The biggest gathering of climbing industry professionals is about to get even bigger. The 10th annual Climbing Wall Summit, a 4-day conference put on by the Climbing Wall Association is moving from its long time home at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The next Summit will take place May 17th – 21st, 2016.
The University location has roughly 9,500 square feet of exhibitor space and has sold out the last two years. In fact, last year organizers turned away 7 companies that wanted to show their wares. The new location will be just up the road in Loveland, Colorado at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Spa & Conference Center. The new space will have roughly 28,000 square feet just for exhibitors.
In addition to the larger space, all conference workshops, presentations, roundtables, and parties will be held at the hotel under one roof. All this space will allow for more networking between gym owners, managers and other industry professionals, which, anecdotally, attendees say is one of the best aspects of the Summit.
Lauren Papineau, Event Manager for CWA, tells CBJ that one of things they are most excited about with the new venue is the increase in networking opportunities. “The attendees haven’t necessarily had the time with the professional people in the industry that they’ve wanted. This will give them the opportunity and space to do that.”
The CWA understands this need for more networking opportunities and has plans to offer scheduled time and space for folks to get together. One way they’re doing that is by hosting the closing ceremony party which has historically been at The Spot Bouldering gym in Boulder, but will now be held at the Embassy Suites starting directly after the last session ends. Papineau said that the party will be, “A really great opportunity for everybody to get together and talk about what they learned or what they’re excited about.”
Papineau and the CWA also want to get all attendees into the same room more often. In the past the only time this happened was during the opening ceremony and keynote speaker. One way they hope to do that is with TED talk style presentations. “We want to get a lot of important people up on the stage and have them talk about specific topics,” Papineau said. This goes along with another focus of the organizers which is to bring in successful business people from wide ranging industry groups to speak on specific subjects. “We want to get people that have been really successful in their different areas of expertise to discuss up on the stage so people can hear how they’ve been successful and about their failures,” Papineau said.
The CWA team has a few other surprises up their sleeves which they are not quite ready to announce, but that promise to add value to all those who attend. Overall, Papineau wants to position “The Summit as a place where people in the community can come together and talk about climbing and celebrate climbing and all just be in the same room.”
The CWA is currently taking proposals for pre-conference workshops, regular Summit sessions and product presentations. If you’re interested in presenting at the CWA Summit please visit the event website for more information.
Climbing Business Journal is an independent news outlet dedicated to covering the indoor climbing industry. Here you will find the latest coverage of climbing industry news, gym developments, industry best practices, risk management, climbing competitions, youth coaching and routesetting. Have an article idea? CBJ loves to hear from readers like you!
