The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2012 was a huge succes. I just read today that over 27,000 people attended, making it the biggest OR to date! I thought I would share my overall impressions and some of my favorites from the show. The show remains in Sale Lake despite much talk of the city growing too small. My hotel was a ways from the convention show and kinda a hassle, not gonna lie, they need to make it a little easier for attendees. Some of the smaller vendors were pushed to the side rooms and didn't seem too happy with the foot traffic they were seeing, wifi issues, yada yada. That aside, the event went incredibly well. Everyone was super friendly. The booths were impressive, the products on display were new and exciting, deals were happening, the state of the outdoor industry is good (*backed up by some Leisure Trends data). Here are a couple of the fun new products.... The Stor n Boat - Its a roof rack box that doubles as a boat. Genius. The Jetflow - Its a little valve that turns any water bottle into a "camelbak" Scarpa's new trail running shoe - trending colors, low heal, solid plate, lightweight. The NiteIze hat - not a new concept, but this hat has 4 lights instead of 2. Tons of fun! AvantLink also hosted a happy hour for companies with affiliate programs to meet with outdoor affiliates and bloggers. Lots of great contacts. Many thanks to the AvantLink team for putting on.