Paddlesports Business....

POOLING IDEAS FOR PROFITS

Outfitters Collaborate with Unique, On-River Meetings

When the owners of the various companies comprising Adventure Gateway hold their annual meetings, they like to get wet. Normally competitors when it comes to luring paddlers throughout the U.S., this consortium of rafting and canoeing outfitters bands together to leverage their marketing and to exchange best business practices--most notably at their river-based annual meetings.

Last November, the group traveled to Texas’ Big Bend country, meeting at AG member Far Flung Outdoor Center to paddle the Rio Grande. They held on- and off-river meetings in both structured and unstructured sessions. Past meetings have occurred on rivers in West Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Maine, Arkansas, Oregon and Utah.

Founded in 2002, Adventure Gateway began inviting new members (accepting them with a unanimous vote) and now lists 11 of them on Adventuregateway.com. The companies are spread evenly across the U.S. The group’s simple premise could likely be repeated in many industries: similar small businesses working together to share experience, marketing, and even specific financial data, making each company more successful.

Thanks to the Internet, this interaction can take place throughout the year. However, AG members have found that their annual meetings in remote and beautiful locations can be especially fruitful.

“I look forward to our river meetings with this special outfitter group because of the group’s kindred spirit, candid insights and keen suggestions for being a better business,” says Joe Daly, co-owner of Echo River Trips.

Daly coordinated the 2006 Rogue River trip with his partner, Dick Linford, which included much discussion about river preservation. Echo helped the Rogue gain protection under the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. Over the years, many AG members have worked to protect the rivers that provide their livelihoods, including the Tuolumne, New, Gauley and Buffalo.

“While we do work in areas like joint marketing and group purchasing, the real purpose of Adventure Gateway remains sharing, learning, and producing quality experiences,” says Wildwater Limited’s Jim Greiner, a founding member of the group and recent inductee into the America Outdoors Outfitter Hall of Fame.

Greiner frankly admits that he tried to find companies geared to a high-end market and possessing the experience and information from which he could benefit to advance his own business. However, he still feels that the group’s annual meetings are the most important benefit.

“We learn so much from each other in an intimate and detailed fashion,” Greiner says, citing information shared about everything from trip offerings and insurance coverage to equipment and store sales. For instance, during an on-river meeting one morning, Dee Holladay shared a special program his Utah-based company, Holiday Expeditions, offers in which lucky paddlers get to raft with Holladay, a 40-year river rat. Among this group of fellow river sages, Holladay was certain other companies would likely take the concept back to their own operations for implementation.

Class VI-Mountain River managing partner Dave Arnold would agree that the collaboration pays: “I actually once referred our single best client to another AG member because I knew they were a good fit and they would have done the same for us,” Arnold says. “Though we don’t compete too much on a geographic level, the Internet has made all companies competitors--and AG meetings are more important than ever.”