The Outdoor Blogger Summit: 5 Reasons to Go

The Outdoor Blogger Summit is an annual event geared towards connecting outdoor content creators with experts on various technical aspects of creating media content and digital marketing. The experts themselves were once beginner content creators who managed to gather success in the time they have been in the industry who now share their wealth of knowledge on specific topics on outdoors related content. Content creators are by no means exclusively defined as outdoor bloggers. At this event, the definition of a blogger is expansive and includes any person who runs some form of media (blog, website, social media accounts, YouTube etc.) to promote content that is focused on the outdoors. The meaning of outdoor in this context is also expansively defined to include individuals in the world of hiking, fishing, mountain biking, climbing, hunting, and so on.

OBS started out two years ago in Jackson Hole, WY. In October of 2017, it was held in Bentoville, AR, which turns out to be a hub for outdoor enthusiasts given the plentiful local and regional parks in the area. In its short-lived existence, OBS has already more than doubled its number of attendees. With over 130 attendees at the 2017 conference, the OBS event was sold out. Besides its list of speakers, OBS also ensures that outdoor brands are present at these events to connect them with the media.

As a new content creator via my media site, Brown Gal Trekker, and as a new attendee, I had high expectations for OBS to deliver a well-organized and information-filled conference that would serve valuable to its attendees. Overall, the time I spent at the conference turned out to be worthwhile especially when you are first starting out as a content creator. The value I gained from the educational sessions would help advance me towards achieving my future goals for my media site. The event also provided insight that I would have never gained but for the information I gathered from the event speakers at OBS. After all, OBS is the only conference in the U.S. that caters to outdoors-focused media/content creators and outdoors brands with a focus on digital content creation and digital marketing.

With that said, here are the 5 reasons for outdoor bloggers or content creators to attend OBS:

1. The brand-blogger speed date is an effective way to network and more.

The OBS conference opened its first day with the brand-blogger speed date which allowed both brands and bloggers to do their sixty second pitch. It was an opportunity for bloggers to network with a brand and vice versa. But even if no match ensues from the meeting, the event still worked well as an ice breaker to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the attendees.

As someone who is new to the outdoors industry and blogging, I appreciated the idea of creating a way for attendees to introduce themselves with one another instead of attendees having to take the initiative on their own to network, which is always possible to do at this conference to begin with. Through the speed date, I connected with entities that were relevant to my niche of mountain trekking. Yet, even though at times I was sitting across someone who had a different interest than mine, it was still an effective way to connect with fellow attendees and be inspired by others passion. In this case, the same person introduced me to fellow lawyers (I am one) who were also content creators with whom I had dinner with the same night.

2. The educational sessions are diverse in topics and cater strategically to the needs of content creators.

As a blogger who is new to the industry, I had tons of questions on my mind when I arrived at OBS. OBS for the most part provided all the answers to my queries. Since I have personally been in touch with the OBS founder, Yoon Kim, a few months back to discuss the process of choosing their topics for their educational sessions, I came to understand that OBS customizes its educational sessions to the needs of content creators. As a result, the educational sessions covered technical topics such as SEO, Google Analytics, how to monetize your blog, how to increase your Instagram followers and page views, how to create live video content, how to get into freelance writing, how to go on press trips, how to franchise your blog, how to use Kickstarter to raise money for a book, and more. In short, OBS is geared towards teaching content creators the nuts and bolts behind digital content creation and marketing without the fluff.

The approach as the attendee is to peruse the list of educational sessions and choose the topics that are the most relevant to your enterprise. I attended sessions all day and learned tremendously. The speakers certainly shared valuable advise, tips and insight that would not have been readily accessible online. As a new blogger, this was an amazing way for me to immerse myself in the learning process. I appreciated how this event provided a way for me to efficiently get all my questions addressed as all the experts were with me in the same venue which allowed me to access them easily all throughout the weekend to ask questions.

3. OBS offers a good mix of learning, networking and socializing.

As expected in any weekend long conference, OBS offered its attendees some social time with group outings and dinners so people can learn more about each other at a more personal level. These outings and dinners were a perfect way to build relationships which we all know is the key to attaining success for any endeavor. The scavenger hunt on Saturday was well enjoyed by the attendees and the dinner at a local restaurant in Bentonville allowed attendees to experience the local life. Since the attendees were housed in the same hotel as the event, this allowed the attendees more time to socialize with their fellow bloggers or brands, both at a professional and personal level.

4. OBS is the ideal place to learn the latest in the outdoors industry.

Included in the schedule of events are a few keynote speakers who essentially fueled the crowd with up to date information on the latest pressing issues in the outdoors industry. This year, the keynote topics tackled the issues pertaining to public lands. OBS chooses its keynote topic every year depending on the current political climate or issues that affect the outdoors industry.

As an attendee, it is important to be well informed of the latest news on this front, and it is equally important to gain inspiration from the keynote speakers who are often seen as leading the way in resolving the issues. OBS appears to cater to both aspects as the speakers demonstrated their ability to candidly share their thoughts on the issues, as well as, practical solutions to address the problems.

5. OBS is a place for outdoor bloggers or content creators to gain visibility in the industry.

Visibility in the blogging world can be one of the biggest hurdles. How does one make itself known as a content creator? Well, OBS gives you the best means to connect and network with the right people. Not only that, OBS launched its first award ceremony for content creators to recognize bloggers who are doing exemplary work in their respective niches. The awards allow attendees to nominate a fellow blogger or themselves while a panel of experts decides the winner from a pool of nominees. For any blogger or content creator, a recognition at a conference with your colleagues within the same industry can be quite an accomplishment and an effective way for other bloggers, brands and influencers to learn about you and your enterprise.

I was fortunate to have my media site, Brown Gal Trekker, be recognized as the Best Diversity Blog given that this selection was made from a pool of nominees that were equally worthy of the recognition. Receiving such recognition for my 1 year old media site is a seal of approval that any content creator can appreciate. More importantly, this acknowledgement only motivates me further to forge ahead with my unconventional vision and enterprise.

After the OBS conference, I managed to catch up with its founder, Yoon, and ask him a few follow up questions on the event. Below is my interview of Yoon to give you an insiders perspective on the event.

How did the idea of OBS come about?

Outdoor Blogger Summit was originally co-hosted with another conference called SHIFT in Jackson Hole. Basically, the founder of SHIFT invited me to host a separate media conference so that we could bring media to town for his event. Eventually, we outgrew SHIFT and needed to find a bigger venue so after two years in Jackson Hole, we moved to Bentonville Arkansas for the 2017 show.

What is OBS's short and long terms goals?

One of our short term goals is to unite the Human Powered + Hunting and Fishing + Bike spaces. A long term goal is to be the premiere media conference in the outdoor industry. In some way, we've already accomplished that.

Who is your target audience?

Outdoor media and outdoor brands. These groups benefit the most because Outdoor Blogger Summit is really the only place to get outdoor specific education on digital marketing.

OBS covered numerous aspects of blogging from writing, SEO, google analytics etc. - how do you decide on the topics for the summit? How varied are the topics from year to year?

I run a digital marketing agency called Blogs for Brands and these are the common issues that come up for the brands we work with. Also, I run a gear blog called Gearographer. Same thing - these are the issues that I deal with as a blogger.

You started OBS 3 years ago. How has OBS evolve or change over the years?

Well, we have gone from 38 attendees to 103 attendees, then to 135 attendees. We were expecting to double the size of the show this year and we ended up having to shut off registration 10 days before the event began because we ran out of hotel rooms.

Where do you see OBS heading in the future?

FinCon is a media conference in the finance space. We model a lot after that show. They had 1700 attendees and they've been around for 9 shows now. One day we hope to have that kind of presence in the outdoor industry.

In your opinion, what value does OBS bring to the outdoors community?

This is really the only place where outdoor industry professionals can go to learn best practices in digital publishing and digital marketing that is specific to our industry.

To learn more about the upcoming OBS conferences, send an email to info@outdoorbloggersummit.com .

You can follow OBS via www.facebook.com/outdoorbloggersummit/ and www.instagram.com/outdoorbloggersummit .