Influencers

Everyone has a unique perspective. From the vantage point of one’s life experience most anyone can lend his or her view to create a complete picture of the world. If 20 years in the Outdoor Industry has taught me anything it’s that no one person has a lock on the news and information of the day. It helps to track multiple sources to have a clear idea of what’s going on. There are literally thousands of new products coming out on the market for 2010. And everyday there are subtle shifts in the attitudes of people who live work and play in the outdoors. And with the advent of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and You Tube we now have the ability to take many points of view and share them simultaneously. Using sophisticated monitoring tools, at Channel Signal we can effectively track the course, speed and heading of emerging trends in the world of outdoor recreation and report on what we find. Despite the technology though, at the heart of our analyses are the thoughts and opinions of very smart and knowledgeable people we follow online. Most are reporters. Many are sponsored athletes. Some are just ordinary people with a passion for technical gear and life in the wild world. Each writes about his or her experiences on a blog, web site, podcast or twitter feed. All have the ability to influence others and help them come to a better understanding of the rapidly changing landscape of outdoor recreation Over the next several weeks during and after the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market there are several individuals I plan to follow. Each is skilled at sharing their ideas on the things they discover.  The 20 outdoor influencers below are currently at the top of my list. What do you think? Anyone I missed. Feel free to add a few of your own in the comments section. If there’s someone you think that should be on this list that’s not be sure to let me know. Anyone you think shouldn’t be on this list? Tell me why, but make it good. These 20 men and women (listed alphabetically by Twitter name) are standout influencers and all have done a great deal already to move the conversation forward.

I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Casimiro at a journalism conference in Boulder back last spring. He and I were among a dozen or more writers in the outdoor space sharing our ideas as guests of Mountain Hardwear, an event they call the Trends Retreat. There’s something about a National Geographic reporter/photographer that makes you take notice and hang on his every word.  Steve’s a brilliant, charming guy who’s as willing to listen to your stories as he is to share his own. Frankly, his are better. To be more specific Steve’s most prominent work can be found in the pages of National Geographic Adventure, the Yellow Book’s adolescent younger cousin. But this troubled youth won’t make it to drinking age. As of last month in a recovering economy the popular high profile adrenaline magazine is out of business. Plummeting ad revenue apparently made the glossy picture rich pages too expensive to print and now Steve’s out of a job.

Sara Lingafelter came on to adventure scene with the grace of a ballet dancer and the energy of a rock star. I’ve been at this 20 years now and I’ve seen my share of young women and men go about “finding themselves” in the outdoors.  Most “live the dream” by scamming free gear, conning sponsored vacations, alienating family, neglecting friends and forgetting how to bathe, but not Sara. This once Seattle-area lawyer came to the wild world with humility and thoughtful consideration. Sara took the odd shop job,...