Saturday, September 15, 2018

The Outpost Trade Show - a trip to the redwood forest like no other

I was invited by TheDyrt.com to cover The Outpost Trade Show as Media. The Outpost is an outdoor industry event like no other. The event showcases outdoor brands in the environment for which they were created... the great outdoors.


TheDyrt.com is a website and app for campground and gear reviews. It's like Yelp.com for camping. I've been writing reviews for the website this past year. I've found that it's a good way to discover new campgrounds and also to share one's knowledge of campgrounds. People share about the campground facilities, amenities, best campsites, caveats, nearby attractions, etc. I like it because it encourages people to #getoutside.

Leading up to the event, the promotional media that I received from The Outpost was excellent.


The simple yet nostalgic messaging appealed to me.





I was intrigued that many of my favorite outdoor brands would be present. And many of which I had previously never heard. The lineup of brands looked impressive.


What was really cool was that TheDyrt.com asked me to cover the event for them as Media; so I'd have a VIP badge with full access to the trade show, experiences and networking with the brands.

Prior to the event, The Outpost sent me these fantastic images of gear from some of the brands that would be in attendance. I mean, who wouldn't want to hangout in a Tentsile tent after seeing an image like this? Click on the image above to see more.



After a few weeks of hightened anticipation, it was time to travel from Austin to San Francisco to Navarro to hangout in the redwood forest. View the video above to see the journey.


After arriving at the venue, Camp Navarro, I discovered that I would be staying in a Tentsile tent. How cool is that?


Soon the trade show portion of the event kicked off. There were a number of booths set up in a meadow surrounded by redwood trees. It was a natural yet dramatic setting to hold an outdoor industry trade show. I jumped right in and started chatting with some of the crew that were representing the brands. See items from Confidants, Sawyer, Milican, Uco and Saxx Underwear.



Or watch this little video to see interviews with the company representatives.


Next up was gear from Topo Designs, Chaco Footwear, Kiva Outdoor, Crown Canyon Home, 1927smores, and Goodr Sunglasses.



And the video interviews.


I was having so much fun talking with people and checking out the gear that I almost forgot to interview the representatives. Check out these offerings from ArchitecSF, Drink Tanks, Mission Workshop, Merrell and ArvinGoods.




However, I managed to chat with many of my favorite brands (Merrell) and a few new brands 
that I discovered (ArchitecSF, Drink Tanks, Mission Workshop and ArvinGoods).  



After the trade show ended, the day was capped off with a dinner, comedy show by Funny or Die and some live music. 


The next day was all about brand activations, product demonstrations, workshops, experiences and just lots of fun! I was fortunate to participate in demonstrations from Tentsile, Merrell, Save the Redwoods League, Instagram, Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Airstream, Onewheel, Topo Designs, Tree Monkey Project, West Coast Falconry and Harley Davidson. Click on the image above to see more.



This video pretty much sums up my experience.

When I initially received the invitation by TheDyrt.com to attend The Outpost I was enthusiastic. When I started to see the hype about the event I got excited. I tried to temper my excitement, because very often I've found that the hype seldom lives up to the reality.

In this situation, the hype failed to hit the target.

It undershot the reality!!! This event was so much fun, so well organized, so flawlessly executed... that it undershot the hype. It was way better than I anticipated.

If you ever get the chance to attend The Outpost... JUST GO!

Thanks to TheDyrt.com and The Outpost for the invitation. And to all the great brands representatives, you did an outstanding job of representing your brands and inspiring me to #getoutside.

Follow my Instagram for more.

I hope to see y'all next year.

- Troy





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