Think Inside the Rocks in Denver

Islandic wanted to rise above the noise at the annual SnowSports Industries of America conference to created a one-of-a-kind event at which attendees could experience Denver.

By Kevin Woo One+| January 25, 2013

YOU’RE ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT VENUE. You know, the one that has the perfect atmosphere, sends the perfect message to your attendees and fits perfectly within your budget. You log thousands of miles previewing hotels, convention centers and offsite entertainment venues, countless hours on the phone lining up vendors and hundreds of emails exchanged, all to pull off the perfect event.

If you’re a looking to organize a perfect event in Denver, look beyond the great indoors: go outside and utilize the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the city’s extensive park system.

That’s exactly what Islandic, a Denver-based winter sports equipment company, did for this year’s SnowSports Industries of America (SIA) trade show. Each year SIA attracts 30,000 winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world, making the show one of the largest and most important for ski equipment and apparel vendors.

Islandic wanted to rise above the noise at SIA and create a one-of-a-kind event at which attendees could get outdoors, experience the beauty that surrounds Denver, check out not-yet-released products and enjoy live music. In short, Islandic wanted to create a community within the larger SIA community.

For its event venue, Islandic chose the crown jewel of the Denver park system, Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Red Rocks is located in Morrison, a suburb of Denver located 20 miles southwest of the city. Red Rocks isn’t the area’s newest park (it’s been around for an estimated 250 million years) nor is it the most modern (if you’re looking for plushy padded seats that provide stellar back support, you’ll be disappointed) but it is perfect…in many ways.

Red Rocks sits at an altitude of 6,450 feet above sea level—approximately 1,200 feet higher than Denver—and gives visitors a stunning 360-degree view of the Great Plains, the Denver metro area and the Rocky Mountains. If you want to sell winter sports as lifestyle, there’s no better place to do it than Red Rocks. The facility has a 30,000-square-foot visitor center, which can be used for indoor events, and a variety of other unique spaces and outdoor plazas that can also be used for smaller, more intimate gatherings.

But the real treasure of Red Rocks is its 9,450-seat amphitheater. To get a sense of what it’s like, picture yourself sitting in the middle of giant Frisbee with the stage at the lower end and two huge rock formations, each about the size of a 30-story building, behind you. The rock formations behind the stage and those behind the audience create the world’s only natural acoustically perfect outdoor theater.

It’s because of this perfection that bands such as the Beatles, U2 and The Moody Blues chose the facility to record live albums. And corporations such as Microsoft, Google, Genentech and Merck have hosted private events and concerts at Red Rocks, because it’s unique and offers an outdoor musical experience that can’t be duplicated anywhere.

You might think that event planners would be lined up at the thought of using Red Rocks as a winter venue. Not so. Each year, city park and recreation officials shut down the facility in late-September for safety reasons, citing the unpredictability of snow and ice storms that can hit the area. But event planners at Icelandic didn’t let a little history get in its way. After all, Red Rocks has been around for a quarter of a billion years—what’s a few more when you’re trying to convince city planners to let you organize the perfect outdoor event?

Sam Warren, Islandic’s manager of promotions, says that he came up with the idea for the SIA/Islandic event three years ago, but because the city owns and manages the facility, he had to get city officials on board. He was repeatedly told that opening Red Rocks to 9,450 people, four bands and winter sports equipment vendors in the dead of winter wasn’t going to happen because of the potential liability.

Warren was determined to host an event at Red Rocks and spent almost two years selecting the partners that Islandic wanted as part of the event. His big coup was signing with AEG Live, the world’s largest producer of live entertainment, to manage the event. The partnership with AEG Live helped convince the city that the impossible might be possible.

“When I look at Colorado and what this trade show is all about, it’s a lifestyle; it’s about engaging people who are like-minded in activities and experiences,” Warren said. “When you look at Colorado and get a grasp of what’s important to people here, the thing that tops the list is being together with friends and family in some of their favorite outdoor settings, and Red Rocks is high on that list. With that being said, we had been throwing around the idea of opening Red Rocks in winter for years. Over time, the pieces really just started to fall in place to a point where (everyone) figured, ‘Hey, let’s jump and we’ll make this thing happen.’ We had support from a community of folks who are passionate about the outdoors, lifestyle and music, and when you put that together with one of the most beautiful and iconic venues in the world and winter sports, the event was born and was a huge success.”

The result, Warren says, was a microcosm of what the winter sporting lifestyle in Colorado is all about. Islandic’s partners created a vendor village on Red Rocks’ plaza level where they displayed current and future model skis, poles and snowboards, gave away samples and actively engaged in face-to-face discussions with customers to hear first hand about changing consumer tastes.

But what really helped build the sense of community was a 100-square-foot fire pit erected in the middle of the plaza. People from all over the world gathered around, roasted marshmallows, had some drinks and shared their love of winter sports.

And as if the party on the plaza wasn’t enough, Islandic booked four bands to perform for the attendees. Even though the nighttime temperatures dipped to a chilly 22 degrees Fahrenheit, a few adult beverages, a large bonfire and several hours of music kept everyone warm.

Not every outdoor event in Denver needs to be as grand as the Islandic one. According to Jim Johnson of Denver’s Parks and Recreation Department, the city has five parks that can be used for special events such as weddings, fundraisers or private parties—City Park Pavilion, Chief Hosa Lodge, Central Park Pavilion, Washington Park Boathouse and the Montclair Civic Building. Of the five, the City Park Pavilion, Central Park Pavilion, The Montclair Civic Building and the Chief Hosa Lodge are well suited for meetings that include some sort of outdoor activity and are particularly conducive to group activities such as hikes or nature walks.

Johnson advises meeting planners to shop around when looking for a venue and to look for one that can accommodate both indoor and outdoor sessions, because the weather in Denver can be unpredictable, especially in the spring and fall.

He added that when organizing an event in Denver it’s important to understand the mindset of the area, especially if many of the expected attendees are citizens of Denver.

“The type of people who come here to live and work—a huge number of Colorado residents—have come here because of the active outdoor lifestyle, the proximity to the mountains, the huge amount of open space, parks, biking and hiking trails,” Johnson said. “As a result, meeting and event planners need to know their audience and make accommodations for the participants’ natural desire for fresh air, beautiful views and outdoor activities. The truly successful [meeting planners] are those who are able to integrate the appeal of the outdoors into their programming and business needs.”

But before you get the idea that hosting an outdoor event is merely about giving your attendees a chance to stretch their legs and get some fresh air, it’s important to know that the use of parks also represents incremental revenue for cities. According to a 2010 report issued by The Trust for Public Land, more than 700,000 out of towners visit Denver annually specifically because of its parks—either to attend a specific event at a park, take in the park’s beauty or take part in some sort of sporting activity. This translates to about US$33 million in additional hotel revenue and an additional $3.1 million in tax revenue for the city. So taking meetings outside also has monetary benefits for host cities such as Denver.

High Altitude Tips

When planning an event in Denver, it’s important to remember that altitude can adversely affect some. The effects of alcohol, for example, can be magnified when compared to drinking at sea level, so planners should have plenty of water on hand to counter-balance alcohol’s diuretic effect and the natural dehydration that takes place at higher altitudes.

And if you’re thinking of hosting an event at Red Rocks, be forewarned that it’s a bit of a hike from the parking lot to the main plaza area. The facility is wheelchair accessible, but arrangements should be made in advance.

The bottom line is if you’re thinking about Denver as your next meeting destination location, think outside the box, literally. You just might find perfection. One+

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