Cameron McNeish - the acceptable face of the OIA. He'll be leading a walk at the OIA AGM in Malhamdale this March and spearheading a campaign to recruit more individuals to the outdoor industry's trade body with a new, bargain bucket, individual membership package. A good call we reckon.
WARNING – this is mostly a story of interest to people who work in the outdoors industry...
Anyway, yesterday the newswires were buzzing, or singing or whatever newswires do in the digital age with the news that Cameron McNeish has joined – or been 'co-opted', a posh corporate word for joined – to the board of the Outdoors Industry Association. See, told you it was an industry story. Go away, nothing to be seen here.
The OIA is the trade body for the outdoors industry, tasked with making the industry feel like an industry instead of disparate group of companies. The interesting bit isn't so much that Cameron, a very nice chap with a genuine and infectious passion for the outdoors has signed up in a Thierry Henry / Paul Scholes style, but the reason for his presence.
Which is – drum-roll, fanfare – to be the figurehead for a new category of membership called Independent Outdoor Professional (IOP) membership aimed at individuals in the industry like guides, sales agents, instructors and even, gawd help us, journalists...
At just ￡60 per year, it's designed to widen the OIA's membership, increase income with a view to upgrading biscuit quality at OIA meetings and give IOP members both a sense of belonging and access to as yet unspecified services and benefits.
But that's not the real story here... that, we reckon, is about relatively recently appointed new OIA head honcho - 'chief exective' to you – Andrew Denton. Denton, formerly the dynamic driving force behind Mountain Equipment, is renowned for getting things done and a little bird tells us that he's spent the last six months conducting an extensive audit of the OIA's activities, including The Active Guide web site, with a view to moving the organisation forward.
We're not sure what this all might mean for TAG, which we see as a good idea, but one that would require massive resource to really fly, but we suspect it'll be one of the items on the agenda at the OIA's AGM and conference in Malhamdale on 12/13 March where...
... and here we come full circle. Cameron McNeish will lead a walk on the afternoon of the first day and then speak at dinner that evening.
'I guess it’s a bit of a cliché to say I’m keen to put something back into the industry that has supported me for the past 30 years or so ,' says Cameron. But it’s true. Since standing down as editor of TGO Magazine I realised I had lost contact with the industry, although I’m still working to the same audience, outdoors folk from throughout the UK.'
Hence he concludes, 'the new category of membership'.
Interesting stuff, er, if you're in the outdoors industry, though arguably somewhat alarming for the residents of Malhamdale – book your weekend away now.
More OIA info at www.oia.co.uk or call 0131 333 4414.
