Two Days of Education. Built for the Whole Industry.
You already know the outdoor industry is changing. The people moving it forward aren’t waiting for someone to hand them a playbook. They’re in the room where it’s being figured out.
The Camp is that room.
Two days of keynotes, panels and sessions built around the conversations the whole industry needs to have. No filler. No fluff. Real speakers. Real data. Real talk about where this industry is heading—whether you’re buying, building, selling or telling the story.
Thursday, August 20
10:00 AM—Keynote: Retail and Consumer Trends in the Outdoor Marketplace
Presented by: Matt Tucker, Executive Director & Industry Analyst, CIRCANA
What’s selling. Who’s buying. Where the market is headed. Matt Tucker of CIRCANA brings the hard numbers on retail performance and consumer behavior across the outdoor industry—so every corner of the business walks away knowing exactly what the data says, not what people think it says.
11:00 AM—The Novice Economy: Why Accessibility Is the Industry’s Greatest Growth Engine
Presented by: Mandela Echefu, Co-Founder, Wheelzup Adventures
The biggest untapped audience in outdoor isn’t the gear obsessive. It’s the person standing at the trailhead for the first time—unsure, underserved and ready to spend. Mandela Echefu makes the case for why the whole industry—brands, buyers, reps and media—has a stake in designing products, storefronts and stories around the beginner, and breaks down what it actually takes to turn first-timers into lifelong customers.
12:00 PM—Lightspeed NuOrder Session
Presented by Lightspeed NuOrder
Details coming soon.
12:25 PM—Lightspeed NuOrder Session
Presented by Lightspeed NuOrder
Details coming soon.
1:00 PM—Creators, Communities & the Next Era of Outdoor Media
Presented by: Stephen Regenold, Founder, Gear Junkie | Mark Baumgarten, Outdoor Editor, Minneapolis Star Tribune | Tim & Renee, Thruhikers | Adam Roy, Editor-in-Chief, Backpacker
Outdoor media has changed. Creators, legacy publications and niche communities are all reshaping how stories get told and how audiences are built. This panel goes deep on what that shift means for everyone in the room—whether you’re building a brand, buying for a store, repping a line or covering the industry. Over 3.4 million people follow Thruhikers alone. The conversation is worth showing up for.
3:00 PM—Every Company Is a Media Company: How Outdoor Brands Are Building Their Own Audiences
Presented by Popfly
The brands pulling ahead aren’t just making products. They’re building audiences. This panel gathers the marketing and content leaders doing it—and breaks down how branded media actually gets made, what separates content that builds loyalty from content that disappears in the feed and what it means for everyone who works with, sells or covers those brands. Buyers, reps and media included.
Friday, August 21
10:00 AM—Keynote: Eliminating the Idea of Waste—Circular Innovation for Outdoor Gear and Apparel
Presented by: Tom Szaky, Founder & CEO, TerraCycle and Loop
More than two decades of circular innovation. Tom Szaky has recycled materials most companies walk away from and built global reuse systems at scale. In this keynote, he unpacks how rethinking waste across the entire product lifecycle—gear, apparel, packaging—creates real business value for every part of the industry: better design, stronger customer loyalty and a sustainability story that resonates from the factory floor to the shop floor to the story you publish.
11:00 AM—Our Shared Asset: Why Nonprofit Partnerships Are a Business Strategy, Not a Line Item
Presented by: Tom Vogl | Anthony Taylor | Mark Deming
The outdoor industry’s $1.2 trillion economy depends on two things it chronically underinvests in: the public lands that make it possible and the communities it hasn’t yet reached. This panel makes the business case—not the feel-good case—for treating nonprofit partnerships as strategic infrastructure. Market access. Risk mitigation. Long-term competitive advantage. Whether you’re buying, building, selling or covering the industry, the case is the same: the players that figure this out first win.
12:00 PM—The Gen Z Challenge: What the Next Generation Wants from Outdoor Brands
Presented by: Western Colorado University OIMBA Students and Faculty
Graduate students from Western Colorado University’s Outdoor Industry MBA program bring research-backed findings straight to the Camp stage. How Gen Z discovers gear. What they expect on sustainability. How they think about careers in the outdoors. Quick hits. Real data. A direct read on the customers, colleagues and talent the whole industry is racing to understand.
2:00 PM—Engineering the Next Layer: The University of Minnesota Wearable Tech Design Challenge
Presented by: University of Minnesota Product Design Faculty and Students
From the same Wearable Technology Lab that runs design challenges with NASA—UMN undergraduate students present functional solutions built for real outdoor performance problems. Apparel that balances thermal comfort and wearable protection for backcountry emergencies. A fast look at where outdoor product design is heading and the designers bringing it there. Select projects appear in OR’s digital Innovation Lookbook.
The Room Is Open. Come Find Your People.
Two days. Fourteen sessions. Buyers, brands, reps and media—all in the same room, working through the same questions.
The industry is in the room. Be part of the conversation.
The Camp education sessions are included with your Outdoor Retailer registration—open to buyers, brands, reps and media. Outdoor Retailer Minneapolis 2026 takes place August 19–21 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Camp runs August 20–21 on the show floor during Expo Hall hours.