OR Show, Day 3

A bit less busy at the show today, but still some very useful meetings. Jeanne, Matthew and I started the morning with Judith and Trish from Stackpole Publishing. Stackpole is the publisher of the NOLS library of books. We talked over some ideas of how we could better market the books. We came up with a number of good thoughts and laid out some next steps.

We also talked over upcoming books, NOLS Wilderness Medicine to debut in August 2006 and NOLS Expedition Planning which will be introduced at next January’s Winter Market. Both projects are on schedule and should be great additions to the NOLS library.

During the afternoon Jeanne and I met with Shannon Stowell the President of the Adventure Travel Trade Association. We traded some ideas about this past fall’s AT World Summit and made some plans for NOLS involvement in the event for this October. Shannon is interested in including NOLS risk management curriculum in future conferences and possibly in stand alone workshops. We’ll be continuing this conversation soon.

Matthew and I met with two-time NOLS grad and Outdoor Research communications director, Todd Walton. We thanked him for past support from OR. Todd indicated that he was very willing to continue providing free gear to support the NOLS Bus project. OR CEO, Dan Nordstrom is also a NOLS graduate. Thanks to everyone at OR for their support of NOLS.

Jeanne, Brad and I attended a get together of the Outdoor Industry Association Public Relations Coalition. It was a good opportunity to catch up with other folks who do public relations work.

Guess that is about it. Tomorrow a bunch of us head back to Lander, while the bus and crew stay here at the show. On Wednesday the NOLS Bus will be at the University of Utah before heading to Lander for a quick stop and then they are off to the East Coast.

Later,

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director

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SOE heading out to climb

Today the Southwest Educator group passed through base camp. They said they had an amazing time in the Kofa and can't wait to start climbing. The thing they were looking forward to most was not having to carry everything with them the whole time. People were stoked to be able to take multiple changes of clothes.Click here to see pictures from their trip.

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Outdoor Retailer Show, Day 2

Another great day for NOLS at the Outdoor Retailer Show. The NOLS Bus continues to draw a lot of attention at the Show. It was bit warmer today which left the NOLS igloo a bit soggy. By evening though it was quite cool and the igloo is good for another day.

Today started out with a great meeting with GoLite. We discussed this summer’s newest NOLS course, Fast and Light Backpacking, a 14-day, 23 and older course featuring GoLite equipment. GoLite and BackpackingLight.com are supporting NOLS with gear, training and expertise. This is going to be a great partnership with all parties totally committed to making great experiences for NOLS students.

Stackpole Publishing hosted two more NOLS book signings. NOLS Winter Camping and NOLS Wilderness Ethics are two of the latest additions to the NOLS library of authoritative texts on the outdoors.

Later in the day we met with Michelle Barnes, marketing VP for the Outdoor Industry Association. We had a great conversation about the future of the industry and NOLS role in the growth of the industry.

We also had an opportunity to visit with folks from Spenco. Last year they sponsored 15 full tuition scholarships at NOLS. Thanks Talia, Ryan and Blake for your great support.

The day ended with Daisy Wu, from New Balance Performance Outerwear, spending some time out at the NOLS Bus. We showed her how the bus worked and introduced her to the crew. We look forward to many opportunities for collaboration with Daisy, Shannon, Todd and the good folks at NBPO.

‘Til next time!

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director

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Day One at the Show

Day One has been great for NOLS. The NOLS Bus is parked right by the door at the Show’s southeast entrance and thanks to a dedicated team of NOLS shovelers a beautiful igloo is right beside it. It was very busy at the bus during the morning, but things slowed down in the afternoon when the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and it snowed a bit.

We had a number of very productive meetings. The first of the day was with Paul Kirwin of 3point5. Paul’s group is developing an online training website for outdoor retail store staff. Paul reported that he has a number of the industry’s top brands on board now and many of the top retailers are using his service. We are looking at providing NOLS branded educational content on the site to provide a deeper experience for the retailers. Paul is fun to work with and is a long time pro in the industry.

At noon we met with New Balance Performance Outerwear. This is a new venture for New Balance, a giant in the running show business. In fall of this year they will be launching a very innovative line of technical outdoor clothing. As we met both NOLS and NBPO saw great synergies with both organizations being authentic, core and super high quality. I think we’ll be looking for ways to collaborate on  a few initiatives in the near  future.

The afternoon was filled with NOLS book signings. John Gookin and Buck Tilton signed copies of NOLS Winter Camping next to the NOLS igloo and Jen Lamb and Glenn Goodrich signed copies of NOLS Wilderness Ethics at the booth of Stackpole Publishing. These new books are among the latest in our expanding library of NOLS titles.

NOLS executive director John Gans is at the show for a special guest appearance. The whole crew is very psyched to have dinner with tonight at Baci’s, an excellent Salt Lake City restaurant. Speaking of which, gotta go!

More from the show soon!

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director

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Tomorrow a bunch of us are off to the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City. The market is the place to be for all things outdoors-- gear manufacturers, retailers, distributors and NOLS. Teal, Alex and Amy will be pulling in with the NOLS Bus. They'll be parked at the southeast entrance of the convention hall. The good folks at Alta Ski Area are trucking in snow for us. Tomorrow night will be all about packing the snow for a snow quarry and getting set up for a fast start on Saturday, the first day of the show. The "NOLS Winter Camp" will be the scene for two book signings-- "NOLS Winter Camping" and "NOLS Wildernness Ethics" and screenings of the kid's video "Snow Daze". A bunch of NOLSies will be taking care of the crowds at the bus telling the NOLS story and introducing them to outdoor skills and the beauty of free fuel in the form of used vegetable oil.The rest of us will be visiting with NOLS' many partners in the outdoor industry.

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director

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SSW1: Group Shot

Semester in the Southwest 1 about to take off to the Galiuros for their first backpacking section.Click here to see all the pictures from their trip.

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2006 off to a good start

2006 is off to a good start. First out the door was our Southwest Outdoor Educator group. They look cheery and enthusiastic with their early morning start. They will be backpacking in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge for the next five days. Then they will then pass through town and head out to Chochise Stronghold to start climbing. Click here  to see pictures from their time here.

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WOMMA Basic Training, Part 2

I’ve just gotten back to Lander from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Basic Training. In addition to Scott “that guy with the nametag” Ginsberg’s keynote, there were a few other sessions that really stood out for me.

Fred Reicheld, the author of “The Loyalty Effect” and the brand new, ”The Ultimate Question” did a great presentation on how treating people “right” pays off with loyalty and growth. How often at a marketing event do you hear about “The Golden Rule” and how you really need to only ask one question to find out how your customers feel about your organization. The ultimate question? “Would you recommend us to a friend?” For the record: 97% of NOLS grads answer this question, “Yes.”

Bob Mankoff, the cartoon editor for New Yorker Magazine gave a real fun presentation on humor, creativity and how people ingest humor. We got to look at a bunch of New Yorker cartoons and heard some of the stories behind them.

Jackie Huba’s session, How to Create Customer Evangelists was fun as well. She offered six pretty common sense principles and then offered illustrations that got my creative juices flowing. NOLS Alumni Rep business cards are in our future. Maker’s Mark Ambassadors have nothin’ on our NOLSie Army!

The NOLS Bus: An Engine for Word of Mouth
On Friday afternoon I did a presentation about the NOLS Bus and word of mouth. Here are the slides from my presentation.

I started the presentation with some background information about NOLS and discussed NOLS as a values-based organization and a school that is often the most impactful educational experience in our student’s lives.

I told the group that 80% of our students first hear about NOLS via word of mouth (WOM). This is organic and our grads, just naturally want to tell others.

We talked a bit about how NOLS amplifies WOM by lending a helping hand with supportive programming—our Alumni Rep Program, Preferred Retailer Program and a fledgling Parents Program.

I told the story of how the bus started at the grassroots when NOLS grads Lindsey, Logan and Thomas came to visit NOLS with Project Biobus, a recycled vegetable oil powered school bus.

We talked a bit about the mechanics of the program and then focused specifically on the intersection of the NOLS Bus and WOM. There are three things that we have seen happen as a result of the NOLS bus program.
1. NOLS is a topic of conversation in the “Grease Underground”, those folks around the country pioneering alternative energy transportation.
2. School teachers around the country are calling us to schedule visits by the bus. They know the educational value the bus provides and they tell other teachers at other schools.
3. The Bus program has energized NOLS grads. They help at events, they are proud of the message and the creativity the bus represents and they get to be involved personally with alternative energy, collecting veggie oil and helping with the filtering.

We ended up going through some of the “numbers”—miles traveled, media events, etc.

Attending the presentation among others was Britt Allcroft, the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine; NOLS grad, Betsy Whalen with Discovery Education; and Stephen Houghton, Webmaster and Really Nice Guy at Clif Bars.

It was great conference. I look forward to further involvement with this very creative group of folks. Some of the sessions were a bit too focused on manufacturing WOM rather than earning it for my tastes, but I ended up with a whole list of takeaways that I'll be sharing with folks in the office.

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director

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I am writing from the WOMMA Basic Training Conference in Orlando where tomorrow I'll be presenting a case study about the NOLS Bus and how it helps our graduates spread the word about NOLS. I'm looking forward to this opportunity. Today I had an opportunity to attend a keynote done by Scott Ginsberg about approachability. It was great. Scott is 25 and has made a career for himself out of wearing a nametag 24/7. He's not a NOLS grad, but he could be. Great speaker, innovative, entrepreneurial.

Gotta go - next session is starting.

Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director

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Article about NOLS Training of Ugandan Mountain Guides

NOLS Pro coordinator, Darran Wells has just recently gotten back from Uganda where he delivered the first installment of NOLS training for the growing travel industry there. aboutuganda.com features and article about the training.

The training is funded by development agencies,UNESCO, USAID, and the World Wildlife Fund.

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