by The Editors on January 23, 2012
Bonfire’s Amy Eichner has been promoted to the position of Product Line Manager for the brand and Kevin Stevenson is now Marketing Manager of both Bonfire and Salomon.
Brad Steward, Head of Action Sports at Amer commented on both of the appointments, “Amy and Kevin make this all so easy. Great riders, great concept and idea people—I now have the dream team, 2-headed monster, sonic fist of doom, to unleash on marketing and communication.”
For more on Amy and Kevin and exactly what they’ll be doing in their new positions, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 21, 2012
We’re super stoked to report that according to a memo sent out to Burton employees this week Jake Burton’s “cancer is toast.” Jake says:
It appears that my cancer is toast. It’s scans and observation from here forward. There is still the possibility of surgery or some radiation down the road, but it will be clean-up in nature and I’m not too stressed about it. As my oncologist Steven Ades said, “Jake, you get your diploma”. . . As I transition from being a patient to being a survivor, I move on with enormous respect for both cancer (‘The Emperor of Diseases’) and chemotherapy (how can something so beneficial be so simultaneously harmful).
Jake goes on to thank Donna, his three boys George, Timi, and Taylor and the entire Burton family. We knew he’d power through this flat spot and now we’re wishing him prolonged health. Follow the jump for the complete memo. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 18, 2012
686 is looking for some snowboard industry people who would like to settle a score, knock someone out, or just dust it up for a round in their Lights Out boxing matches during the SIA Show on January 26, 2012 at Casselman’s.
They’re describing it as “a fun-filled evening of your friends from the snowboarding industry kicking the s*$t out of each other!”
If you and a friend (or enemy) would like to go a couple rounds, then click here to let 686’s Kristin Cusic know and she’ll put you on the card.
Fights start at 9 PM. Casselman’s is located at 2620 Walnut Street, Denver, Colorado.
by The Editors on January 17, 2012
In 1997 Burton Snowboards was at the nexus of a storm of rumors. The rumors were so pervasive that some clever instigator at the company created an extremely limited edition T-shirt for the 1997 SIA Trade Show in Las Vegas. The shirt jokingly outlined all the outlandish, outrageous things people were saying about the company that season.
Now, 15 years later, we thought it might be interesting to revisit the T-shirt that set out to sarcastically dispel the rumors and see how many of them eventually came true. Follow the jump for the complete rumor breakdown.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 17, 2012
From the official news released today it would appear that Mike “Chief” Nusenow has a new boss of sorts, and someone who shares his SVP, winter sports title at Quiksilver.
Clark Gundlach, the former (wait, it’s a really, really long title) “Senior Vice President leading Sales, National Accounts, Sales Operations, Licensed Store Platforms, and Multi-Channel Distribution in North America and the Southern Hemisphere for Burton, RED and Anon brands” has been named Senior Vice President and General Manager of Winter Sports at Quiksilver, Americas.
“Clark, Chief, and the rest of the snow team in the Americas, along with athletes like Travis Rice and Torah Bright, are going to take our brands and our business to new places,” stated Rob Colby, President of Quiksilver Americas. “I couldn’t be happier with this crew.”
Gundlach will report directly to Colby and Nusenow will report to Gundlach. If Quik wants to make inroads into the heart of the winter sports market there’s no better way than by hiring one more person away from the leader in the category. Follow the jump for the official word from Quik. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 13, 2012
by The Editors on January 11, 2012
Ross Garrett (right) the former Director of Operations and Development for The Surfer’s Journal has been named Vice President of Surf Products for Surfline.com. Also joining the Surfline.com team in Huntington Beach, California is new Global Forecast Development Manager Mark Willis.
“Ross and Mark are each incredibly talented and well respected within the unique surfing and ocean-based meteorology markets we serve with Surfline and Buoyweather. We are excited to have them both hit the ground running to help continue to drive the growth of our products,” said CEO Jonno Wells.
Garrett and Willis will officially join Surfline on February 1, 2012. For more background on both, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 11, 2012
Product designer Jason Kanes (right) has created loads of snowboard products over the years, most recently Omatic Snowboards with Todd Richards. Now Kanes has joined with long-time action sports attorney Marco Gonzalez of Coastal Law Group to launch a new action sports design studio and small business incubator called PRJCT.
A full service creative and technical design studio with substantial experience in materials sourcing and production logistics, PRJCT is particularly poised to assist private label brands to enhance existing product offerings and bring new ones to market smoothly and efficiently. Jason remarks, “We focus our work with design teams, product innovators, merchandisers, and executives to achieve consistent results, on deadline, and within established budgets.”
Follow the jump for all the official details. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 11, 2012
The news launched first in tweets last night (January 10, 2012) from Transworld Skate and Skateboardermag. Apparently, Rob Dyrdek announced to the crowd gathered for Zumiez annual 100k shop kid pep rally at Keystone Resort, Colorado that he was purchasing Alien Workshop from Burton Snowboards. According to a story on Shop-Eat-Surf, Dyrdek reportedly:
. . . grabbed the microphone from Alien Workshop Co-founder Chris Carter and told the hundreds of Zumiez’s employees, athletes and industry executives in attendance that he is buying the legendary skate company from Burton.
First he kickflips a car, now this? It would be understandable that Burton would want to shed a company that never seemed to make sense in its brand portfolio, but why Dyrdek would want to own a skateboard hardgoods company (aside from just keeping it alive) is anyone’s guess?
Burton’s Chief Operations Officer Mike Rees reeled in everyone a little in an email sent out early this afternoon (January 11, 2012) . “While Rob’s message was definitely premature, we did want to confirm that we are in an open dialog with him about a possible purchase,” Rees said. “At this point, please note that nothing is confirmed, and we will absolutely do a formal announcement when and/or if that transition happens.”
[Link: Shop-Eat-Surf]
by The Editors on January 10, 2012
The Association of Magazine Media (formerly the Magazine Publishers of America) has released their numbers for the quarter October through December 2011 and things aren't looking good at Transworld Media, the only action sports magazine publisher tracked by the MPA. Here's how it looked from best to worst.
2011 2010 % Change
TRANSWORLD SURF 202.94 203.98 -0.5
TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING 341.90 362.32 -5.6
TRANSWORLD MOTOCROSS 261.89 282.94 -7.4
TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING 272.60 320.64 -15.0
TRANSWORLD RIDE BMX 119.49 160.75 -25.7
TRANSWORLD WAKEBOARDING 39.50 66.50 -40.6
Total magazine advertising was down 8 percent in the quarter vs. last year so TransWorld Surf, Transworld Snowboarding, and Transworld Motocross were technically ahead of the market. Transworld Skateboarding, Ride BMX, and Wakeboarding obviously had some trouble. For a look at past coverage of the MPA quarterly numbers click here.
[Link: Association of Magazine Media]
Bonfire’s Amy Eichner has been promoted to the position of Product Line Manager for the brand and Kevin Stevenson is now Marketing Manager of both Bonfire and Salomon.
