PressCamp wins over newbie exhibitor

Dave Turner was at PressCamp in Deer Valley, Utah, to support Enve, and he said he’ll be back for more later in July with DealerCamp in the same location. Turner Bikes will also return to PressCamp next year and Dave Turner said he may reconsider his company’s whole show programme.

Turner has been exhibiting his line of bikes at trade shows for seventeen years. He liked what he saw at PressCamp, an event organised by Lance Camisasca of Lifeboat Events, former event director of Interbike. PressCamp is held in a ski and bike resort, 40 minutes from Salt Lake City in Utah.

"It’s been overwhelmingly positive," said Turner. 

"It’s very different to Eurobike or Interbike, where you’re constantly being distracted, people coming up to you, waving, sticking a card in your armpit. It’s very distracting for both the exhibitor and the press trying to do their job. The whole concept [at PressCamp] is to sit and just chat. There’s no distractions, it’s all quality time. 

"Shared meal time allows us more time to mingle and keep the rapport going. We didn’t bring new products, it’s a dry run for next year. We know now there will be a next year."

Turner praised Camisasca and his team:

"There’s nothing like this in the world for an opportunity for vendors to meet press. It’s a fantastic environoment, great riding.Tip of the hat to Lance: he took something that’s never been done, and created something speciali from nothing.
"Everybody I talked to [at PressCamp] has had the same positive things to say about the unique environment here."

A long-time Interbike exhibitor, Turner is now weighing up the pros and cons of the Las Vegas show.

"Interbike is very expensive," said Turner. 

"I have a small company, just eight of us and not all are full-time. I have to take them all to Vegas. Everything is really expensive there. Even eating is really expensive, hundreds of dollars in food, and my guys aren’t eating large, they’re just eating out at trade show type prices.

"Interbike is about meeting dealers but it’s also about meeting the press. At PressCamp we have lots of press but it’s focussed time, the costs are lower, and the extraneous costs are lower, we’re not renting a giant truck to haul 30 demo bikes. We don’t have to haul our whole booth. The cost structure is entirely different. [PressCamp is] not a free event, but it’s a cost effective event and we’re real happy about that.

"Here in the US to get in [indoor expo[ halls is expensive; drayage to get across union lines is expensive. [At PressCamp] we do the labour. 

"It’s the same at DealerCamp. We have to be conscious of the return on investment. A lot of our dealers are now signed up for DealerCamp.

"The [stores] that sell Turner Bikes ride quite a bit themselves. To go to Utah in middle of summer, with high mountains, low humidity, and 300 miles of singletrack trail, that’s worth a trip away from the shop for a few days."

Sixteen videos of the new products launched at PressCamp can be watched on YouTube, including Tifosi optics, Gore Bike Wear, Enve Wheels, Camelbak, GT Bicycles, CatEye, Lazer Sport, and Cannondale helmets.

The riding in Deer Valley is world-class: