Details of Paddlesports Event Announced

Paddlesports Retailer will be held at the Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, August 27-30, 2018.

The event has again partnered with Rapid Media as the official media partner of the 2018 show. New for 2018 will be the Paddling Magazine Product and Industry Awards, held the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 29, of Paddlesports Retailer.

“We’re already working on developing the new Paddling Magazine Product and Industry awards,” said Scott MacGregor, Rapid Media founder and publisher of Paddling Magazine. This new initiative with Paddlesports Retailer will reward product innovation and showcase the efforts of individuals, organizations and brands dedicated to strengthening the paddlesports industry.

“Paddlesports Retailer is more than an industry sales event; it is an annual North American gathering of the paddling industry. And so our award categories will be a recognition and celebration of more than just the latest fabrics and new designs. We want to put the very best of all paddlesports on stage and be proud of our products, industry, programs and people,” says MacGregor.

Rapid Media is developing a nomination, submission and voting structure integrated with Paddlesports Retailer, which will stretch beyond the show floor.

“The scoring rubric we’re developing will include paddlesports and outdoor media, onsite and offsite retailers, and consumers,” MacGregor says. Onsite voting will account for a heavier weight, but there will be an online element as well. “The greater number of voters, the greater validation for winners. Not to mention more exposure for Paddlesports Retailer and all brands, products, retailers, personalities and programs involved in the awards.”

All onsite and online voting will close in time for the evening of Aug. 29–the second day of Paddlesports Retailer–when the first annual Paddling Magazine Product and Industry Awards ceremony at Paddlesports Retailer will take place.

In addition to Paddling Magazine Product and Industry Awards, Rapid Media will be preparing a special Paddlesports Retailer edition of their Paddling Business trade magazine, daily reporting from the show floor and pre- and post-show coverage. Rapid Media is lining up more ways to showcase the hottest new products for 2019. Rapid Media will focus on promoting products of attending brands to more retail buyers, media and consumers while fostering a vibrant paddlesports industry.