This week the quaint ski village of Keystone Resort, Colorado is going to be over run by Zumiez sales zombies as the action mall retailer hosts it’s annual $100K party to reward all their store employees who have moved more than $100,000 in product in this economy. Awards are given to the top sales people and the awards are presented by the biggest names in action sports. Seriously, there is no larger gathering of heavyweights assembled for anything.
Okay, so we all know this. But we did see something interesting on the presenters list:
See that last name? Yeah. It’s Chris Cole presenting for DC Shoes (not Fallen). Kind of old news for the insiders, but still good to see it in print. Welcome to Quiksilver, Mr. Cole. Guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of him at The Berrics this year.
Sole Technology sti Laboratory Manager Jeremy Determan explains the all-new Fusion technology at the Agenda Show in Anaheim on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Fusion allows Sole Tech to create a vulcanized style shoe that is lighter, more flexible, more durable, and much easier on the environment. Nothing wrong with that. . .
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.
Miami skate shop owner Rene Lecour wanted to take his son to a cool destination and they began researching Cuba. After seeing footage of some of the skateboards the Cuban’s were riding Lecour realized they could seriously help the skate scene there by taking some skateboards with them when they went to visit, according to a story on CNN.com.
Lecour . . . thought his contacts in the skating community would make it easy for him to bring boards to Cuba. He was wrong. . . “I e-mailed every single skateboard company I know,” Lecour said. “The only two responses I got were unfortunately one person who said we shouldn’t be allowed to go because of the embargo. Another ‘genius’ said we shouldn’t come because all the skaters are all communist.”
Thankfully, the Miami skateboard community came through where the industry had failed and Lecour was able to hand deliver skateboards to the kids of Cuba.
One of the more amazing aspects of “the industry” is how many different doors there are to get in. Artist Drew Brophy is a classic example. As he tells Surf Expo’s Sean O’Brien, sometimes it’s just a matter of sticking around and doing your thing no matter what everyone else has to say about it.
I was trying to find someone who would let me use paint pens on surfboard for years. Kelly Richards from Perfection Surfboards let me do some, but he hated them. He was like: “Drew, these are the ugliest surfboards I’ve ever seen!” Then when I was in Hawaii I rode for Town & Country and I showed Craig Sugihara and the rest of the crew there my ideas and they weren’t into either. I got the same feedback from the guys at Local Motion and it seemed like everyone else on the North Shore. I was blown away, I was like “Wow, nobody’s going to let me do this.” . . . Matt [Biolos] was actually the last guy I wanted to talk to. He really had nothing going on at the time. They weren’t even on the map. But I needed an outlet to do the art and I wanted to meet him. That day I walked in there I was more or less looking to do something fun. I was making more money working at Stewart than I had in my whole life. Working with Matt was more of a release; it was just fun.
And to think, now Brophy is designing shirts for tradeshows. . . Click the link for the rest of the story.
Winters are cold in NorCal and Thrasher Magazine knows that the worst part about skateboarding out in the frost is slapping a hand down on frozen concrete. Apparently, that’s why they made these new new Goat Grip Gloves and and matching Blackout Beanies. These seem perfect for flying over Cuckoo’s nests if nothing else.
Just a reminder for those making the trek to Orlando for Surf Expo 2011. This Friday, January 7, 2010 Quiksilver and Surf Expo will host the All 80’s All Day Vert Challenge in the Orange County Convention Center, North Hall A, 9400 Universal Drive in Orlando, adjacent to Surf Expo. Admission is free and open to the public on a first come, first served basis. Parking at the Convention Center is $13.
SlickWraps, the purveyors of fine iPhone skins, have a new skin that turns an iPhone 4 into a nice 7-ply maple board–sort of.
We use real skateboard grip-tape to manufacture each item and each is precision cut with a laser for a perfect fit. When combined with a wood grain vinyl edge wrap this design actually gives your iPhone 4 the illusion of being a skateboard, all you need now are the wheels. The only advice we can give you is not to slide this phone against your grandma’s table because this material is very rough.
Finally, an iPhone that can do damage, rather than the other way around. Right now, it’s only $20 on Etsy.com.
Finally there is a way to learn to skateboard without leaving the house. Yes, we’re going to learn to “skate like a professional” from the comfort of our our laptop with help from one of Goskate.com’s “300 instructors.”
GoSkate.com’s owner, Rob Dunfey, says, “We get calls all the time from people who say that even though our skateboard lesson rates are very reasonable, they still don’t fall within their budget, that’s why I decided to do live skateboarding lessons over the web for free.”
The first free, live skateoarding lesson will be broadcast online Tuesday February 8, 2011 (3 PM PST, 6 PM EST) featuring the teaching stylings of Professional Skateboarding instructor Dan MacFarlane. Hey, if these skateboard lessons were featured in CVS Pharmacy, Sam’s Club, and Rite Aid, they’ve got to be great. Follow the jump for all the details. [click to continue…]
Eric Koston’s new Nike SB’s are loaded with Lunarlon. Apparently, that’s a good thing (P-Rod is reportedly getting some, too). So good that he shared it with the Twitterverse on the day after Christmas.
This week the quaint ski village of Keystone Resort, Colorado is going to be over run by Zumiez sales zombies as the action mall retailer hosts it’s annual $100K party to reward all their store employees who have moved more than $100,000 in product in this economy. Awards are given to the top sales people and the awards are presented by the biggest names in action sports. Seriously, there is no larger gathering of heavyweights assembled for anything.
