by The Editors on January 21, 2011
In past years our policy has always been to roam the SIA Snow Show and see what catches our eyes or ears. While this create epic moments of serendipitous discovery it also means that we often miss some really cool shit.
This year we won’t have that problem because the SIA has created an iPhone app (and Blackberry and Android apps for those sad lonely, beaten down workers forced to use shoddy tools). It’s called SIA 2011 and was created by Core Apps.
Use the SIA Snow Show App to navigate the Show with interactive floor plans, exhibitor lists, twitter feeds, events schedules, listings for Denver bars and restaurants and create your own Show schedule.
The digital map is reason enough to download the app, but add to that a searchable exhibitor list (with booth numbers and full contact info), an events schedule (which has not been updated yet), Twitter feed, Denver Guide, and contact info for all the speakers at SIA and it is a mandatory piece of software for anyone attending the show. One of the coolest bits is that exhibitors in the list can be starred and or checked off the list and later viewed in an “exhibitors visited list.” Keeping track of who to see and who we’ve seen has never been easier.
After years of being at SIA adrift and unguided, the SIA Snow Show app comes like a light in the darkness. Click this link for the iPhone version. You other smartphone heathens are on your own.
For the latest on the 2011 SIA Show follow the jump.
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by The Editors on January 21, 2011
After complaints about Quiksilver’s use of their old “If you can’t rock ‘n’ roll, don’t fucken come” tagline on a newsletter sign-up page on their Australian website reached New Zealand’s Advertising Standards Authority they weren’t too happy about it, according to a story on the National Business Review.
A complainant said the foul language is “unacceptable”, particularly as the brand is well-known among youth in New Zealand. . . However, the Complaints Board upheld the complaint, saying the brand appealed to under-18s and that the move to add in asterisks would not suffice to alter the meaning of the term.
Quiksilver complied and changed the image on the sign up page to a much more pleasant “Sign Up Now.” For the entire December 2010 decision and a peek into New Zealand rather silly advertising rules, follow the jump.
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by The Editors on January 21, 2011
When we heard first heart that Chris Cole was leaving Fallen Footwear for DC Shoes we were a little confused. Sure, there would be the increased paycheck, the increased promotion and pop-cultural visibility, but what about Jamie Thomas?
How could Chris Cole do that to his longtime friend and boss? More importantly, how could Thomas let him go? After reading the recent Zero Skateboards press release about how Chris Cole has become a “shareholder” it all makes sense.
“Cole’s loyalty and support have been an integral part of Zero’s success for the past decade. I’ve always included him in important decisions and brand direction, so it’s exciting to know that we’ll get to work together for the life of the brand. I couldn’t imagine a better partner,” says Jamie Thomas, founder and president of Zero Skateboards and Black Box Distribution.
We knew Jamie Thomas would figure out a way to get a piece of Cole’s DC cash.
[Link: Blackbox via ThrasherMag]
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by The Editors on January 11, 2011
The Association of Magazine Media (formerly known as the Magazine Publishers of America) has announced magazine advertising results for Q4 (October through December 2010) and things are looking up (at least vs. 2009) at action sports only tracked titles, Transworld Media.
2010 2009 %CHG 2008
TRANSWORLD MOTOCROSS 282.94 276.76 2.2 368.66
TRANSWORLD RIDE BMX 160.75 47.24 240.3 153.99
TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING 320.64 293.67 9.2 404.06
TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING 362.32 322.45 12.4 435.54
TRANSWORLD SURF 203.98 181.04 12.7 270.08
TRANSWORLD WAKEBOARDING 66.50 66.32 0.3 134.74
If we look back to Q4 2008 we can see there is still a ways to go before things are really back, but moving in the right direction is a great start, at least at Transworld.
[Link: Association of Magazine Media]
by The Editors on January 11, 2011
And now for the old news department: Yes, the rumor we’ve been sitting on for nearly a month is true: The La Jolla Group has handed the . . . Lost clothing license back to co-owners Matt Biolos and Joel Cooper, according to a story on ApparelNews.net.
“There was a disparity between the clothing and the boards,” Biolos told the trade publication. “The two parts of the business didn’t relate to each other. Taking the apparel back [in-house] gives us a chance to do our own thing. We want our vibe to be consistent.”
“Disparity” is such a nice way of saying it. We’re pretty sure there is no great love lost between the “edgy” surf brand and the main stream fashion licensing corporation. It will be good to see Biolos and crew back to creating some authentic surf/skate fashion on their own with no apologies.
[Link: ApparelNews.net]
by The Editors on January 7, 2011
For the past eight years, Agenda Show founders Aaron Levant and Seth Haber have pushed ahead with a cool, small trade show that promoted authentic street brands.
In the face of competition from much larger organizations like Magic, ASR, and Surf Expo they’d been able to carve out a small, successful corner of the fashion trade show business. The show was growing even though each year it was becoming more and more of a head-to-head race with ASR.
Then, at the beginning of November 2010, Nielsen Expositions announced it was shutting down the ASR Show entirely. Suddenly, Agenda’s most direct competition was gone. At that time we tried to speak with Levant about how the announcement would change the trade show game, but he wasn’t interested in discussing it then.
Yesterday (January 6, 2011), we caught Levant in the lobby of the packed Agenda Show in Anaheim’s Marriott Convention Center. This year’s show is made up of several sections: Agenda, The Berrics Agenda skateboard show, and the all-new Agenda Snow. All told, the show fills 80,000 square feet of floorspace and features 300 brands. Levant and Haber’s little show has become quite large.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story.
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by The Editors on January 7, 2011
From the “public companies must grow” file comes the following breaking news from Volcom:
We are proud to announce that Volcom will be the official casual clothing sponsor of Mitch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki race team for 2011. Pro-Circuit is highly regarded as one of the best teams in motocross and they are known for their continued success and commitment to excellence. We are stoked to be working with Pro-Circuit and be a part of this amazing team!
Some Stone rocking mini-truck drivers are going to be so amped.
[Editors’ Note: It appears Veeco is picking the right guys as Ryan Villapoto won SX #1 in Anaheim.]
by The Editors on January 7, 2011
VF Corp, the parent company of Vans, Reef, and The North Face, today announced the promotion of Steve Rendle to the position of Vice President, VF and Group President, Outdoor & Action Sports America’s.
Since 2009, Rendle has served as President of VF Outdoor Americas. He will now be responsible for leading VF’s Outdoor and Action Sports businesses in North and South America, consisting of The North Face(R), Vans(R), JanSport(R), Eagle Creek(R), Reef(R) and lucy(R)brands. Kevin Bailey, President of Vans and Jeff Moore, President of Reef will now report to Rendle. He will continue to be based in San Leandro, California.
What they didn’t apparently include in their announcement is that, according to Shop-Eat-Surf, Reef’s VP of Marketing Kevin Flanagan is no longer with the company and his position has been eliminated.
Apparently, Reef is doing so well that they no longer need anyone in the “senior marketing position.” Follow the jump for more.
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by The Editors on January 6, 2011
Those who thought the death of the ASR Show signaled the death of action sports trade shows in general were proven grossly wrong during day one of the Agenda Show in Anaheim, California January 6, 2011. All three halls were packed to the point of making it difficult to cruise the aisles. And it wasn’t people just hanging out. Lines were being shown and in many cases orders were being written.
While some brands we spoke to seemed relieved that they didn’t have to be at ASR this year, others mentioned missing the old days when Agenda was just a small show for the cool kids. Agenda has definitely kicked it up a level this year and nearly everyone seems happy about it. Even those who seem nostalgic for the past.
More later. We still have aisles to walk. Until then check out this photo gallery from day one.
[Editors’ note: Special thanks to the Mark Waters Wi-Fi network. He didn’t have to share, but he did.]
In past years our policy has always been to roam the SIA Snow Show and see what catches our eyes or ears. While this create epic moments of serendipitous discovery it also means that we often miss some really cool shit.
