The Paddlesports Trade Coalition (PTC) has announced that its second annual Colab industry event will take place September 8-10, 2025, and return to Riversport OKC in Oklahoma City. PTC executive director Jeff Turner shared details about the announcement in a webinar on March 19, 2025. The organization also unveiled a plan to launch an annual, industry-wide Go Paddle Day on June 14.
2025 PTC Colab returns to foster industry collaboration
The first Colab was held in September 2024. It was hosted by the newly formed PTC, which brought together paddlesports industry members to share ideas, educate and engage in industry-wide collaboration. The 2024 event saw approximately 150 attendees.
The agenda for the 2025 event again aims to balance meetings and discussions as well as opportunities to get out on the water and enjoy the new products on display. General sessions are to include retailer and brand collaboration, boater safety initiatives, direct-to-consumer impacts and management and technology and industry data. Breakout sessions will focus on consumer engagement, industry certifications and strategies for Go Paddle Day.
Go Paddle Day launches on June 14
Go Paddle Day is a unified push to get lapsed paddlers back on the water. Stig Larsen, CEO of Level Six, was at a trade show in Strasburg listening to a speaker talk about dwindling participation in paddlesports when he was struck with a point the speaker touched on.
“We’re so focused on trying to get new paddlers that we’ve also kind of missed out on lapsed paddlers,” shared Larsen, adding that he himself could be considered a lapsed paddler. “I paddle, but I’m not paddling as much as I used to.”
Rekindling love of paddling may be just as important to industry health as reaching potential new paddlers, and the hope is the lapsed paddler will bring someone new to paddling with them. This idea is at the heart of the new Go Paddle Day initiative.
While Go Paddle Day is a PTC initiative, it is designed for everyone in the industry to give people a reason to get outside and paddle across North America, with an aim to put paddlesports in front of as many people as possible. The goal is to keep the day an easy event to execute, and harness the power of social media to coordinate getting people out on the water on the same day.
Larsen went on to explain that the event will be an “aggregation of resources from the best businesses and minds in the industry to get as many people on the water in paddlecraft as possible… We need more butts in boats.”
The next PTC Webinar is scheduled for April 23, 2025.
