Today we’d like to introduce you to Phil Rawlings.
Hi Phil, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I often get asked why I started the Expo. Sometimes it seems they are looking at me like I have rocks in my head and I probably do.
I have been involved with and designed parts for a number of companies over the years that have gone to shows like SEMA and the Pomona Off-Road Expo. It always bothered me that we had to go somewhere else to have an Off-Road Expo. One night talking with friends I asked why don’t we put on an Expo ourselves? Utah is the mecca for Off-Roading after all. They thought it was a good idea but dismissed it as “campfire talk”.
The idea of putting on an Off-Road Expo wouldn’t leave me alone. After thinking about how to do an Expo and the elements that would go into it I became more convinced that I didn’t want a big event company coming into Salt Lake and leaving without making it a better place. I wanted to be able to help the Off-Road community and came up with 3 pillars for the Expo; Promote the Off-Road businesses in Utah, Promote Utah, Promote Land Use Stewardship in part by uniting the Off-Road Community.
Promote the Utah Off-Road businesses– Running a business is tough especially a small or growing business. I have owned and been involved in a few businesses some of them Off-Road related. I want to be able to help businesses get exposure to new customers and promote themselves and their products or services. My goal, help connect local people with local businesses. There are more things we’re working on but that’s for another post.
Promote Utah– Utah is a great state and I’m proud to live here. With the Expo we can give people information on where to go and things to do in the state that they might not have known about before. I learned about the Paiute Trail and Swing Arm City recently, one a 275 mile riding loop and the other a 2600 acre open riding playground. We are working on a Tourism section of the Expo to get the word out about all of the incredible places to go and see in Utah.
Land Use– This is the big one with a couple components, without places to go all of this would be in vain. We are a fractured community, jeepers don’t always get along with Side by Sides, or Motorcyclists and vice versa. The organizations that we often find ourselves opposing for access to trails are very organized. If we can come together as a complete community we have a much better chance of protecting our access. This is why we have all the different vehicles at the Expo and our rally cry is OFF-ROADERS UNITE!
We need to take care of the areas we are allowed to drive/ride on. It isn’t a right like free speech, it’s a privilege. I wasn’t raised in family that went Off-Roading. When I built my first vehicle, a Jeep J10 Truck, I started wheeling and found a large muddy area at a crossroads back by Franklin Basin. My truck was covered in mud and some people in another truck stopped me and educated me about how what I had just done was going to affect the road. Fortunately they were really nice and I only felt a little defensive. I simply didn’t know because I had no background. I feel this isn’t an isolated occurrence. If we can educate people in a non-threatening way we can do some real good. Each year we donate booths to the Forest Service, BLM, Treadlightly, Blue Ribbon Coalition, Utah Public Land Alliance, and a few others. We want to partners with them to promote responsible land use and access to trails.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In some ways it’s been a smooth road in other ways, there’s been lots of obstacles. The community interest and support has been amazing. We try to give back to them and make Utah a better place that is more friendly to off-roading. The show didn’t start as a way to make money which is a good thing because it took 4 years to finally get the show to a zero balance. Covid wiped us out with the money that we had out on contracts already that was forfeited. We didn’t know if we would be able to turn it on the next year, but with $900 in the bank account we pushed forward and were able to make 2021 happen. The next challenge was inflation. We had kept the show pricing the same almost 10 years and were no longer able to avoid a price increase. This came at a hard time for our vendors as they were facing many of the same financial issues as we were. Our focus became. How do we make the Expo a win for our vendors and continue to excite the attendees. We continue working on those things every year.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
By trade and schooling. I’m a mechanical engineer, not a show promoter. I’ve worked aluminum foundries, hybrid truck manufacturers, carbon fiber, composite, manufacturing, heavy haul and rigging, which was probably one of my favorite jobs, and in the off-road industry.
As an engineer, I went to many trade shows to support products that I designed. When we were at off-road events I always wondered why there was not a good event in salt Lake for the off-road industry. So I started the salt Lake off-road and Outdoor Expo. It took 9 years working full-time as an engineer and running the show to finally be able to step away from working full-time as an engineer and run the show.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
There’s so many amazing people that I’ve met on this path. That have helped and are helping me to be able to pull this off. Nothing happens until you start putting your ideas and yourself out there. You don’t have to start big but you have to start. People have asked me how I started it and the answer is I simply started and put one step in front of the other. There’s been no real secret to the success. Just working nights and weekends along with some of my good friends to get this thing to where it is.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.slorex.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/saltlakeoffroadoutdoorexpo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saltlakeoffroadexpo
