by The Editors on October 28, 2010
According to a report released by the Magazine Publishers of America magazine advertising pages during the third quarter (July to September 2010) were up 3.6 percent over the same period last year. The biggest gains were in the retail category where pages were up 7.2 percent and revenue was up 13.1 percent.
As we do most quarters we’ve checked in with the only action sports magazines followed in the Publisher Information Bureau (Bonnier Corporation’s Transworld Media) and see that things are mostly looking up. In fact Q3 looked great for all the titles aside from Skateboarding and Wakeboarding:
2010 2009 % Change
TRANSWORLD SNOWBOARDING 221.34 173.67 27.45
TRANSWORLD MOTOCROSS 256.26 220.08 16.44
TRANSWORLD SURF 278.42 244.34 13.95
RIDE BMX 152.59 148.36 2.85
TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING 296.04 337.05 -12.17
WAKEBOARDING 93.67 116.83 -19.82
Maybe those iPad magazine apps were just digital overkill. To see how the rest of the magazine world stacked up click here.
[Link: Magazine Publisher of America]
by The Editors on October 28, 2010
Skate legends Torger Johnson, Stacy Peralta, Steve Caballero, Eric Koston, Bob Burnquist and Patti McGee will be inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame during an “invite-only” event in Los Angeles, California’s The Cooper Building. The evening will feature cocktails, appetizers, and a live musical performance. Guests will also get to bit on a large selection of skateboarding memorabilia with proceeds going to the Go Skateboarding Foundation.
“Skateboardings rich culture has been built around iconic heroes that have helped to take skateboarding to another level of progression, inspiration and fun,” said John Bernards IASC executive director. “IASC recognizes the importance of honoring the pros that made skateboarding what it is today” without those icons and legends the tricks skateboarders are doing today would not exist. This year’s inductees represent the best, most progressive skateboarding from 1960 to 2010 and we congratulate each of them on their accomplishments.”
Follow the jump for more details on how you may be able to get invited.
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by The Editors on October 28, 2010
The mother of all DIY skateboard parks, Portland, Oregon’s Burnside will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this Sunday, October 31, 2010. In preparation for the event there’s been a lot of construction going on under the bridge, according to a post on Skatedaily.net.
. . . co-conspirators and two of several original masterminds of the self-made skate zone, Mark “Red” Scott, and Sage Bolyard have been busy constructing a new addition for the event. The work with many of park’s locals also involved, isn’t so pretty, but in the true renegade spirit of all that Burnside was originally built upon two decades ago, that’s absolutely the way it should be – DIY, dirty, gritty, unique, unrefined, but highly functional…built by skaters.
Jay Meer has reportedly giving the park an all-new paint job and things are set for the Halloween Hellraier. For a full photo breakdown from Bryce Kanights click the link below.
[Link: Skatedaily.net]
by The Editors on October 28, 2010
Billabong is rallying most their brands in support of their 10th annual retro-surfing contest at Dana Point, California’s Salt Creek (how did Nixon get out of this one?) held October 30 – 31, 2010.
Cosmic Creek features a surfing contest with all manner of strange categories including Space Cadets, Groove Masters, Rocket Men, and Rolling Stones and a Saturday night performance by Billabong’s spooky troubador Donavon Frankensteiner at Laguna’s hip club Seven Degrees. They’re encouraging everyone to dress appropriately for the night-before-Halloween bash.
Oh, wait. Our mistake. It’s actually Donavon Frankenreiter who will be performing. Sorry for the confusion.
For more information click the link directly below this or follow the jump to view Donavon’s latest music video Glow made up entirely of still photos shot by master lensman Brian Bielmann.
[Link: Cosmic Creek]
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by The Editors on October 28, 2010
by The Editors on October 28, 2010
We’ve always been intrigued by Zumiez founder Tom Campion; not because of the company’s size, or its total sales, or strong stock. What we find amazing about Campion is his ability to communicate the Zumiez brand message to all of his employees. The skill with which Zumiez takes seemingly lost kids off the street and turns them into retail selling machines is legendary, as anyone who has attended the annual Zumiez 100k will tell you.
What is most shocking on meeting Campion is how such a quiet, thoughtful man can engender such enthusiasm in his employees. Transworld Business‘ Mike Lewis interviews Campion. Here’s a little of what Tom said:
I always have had a little problem with authority—authority that’s not justified—“You do this because I’m the founder and I’m going to go out and play golf,” or some bullshit like that. Doesn’t that translate into problems throughout business or society? If you’re going to have vision and you’re going to lead, you got to lead by example not just by words. . . . You can’t do one thing one year, and a new one the next. There has to be consistency over time so [employees] know what’s coming. You have to believe it yourself and you have to be honorable about it. You’ve got to appreciate the fact that they’re working to make the sale. They are the face to your customer all the time. What you tell them has to be consistent.
Much easier said than done. Click the link for the rest of the interview.
[Link: Transworld Business]
by The Editors on October 28, 2010
If surfing ever makes it in the Olympics it will look a lot like the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games held in Punta Hermosa, Peru. The games ended yesterday, October 27, 2010, with the host country Peru taking gold followed by Australia, South Africa, and Brazil.
It was a fairytale ending to an event steeped in a mix of camaraderie and cutthroat competition as Team Peru gave every ounce of effort to take the overall gold medal today from Team Australia in solid 5-foot Senoritas lefts at Punta Hermosa, near Lima, Peru. It was the first time that the Peruvians have won an overall ISA Title since Felipe Pomar’s individual win in the 1965 World Championships more than four decades ago when the Titles were only individual, not national teams.
For the rest of the official story follow the jump.
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by The Editors on October 27, 2010
According to a Form 8-K filed today with the SEC Quiksilver has paid off its $24.5 million dollar debt to the Rhône Group L.L.C. by borrowing $20 million from Bank of America N.A. Nice how that works, huh?
The Term Facility is subject to interim amortization of $1,500,000, payable on June 30 and December 31 of each year, beginning on June 30, 2011, until the principal balance under the Term Facility is reduced to $14 million. The Term Facility bears interest, at the Borrower’s option, at either (x) an adjusted London Inter-Bank Offer rate plus 5.0% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears, or (y) the U.S. prime rate plus 4.0% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. The Borrower must make prepayments in connection with certain corporate transactions and other circumstances, and may repay the loans under the Term Facility at any time without premium or penalty.
One thing is certain: Joe Scirocco earns his paycheck.
[Link: SEC]
by The Editors on October 27, 2010
Weezy appears to be doing his part for the action sports economy with few references dropped in his song Bill Gates from the I Am Not A Human Being album.
Vans, Tony Hawk, and Shaun White all get props. Here are just a few select rhymes from different verses:
“Skinny ass pants, Fresh pair of Vans, If you n-ggas keep trippin’ n-gga share an ambulance”
“All day I do it, I do it like Tony, Got a sign on my dick that say “bad bitches only””
“Dress like a skater, ride on you like Shaun White, I’m high all day, you can call that shit a long flight”
Ride on you like Shaun White? What does that even mean? Click here for the entire song (and lyrics).
[Link: Lil Wayne]
by The Editors on October 27, 2010
Gold Coast surfer Robert Marino (pictured right) describes how he survived the burning wreck of the MV Midas after the tsunami rammed another surf charter boat into it by wriggling out a port hole, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mr Marino had squirmed his way through a tiny porthole, barely large enough for a man’s head to peek through, but surely not wide enough to accommodate Mr Marino’s wide frame. . . ”I had opened it first, but realised there was no way to get through it, so I went through the door,” Mr Finucan said. ”How he did it, I don’t know.”
Definitely a miracle. Hopefully, we’ll hear about more miracles from the Mentawis in the next few days.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]
According to a report released by the Magazine Publishers of America magazine advertising pages during the third quarter (July to September 2010) were up 3.6 percent over the same period last year. The biggest gains were in the retail category where pages were up 7.2 percent and revenue was up 13.1 percent.
