Explore Big Sky Country during the 2016 OWAA Conference
OutdoorHub 01.31.14
The Outdoor Writers Association of America invites you to join us on July 16-18, 2016, in Billings, Mont., for three jam-packed days of sessions, demos, hospitalities and more.
The Billings Convention and Visitors Bureau/Billings Tourism Business Improvement District, Southeast Montana Tourism and local chair Jack Ballard look forward to welcoming OWAA to “Montana’s Trailhead.”
Ballard says, “There are enough diverse outdoor recreation opportunities in the Billings area and beyond to keep an OWAAer exploring for a month. We can’t wait to show you around!” Pre- and post-conference trips can include mountain biking the Rimrocks surrounding the town, fishing the Yellowstone or Bighorn rivers, hiking, exploring natural and Western history sites, touring local breweries and distilleries and more.
And as 2016 also marks the National Park Service’s centennial anniversary, don’t forget about Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area.
“An hour from Billings, the village of Red Lodge perches at the base of the Beartooth Mountains, a gateway community to superb hiking and backpacking destinations in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and the front door to the Beartooth Highway [into Yellowstone], described by the late Charles Kuralt as the ‘most scenic highway in America,’” Ballard adds.
Between your pre-and post-conference adventures, the host hotel and meeting space for the 2016 conference is the Holiday Inn Grand Montana, which boasts $109/night room rates that include use of their indoor pool and sauna, fitness and business centers as well as convenient access to I-90 and a complimentary airport shuttle.
Demo Day will be held at the Montana Audubon Conservation Education Center. The Center’s site is a 27-acre former gravel mine that has been transformed into wildlife habitat with more than 65,000 trees and shrubs planted for habitat restoration since 1998. The facility also include three large ponds with access for fishing, canoeing and non-motorized boating.
Blue Creek Shooting Complex and Preserve will host the Shooting Day program. Located just nine miles outside of town with more than 250 acres of scenic property, the complex is a sought-after destination for shooting enthusiasts from across the region, providing ample facilities for archery, rifles, pistols, sporting clays, airguns and even dog training.
Returning to Montana for the first time since the storied 1987 Kalispell conference, the 2016 OWAA conference is sure to provide outdoor activities and experiences to suite any attendee, all while allowing the opportunity to boost your career, expand your professional networks or promote your products or campaigns.
Details about the Billings conference will be posted at http://owaa.org/2016conference as they become available.
We hope to see you there!
OWAA CONFERENCE CALENDAR:
- 2014: McAllen, Texas
- 2015: Knoxville, Tenn.
- 2016: Billings, Mont.
