SIA President Nick Sargent officially stepped into his new role last month as the 2016 SIA Snow Show came to a close. His predecessor of 39 years, David Ingemie, passed the torch to him in a ceremonial celebration. But Sargent has spent the last several months transitioning into his new position, and brings with him a wealth of knowledge from many former executive jobs within the industry over the last 20 years.
One of the biggest changes that Sargent has already put in place for the show, is moving the dates up by a month. In 2017, the Show will see its normal iteration in January but then switch to a December roll out moving into the future, with another SIA Snow Show taking place in December 2017.
“Everyone is jockeying to move this buying cycle earlier so they can get their orders into the factories, so they can get the product made and shipped to the retailer” explains Sargent. “This has been happening for much longer than I’ve been in my role, obviously, and our board struggled with trying to make a good decision for the industry and how best to address the change that’s happening around us.”
Former SIA President of 39 years David Ingemie shakes hands with incoming President Nick Sargent.
When Sargent stepped into the shoes as president, it was during what he calls “a pivotal time,” when the discussion around the show dates had really “flared up.”
“If this buy-sell cycle is shifting, and we are stuck in this late January time frame where 90% of the orders are due for softgoods, and the first 40% of orders for hardgoods are already past due, it really puts us in an irrelevant space on the calendar,” he says. It was for that main reason the board and Sargent decided to move the dates up, creating a much more convenient buying window for its constituents.
We continue that discussion with Sargent, as he expands on the direction SIA is headed for 2017 and beyond, in our one-on-one discussion at The Sessions @ SIA. Watch it here.