America’s leading cycling trade show – Interbike – has announced that Justin Gottlieb has been promoted to interim Show Director of Interbike. Pat Hus, who has been Show Director since 2011, will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
Interbike Marketweek will take place in the Reno Tahoe region beginning with the Northstar Free-Ride Festival in North Lake Tahoe, CA, on September 14-16, 2018 (with bike demos taking place on September 15-16). OutDoor Demo will run from September 16-17, 2018 for members of the trade, followed by the Interbike Expo in Reno, NV on September 18-20, 2018.
“Justin has an intimate knowledge of the cycling industry having worked in the space for over 20 years and has been a senior part of the Interbike team for six years,” said Darrell Denny, Executive Vice President at Emerald Expositions, Interbike’s owner. “He has a broad range of successful experience in bicycle retail, wholesale and at the brand level and has been an integral leader at Interbike. Justin is known, respected and excited to be leading our team going forward.”
He continued, “I and my colleagues thank Pat for his great work on Interbike and wish him the best in his future endeavours.”
Justin Gottlieb joined Interbike owner Emerald Expositions in 2012 and has been serving as Communications & PR Director for Interbike, and Corporate Communications Director for Emerald. In addition to his involvement in strategy development on Interbike, he also managed Interbike features and activations, retail education development, and projects such as the Interbike Mechanics Challenge.
Most of his more than 20-year career has been in the cycling/sporting goods industries, on the retail, wholesale and events side of the business. He earned a BS in Public Relations from the University of Florida, where he was a member of the cycling team, and later an MBA from Averett University.
“In addition to the very experienced sales and marketing team remaining in place, Justin will be adding several new staff members to the Interbike Marketweek team to increase marketing, communications and retail relations proficiency,” Darrell Denny said.
Interbike in 2018 has expanded its format this year to become Interbike Marketweek. The Interbike Marketweek 2018 experience will begin with a consumer festival (the Northstar Free-Ride Festival, powered by Interbike) with demos starting on Saturday, September 15th, 2018 at the Northstar California Resort, located near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
The Northstar California Resort is home to Northern California’s largest bike park with extensive downhill runs, cross country trails and is accessible by gondola and chair lifts, offering an experience for consumers to test products from some of the most innovative brands in the bicycle industry. The area also boasts some of the most inspiring road rides in the world and has played host to a number of major events including the Tour of California.
Racing, music, kids’ activities, craft beer and more are planned for the two-day festival. The consumer demo has a number of committed brands who will be on site such as Bulls Bikes, Cannondale, Haro Bicycle Corporation, KHS, Marin Bikes, Maxxis Tires, Open Cycles, Pivot Cycles, Ritchey Design, SRAM, Tern and more. The Free-Ride Festival will continue on Sunday, September 16th through to mid-day, but will transition to Interbike OutDoor Demo that afternoon.
OutDoor Demo, open only to the trade, will feature the previously mentioned brands and many more and will continue on Monday, September 17th from 08:00 to 18:00 local time with free gondola access to all attendees.
Following the demo experience, the indoor Interbike International Trade Show will take place and include over 400 industry brands such as Bianchi, BH Bikes/Easy Motion, Bosch, Bulls Bikes, Cannondale, My Stromer, Pivot Cycles, SRAM, Yamaha and many more who will display alongside the Circuit test track, the Mechanics Challenge, the Forum and Electric Theatre on-floor education areas, Source at Interbike and more from Tuesday, September 18th through Thursday September 20th at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center (RSCC) just south of downtown Reno.
The new Tuesday through Thursday format will allow retailers and exhibitors to travel home in time for the weekend. Expo hours on Tuesday and Wednesday will be 10:00-18:00, with Thursday being 10:00-16:00.
The new hours will allow attendees to take part in educational content before the show opens, lessening conflict with valuable time on the show floor. Interbike notes that it has made significant investments in education both in morning sessions and on the trade show floor itself, including the new IBD Summit at Interbike and soon-to-be-announced Retail by Retailer tracks.
A wide range of topics designed to help retailers think differently about their businesses are planned, including a keynote address from ACE Hardware Corporation President and CEO John Venhuizen, discussions around marketing to diverse audiences, hiring & retention, driving youth participation and more. All meeting room space is adjacent to the main halls which will make participation easier.
Interbike is the leading bicycle trade event in North America, bringing together manufacturers, retailers, industry advocates and media to conduct the business of cycling. This is accomplished primarily through indoor trade shows, industry and consumer demo experiences, and high-level educational conferences. Established in 1982, Interbike and its events provide a platform for critical face-to-face business interaction, product line previews and media launches, sales lead generation, trend-setting, networking and retail education.
