Redwood Forum
Taking the idea of the trade show outside.
Context
Lead by a three-day flagship trade event in the Mendicino, CA Redwoods, Outpost is unlike other trade events. It is focused on building human connection through authentic shared experiences in a gorgeous outdoor settings. They have taken away the booths, forced interactions, and worries, so that attendees can really let their guards down and focus on the moment—building deep personal connections with thought leaders in the outdoor industry.
Solution
For the 2018 flagship event, Pineapple produced and hosted the Redwood Forum. As the business track for the event, we led an open discussion with industry insiders who shed light on business growth, market risks, and brand partnerships. They contributed anecdotal tales of past experience and broader insights from their current positions. As a forum, the panel and Outpost attendees joined in an interactive conversation to discuss key themes and related insights.
What we did: Strategy / Production
The Forums
Open and engaging, the three forums were held in a redwood grove in the middle of Camp Navarro, with the panelist and attendees at the same level. Instead of leading conversation from the front, we made sure that the conversation was interactive, and started from topics contributed by the attendees. In the end, attendees talked as much as panelists, answering questions and contributing their experience to the conversation.
Forum 1: Starting a Business
Whether you are a consumer products company like Faraday Bikes struggling with the channel or an early startup like Confidants looking for the right market, attendees/speakers tell their personal stories of the challenges they faced while growing their businesses.
Forum 2: Overcoming Risk
Is it time to change changing direction, take on more money, sell, or downsize? Each of the attendees/speakers of this forum share the hard choices they had to make to get their organization into the right place to be successful.
Forum 3: Partnerships & Community
Brands can either go it alone or partner with other like-minded or distinct but synergistic brands. Our attendees/speakers discuss the option to go it alone and build a brand as an island or partner to attain their market goals and business objectives.
Interviews
We also took the time to talk to each of the forum panelists one-on-one to capture their unique stories and takes on brand and business building. Out of these conversations, we developed the Pineapple Podcasts, a collection of 15 minute interviews that are available on our blog as well as at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
Follow our podcasts on Spotify, iTunes, & Google Play!
