OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER & ODI | JUNE 17-19, 2024
OUTDOOR RETAILER WINTER & ODI | NOVEMBER 6-8, 2024
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OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER & ODI
JUNE 17-19, 2024

OUTDOOR RETAILER WINTER & ODI
NOVEMBER 6-8, 2024

SALT PALACE CONVENTION CENTER
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

Jun 6, 2018 | Commerce + Retail Magazine

Five Things I Learned in 25 Years
By Chris Goddard


The founder of CGPR shares career-saving nuggets of PR experience that can benefit everyone in the outdoor industry.



I have spent nearly 43 years in public relations. I have been privileged to sail the incredibly wide and often choppy waters of this business. Those waters have been tricky to navigate at times, but they have also imparted life lessons that I try to apply daily.

I have worked in the trenches with the best people on earth, served amazing clients and engaged with talented TV producers, reporters, editors, bloggers, and influencers. I started as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C,, where I spent over seven years. I served in the White House. I worked at City Hall and in D.C. for New York City’s Mayor Ed Koch. And I have run my own firm, CGPR, for 25 years. But most of all, I have been so lucky to work in the outdoor industry. It’s a space that has grown exponentially since in 1993 when I started—but it has always been an incredibly special community.

Along this incredible journey, there have definitely been some bumps in the road, mental bruises that hurt for a long time, but those only served to make the achievements feel even better. Along the way I have had the privilege to:

  • Escort the Iran hostages in New York on behalf of Mayor Koch, after they spent 444 days as prisoners in Tehran from 1979 through 1981.
  • Handle the media chaos in Yosemite for Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson’s stunning, historic first free ascent of The Dawn Wall on behalf of adidas Outdoor that included 21 satellite trucks and a meeting of the minds between the three morning shows in the Yosemite cafeteria.
  • Engage in advance work for a vice presidential visit in New York
  • Organize a fashion show for W.L. Gore & Associates to showcase its fashion prowess
  • Work with Outdoor Retailer through its transition from Salt Lake City to Denver
  • Enjoy the simple pleasures of hosting media in New York City in brand showrooms or small dinners with no agendas just to experience great wine, delicious food and terrific conversation.
  • And finally, share best practices with up and coming students of PR in a media landscape and environment that is 100-percent unforgiving.

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