Chris Bishop, Marketing Manager for the AMG Group – whose portfolio includes trusted outdoor brands such as Vango, Trangia, Wayfayrer, Radix, Rossignol and Bollé – has shared his enthusiastic praise for Outdoor and Social 2025.
Held in March at Newfold Farm in Edale, within the heart of the Peak District, the event brought together retailers, brands, and outdoor professionals for three days of hands-on learning, training and community building.
As someone who also attended the inaugural edition of Outdoor and Social, Chris was in a position to observe how far the event has come in just a year. According to him, the growth in scale, participation and impact was clearly noticeable and incredibly encouraging for the outdoor retail industry.
“The biggest difference is there’s a lot more retailers here than last year,” Chris said. “There are a lot more brands that have engaged with the event too. I think people have started to see the absolute benefit of doing something like this – especially when compared to trying to send endless sales guys down the road to see stores, where the product might not be available or even displayed properly. What this event offers is something that just can’t be replicated outside of the field environment.”
A Unique Learning Environment
Outdoor and Social is designed as an immersive experience, where retail staff get the opportunity to live and breathe the products they’re selling. The event is free for retail staff and focuses on providing quality training from outdoor brands.
For Chris and the AMG Group, this format presents an unparalleled opportunity to deliver meaningful product education. The chance for retail teams to handle, use and even sleep in the gear they’re learning about results in a more informed, confident and enthusiastic sales force once they return to their stores.
“That hands-on aspect of the event is where the real benefit lies,” Chris explained. “People have the opportunity to say, ‘This fabric is different to that one because of this reason,’ and actually touch it, feel it, and see it in action. We’ve had a fair bit of rain while we’ve been here, which has actually been useful – it gave people a chance to experience how different tents handle wet conditions and understand the difference in performance ratings. That level of product interaction just can’t be beaten anywhere else.”
The Tent Village Experience
Chris and his team pitched nearly 20 Vango tents in the Tent Village for retail staff to sleep in over the course of the weekend. It wasn’t just a practical accommodation solution – it was also an opportunity for participants to fully immerse themselves in the brand’s offering.
“It’s been fantastic,” said Chris. “We pitched almost 20 tents in the tent village. We had a lot of kit available on the campsite for people to borrow and try out. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. People kept coming back to say how much they loved sleeping in the tents. And for some, it was actually their first time sleeping in a tent at all.”
The real-world experience of sleeping in the Vango tents allowed retail staff to not just hear about the quality of the products – but to feel it for themselves. Chris believes this personal connection to the gear will translate directly into better customer experiences in-store.
Bringing People Together
In addition to the practical training and product immersion, Chris highlighted the importance of the event’s social element. Evenings were filled with talks in the main marquee, informal gatherings around the campsite, and brand-hosted social events aimed at building community and encouraging collaboration across the industry.
“We ran a couple of evening events to bring people over to our stands and engage with the wider group,” Chris shared. “For me, the social aspect has to be a key part of this event. I think you need to give people the opportunity to decompress and share their feelings with other people in the industry, to discuss what they might have found out or might have learned throughout the day and socialise with other people in the industry.”
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