Hemispheres Magazine....

EXECUTIVE SECRETS: A BUOYANT BUSINESS

When a group of adventure outfitters gets together on the water, the ideas flow, creating an energy that promotes good business.
These pro paddlers show how a river retreat can bolster your company too.

"You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft," Mark Twain wrote in his classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The folks in Adventure Gateway would certainly agree.  A consortium of U.S. rafting-tour companies, Adventure Gateway is made up of 11 businesses nationwide with 30 decades of river experience among them. They're spirited competitors, but since 2002, they've been united as colleagues in Adventure Gateway to make the most of their collective knowledge. They share information that typical competitors might closely guard, including marketing, financial, safety, liability, and philanthropic expertise. Andy Neinas of Echo Canyon River Expeditions, operating on Colorado's Arkansas River, points out the extraordinary nature of the alliance, likening it to the prospect of rivals Toyota, Ford, and GM coming together for the good of all three.

Located from Maine to Oregon, the Adventure Gateway companies communicate throughout the year and meet once annually on a river to strengthen their bonds. Members say the personal meetings beat e-mail.

Joe Daly, a co-owner of Echo River Trips, working in California, Oregon, and Idaho looks forward to the annual retreat, he says, because of "the kindred spirit, candid insights, and keen suggestions for being a better business." Daly and company partner Dick Linford coordinated the consortium's 2006 trip--a talk and float fest in August on Oregon's Rogue River. On the agenda were four days of whitewater rafting and formal and informal meetings that promoted good business as well as camaraderie.

More than just fun getaways under the guise of work, river retreats can benefit not only expert paddlers, but also a wide range of companies or consortiums. Why do these trips succeed? Because they put corporate leaders in the wilderness, where they can't avoid communicating, says Dave Arnold, a co-owner of Class VI River Runners in West Virginia. They're alone with their compatriots--colleagues and bosses whom they're used to seeing in business clothes, sitting at desks.

"I don't care if you're selling power, computer chips, or world peace, there's something very different about being stuck together for four days," Arnold says. "Whatever you're selling, you need better communication."

Jeff Greiner, the marketing director at Wildwater Ltd., concurs. "It might be intense, it could be relaxing, but you're really getting to know the people," he says.

The renowned Wildwater, which offers tours in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, started on the Chattooga River in 1971. Greiner says he's learned how to tell when a trip has been productive. "I judge success at the end of the trip by the feedback," he says, "the smiles, the shakes, the hugs from people that you might have met literally hours or days ago."

River retreats can be especially useful for organizations under stress. Popular Mechanics magazine came to a Class VI retreat two years ago having recently gone through massive staff changes. Twenty-year company veterans were put on the water with newcomers, says James Meigs, the magazine's editor in chief. Most had little river experience and were united in the rafting effort. "There's nothing like putting a bunch of people in a raft and telling them to paddle," Meigs says. "It broke down the barriers; people saw each other on an equal footing and came to be a little more accepting of some of the changes."

Such trips succeed because a river dynamic is very unlike that at a conference center, Arnold says. "You plug in the exact same goal, and different results come out the other end."

Something's Afloat / But how could a group of pencil-pushing, office-bound magazine managers accustomed to life in the big city loosen up on a river? And how can "meetings' be productive on a moving raft?

Arnold points out the nature of "pool drop" rivers, which feature long sections of calm flatwater between rapids. "Rafting is a lot like a football game," he says. "Most of the time players are walking to the huddle, or they're waiting for the ref to make a decision. Rafting is the same way. There's a lot of just sitting in rafts and talking."

On the Rogue, the Adventure Gateway group mixed it up. After breaks, members would hop on rafts with people they hadn't talked with yet, and they would get the chatter going by rafting up--that is, connecting duckies, or inflatable kayaks, to each other by lying sideways and strapping their legs over adjacent boats. "Basically you're leaning back like you're in a beach lounge chair and talking business," Greiner says. Afterward, he would jot down critical information at camp, though some consortium members carried notepads on the rafts in waterproof containers.

The relaxing atmosphere promoted almost constant communication at these informal meetings on the water--as well as during meals, at formal nighttime meetings, and on the trips to and from the airport. Though the companies are business competitors, rivalries weren't a problem, in part because the members don't compete on the same rivers. In addition, Greiner says, a cooperative spirit simply dominated. "We all wanted to raise the bar; we wanted to make the quality of client experiences better," he says.

Down to Specifics / At the Rogue gathering, the creative juices flowed, a testament to the meeting's fruitfulness. The paddlers tackled the same kinds of topics that might concern other entrepreneurs, including:
Networking / Members discussed how to build positive relationships with local tourism industries outside rafting, an important goal for outfitters who operate in richly cultural and scenic tourist areas.
Quality client services / Dee Holladay, a cofounder with his wife, Sue, of Holiday Expeditions in Utah, explained his company's "Journey With a River Sage." Dee, a 40-year river rat--or, shall we say, river Yoda--shares his own wisdom with clients on these excursions, which are, it seems, aptly named. "There are stories he can tell you that will make you laugh, about environmental issues, natural disasters," Arnold says. "He's very humble and soft-spoken. I'm not talking about an entertainer, just somebody who's got a lot of knowledge."
Expansion / Arnold's Class VI recently decided to try its hand in the lucrative lodging business by building cabins. But the company had a lot to learn. Were hot tubs and heated bathroom towel racks and floors really necessary? They're cabins, Arnold thought, not a five-star hotel. "We even thought, 'Do we need to provide soap?'" All my buddies in Adventure Gateway said, 'Are you out of your mind? You need soap.'"
And, it turns out, hot tubs and heated bathroom amenities, as well. Adventure Gateway members tend toward upscale service, and, as Arnold says, "there is a commitment to quality in the group that allows us to benchmark with each other. It's almost a check and balance." 
Boosting business / Adventure Gateway’s newest member, Bruce Kerfoot of Minnesota’s venerable Gunflint Lodge & Northwoods Outfitters, described how his company’s “holiday-decorating packages” do double duty by bolstering slow-season business and bringing in enthusiastic guests who decorate the company’s lodge for the holidays.
Kerfoot also explained Gunflint’s “Dear Camp,” which plays on the concept of “deer camp” and encourages fall business from wives and girlfriends who are disgruntled with their partners’ absences during the hunting season. A rustic girls’ getaway, Dear Camp offers discount rates, pink champagne, gift certificates, and massages as part of the deal. “We copied Bruce with his blessing,” Arnold says, “and we’re now running a Dear Camp.”
Employee morale / Arnold shared a managerial tool that he says is part of the Class VI company culture—the True Colors personality test, aimed at helping colleagues understand each other. “As a company gets bigger, it has to recognize how employees interact and why people don’t get along and why they do,” he says.
Giving back / Adventure Gateway decided during the Rogue getaway to participate collectively in Raft for the Cure, a fundraiser for the breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This year, members will donate a percentage of their August 18 profits to the foundation. The decision to contribute was made spontaneously, Greiner says, after Class VI mentioned its involvement with the foundation.

Calling It a Day / After four days of talking, floating, eating, and navigating, members posed at the river take-out for a group shot. It was the end of another annual meeting, but the conversations continued on the van ride back to the base at Morrison’s Rogue River Lodge—where more than half the group had decided to extend their trip by one more night.

Mike Mills, a co-owner with his wife, Rhonda, of Buffalo Outdoor Center in Arkansas, says that all the Adventure Gateway members were searching for “nuggets”—great ideas for making the most of the vacationers who are lured to America’s spectacular wild rivers. As the trip showed, cooperation and competition are not mutually exclusive, and a river retreat can establish a convivial spirit that produces practical results for the business world.

Details, Details, Details / Adventure Gateway members are:

Adventures Unlimited: Trips on Coldwater Creek in the Florida Panhandle. adventuresunlimited.com

Buffalo Outdoor Center: In the Ozark Mountains on the Buffalo National River. buffaloriver.com

Class VI River Runners: Based in West Virginia; trips on the New and Gauley rivers. class-vi.com

Echo Canyon River Expeditions: Half- and multiday trips on Colorado’s Arkansas River. raftecho.com

Echo River Trips: On the Middle Fork and Main Salmon rivers in Idaho, the Rogue in Oregon, and the Tuolumne in California. echotrips.com

Far Flung Outdoor Center: On the Rio Grande in Texas. farflungoutdoorcenter.com

Gunflint Lodge & Northwoods Outfitters: A family-run canoeing expert in northeastern Minnesota. gunflint.com

Holiday Expeditions: In Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. holidayexpeditions.com

New England Outdoor Center: On the Kennebec, Penobscot, and Dead rivers in northern Maine. neoc.com

Outdoors Unlimited: Grand Canyon trips on the Colorado River. outdoorsunlimited.com

Wildwater Ltd.: On rivers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. wildwaterrafting.com

Keeping Rivers Wild

Members of Adventure Gateway (adventure gateway.com), a conSortium of 11 U.S. outfitters, have long worked to protect North American rivers, with significant results, including:
• Wild & Scenic status for the Southeast’s Chattooga River (led by Wildwater Inc.) and California’s Tuolumne River (led by Echo River Trips, Patagonia, and others)
• National River status for Arkansas’ Buffalo River (led by Buffalo Outdoor Center) and West Virginia’s New River (led by Class VI River Runners)