Tune in to Recreation Northwest’s Facebook page this Friday, February 24th at 3:15pm to watch the live feed of our 2017 Outdoor Recreation Summit Keynote Speakers Jon Snyder and Cailin O’Brien-Feeney.
Thanks to our friends at Varvid: Internet Broadcasting & Live Stream Events*, if you can’t make the Outdoor Recreation Summit in Bellingham, you can watch the live streamed Keynote Summit speeches online!
Please help spread the word! If you, your organization or company would like to share this with your friends & followers point them to Recreation Northwest’s Facebook page on Friday at 3:15pm. Thanks!
Jon Snyder – Governor Inslee’s Policy Advisor on Outdoor Recreation and Economic Development.
Cailin O’Brien-Feeney – Local Recreation Advocacy Manager, Outdoor Industry Association discuss the strength of Washington’s outdoor recreation economy.
Excerpt from 2017 Outdoor Recreation Summit announces Keynote Speakers:
The Outdoor Recreation Summit will be hosted Friday, February 24th from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm at Bellingham Technical College’s Settlemyer Hall. This exclusive full-day conference brings together outdoor recreation manufacturers, retailers and organizations, as well as state and local-level policy makers for networking, learning and sharing ideas on how to grow Washington’s recreation economy and get more people outside. The event builds community and connections among Washington state’s recreation business professionals.
Snyder will give an update on the status of Washington’s Recreation Economy. He will speak to the positive trajectories that established Washington-based outdoor manufacturing and retail brands like REI, Cascade Designs and Brooks are experiencing and to the great strides smaller startups like Nuu Muu, Swift Industries and Evo are making as well. Snyder will also address the challenges we face in how to continue to support our shared objective of providing the public access to the outdoors.
Snyder will provide historic perspective when he speaks about “our heritage of outdoor recreation as a part of Washington’s history since the dawn of time. We have inherited the outdoor pursuits of canoeing and fishing, for example, as local living traditions that have been unbroken for generations.” His talk will also address the challenges we are facing and how we can work together solve them.
Representing the national interests of the OIA, O’Brien-Feeney will speak about the collective impact of the outdoor industry nationally and how states like Washington are providing a model for others to emulate. “When I speak to people around the country, I use Washington State as a leading example for other states to follow. Over the past year, I have enjoyed working directly with Jon (Snyder) in the Governor’s office to increase the impact and the value of the recreation economy. I’m looking forward to joining him as a Keynote Speaker for the Summit in February,” O’Brien-Feeney iterates.
Following the Summit, the Recreation Northwest EXPO is open and free for the public on Saturday, February 25th from 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal in the Fairhaven district. The EXPO offers outdoor recreation-related exhibitors the opportunity to provide information to the public about their products, services and causes.
*For a sense of the professionalism of Varvid, check out this BMW spot.

Todd Elsworth is one of the many “Mossy-haired lunatics roaming the dripping peninsulas”, described in “I’m Here for the Weather” by Tom Robbins. As executive director, he works to fulfill our mission to teach the health benefits of nature, promote outdoor recreation, and steward the places where we play.
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