SOTA was formed 23 years ago by a small group of independent wholesalers who wished to show their product to retailers in the outdoor industry, primarily from all over Australia and New Zealand. 

They welcomed  newcomers and over the years the show grew and gradually outlived various venues from the original truck and then hotel room in Canberra to the Basketball Stadium and the National Convention Centre and  grew into two shows - one in May in Canberra and one in October in Melbourne.  In July 2002 due to the overwhelming success of the May show and changes in demand from both buyers and exhibitors the October show was discontinued.

Everyone in the industry knows about ‘SOTA shows’ and they have continued to be a most reliable and important yardstick on the health of the outdoor trade over this time.  The success of the show would appear to be based on many things including  reliability, efficiency,  friendly atmosphere and the fact that the show is open to any legitimate person in the outdoor trade.

Exhibitors must be people for whom wholesaling/manufacturing is their primary activity and this continues to work well. 

There is no membership fee for legitimate retailers visiting our show and provided one is pre-registered there is also no charge to attend.  A $20 fee does apply if registering on the day but this is a very small charge when overseas show charges are considered. 

potential exhibitors:
Potential Exhibitors are also welcome to contact the office and a kit can be sent out explaining the booking procedure.  A $75 membership is applicable to exhibitors only.  Potential exhibitors are required to complete an Application for Membership and if this is approved by the committee then they may go ahead and apply for a place.  The Association holds an AGM once a year and all exhibitors are urged to attend.

SOTA committee: 
Each year a President, Treasurer and committee members are elected for the next year.  The committee at present is:

All members of the committee  welcome calls from buyers and exhibitors at any time with queries or suggestions regarding the show.

SOTA office: 
The SOTA office is run by Ann Willcock in Melbourne,  and is operated on a permanent part-time basis.  An efficient message bank system does operate and if Ann is not actually there she will return your calls immediately she resumes work.  Ann welcomes contact with all our buyers and exhibitors and  the office is the central hub for all SOTA operations.  The office can be contacted as shown on the contact SOTA page of this website. 

shows:
The  ‘SOTA Show’ which is what most people in the industry still call it, is now officially, The National May Outdoor Trade Show.