Thin Air Innovation Festival Returns to Park City, Utah

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Thin Air Innovation Festival returns to Park City, Utah April 5-7, 2018 with diverse speakers, meaningful and fun outdoor experiences and ski town-inspired celebrations. This cross-industry leadership forum and Spring-ski-season festival is designed to inspire ideas and spark new relationships amongst leaders who drive change and performance in their work.

"Thin Air helps individuals and organizations push their limits and discover pathways to break through to be the best in their industries or in their personal lives," says Co-Chair Ben Rifkin.

The third annual summit taps into the talents of creative thinkers and determined doers for three days of high altitude experience, including keynote talks, break-out-sessions, outdoor adventures and parties to celebrate and explore how individuals, teams and organizations perform at the highest levels. This cross-industry mash-up brings together diverse perspectives and leaders from retail, tech, sports and recreation, entertainment, healthcare, finance and beyond to share experiences and launch new ideas.

Past speakers at Thin Air have included business luminaries such as Under Armour CEO and founder Kevin Plank, former CEO of Charles Schwab David Pottruck and more than 75 leaders from companies such as Red Bull, Intermountain Healthcare, Zions Bank, HBO, Airbnb, Bank of America, Salesforce, Modsy and Deloitte.

The 2018 program will cover a cross-section of topics that have wide applications across diverse industries to inspire creativity and innovation. Session highlights include an Opening Night keynote on the Future of Commerce and breakouts covering The Circle of Product / Brand / Distribution and Customer Relationships and The Place of Place, a comparison of retail channels with brick and mortar, social selling and traditional direct-to-consumer representatives.

One of the highlights of Thin Air 2018 will be a free-to-the-public Main Street concert and homecoming parade for the 100-plus, Utah-based athletes returning from the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, presented in partnership with Youth Sports Alliance.  Bill Malone, president and CEO of the Park City Chamber and founding organization of Thin Air notes, "Some of these 2018 Olympians watched the 2002 Games here in Park City while perched on their parents' shoulders. We like to think Park City is a meaningful part of their successful Olympic journeys."

The festival caters to both individuals and corporate groups of all shapes and sizes and this year, Snowsports Industries America (SIA), the trade group of winter sport manufacturers and retailers, will join Thin Air 2018 as a partner, offering think tanks, panels and entertainment throughout the festival. They will also offer a consumer demo for an on-snow sampling of 2019 gear.

"By partnering with Thin Air, we're looking to expose our industry players to an array of new thinkers and discussions in hopes of inspiring greater innovation within our industry," says SIA president Nick Sargent. "We also want to make this event inclusive as opposed to exclusive; to build a much larger gathering."

More than a typical talk-fest, Thin Air gets attendees out of the conference room, onto the ski runs and into the mountains to put ideas into action. At Thin Air 2017, Hoby Darling, President of Logitech Sports and High Performance and former Nike executive, delivered a breakout session on how to maintain performance under pressure. The next day, Green Beret Brian Sudler ran a simulated high-pressure mission at Utah Olympic Park with participants from the prior day's session. This notion of putting concepts into action threads through the event as participants connect on the slopes, at core content sessions and beyond.

"Thin Air came about as a way to connect visitors with local innovators and high-performers at a time of year that suits a 'what's next' attitude," says Thin Air executive director Richard Bezemer. "And Park City's blue skies, sunshine, live music and spring skiing definitely help set that upbeat tone." As the home of two world-class ski resorts, numerous high-growth technology and outdoor sport companies and a factory of winter Olympic athletes from all over the world, Park City offers a unique setting that inspires performance-minded people and organizations.

Thin Air takes place April 5, 6 and 7, 2018 in Park City, Utah.

Program and ticket information for the 2018 Thin Air Innovation Festival are available at www.thinairparkcity.com. Discounts are available for groups. Contact [email protected] for more information.

Contact: Dan Howard
Park City Chamber / Bureau
435 658 9609
[email protected]

SOURCE Park City