Three days at the OutDoor Industry Trade Show in Friedrichshafen. Interesting new gear. Sore feet. Hot and humid. Too much artificial bright light. Conversations with friends and colleagues. Overall an enjoyable if tiring time. For the first time I tracked the mileage I covered tramping round the vast halls. It averaged 11 miles a day! Add on the 3 mile round trip to and from my lodging and that's 14 miles a day, virtually all on hard concrete and tarmac.
During the show I posted pictures and short comments on the gear I saw. You can find these on my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feeds. I also wrote daily summaries for the The Great Outdoors which you can find on the TGO website.
As well as the gear stands there are talks and presentations. I attended one from the excellent European Outdoor Conservation Association about the various projects its members fund.
I also attended the OutDoor Industry Awards presentation, for which I was one of the judges. You can see all the winners here.
The Outdoor Blogger Network had their own area at the show and OutDoor clearly regards it as having increasing importance. I was invited to their anniversary celebration and it was good to meet people I'd only had internet contact with or had only met briefly previously, especially Hendrik Morkel and Carsten Jost. I was also delighted and surprised to meet Glen van Peski of Gossamer Gear. Whilst the show is about looking at gear it's the people who really make it worthwhile.
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