America’s leading cycling trade show – Interbike – today announced that Justin Gottlieb has been promoted to interim Show Director of Interbike. Pat Hus, who has been Show Director since 2011, will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
“Justin has an intimate knowledge of the cycling industry having worked in the space for over 20 years and has been a senior part of the Interbike team for six years,” said Darrell Denny, Executive Vice President at Emerald Expositions, Interbike’s owner. “He has a broad range of successful experience in bicycle retail, wholesale and at the brand level and has been an integral leader at Interbike. Justin is known, respected and excited to be leading our team going forward.”
“I and my colleagues thank Pat for his great work on Interbike and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Denny said.
Justin joined Emerald in 2012 and has been serving as Communications & PR Director for Interbike, and Corporate Communications Director for Emerald Expositions. In addition to his involvement in strategy development on Interbike, Justin also managed Interbike features and activations, retail education development, and projects such as the Interbike Mechanics Challenge. Most of his more than 20-year career has been in the cycling/sporting goods industries, on the retail, wholesale and events side of the business. He earned a BS in Public Relations from the University of Florida, where he was a member of the cycling team, and later an MBA from Averett University.
“In addition to the very experienced Sales and Marketing team remaining in place, Justin will be adding several new staff members to the Interbike Marketweek team to increase marketing, communications and retail relations proficiency,” Denny said.
Interbike in 2018 has expanded its format this year to become Interbike Marketweek and has received wide industry praise as a result. The Interbike Marketweek 2018 experience will begin with a consumer festival (the Northstar Free-Ride Festival, powered by Interbike) with demos starting on Saturday, September 15th, at the Northstar California Resort, located near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Northstar California Resort is home to Northern California’s largest bike park with countless downhill runs, cross country trails and is accessible by gondola and chair lifts, offering an unparalleled experience for consumers to test products from the most innovative brands in the bicycle industry. The area also boasts some of the most inspiring road rides in the world and has played host to a number of major events including the Tour of California. Racing, music, kids’ activities, craft beer and more are planned for the two-day festival. The consumer demo has a number of committed brands who will be on site such as Bulls Bikes, Cannondale, Haro Bicycle Corporation, KHS, Marin Bikes, Maxxis Tires, Open Cycles, Pivot Cycles, Ritchey Design, SRAM, Tern and more. The Free-Ride Festival will continue Sunday, September 16th through mid-day, but will transition to Interbike OutDoor Demo that afternoon. OutDoor Demo, open only to the trade, will feature the previously mentioned brands and many more and will continue Monday, September 17th from 8 am to 6 pm with free gondola access to all attendees.
Following the demo experience, the indoor Interbike International Trade Show will take place and include over 400 industry brands such as Bianchi, BH Bikes/Easy Motion, Bosch, Bulls Bikes, Cannondale, My Stromer, Pivot Cycles, SRAM, Yamaha and many more who will display alongside the Circuit test track, the Mechanics Challenge, the Forum and Electric Theatre on-floor education areas, Source at Interbike and more from Tuesday, September 18th through Thursday September 20th at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center (RSCC) just south of downtown Reno. The new Tuesday through Thursday format will allow retailers and exhibitors to travel home in time for the weekend. Expo hours on Tuesday and Wednesday will be 10 am-6 pm, with Thursday being 10 am-4 pm.
The new hours will allow attendees to take part in educational content before the show opens, lessening conflict with valuable time on the show floor. Interbike has made significant investments in education both in morning sessions and on the trade show floor itself, including the new IBD Summit at Interbike and soon-to-be-announced Retail by Retailer tracks. A wide range of topics designed to help retailers think differently about their businesses are planned, including a keynote address from ACE Hardware Corporation President and CEO John Venhuizen, discussions around marketing to diverse audiences, hiring & retention, driving youth participation and more. All meeting room space is adjacent to the main halls which will make participation even easier.
