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Interbike loses consumer day, partners Kickstarter for innovation incubator

Interbike has announced that this year’s event will not carry the Customer Appreciation consumer access day that it has over the past three years.

“We now realize that getting significant turnout to fly to Las Vegas during the week is extremely difficult and that we’re better served going back to the old format and making it a trade-only event,” said Pat Hus, Vice President of Interbike. “If we can come up with another way to do it in our new home, we’ll re-visit the concept.”

Additionally, the show will now close at 2:00 pm PDT on Friday as opposed to its traditional 4:00 pm PDT closing time to allow exhibitors more time for tear down and the opportunity to save on expenses.

Coming in tandem with the announcement, the organisers have also revealed that the show is working with Kickstarter to offer economical booth opportunities for new businesses.

“Just about every company in our industry started out as an idea at some point, and it grew from there,” said Justin Gottlieb, PR & Communications Director for Interbike. “Our goal with The Incubator is to get these products and their creators in front of our audience and hopefully help launch their products and brands. Brands like Revolights and Lumos, which were both Kickstarter products, have now gone to the next level and I’d like to think we played a part in those success stories. We want to do that for more creators and their products.”

The Incubator will sit in a high traffic area toward the front of the show and will allow upstarts to show one new product innovation.

To enquire about space in the Incubator, contact the organisers here.

Interbike returns to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center beginning with OutDoor Demo in Boulder City, Nev., September 18-19, 2017, followed by the Interbike Expo, September 20-22, 2017.