Hot time in the city

Ahh, spring. Sunny skies, warm temps, birds chirping, flowers blooming. Except of course in Colorado, where it seemingly snowed the entire month of April and well into May.

Thus, a trip to New York City for our semi-annual media showroom, with the promise of warmer weather, good food and a little urban culture, was a welcome opportunity for the Backbone team.

Twice a year, we host a showroom in NYC. It’s a chance to meet with some of the country’s leading media and share the latest and greatest products and stories from our clients.

This spring, we were in a new, larger event space, with 13 brands participating. During the seven hours of our showroom, we saw 70 writers, editors, freelancers, bloggers, producers and publishers representing titles from the New York Times to SELF, Esquire, Conde Nast Traveler, Oprah and many, many more.

In addition to connecting with the New York media scene, we enjoyed beautiful weather, a great meal at the Spice Market and a healthy dose of city culture before we headed back to the mountains (where thankfully, spring seems to finally have sprung).

Check out some pics from the event below.

Backbone’s Mike Shea with Jeanine Pesce from This is Range and Matt Peterson from Big Shot bikes

Molly from Eddie Bauer with Mary Anne Potts from National Geographic Adventure

Corey from Sperry Top-Sider with Susan Matthews from Popular Science

Molly from SmartWool with Dan Tower of Gifts.com and Mavis

The Newton Running Dream Team: Newton co-founder Danny Abshire, Elinor from Backbone and Kara Henry from Newton

 

Backbone in the Big Apple

“Any proper trip to NYC should start with dinner a real Italian pizza joint.” Or so says John DiCuollo.  To kick off our annual spring media trip to the Big Apple, JLD pointed us to Arturo’s in the West Village.  Delicious, coal oven pizza pies with clam and lobster toppings set the tone for another great trip to NYC for Backbone.

This year we found a new penthouse in mid-town for our showroom and it was beautiful inside, with floor-to-ceiling windows affording incredible views of the city. Twelve of our brands participated: Black Diamond, BOA, Eddie Bauer, Horny Toad, Gerber, Gregory, La Sportiva, Newton Running, Polartec, POC, REVO Sunglasses and SmartWool.

Unfortunately on Wednesday, the day of our event, Mother Nature delivered us a steady stream of rain. Undeterred, media from a wide range of outlets braved the elements to attend. Everyone from tech-focused publications like WIRED and Popular Mechanics, to producers from Good Morning America and Outside TV, to travel writers from Travel + Leisure and Sherman’s, to fitness editors from SELF and Shape joined us.

The event was a big success and we’re already looking forward to our next one in the fall. Thanks again to everyone who attended; we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Here are some photos from the showroom:

Mike May shares a laugh with pro quidditch player and freelancer Eric Hansen

Peter Whittaker shows his robot dance moves to freelancer Tom Foster and Sarah Hubbard

Dax Kelm shows off the latest POC offerings to freelancer Peter Koch

Penn Newhard talks with freelancer Stefani Jackenthal and Brianne Bates from Revo

The Backbone crew celebrates another successful event in the city