that. Can you just speak a little bit more to the invitation process?
Lance Camisasca 36:29
Yeah, I think that’s a great question, Heather, because I think it was somewhat misguided, the way we communicated how 2021 went, we had a list of retailers that we had assembled across the segments across climbing, camping, cycling, and so forth. That was really to kind of prime the pump, if you will, and we sent out literally sent out invitations personally to every one of those. But simultaneously, it was on our website, literally on every page, if you’re interested in coming to please inquire. So I thought we invited a lot of retailers, a lot of people inquiring and then requalified them. And frankly, we are mostly everybody who inquired was a genuine, good quality bike shop. And yeah, there were some that were a little hokey that we had to kind of flesh out. And we had to say no to a few that we just didn’t think were the right mix for our group. But everybody will always have the opportunity going forward. If they hadn’t gotten an invitation formally, fair inquire. And then once we respond to the inquiry, you’re technically going to be given an answer of yes or no without the hobby. So really, in a way, it was a two step process, it was either a formal invitation or an inquiry that we responded to and said, We’d love to have you. And that’s how we grew it to where it was 421 buyers and whatever the number was, at the end of the day. So we all know that, Pat, I think going forward, we’ll probably do a similar process, but it’s going to be I want everybody to know in your audience that just because you didn’t get an email, and you probably might have been justified to get one we just don’t have the biggest greatest database in the world. You know, please inquire, reach out to us.
Heather Mason 38:00
Yeah, I love that. And being someone like we just had our bicycle retailer Excellence Awards, and every shop who took part, I got to know, you know, on a deeper level. So inquiry or sending an invitation that allows you Lance in the rest of the show team to get to know that shop better. So when you do come, you’ve already got like the basis for the magic, right? It’s like, Oh, hi, that’s right, we spoke right. It’s like you already have that set up?
Lance Camisasca 38:24
Absolutely. I mean, I gotta tell you, I mean, I have a lot of experience in the bike industry. But because I was doing media caps up until 2017. I lost touch with a lot of great retailers. And there’s been a lot of turnover and new stores and some great new players. And this process for the last 10 months, I’ve been fighting and communicating and calling and sending emails back and forth. I got to know a whole lot of retailers and it’s been really exciting. I’m really happy to be back in this place where I feel like I know I know the brands and I know the retailers so the puzzle is kind of complete for me and it feels great going into 2022 place I really wasn’t in 2021 Yeah, so
Heather Mason 38:59
anyone listening who’s interested in joining us at the bigger show 20.2 if you don’t get an invitation in your inbox, go ahead and hit inquire Lancer team will personally reach out to you but definitely just don’t have the database to reach out to everyone but it lets us get to know your shop a little bit more and helps in this magic that we’re talking about as part of it. Absolutely. Perfectly, perfectly. Yep. So Lance for you. Now, if you get a little short break here, like I can’t even imagine like how busy then?
Lance Camisasca 39:27
Oh, actually no yes or no. I mean, for the next two weeks, three weeks I’ve been alluding to here we have a lot of work to do to get the 2022 event shaped into a place where we can announce it and get the dates on the calendar and begin the process. But you know, it’s not going to be like a freight train with business in the first few weeks. So I’ll take a little time probably after we launched 2022 and take a breath and catch up but then once the pendulum starts swinging my ways it’s gonna be super busy. I know a lot of folks that pretty do all year but it’s like having Thanksgiving dinner. 1000 people, there’s a lot of things to do. We stay really
Heather Mason 40:04
small. Time went by so quickly, we started meeting in February. And before I knew what the show is here, it was like, it goes by quickly.
Lance Camisasca 40:13
I will definitely resume those calls. I enjoyed those every week and really helped me stay focused on the number one component, which was you guys in our retailers? It was a great relationship, and I’m looking forward to it going forward.
Heather Mason 40:23
Well, so for our listeners who are thinking about 2022, what’s the best way they can stay attuned to the show? news? Is it the website that you’re so calm, or
Lance Camisasca 40:33
it really is, I mean, we’re gonna be, you know, probably taking down a lot of content that’s out there. Now, we’ll leave up a few of the pertinent information. And then as the programs in the lodge come forward, all of that will be on the website. So it’s www dot big airserver calm. And of course, I’m available to talk with anyone anytime, Lance at the big gear. show.com.
Heather Mason 40:53
Thankfully, so a little Heather question here. I mean, how’s your happiness level? You know, united the industry? Positive? Wait, the first shell back must feel good. How do you feel?
Lance Camisasca 41:03
I feel great. Obviously. I think you know, I enjoy what I do immensely. I pinch myself every day. And I think the bike industry, you literally my whole life, I made so many great friends that work for somebody great brands, I’ve been able to host some really super meaningful events. Yeah, getting into this one was all new. Yeah, we’re working with multiple segments in the middle of a pandemic. Nonetheless, it had its moments of concern, but I just knew if you do good work, good work always prevails. So we really buckled down. And we did the best work recording. Lo and behold, we had a great event. So I’m really happy. Yes.
Heather Mason 41:35
This should be like a moment where you’re just like, yeah, diving into something unknown. And I looked you up on LinkedIn to get ready for this conversation. I had no idea about your past with navic. And you know, all the trade shows. And it’s been fantastic working with you and your team. And in my opinion, the show is a fantastic success on behalf of the MBA board members. We all thought the show was a fantastic success. The industry needs what you did this year, the execution the way you pulled us together during this crisis. I can’t thank you enough. I have goosebumps. And I truly mean that been by my heart, really excited about next year. And you know, this was like, last minute, like, a couple days ago, I was like listening to this podcast. And again, you just showed up and you’re like, let’s do it. So thank you so much.
Lance Camisasca 42:17
It is my pleasure. I do want to say before we hang off the NBDA was such a huge part of our success, really, I mean, the idea of bringing education in good content, along with great products, and along with meaningful gatherings on a face to face time. The education part of it was huge. And you know, we did ask the question in our surveys leading out of the launch of the show, what is the most important reason for gathering and across the segments education was before demiplane, which you’re when you go to the Garden of Eden that test bikes, you would think that’d be the number one answer, but it wasn’t it was education. And so that was our plan. Our partnership working with you, you guys really pulled it off extremely well, and I was really proud of everything you guys did. Looking forward to doing it all over again. Thanks, Lance. Alright, so
Heather Mason 43:03
that is it. I invite you to connect with me. Come on bicycle retail radio, share your story with our listeners. You can find lots of great items, upcoming webinars member networking meetings on the MBTA website. If you’d like to support the show, the best way is subscribe. Share your favorite episodes with your friends on your social media networks. We appreciate your support. Thank you for listening.
NBDA 43:25
Now they’ll be great. This has been bicycle retail radio by the National bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership, and member benefits, join us@nbda.com
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The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.
Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year.
Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.
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