We are excited to announce that Lodestone Events has been acquired by Emerald, producers of the Outdoor Retailer trade show. Lodestone and Emerald announced a partnership last June to co-produce Outdoor Retailer’s Outdoor Adventure X, debuting this June 17-18, 2023, at Snowbasin Resort in Huntsville, Utah. The acquisition bolsters Emerald’s expansion into consumer lifestyle events by bringing the successful Overland Expo series and a team of consumer event specialists in-house.
Overland Expo’s 2023 event series will look and feel just like last year with the same small staff of passionate and dedicated overlanders at Lodestone continuing to organize all four Overland Expo events and the brand’s digital properties going forward. Emerald will continue to partner with the Overland Expo Foundation and is committed to ensuring Overland Expo has the strong, community-forward feel it always has.
Last year, the Overland Expo series attracted nearly 80,000 consumer attendees, 1,300 exhibitors, and 250 journalists. In addition to a wide variety of camping and product demonstrations, attendees had access to 1,700 hours of classroom-style education, roundtable discussions and hands-on instruction across 1,380 sessions.
“Bringing the Overland Expo series of four premier events and Outdoor Adventure X together creates an expansive offering of consumer experiences not seen before in the outdoor community,” said Jeff Davis, group vice president, Emerald. “We look forward to the synergy these iconic gatherings bring to our collective events while creating even greater value for the entire outdoor ecosystem, from manufacturers to retailers and consumers. With the growing demand for outdoor experiences, we are excited to increase the opportunities for consumers to engage directly with their preferred products and brands, as well as discover new gear and opportunities to support their outdoor pursuits.”
“Overland is a growing market segment, recognized and valued by the outdoor industry at large” said Lindsay Hubley, Managing Partner of Lodestone Events. “Overlanders are naturally outdoor recreation enthusiasts and the convergence of these two communities has grown steadily in recent years.”
“We’ve spent the last four years enhancing the attendee and client experience at Overland Expo events, developing the brand’s daily digital content offerings, and syndicating the event series into high-demand markets. We are grateful to have found a strategic partner who shares our core business philosophies, community culture and our passion for training, outfitting and inspiring the outdoor adventure community. We look forward to continuing to enhance the client and attendee experience at events and applying the core business philosophies that have made Overland Expo successful in developing Emerald’s B2C properties,” Hubley added.
Overland Expo joins Emerald’s action and outdoor portfolio of events that includes Outdoor Retailer Winter, Outdoor Retailer Summer, The Summit by Outdoor Retailer, Surf Expo, Outdoor Adventure X, and Shop-Eat-Surf.
Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming Overland Expo in the near future.
-The Lodestone Events Team
