Outdoor Media Summit: Feel Alive

I started blogging to share my knowledge of the outdoors (backpacking, hiking, kayaking, cross-country skiing, to name a few) near and far from home to encourage families and couples and get outside and hopefully love it as much as I do. When I found out about the Outdoor Media Summit, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals and learn the ropes of the industry. It did not disappoint! The social events provided a chance to network with bloggers, podcasters, videographers and marketers. It allowed some partnerships to be formed and the possibility for future conversations as well. People were happy to share their knowledge and help each other. The sessions were awesome and gave us a chance to collaborate, ask questions and get personal feedback.

Explore a New Destination

Have you ever been to Reno, Nevada? Travelling to explore a new destination is always fun. Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort in Incline Village is approximately a one-hour drive up the mountains from the Reno airport. It was a gorgeous location to host the Outdoor Media Summit. We had the pleasure of viewing this gorgeous lake during breakfast and lunch as well as during keynote speakers, just a couple minutes walk from the resort. It was a breathtaking view to admire. The scavenger hunt and reception on the second day allowed us to discover more of the surrounding area.

Tip: Take a risk and go explore a new place and meet new people. It will be worth it.

This area is popular for hiking and downhill skiing. It reminded me of hiking in the mountains and downhill skiing in Lake Louise back home when the snow started to fall on our last day at the conference. We saw some kayakers on the lake on our drive to the outdoor media summit. There’s lots of potential to love the outdoors whether you’re close or far from home.

Outdoor Media Summit Networking Opportunities

At the Airport

As soon as I got off the airplane, waiting for the bus, I met Oswaldo, a YouTuber who talks about climbing. We exchanged our stories and later in our conversation, he asked me how many subscribers I had for my newsletter. Having been a blogger for less than a year, not confident that I had a large following, I mentioned I had fourteen subscribers for my newsletter; I added that most were family and friends. He said that this was a really good start. I paused and thought, really? I was coming to get feedback from people at the conference but I was expecting more things to work on rather than things I was succeeding at so far.

Tip: Believe in yourself. We all have to start somewhere. If you don’t start, you’ll never get anywhere. Just being honest and receiving that feedback provided so much confidence and we weren’t even at the conference yet! Just be yourself, share what you’ve done so far and you’ll be amazed how people will want to support you!

On the bus

We were exchanging experiences on the bus with different Outdoor Media Summit attendees. I shared that putting my weekly post in the link in my bio on Instagram works to bring readers to my blog. It leads potential customers to explore a variety of post links. Just like that, I provided information to a fellow blogger who didn’t do this. Who me? Yes, me!

Tip: We all try different angles to succeed in our outdoor media careers. You never know what someone will learn from you, regardless of how long you’ve been doing this. So, go ahead and share. There are always opportunities to teach someone else.

Reception at Thunderbird Lodge

I met Angie Scott, The Woman Angler and Adventurer at the first-night reception. She hosts a podcast and had a lot of useful tips to share. I’m honoured she invited me to be on her podcast. I had never done one before but she told me it wasn’t necessary to prep for it, I knew all the answers. So, I did it on the fly at the resort. I felt like it went well. She said I was a natural. I thought initially when she was looking for people that I wouldn’t qualify because I had never done a podcast before and I was new at blogging.

Tip: There’s no time like the present. Try it out if you’re invited. I believe it was beneficial to my brand to share my expertise with her audience as well. You’ll only get better and more experienced with different media if you invest time in getting interviewed.

Outdoor Media Summit Breakfast with Brands

I didn’t know the brands very well that morning but Emily Shellabarger from Grayl approached me and shared her water filtration bottle used for hiking, backpacking, camping and travel. I was happy to meet her as this product would be something I could see myself using it while on an outdoor adventure. That was a great connection to make.

Alibi Ale Works Supper

I had the pleasure to talk to Kraig Becker, an author and editor and Tim Wenger, an author as well for the Matador Network during supper at Alibi Ale Works. They both had a wealth of knowledge and stories to share about the outdoors. It made for a very interesting evening to listen to them share their blogging tips.

Other Opportunities

I met Casey Hyde from Teren Designs, who has developed clothes for men in the hopes of expanding to clothes for women in the future. I was impressed with their available waterproof, windproof and spark-resistant coats. If you’re interested in supporting a small outdoor clothing business, this is a great company.

It was nice to meet another blogger named Allison for Exploration solo at the Outdoor Media Summit. “I focus on small towns in the Southeastern US and places with outdoor adventures, especially hiking and backpacking”. Check her out if you’re looking for things to do in that area.

By meeting all these people, there might be possibilities to collaborate at some point. The informal gatherings created opportunities for media and marketers to exchange tips with each other to help broaden success. As a media attendee, I appreciated the time to collaborate and connect.

Outdoor Media Summit Sessions

At the reception, I met Leonard Schoenberger who writes about fly fishing for The Wadinglist. He shared useful information at the How to Rank for Category Keywords session at the outdoor media summit (in the picture above).

The sessions were useful to take notes on different topics. We could ask specific questions tailored to your niche and get immediate feedback. Even if we didn’t have questions, it was awesome to listen to the various conversations. We might not have thought to ask the questions ourselves but the many opinions helped us figure things out and apply them to our space, whether it was blogging, hosting a podcast, etc. Here’s the entire schedule to check out and see if it you would be interested attending future conferences.

Tip: Go to sessions that might not apply to you. I went to Angie Scott’s podcast session and even though I don’t currently host my own podcast, it was a fantastic opportunity to learn what I would need to put in place to monetize my own podcast. I tried to go to a variety of sessions to capture a variety of information to apply at a later time if I so choose to venture in a different direction.

Push Yourself out of Your Comfort Zone

Outdoor Experience

I love backpacking and packing for the West Coast Trail or going cross-country skiing in the winter months. I’m knowledgeable about a wide variety of adventures in the outdoors. Day trips near Edmonton allow me to try different adventures and get out of my comfort zone but going to the Outdoor Media Summit in the United States far from anyone I know was a bit intimidating. Many media and marketers have been in the business for a long time and I’m a newbie. I don’t know the official blogging lingo or how to network to make partnerships. I told myself that like any other challenge, I would figure it out. I’ve travelled all over the world and succeeded. This is a different type of conference than I’m used to attending but I would make the best of it and wouldn’t miss out because of being scared of the unknown.

Tip: Attending by yourself will force you to meet people and network. Instead of focusing on what you don’t know, focus on what you do know and what you can offer. Sharing your background, niche in the industry and what activities you’re interested in goes a long way. People are nice and want to help and offer valuable advice. Lean on the outdoor industry experts to provide and share their expertise. They’ll be happy to steer you in the right direction.

Outdoor Media Summit Scavenger Hunt

Going on a scavenger hunt is not my cup of tea. Having to do all these awkward races (in my opinion) made me uncomfortable but I did it anyway. I prefer individual activities like colouring on Kinco’s mitts over working as a team to wash boots or wear funny outfits to complete a task. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, which was good for me, even though it’s hard to admit! Even though I put way too much thought into overthinking it initially, I realized it was okay to have fun, and might join in more group activities next time. At least I was one of the brave ones and put on my Minnie Mouse Halloween costume on October 31 (shown in the picture above) for the event while exploring the area. That has to count for something, right?

Outdoor Family

This awesome picture (thanks to Kendra Smith, a photographer at the conference) is of everyone who attended this wonderful Outdoor Media Summit event. It was delightful to connect with like-minded people. I learned so much, made so many meaningful connections, and heard heart-warming stories. It makes me want to continue to focus on what matters in life, which is to continue to love life in the outdoors and to share it with my community.

As you can see from the previous lake picture, the gorgeous calm blue water on day one changed to stormy rough water throughout the remainder of the trip. It made for different awesome pictures nevertheless. This is a perfect example of how on our outdoor trips, the good weather can often turn, causing a need to adapt and put on warmer clothing. Nature knew to show all of us outdoor enthusiasts at the conference the reality that we often experience on our adventures.

Feeling Inspired

We listened to Colin West, a keynote speaker talk about Clean Up the Lake and the importance of our decisions to make a difference in fighting against global plastics. The slide above asks “what choices will you make?” This resonated with me. We all have decisions to make and need to make a bigger effort to use fewer or no plastics to help save our planet!

This statement is also relatable to my life in general. What choices will I make regarding my blog? I realized that I, Chelsea Ross have the potential to make a big impact in this world if I want to. Although it’s a big undertaking, it’s also inspiring and empowering.

Final Thoughts

The Outdoor Media Summit was a transformational couple of days for me. I learned that there was no reason to be scared of attending this event. Everyone that I met was so welcoming and willing to share tips and stories to help further my journey. The networking opportunities were endless and so valuable in connecting with the outdoor community and making potential partnerships. I’m so thankful that I took the opportunity to try something new and be on Angie Scott’s The Woman Angler & Adventurer podcast. I’m very appreciative of this journey and all the amazing people that put the conference together. It was a fantastic experience and I hope to have another wonderful opportunity to join this conference in the future. I look forward to continuing to share tips about the outdoors with families and couples near and far from home.

Here’s the link to download the travel checklist.

Check out the free printables Workshop or the free Seasonal Products Secrets E-book to make your own printables.