2014 Professional Outdoor Media visit Knoxville, Tennessee

Video: Knoxville is a great for a meeting about the outdoors

Josh Wolfe, POMA Exec Laurie Lee Dovey and Mitch Strobl

I got the Hook Up at POMA Camps!

The annual member conference foe the Professional Outdoor Media Association, or POMA, came to Knoxville in late March. The good folks in Tennessee made these outdoor enthusiasts feel very welcome and shared the message that they place a high emphasis on the quality of their outdoor areas. We visited a nature center near Knoxville that provides education of birds of the woodlands, including a duo of ivory-billed woodpeckers preserved via taxidermy. The POMA conference included two days of meetings at the Knoxville Convention Center, located next to the World's Fair Park. Many of the leading companies from the outdoor industries sent representatives to meet with the writers, videographers and bloggers that provide content offered up for public consumption. A distinguished group of editors held multiple panel discussions with POMA members about how best to navigate the perils of publishing. Attention to grammar and proper writing style will never go out of style as we enter into an age of TXT MSGS. One session asked if Mobile devices is the new future of the Internet, and the answer is a resounding yes. In 2014 it is predicted that half of all Internet traffic will be from mobile devices including tablets. The POMA staff works hard to make sure that the conference speakers address these cutting edge conundrums so that members will be at the vanguard of new media. At the same time, special consideration is given to our senior members during one social hour where these 'greybeards' are invited to take the microphone and tell one entertaining stories from their career in the outdoors. Another night includes the Pinnacle writing awards and a live and silent auction that is the biggest fundraiser of the year. POMA Chairperson Tammy Sapp was able to take home two of the coveted awards in 2014 and it is worth noting that POMA will visit her home town of Springfield, Missouri for the 2015 conference.

Welcoming QDMA newbie Hank Forester to POMA

To read past blog entries about the Professional Outdoor Media click here.

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker taxidermy