The Outdoor Blogger Summit (OBS), the first conference for outdoor digital journalism, will occur in conjunction with SHIFT, Oct. 7-9 in Jackson Hole. The two events will share programming and facilities. The purpose of OBS is to help bloggers drive more traffic, grow their social media, and make more money, all while starting a conversation around conservation in the outdoor blogger space.
Tickets for and additional information about OBS may be found here.
AGENDA, THURSDAY, OCT. 8 (program details subject to change)
7:30 a.m.: Blogger Breakfast
Alpine House
Yoon Kim, Founder of Blogs for Brands and Director of the Outdoor Blogger Summit, discusses the purpose of OBS, introduces the team and provides an overview of the OBS agenda.
9:00 am: Welcome and Day 1 agenda review
SHIFT Shared Content
Center for the Arts Theater Stage
9:15 am: Principles for the Advancement of Outdoor Recreation and Conservation
SHIFT Shared Content
Center for the Arts Theater Stage
Building upon discussions that occurred during the 2014 SHIFT Roundtable on Land Conservation, Wilderness Advocacy & Human-Powered Outdoor Recreation, from June 18-19 at The Murie Center in Grand Teton National Park, Moose, Wyoming, The Conservation Recreation Summit convened fifteen outdoor recreationalists, conservationists and land managers to explore opportunities for better protection of North America’s natural resources. At the Summit’s conclusion, a set of principles, dubbed Principles for the Advancement of Outdoor Recreation and Conservation, was developed to guide recreation and conservation decisions in North America. This panel will present the Principles, with plenary discussion from the audience.
10:15 am: Coffee
Center Theater Lobby
10:30 a.m.: Driving Traffic with Environmental Content
Center for the Arts UW Classroom
Lulu Gephart, Social and Earned Media Manager, REI
Environmental articles are in demand; just witness the top performing articles for companies like Blogs for Brands, which are all conservation-related. Problematically, there’s not enough of it. Lulu Gephart, Social and Earned Media Manager at REI, discusses the ways outdoor bloggers can leverage conservation-related articles for better traffic and engagement. Even if you don’t care about the environment, if you write about it, they will come.
11:30 a.m.: Affiliate Marketing & Monetizing Content In Non-Intrusive Ways
Center for the Arts UW Classroom
Scott Chaplin, Director of Business Development, Avantlink
A look at how top outdoor bloggers are using affiliate marketing to monetize their content in high-value, non-intrusive ways to their readers.
12:30: Lunch
Lunch is available at local restaurants and food carts in front of the Center for the Arts.
1:30 pm: Conservation Leadership | Lightning talks and plenary discussion
SHIFT Shared Content
Center for the Arts Theater Stage
Core question: How do we insure that the legacy of conservation championship by outdoor recreationists represents the full spectrum of the American experience, and that tomorrow’s leaders have both the opportunities and the tools to continue the work of their predecessors?
Moderated by Chris Rutgers, presenters each have 5 minutes to share initial ideas and reactions to the sub-theme question. The remainder of the time (ca. 25-30 minutes), panelists will respond to each other’s ideas and react to other discussion questions, with participation from the audience.
Moderator: Chris Rutgers, Founder, Transforming Youth Outdoors
Panelists:
2:30 p.m.: Considerations for Redesigning Your Blog
Center for the Arts UW Classroom
Kraig Becker, Founder, The Adventure Blog
Every blogger will at some point redesign their blog. Kraig Becker, founder of The Adventure Blog and news editor at Gear Institute, reviews the top considerations for your redesign, including:
3:30 p.m.: Finance Versus Outdoor: What We Can Learn From the Banking Industry
Center for the Arts UW Classroom
Kyle Cassidy, Content Director, Simple Bank
Stuck in the outdoor silo? Kyle Cassidy, whose incarnations in the outdoor world included stints as Content Officer at The Clymb and Editor-in-Chief of Wend Magazine, discusses the differences in content between his old world and his new one, specifically, what the finance content world does that outdoor blogs don’t do—and should.
4:30 p.m.: Mobile Exercise
Center for the Arts UW Classroom
Yoon Kim, Blogs for Brands
Take out your phones: this real-time exercise shows how a little bit of mobile collaboration can send content viral.
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OBS, Day 2 Agenda: Click here
Yoon Kim
Kraig Becker
Lulu Gephart
Scott Chaplin
Kyle Cassidy
