It's that time of year again. The time when the cycling industry begins preparing for the biggest cycling event on earth - Interbike. Thousands of bike retailers converge on Las Vegas at the end of September to see the latest and greatest from the cycling industrialists.
Interbike is a closed event, however. You have to be a bicycle dealer, supplier, distributor, manufacturer, or member of the media to attend. So how did your humble blogger get a ticket to this illustrious event last year, well as media of course. Yes. You see, Interbike did something rather progressive. They invited bloggers that cover the cycling community or industry to attend Interbike as members of the working media. A shrewd move on their part as dozens of bloggers covered the news and events of the show in near real time. Word of mouth spread through the blogoshpere as those bloggers that did not attend had a chance to peer into the conference through the eyes of others and add their own commentary to the happenings. This helps to create an electric atmosphere around the show and helps the organizers of Interbike as well as the vendors that exhibit.
This year Interbike is embracing the blogosphere a step further, by diving in with a blog of their own - InterbikeTimes. Attendees of the show will recognize the InterbikeTimes as the daily newspaper provided at the beginning of each day that highlights the news from the previous day and the upcoming schedule. Interbike is taking this on line, but with a twist.
The blog is just getting started, but it is kicking off with a call for past attendees to share their Interbike stories and memories in honor of the show's 25th anniversary. Anyone can register as a guest author and post up their own story complete with pictures and all. Your article is saved as a draft and then posted upon approval by the blogs owner (as of this writing my guest submission is still pending approval). Your submission will not only make it onto the blog, but may also appear in the print edition during the show. What a great way to keep the blogoshpere engaged with Interbike and tie in the print version of the InterbikeTimes with the online version.
It'll be interesting to see where they take this blog next. One thought I have is that the author can engage the blogosphere further during the show and post up links to blogs and other news sites that are covering Interbike. The InterbikeTimes would serve as the aggregator of Interbike news and information and would be the definitive place to get started on your online Interbike journey. Better yet, maybe they'll permit me to use my guest authorship to post up an article directing them to my own postings on the show.
Anyway, just a couple of ideas. We'll see where it goes, but if you are a cycling or Interbike junkie it may well be worth keeping an eye on it.
Postscript: Thanks to Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.org for the heads up on this new industry resource that shouldn't go unnoticed.
