On Oct. 6-7 the European Outdoor Summit (EOS), will be held at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Annecy. After a two-year hiatus, the European Outdoor Group (EOG) has partnered with OSV to put together an impressive lineup of speakers and sessions. More than 150 senior executives have already booked places to attend, including Intersport, Haglöfs, Patagonia, Houdini, Ortovox, Millet, La Sportiva, Lowa, Petzl, Buff, Schöffel, The North Face, Icebug, Deuter, Scarpa, Keen, Osprey, Pertex, Exped, Devold, Decathlon, Jack Wolfskin, Bluesign, Leki, Merrell, Salomon, Pertex, Ternua, Columbia, Devold, Exped and Gore.
With several panel discussions on the agenda, the content is rich and diverse:
The summit starts with the long-awaited presentation of Jason Hickel. The professor in economic anthropology opens the EOS with the difficult yet essential discussion around degrowth. What it is, why it is necessary if we are to stop a full-scale climate/ecological breakdown, and how we can approach it as a sector.
After Hickel Jerome Pero, FESI, will speak about “Policy as a driver for change”. This presentation will introduce new policy and legislative initiatives and discuss how they will directly impact business; how the future of business will change, how organizations must either adapt or face the consequences, and how businesses can respond to actively shape their future.
The Future is Outdoors, looks at how, during the pandemic, the outdoors obtained a highly strategic position with societal importance for physical and mental wellbeing of the entire population. Mike McCure - ENOS, Yasmin Dufournet – Salomon and Andrew Denton – It’s Great Out There, will focus on the evolution of this position beyond the pandemic and how the outdoor industry can benefit from prolonged increased societal importance.
The Implications of Selling a Product Twice - We all aspire to help create a circular economy, but what happens when we try to sell a single product twice? Panelists Matthijs Visch - Patagonia, Yngvill Ofstad – Bergans and Julian Lings – The North Face will discuss the hidden obstacles, operational challenges, and sometimes unique opportunities that they have experienced in deploying a truly circular product. The panel will also discuss the potential harm and cautions not always considered when developing these second-hand markets.
A global pandemic, changing consumer expectations and sustainability concerns are redefining the retail landscape. Integral to adapting to these challenges is understanding what citizens are buying, where, when and at what price. This requires a Need for Real Time Market Data for the Outdoor Sector. Hosted by Pauline Shepherd, who heads up the EOG’s retail point of sale market data report, is helping to bring accurate data to the industry more quickly. Joining this session are Richard Payne – Sports Marketing Surveys and Pippa Goodman – Foresight Factory.
It will also cover an exciting next step in the project to cover more retail channels and a U.K. pilot taking the measure of sales a step further in the second largest market in Europe for outdoor goods. We will also talk about the need for key sustainability metrics such as the measure of returns and the increasing importance of the “resell” channels.
More information on the speakers and schedule can be found here and a complete wrap-up of the speakers’ content here.
Tickets to the event, sponsored by Polygiene and YKK, for €750 + 20% VAT (or a package of two tickets for a saving of €150) are still available for senior executives. The ticket includes the full two-day program with speakers, lunch and refreshments (on both days) and a networking evening (including food). Book your delegate space here. Limited rooms directly at the Imperial Palace are also still available. Contact the reservations department at reservation@imperialpalace.fr and quote “European Outdoor Summit 6-7.10.2022”.
