Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Adventure Expo

[Tom]

The 50th Bi-annual Outdoor Adventure Expo for Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis, MN, will be April 23-25, 2010. (http://www.outdooradventureexpo.com)

GPIR Transporation Lines has a booth, and my brother-in-law/hiking partner Brent and I will be there to answer folk's questions about Isle Royale. Capt Don won't be able to attend, since the gang is very busy in late April getting the boats ready for the season, but do come by and say hello! (On that note, rumor is that the VoyII will have some new engines with rubber mounts, making for a smooth ride... But Capt Don still promises the 'massaging' engine covers that have lulled many a tired, sore backpacker to relaxing sleep will still be there.)

Yours truly was also invited to give a talk on Backpacking Isle Royale during the Expo, so I'm excited to again talk about my favorite place. I was even able to work in the URL of the forums to my bio, so perhaps we'll see some new members from their 35,000+ mailing that they send out!
I don't have the specific time slot just yet, but the whole weekend is packed with great talks so if you find yourself in the Twin Cities that weekend (or just live in the area) I encourage you to stop by!

Tom

[fonixmunkee]

Hey Tom, I'll be there!

Great to see GPIR with a booth, and even better you'll be doing your talk again. As soon as you get an exact date, let me know. I usually only head down for one day, so I'll make that the day!

[Kevinl]

Woot! Woot! Hope to see you there.

[fonixmunkee]

I got my Midwest Mountaineering mailer for the expo in the next few weeks, and saw this guy on there talkin' 'bout Isle Royale:

Very nice, Tom! I'll be there for your presentation.

For those of you who don't want to view the image, the date & time for Tom's Isle Royale presentation is:

Saturday, April 24th, 2:15pm in the U of M Humphrey Center, room 25.

[Kevinl]

I plan to be there too. I've never gone to the Expo, but noticed you Tom as I was looking at the schedule today.

[Tom]

Correction on the time: I'm at 3:30pm on Saturday, Hanson Hall,Room 105 "Wisconsin Room"

I made the same mistake Fonix did, until I received a confirmation email from the staff... The dates and times of the presentations are BELOW the description..

Everyone who can make it needs to be sure to come and say hello! If you can't make the talk, but at least are attending the expo, I'll also be at the GPIR Lines booth all three days.
Hope to see you there!

[SunEDay]

The Expo is great. I go every year. They always have lots of stuff you don't find other places like the Biffy Bag. It is a new pocket size disposable toilet. I have only been able to find them on line but a friend of mine just told me that they are going to have a booth there. I am going to pick some up and save the shipping charges. If you haven't heard about the Biffy Bag you should check them out they are awesome. Google up the Biffy Bag and check them out. Great for camping, boating and emergencies. Great for Leave No Trace. We even keep a couple in the car.

[DaveHD]

Tom,

Been watching the Expo tents go up from my office and had to check out to see if there were any Isle Royale specific events. We'll be going to IR in August for an eight night trip and will try to join you Saturday at Hansen Hall to get some insights. off to check out the rest of the forum.

[Tom]

Welcome to the forum, DaveHD! Great to know the tents are getting up... Might be a little rainy this weekend.

For all forumites, if you happen to come to the talk, be sure to stick around afterward and we can have a meet-n-greet to get to know some faces!

[Kevinl]

Tom, I won't be able to attend the talk (have to be back in Mankato in afternoon, but will try to stop by the booth and say, "Hey man!"

[Tampico]

Just got home from the expo. Lot's to see and talk about with the exhibitors. Found some deals in TA, too.

My wife and I meandered over to Hanson hall to hear Tom speak only to find the room so packed we couldn't get in. There were a half-dozen folks standing outside the closed door, and no fewer than a dozen more approached while we decided what to do. Eventually, we all turned away.

I was pretty disappointed by this. Next year, more than one session or a much bigger room is in order.

[fonixmunkee]

I also just got home from the Expo. It was great to finally put a face to the name, Tom...nice to meet you.

Tom did a great job with his presentation, and a lot of people that were there seemed to be really impressed with a lot of the things he talked about. Many of the facts about how unique Isle Royale is really got some "oohs" and "ahhhs" from the crowd.

Tampico, you missed a great presentation from Tom. Indeed, the room was packed, with standing room only (which is good), but to hear that so many people had to be turned away is sad. I'll be dropping an email to Midwest Mountaineering detailing this, and suggesting that they either get a bigger room for next year's presentation, or to add another one at a different time. I'm sure Tom would be OK with that

Tom has been plugging these forums, so hopefully we'll see some new users who are just as excited as us to get out to Isle Royale.

[Kevinl]

Tom it was good meeting you today, always fun to connect a face or person to the profile of the forums. Hope you have a blast on that first boat.

[Tom]

Thanks to all who either came to the talk or stopped by the Grand Portage Isle Royale Transportation booth to say hello!
When I was first approached to give the talk, I asked how many normally attend so that I could have some materials for the guests. They normally expect 30-50 at a given talk. Imagine my surprise when I showed up 15 minutes early to set up, and the room was almost full already! I'd have to guess the room sat 50-60, and by the time I started, people were setting down the isles and standing on the edges. What a great opportunity to talk about a place I love, and see so much interest with a packed room!
It's a bummer that the room did indeed become full and more could not be accomodated. These are just the standard rooms that they use for most of the presentations, I believe. I've already been contacted by Midwest to come and give a talk again in June, in their Expedition Room downstairs of the store, so I'll let you know when something is set up. When Capt Don put me in touch with them last year, the comment I got was "We've been looking for folks to talk about Isle Royale for a couple years!" - Paired with the audience we saw Saturday, clearly there is a demand. Hopefully we can become a regular addition to the expo... and when I say we, I mean all of us that enjoy Isle Royale and share our stories.
As I told my audience, I'm no expert, I'm just someone that enjoys hiking a park we all own. The truth is is that there are probably very few 'experts' available to give talks, and so it's important for all of us who've been out there to share our experiences. I urge you to consider talking to your local outdoor store, and perhaps offering to talk about the Isle. I'm sure they've been glad to have you. I'd be more than willing to share my presentation; and I can say that the NPS and Capt Don have been WONDERFUL in supplying me with copies of the Greenstone, schedules, etc, to provide as handouts. I'm admittedly weak in the water routes of Isle Royale, so if there is someone out there willing to perhaps talk about that, we would have the 1-2 punch!

[Tom]

Eeek. Time gets away from us. (And I still need to finish my Trip Report!)

Anyway - It looks like I forgot to mention, Midwest Mountaineering asked me back for a June talk. I'll be there next Monday, June 14th, 7pm, in the Expedition Room (downstairs) to provide a similar talk to the one at the Expo. If the audience desires, we may sway more toward some route specifics, too..

As always, it's great to meet faces from the forum, so if you're in the area, please stop by!

Tom