Hear from top voices at industry-leading companies during this can’t-miss panel discussion on investing in the most important priorities for your business in a post-pandemic-boom market. Learn how management at brands including Zwift, SRAM, Thousand, United Wheels, The Pro’s Closet, and Specialized, are addressing outlook forecasting, balance sheet management, talent retention and employee happiness, supply chain and sourcing issues, cost transformation, and more to guide your own company through the uncertain waters of the current market.

In the rapidly changing regulatory environment surrounding electric bicycles, it is essential to our industry that manufacturers stay up to speed on critical and evolving issues. Following up on a panel from the 2022 BLC on the legal standards that govern electric bicycles in the U.S., PeopleForBikes Outside Counsel Erika Jones, partner at Mayer Brown, will discuss changes in the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) approach to testing e-mobility products, the growing recognition of the three-class system at the federal level, and the imminent risks associated with products that look like electric bicycles, but whose power and/or speed exceed legal limits.

A fact often overlooked by both start-ups and legacy businesses is that commercial growth requires long-term marketing strategy, especially when economic realities are unfavorable. Join a panel discussion led by Matt Heitmann, chief marketing officer, North America, of Signa Sports United, on what he describes as the most important marketing key performance indicator (KPI): customer value. Learn from leading industry experts on the importance of lifetime customer value, how it’s measured, and how brand, product, customer service, and marketing intersect to generate customer value for short and long-term success.

Leveraging global partnerships for sustainability efforts can lead to a far more meaningful reduction in carbon emissions compared to taking action alone. Learn from the bike industry’s leading sustainability coalitions — PeopleForBikes’ Sustainability Working Group and the Outdoor Industry Association Climate Action Corps in the U.S., Cycling Industries Europe and the CONEBI’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Expert Group in Europe, and the Bicycling Alliance for Sustainability led by the Giant Group in Taiwan — to gain a better understanding of key focus areas and why they matter to your business. By working together on carbon accounting, sustainable packaging, emissions reductions through manufacturing, and more, our industry can be global leaders in the fight against climate change.

Join Eric Artz, President and CEO of REI, for a keynote address on the outdoor gear retailer’s crucial role in growing the overall bike industry. Artz will highlight ways the co-op has and will continue to work with others in the industry to make riding a bike more accessible for all.

As one of the newest and fastest growing sectors of the bike industry, gravel biking has the significant potential to welcome more new and diverse riders to the world of cycling. Hear from Amy Charity, co-founder of SBT GRVL, a world-class gravel race built around the fundamental goal of inclusion, on the magic and challenges behind attracting youth and diverse riders and future opportunities the industry can capitalize on to continue the growth of bicycling nationwide. Could this be the model for more events in the future?

In the past few years, financial buyers have shown an increased interest in cycling, with private equity groups like RAF Industries (Priority Cycles), Middleground Capital (HLC), Zabel (Stan's), Sterling Capital (Colorado Cyclist, Planet Bike), Ridgeline Ventures (Pro's Closet), and KKR (Accell Group) investing in cycling. Also, family offices like Next Sparc (Revel Bikes) and outdoor businesses like motorsports platform Pier Mobility (Felt) and watersports platform Kent Outdoors (Kona Bikes) have entered the cycling industry with investments. Russell Cree, managing partner at Bell Lap, an advisory firm solely focused on outdoor recreation and active lifestyle businesses, will discuss who these buyers are, what product categories and channels are most attractive in the current market, and what the next 12-24 months could look like for the market value of bike industry businesses.

The metaverse is here and we all have a role to play. The "fitness metaverse" concept will not be built by one company alone — it will be built by the broader cycling community to create and enable new experiences, and the opportunities are limitless. Join a discussion with Zwift co-founder and co-CEO Eric Min exploring how we can embark on this journey to grow our industry together.

What role does technology have in shaping a safer future for vulnerable road users (VRUs) like bicyclists? Hear from automotive, technology, and bike industry leaders about how next-generation technology, existing infrastructure, improved regulation, and governing bodies like departments of transportation can come together to address road safety and protect VRUs on roadways nationwide.

The pandemic exposed a fragile and outdated workplace culture that hadn’t adapted to meet transformations in technology and the workforce. Hear from venture capital investor Lisa Picard on why work culture is changing and how our software (organizational culture) needs new, updated hardware (workplace systems) to run on. Lisa will also discuss how leadership can make their organizations more resilient in a time of constant change.

In the face of an employee exhaustion epidemic, it’s time to rethink how we view high performance in the workplace. As the CEO of RISE, a breakthrough wellness company, Suneel Gupta helped thousands of people overcome their challenges with physical and mental health. Now, he helps organizations increase performance, innovation, and creativity by showing why high-potential people and teams fizzle out — they don’t run out of time or talent, they run out of energy. Gupta will discuss lessons from his one-of-a-kind teaching at Harvard Medical School and eight years of closely studying the habits of extraordinary leaders who reached breakthrough levels of productivity, resilience, fulfillment, and momentum, sharing how you can implement these tactics at your company.

Market data is one of the bike industry’s most important tools when it comes to understanding and planning for an uncertain future. Dive into recent industry trends as panelists from NPD Group share insights from the bike market and overall U.S. economy. Data experts from S&P Global will build on that recent data and share their groundbreaking, five-year outlook for the bike industry, discussing the macroeconomic, social, and geopolitical factors that could impact that forecast. This is a can’t-miss session for bike industry businesses of any size to help prepare for 2023 and beyond.