Press release, Rapid Media

Palmer Rapids, ON, June 27, 2011 – Building on the success of last year's alliance, a newly-inked agreement between Outdoor Retailer and Rapid Media aims to produce the most engaging, informative and interactive Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Paddle Zone to date. 

The agreement follows a request for proposal (RFP) process that was conducted by Outdoor Retailer earlier this spring. Rapid Media responded with a comprehensive plan to build on the initial groundbreaking treatment accomplished in the 2010 Paddle Zone. The 2011 strategy includes an updated New Product Preview, as well as a packed schedule of athlete and multimedia presentations.

"Fourteen years ago, with my little upstart whitewater magazine Rapid, I wandered the aisles of Outdoor Retailer completely star struck," remembers Rapid Media Publisher Scott MacGregor. "To again be working with OR and the industry to showcase and promote paddlesports in the new Paddle Zone at Summer Market 2011 is amazing."

Rapid Media was one of four companies who vied for the opportunity to co-produce the Paddle Zone. 

"In reviewing each of the submitted proposals, it was clear to our team that Rapid Media best understood the unique needs of the paddlesports community at Outdoor Retailer and our vision for a brand-neutral community center for paddlesports businesses at OR, " said Kenji Haroutunian, vice president at Nielsen Expositions and OR show director. "We're very confident in their abilities to help us deliver the type of experience and inspiration our attendees have come to expect from the show."

As the centralized location for learning, meeting and conducting business, the 1,200 square-foot Paddle Zone will include ample seating, networking events and on-the-hour presentations from brands, authors, filmmakers, athletes and expedition paddlers. The Paddle Zone will also host screenings of winning films from the 2011 Reel Paddling Film Festival World Tour.

In addition to emceeing events and handling logistics for the Zone, the Rapid Media team will be producing Rapid Media TV, a live-to-web style paddling news show, and "Today in the OR Paddle Zone" online video segments.

The newly updated Outdoor Retailer/Rapid Media New Product Preview (NPP) will be displayed on vibrant meter boards around the Paddle Zone, and in all show copies of Rapid Media's Adventure Kayak, Canoeroots, Rapid and Kayak Angler magazine. The NPP will be available for immediate download in the Zone via Rapid Media's smart phone apps available for both Apple and Android devices. The New Product Preview will then be released and promoted to consumers as a digital edition later this fall.


Rapid Media TV tours the Paddle Zone at last year's Outdoor Retailer.