by The Editors on August 31, 2010
Not really sure what’s been going on at the Surf Industry Manufacturers’ Association lately, but it seems their Boot Camps have been oddly relevant. On September 22, 2010 SIMA will tackle “New Media.”
The first panel discussion of the morning, Media vs. New Media: Tracking the Transition, will showcase a discussion with the surf industry’s leading media experts on the transition to new media, its benefits and advantages, and specific learnings from the interactive endeavors of these media outlets. Moderated by Doug Palladini, the panelists will include: Rob Campbell / Editorial Director, TransWorld Media; Norb Garrett / Senior Vice President, Group Publisher, ASG; Ross Garrett / Director of Operations and Development, The Surfer’s Journal; Gene Pao / Vice President of New Media and International Development, FUEL TV; and Jonno Wells / CEO, Surfline.
It’s always entertaining to see what corporate executives from the established action media have to say about “new” media, isn’t it?
Follow the jump for the rest of the scheduled topics, or click here to register. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on August 31, 2010
Billabong’s recent annual report has been out for a while now, but Jeff Harbaugh’s gotten back to it in his most recent Market Watch column. In it he covers what currency fluctuations can mean to global businesses, why new accounting rules make profit comparisons difficult, the China crisis, and Billabong’s retail strategy.
In talking about Billabong’s motivations for retail, they note how they’ve seen an increase in house brands by retailers in recent years, and how that ends up “…eroding the amount of space that’s available for premium brands…” and usually not working for the retailer. Though they don’t come right out and name it, I think they were thinking about PacSun, where their sales last year were down 40%. . . . There is also a general concern about the overall whole base. In Australia, they estimate their account base has declined 5% in the last 12 to 15 months. In addition, they have “quite a few” on credit hold and “may not continue selling to those accounts.”
Reading Jeff’s columns is a lot like having a favorite uncle go over the numbers with you. Click it and you’ll see.
[Link: Jeff Harbaugh’s Market Watch]
by The Editors on August 31, 2010
Ryan Kingman and the crew at Stance have announced their Artists Series of foot covering the work of skate artists like Russ Pope, Andy Howell, Steven Harrington, and Don Pendleton. As if any of us needed an excuse to buy new socks.
[Link: Stance]
by The Editors on August 31, 2010
Cardiff California’s “Cardiff Kook” is making world headlines as the Wall Street Journal’s Conor Dougherty reports on the awkward statue and the pranksters who have made ridiculing it an art form.
Recently, Mr. Hardtke topped his wave with a new piece: Just before dawn on July 24, he and a dozen friends carried the 15-foot shark—crafted out of papier-mâché over a wooden frame—a few blocks to the beach, installing it in just 15 minutes. Those were merely the final moments of a two-week project for Mr. Hardtke, who guesses he spent roughly $450 building the shark. . . Police have mostly ignored pranksters like Mr. Hardtke, and local officials have quietly praised the various Kook-inspired works because they bring attention to their tiny beach town. In fact, Mr. Hardtke recently learned the city has been storing his wave sculpture inside at a dusty warehouse that belongs to Paul Ecke Ranch, a grower of poinsettias and other flowers in Encinitas, Calif., the city which surrounds the community of Cardiff.
Another example of how surfers will make use of anything that moves them.
[Link: Wall Street Journal]
by The Editors on August 28, 2010
Baltimore, Maryland Police Officer Salvatore Rivieri who was caught on tape at least two times being a complete asshole way overstepping the bounds of his badge (click here for all the coverage) has finally (and thankfully) been fired by Baltimore City Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld, according to a story on ABC 2 News.
Not so suprisingly, the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 3 thinks the firing was was wrong, according to the story. In their statement they said:
For the PC to increase the punishment to termination is an abuse of his discretion and not only does it end the career of a 19 year veteran who was out there doing his job, the PC’s decision sends the wrong message to all our police officers who are expected to aggressively keep our streets safe but cannot expect to be treated fairly and not discriminated against in any disciplinary proceedings.
Oddly, we believe this firing is one of the first times the right message is being sent to other police officers regarding how they handle skateboarders in general and children specifically. If not for Youtube.com this man would still be harassing people with his badge like a school yard bully and the sooner other officers realize that this is not proper police behavior the better.
Then the Baltimore Police can get back to the important stuff like allegedly shooting unarmed war veterans outside nightclubs.
[Link: ABC 2 News]
by The Editors on August 28, 2010
Rob Dyrdek’s Street League debuts today in the Jobing.com Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. The last chance qualifier begins at 1 PM today (August 28, 2010). We’d tell you to watch it online, but Rob has all that locked down tight. We’re kind of surprised he didn’t do some kind of pay-per-view deal.
[Link: Street League]
by The Editors on August 28, 2010
Kyle Johnson, 25, a snowboard instructor from Salt Lake City, Utah slammed so hard on his skateboard in June 2010 that he shattered his skull into 10 pieces (no helmet), according to a story in the Daily Mail. Doctors only gave him a five percent chance of living.
Doctors said his brain swelled so much it ‘nearly exploded’, forcing them to saw off parts of his skull to save his life. . . The operation left him with just a tiny strip of bone down the centre of his head protecting his brain. . . Mr Johnson was kept in a drug-induced coma and doctors feared he may not survive the accident, or be left brain damaged. . . .Doctors stored the rest of his skull in the freezer for two weeks while they waited for the swelling to go down, before putting it back together using plates and screws. . . Just two months after his accident in June, Mr Johnson is now well on his way to making a full recovery.
Kyle (who’s head looks better now that his skull has been put back in) is reportedly well on his way to recovery and preparing for the new snowboard season. Want to wear a helmet now?
[Link: Daily Mail]
by The Editors on August 25, 2010
We’ve always wondered how mall retailers stay in business. Apparently, they just keep borrowing more money. Pac Sun just announced that on August 20, 2010 they borrowed $29.8 million more, according to a Form 8-K filed with the SEC.
On August 20, 2010, Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (the “Company”), through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Miraloma Borrower Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“Miraloma”), and Pacific Sunwear Stores Corp., a California corporation (“PacSun Stores”), executed two promissory notes pursuant to which borrowings in an aggregate amount of $29.8 million from American National Insurance Company (“Anico”) were incurred.
Because no one has more money than the insurance companies. . . and this will probably help get Pac Sun around the corner, right?
[Link: SEC]
by The Editors on August 25, 2010
For the past five years (starting in June 2005) Skate Park of Tampa’s tech nerd Rob Meronek has been logging skateboarding magazine coverage for the SPoT’s Skater Database. In this time he has kept a record of the ad and editorial pages for Skateboarder Magazine, The Skateboard Mag, Slap, Thrasher (graph above right), and Transworld Skateboarding.
Today he released all his data in a story titled: A Nerdy Analysis of Sketchy Skateboard Industry Paper Trails. Here is how it works:
For a page to get logged, it simply has to have a skater. Even if they’re just throwing gang symbols in front of their rims, as long as it has a skater it in, the page is logged as either editorial or advertising along with who the photographer is. I put all this crazy data I’ve collected since 2005 into a spreadsheet and out popped these Captain Corporate ass charts.
While only counting ads with skaters in them skews the total ad pages numbers of the magazines a little, the data does give a great snap shot of what is going on in skateboard print advertising. Look over the data and draw your own conclusions.
[Link: Skate Park of Tampa]
by The Editors on August 25, 2010
West 49’s shareholders decided that being purchased by Billabong was a great idea, according to a story in the OC Business Journal.
Shareholders of West 49 voted nearly unanimously for Billabong’s $93 million buyout. The deal is set to close later this month or in early September. . . West 49, based near Toronto, runs a chain of 138 mall stores in Canada selling clothes inspired by skateboarding and snowboarding.
Apparently, 99.9 percent of the shareholders agreed. Wonder who the hold out was?
[Link: OC Business Journal]
Not really sure what’s been going on at the Surf Industry Manufacturers’ Association lately, but it seems their Boot Camps have been oddly relevant. On September 22, 2010 SIMA will tackle “New Media.” 
