innov_ex 2012
The 10th annual Innovation for Extremes conference : The Innovation Journey Continues was organised by Mike Parsons and Mary Rose (both of IEED, Lancaster University Management School) 18th-19th April 2012. This series of conferences originally linked to the Mallory Everest 1924 Replica project. It is the annual conference for innovation and sustainability for all mountain, outdoor and adventure sports. innov_ex is an exciting event to help you stay up to date with innovation and sustainability issues affecting the outdoor industry. The conference is sponsored by Pertex and has the support of The Textile Institute.
What were the highspots of innov_ex 12?
Attracting delegates from across the outdoor industry, the conference has built a strong reputation for bringing together universities and business with an outward facing agenda designed to challenge and inspire and open up debates, questions and dialogues on topics ranging cycling innovation, wearable technologies, the changing nature of user feedback, social media apps and the outdoors, to sustainability in the supply chain, re-use and recycling, the sustainable clothing action plan and sustainable design. innov_ex 12 provides a window on new ideas and perspectives and this year highlighted that innovation is about much more than new products but, as many presentations showed, is crucially linked to new processes, business models and services.
For example :
1. innov_ex kept delegates up to date with the challenges facing the sector revealed vividly by Mark Held Secretary General of the European Outdoor Group who highlighted innovation, whether, product, process, supply chain or marketing as a key route forward. Click here to read more on Mark Held’s presentation.
2. New combinations of emerging technologies were another theme uniting speakers at innov_ex 12 especially the implications of combining wearable technologies and social media for outdoor footwear and activity. The process of getting close to user needs, one of the keys to successful innovation, is enhanced by the use of new processes linked to social media and blogs.
3. The Innovation Design Prize, was this year won by Jenni Campbell, a graduate of University of Strathclyde, with CleatFeat which adapts running footwear to pedalling mode for adventure racers.The prize is open to students and new independent designers provides a strong recruiting ground for outdoor companies looking for exceptional designers, while many winners have gone on to commercialise their designs.
4. innov_ex 12 was again live web streamed by a team from ISS and this, combined with a highly successful Twitter feed, brought dialogue into the conference from virtual delegates and increased the visibility and reach of the conference. discussions and feedback.
Click here for feedback on innov_ex 12
