{"id":11877,"date":"2017-03-31T09:41:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T16:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=11877"},"modified":"2017-04-03T02:21:20","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T09:21:20","slug":"pitchfest-women-to-the-front","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/pitchfest-women-to-the-front","title":{"rendered":"Pitchfest: Women to the Front"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entrepreneurs, this one\u2019s for you. Camber Outdoors<\/a>, formerly the Outdoor Industries Women\u2019s Coalition, is now accepting applications for the Third Annual Pitchfest, held in Salt Lake City on July 25. But hurry\u2014applications are due April 19th.<\/p>\n

If you own a woman-led business and want to get it in front of some of the most influential people in the outdoor industry, you\u2019re in the right place. If your application is accepted, you\u2019ll be paired with a mentor for an intensive five-week boot camp to help you articulate the issues critical to growing your business. Then you\u2019ll pitch your business live to a panel of incredibly influential judges and get real-time insight, visibility and feedback. Your prize is the mentorship, business-strategy fine-tuning, exposure and community building that happens through this process.<\/p>\n

Disruption for Change<\/h4>\n

Disruption is the name of the game. Pitchfest is about restructuring the very makeup of the outdoor industry. \u201cThis is about disrupting who identifies as being outdoors as well as the products that are created for the outdoors,\u201d says Deanne Buck, executive director of Camber Outdoors.<\/p>\n

The legacy definition of outdoors\u2014as made by and for men\u2014is no longer good enough. The outdoor industry has historically driven innovation, but innovation by nature comes from a diverse set of minds solving previously unsolved problems. And today that diversity is lacking. Buck explains, \u201cThrough the REI Foundation\u2019s Mary Anderson Legacy Grant, Pitchfest was created to give female entrepreneurs the visibility and platform to bring their fresh thinking, innovative ideas and passion for the outdoors to market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura Swapp, director of public affairs and next generation marketing at REI, tells us a little more: \u201cThe outdoor industry births and grows business through its (mostly male) network with the \u2018I know a guy\u2019 approach. At Pitchfest, you\u2019re leap-frogging that informal network process that can shut women out.\u201d<\/p>\n

REI got involved through the Mary Anderson Legacy Grant because, as Swapp sees it, \u201cPitchfest is the most concrete creation of opportunity that I\u2019ve seen us as an industry construct. Getting in front of the biggest outdoor CEOs would take a lifetime. Pitchfest made it happen now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who Should Apply?<\/h4>\n

Apply if you have your own business and \u201clove the outdoors and don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re currently represented or spoken to. This is a place for your voice, experience, expertise. Help evolve the way we all think about the outdoors,\u201d says Buck.<\/p>\n

Finalists are chosen with four criteria in mind:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Demonstrated revenue and market traction.<\/li>\n
  2. Business must be founded or co-founded by a woman and at least one-third woman-owned.<\/li>\n
  3. Active-outdoor industry focused.<\/li>\n
  4. In-person availability on July 25 in Salt Lake City.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Apply now<\/a>. We need you.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Entrepreneurs, this one\u2019s for you. Camber Outdoors, formerly the Outdoor Industries Women\u2019s Coalition, is now accepting applications for the Third Annual Pitchfest, held in Salt Lake City on July 25. But hurry\u2014applications are due April 19th. If you own a woman-led business and want to get it in front of some of the most influential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[646,692,651,728],"internal-tag":[703],"class_list":["post-11877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-camber-outdoors","tag-news","tag-women","tag-women-stories","internal-tag-aer-parris"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/news\/pitchfest-women-to-the-front","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Pitchfest: Women to the Front","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/pitchfest-women-to-the-front","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/pitchfest-women-to-the-front"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/03\/CamelBak-Run-InUse-Global-5-ret-transparentbg-crop.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/03\/CamelBak-Run-InUse-Global-5-ret-transparentbg-crop.jpg?fit=1500%2C1059"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Angela Crampton"}],"creator":["Angela Crampton"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["camber outdoors","news","women","women stories"],"dateCreated":"2017-03-31T16:41:31Z","datePublished":"2017-03-31T16:41:31Z","dateModified":"2017-04-03T09:21:20Z"},"rendered":"