By lowering membership dues, the Eastern Outdoor Reps Associaiton is hoping to attract new individuals to the organization and grow itspresence in the bike market, according Debbie Motz, Executive Director of rep group. “We also wanted to ease the burden on reps paying dues to multiple rep groups,” said Motz at the groups recent board meeting.
“Our Board members and our staff hear this concern a lot, so we wanted to do what we could to help make EORA as accessible as possible,” she said.
EORA, a not-for-profit association that produces 11 regional tradeshows bringing together more than 500 sales reps and 2,200 retailers each year in the Eastern U.S., recently held its annual meeting in Asheville, N.C. The nine board members from New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Southeast will meet again during the Outdoor Retailer Show in January 2015. The organization was initially focused on traditional specialty outdoor but has expanded its tradeshows to encompass a wide array of retail categories, including lifestyle, specialty run, bike, resort, paddle sports, and much more.
Also at the board meeting, plans were announced for new web site functionality to assist reps and retailers, creation of a bike-focused committee to improve the presence of this category at EORA tradeshows, and the approval of 13 new reps into the organization’s membership. The Board also finalized the six recipients of EORA’s Outdoor Opportunity Grant Program.
EORA was founded in 1979 and has grown from a handful of original participants to an annual membership of more than 500.
