Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 45

THE WINTER SHOW / Snowsports Industries America
Climate is everyone's job. It's not
just about a few people who are
a part of a panel or a group. This
is everyone. So we took a position a few years ago to create a
climate platform that we have
since evolved to be more action
oriented, and we have pushed to
get a greater commitment out of
our industry. We need more leadership in the entire outdoor and
winter spaces to come together.
Snow is our currency. If we don't
have it, it's going to be real tough
to get outside and enjoy sliding
devices. But, more important,
we need to rally our focus, our resources, and our voice, and really
work toward a greater policy.

Nick
Sargent

Nick Sargent

Andrew Kornylak

SIA's executive director talks about how the industry can facilitate change
on inclusivity and climate, and how the online show will help keep those
conversations moving forward. By Doug Schnitzspahn
SIA has a big slate of education sessions planned for
Outdoor Retailer Winter
Online. What do you like
about the online format?
The online platform is great because we can introduce a lot of
topics that live for the length of
the Show through March. So you
don't have to feel stressed or leave
a meeting early or run into an
education session and then run
into another meeting. You can
do it at your own pace. Our team
puts so much time and energy
into curating relevant topics. The
sessions will be based around climate and inclusion and on how
the industry is performing and
where it is going. They will give
you a good idea of what's happening out there.

SIA has been making big efforts to build inclusivity in snow
sports. This has been a topic for
the industry for years. What are
you doing now that is going to
make a real difference?
We're not going to watch-we're
going to push, we're going to drive,
and we're going to lead. SIA is specifically committed to charting a
path for positive change. We're doing that through frank conversations, and we're going to continue
to look for more ways to be inclusive and build business tools that
all of our members can utilize to
help them see the bigger picture
and more opportunities. And SIA
has taken a stance and hired an
inclusion consultant who is walking us through education and the
journey with our leadership and

our executive committee from
our board. We want to be able to
share this learning with our members. This conversation itself is so
important, but, beyond that, we
are seeing a lot of our members
take strong positions. If they're
not hiring an inclusivity officer to
work with them in their organization, they're hiring consultants.
They are hiring people of color
and putting them on their boards.
Those are solid steps forward. But
I want to make sure we continue
to evolve and grow so we can really
create a solid, inclusive industry.
SIA has been involved in climate action through initiatives
like ClimateUnited. How are
you getting this message out to
the industry?

Is there anything you think we
can learn from the experience of
the pandemic that might carry
over into next year?
We are learning how important
winter sports are to our communities-that there's a lot of
demand to get outside and get on
the hill. We've got consumer data,
industry data, wholesale, retail-
we've got all this data to really put
behind participation. And that
really opens the door to inclusion; we can position ourselves
around creating an inclusive winter community where newcomers and core participants alike
feel welcome and acknowledged.
We have data to back that now.
What are you most excited
about moving forward?
We are having a lot of success
with inclusivity and climate. The
training has been engaging, and
we have a lot of people attend the
sessions. In the end, we all need
to do our part and continue to
support one another if we're going to be successful. O.R.

January 2021 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 45

https://snowsports.org/

Outdoor Retailer - January 2021

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