My roommate is getting his MBA at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. For a while he's been asking me to do a presentation on Sports Marketing for the MBA Marketing Association students. I finally obliged and gave an hour long presentation at the new PACCAR Hall.
First I have to mention how nice PACCAR Hall is. It's a state of the art building with pretty cool architecture, a soaring atrium and is equipped with the latest presentation technology. A huge step up from what I experienced at Montana State University. Granted I was in college some time ago.
It was fun to get up and give a presentation. It had been a few years, probably since my days at K2 Sports and some sales meeting. This may sound weird, but I actually enjoy laying out presentations, making custom slide backgrounds, inserting images and linking up videos. I used to do everything with Powerpoint, but since the switch to Mac, I'm all about Keynote these days.
I found the biggest challenge was what aspects of Sports Marketing to talk about in just an hour. I could talk for weeks on end about Sports Marketing. Actually it wasn't on mainstream sports like football, basketball, golf or soccer; but action sports like snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, surfing and mountain biking.
So I decided to focus on: sport vs. business, communication tools, creative briefs, athletes, photo shoots, movie sponsorships and product development. Even that was a lot to go over in just an hour, but I ended right on time with about five minutes for questions. It was fun. I'd like to do the presentation more, switch it up a little and touch on other subjects. Who knows, maybe I'll be called on again sometime in the future?
When I was in college, I never could see myself as a SOTA. That grey haired, old person sitting in the front row asking lots of questions and sharing too much personal information. Wishing, that they would just be quiet so the professor could get on with the lecture. But here I am, and I can tell from the vibe I get from younger students, that I'm a SOTA. Did you have SOTA's at your college or university? Did you wish they'd shut-up?
Do you even know what a SOTA is? Well, it's a Student Over the Traditional Age. Yep, it's a person who's gone out into the world, worked for at least ten years, then gone back to school. Crazy thing is, this time I signed up for classes being seriously interested in the subject matter. I mean I don't have to go back to school, I WANT to.
I wanted to go to college and study marketing, don't get me wrong. But the classes I wasn't interested in were like torture. I didn't care to know statistics. I wanted to only know about subjects I was passionate about ,that I would actively be doing upon graduation. The goal was to get a education or degree that would lead to a career. It was a gateway. Once you've got experience, you go back to school to learn what you KNOW will help you further your career.
When you're in college, you sort of know what you want to do, but not the exact job when you graduate. You kind of wonder where each job will lead. There is doubt that comes with the first few jobs. Is this what's going to make me happy? Is this the career I should be doing to maximize my potential? I was very lucky where every job I've had, every promotion I've gotten, has lead me in the right direction. Each step was a confirmation that I was doing the best job for who I was as a person.
So this time, going to school feels different. I'm more interested, engaged. I want to ask questions, be sure that I understand the concepts being communicated. I want to share my experience and hear if what I did was done well. I'm paying for it myself and I know that if I learn what's being taught I will enjoy myself and my job that much more. I have no doubt about it. Where in college I think I lacked some drive because I wasn't 110% certain that what I was being taught was something I'd use.
So here I am after a decade of working in action sports, doing business planning, marketing, putting on events and running my own consulting business, that I find myself back in school. Part of it has to do with following a passion. I love the creative process and would like to be a "creative." That's the person that comes up with the "big idea" or is a "problem solver." In the past, I've been the planner, manager, and executor of programs, but at the same time come up with the ideas and creative. I think it will be a hard path to attain an official creative position at an agency. That's what has brought me to enroll in the Summer Boot Camp at the School of Visual Concepts.
In another life, I'd love to have been an art director with graphic design skills. I love Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Final Cut, Keynote and any creative layout type of software. It might not be too late, but that's what the classes are for. The Summer Boot Camp consists of a bunch of different classes crammed in a five week period. I'm taking Creative Thinking & Concepting, Photoshop, Copywriting, and HTML/CSS. Since my graphic design skills are ammeter, I'm going the route of Copywriter. Help come up with the idea and then work with a partner to bring it to life visually.
It's funny. Part of what makes the classes worth while is the experience of other students. Unfortunately there is an overflow of WSU graduates, fairly fresh out of college. They don't have personal experiences that they can share to add to class discussions. Well, time to get back to my homework.
I am happy to announce that all my Apple products seem to be working properly again. I've done a few software updates, addressed my font book problem, updated my iPhone apps, contacts, iTunes, and organized all my files on external hard drives. I think I just had too much going on.
A warning to not so savvy design people, don't load all your fonts. I have a ton of fonts due to the different projects I've worked on. I started to update my InDesign portfolio file, but didn't have some old Helly Hansen or my own G Brand fonts activated. So I needed to re-link all the paths for imagery and re-activate the fonts. I used to use Extensis Suitcase, where you can have tons of different fonts for your typography needs, which allows the user to turn them off and on when you need them. Well, with my new MacBook Pro, I didn't have that software, so I just loaded all my fonts into the font book. It's slowed everything down, as I had thousands of fonts loading every time I opened an application.
The hard part is you can't just go back to a default setting, you have to delete font folders one by one. Yeah, slightly time consuming after loading a few thousand different types of fonts. Don't make the same mistake I did.
Anyway, now I'm all happy with my MacBook Pro and my whole Apple family of tech toys. I'm once again drinking from the Apple cool-aide.
It was cool to get the December issue of Freeskier in the mail recently. Look for it to hit newsstands in the next couple weeks. Props to Freeskier for taking a chance on their cover.
Sometime late in the summer, publisher Christopher Jerard had the idea to do an artistic cover painted by Eric Pollard. Within the publication would be a story on our film company written by Pep Fujas (edited by me and Freeskiers Matt Harvey). Pollard took a Chris O'Connell action image of himself and painted it, which as you can see from above turned out really well.
The back cover was another painting from Pollard for Dragon, featuring the Nimbus co-op goggle. Sponsors then ran creative of athletes featured in Nimbus, and in some instances did some co-branding. Nimbus ended up on the front/back cover, cover two/page three spread, an ad for our film Contrast, multiple sponsor ads, plus the story made it an issue I'll keep for the rest of my life.
Not sure how long Freeskier will have the story posted online, but if you want to check it out, click here.
I LOVE putting on events. All the organization, details, creating the buzz, stress leading up to the day of, sending out invites, VIP status, getting on the microphone, stoking the crowd and exhaustion afterward from giving it all you had is gratifying. The Triple Threat World Premiere was a huge undertaking but well worth the effort.
You never know how well an event will go, until the time comes. Nobody knows "what could have been" or how close things come to falling apart except for the people behind the scenes. To the viewer, unless there are blaring mistakes, the event happens just as planned. Especially a couple hours before, I get stressed wondering if anybody will show up.
So what is the Triple Threat? Well, it's supposed to be a three part experience: an art/photo exhibit, film showing and after party. We acquired some ski industry artwork and had action shots framed to be seen as consumers enter the different venues. Then we show two films, Contrast by Nimbus Independent, followed by PBP's Everyday Is A Saturday. Concluding with a dance party featuring two DJ's. We booked just over 50 shows in North America, all starting in Seattle at the King Cat Theater.
I want to share with you what went into making this event/tour happen. First, we have two film companies, with different branding and different sponsors that need to blend into consistent branded communication tools. I worked with a graphic designer at PBP on branding the Triple Threat Tour. We created a new logo, print ads, banner ads, posters, film tickets, VIP invites, web image slates, VIP badges, posters, etc. Can't say I was super excited with the overall creative. It was pretty busy and the colors were slightly off. I'm a fan of clean design with rich neutrals and crisp, accentual bright colors. As you can see from the event poster, the requirements required a lot of info and a logo circus.
We had a lot of people coming to the world premiere so we needed lodging. The next line item was booking hotels for media, sponsors and athletes. I got a great deal with Hotel Max, where most of our attendees stayed. The Triple Threat booked almost every room they had. The overflow and people on a tighter budget stayed at the Kings Inn. Both hotels were located just blocks from the King Cat.
Now for the hardest part of the event... I'm a big fan of the internet and it's ability to reach a large audience. There's no variable cost associated with reaching more consumers like there is with selling a dvd. So I felt we could generate some revenue off of streaming the event live. Then editing the footage and posting it on a microsite for the entire winter season. I contracted out Mobile Rider and Mountain Sports International(MSI) to make it happen. Mobile Rider to build an iFrame and microsite and MSI to come film and transmit the feed via satellite.
I averaged about four hours of sleep a night for about three weeks leading up to the event, beta testing the iFrame and microsite. Why? Well I'm a pretty organized and detailed oriented person. At first I advised against trying to pull this off due to start up costs and the short timeline we had to get things in place. We didn't actually decide to do the live internet stream until a month before. In retrospect, I could have used two to three months to plan this event, not three weeks.
It came close to not even happening. MSI was in Chile putting on another event, when a storm came in and whipped out the only road out. They were stuck. They just got back a couple days before our event. The initial plan was to tap into the King Cat's internet line. I went there and tested their upload speed, turns out the two block radius around the King Cat has old wiring. Not nearly fast enough to stream an event live. So we decided to bring all the satellite equipment and beam the feed. The trick is you need a clear path to the satellite, 180 degrees or South, at a 30 degree angle up across the skyline. Um, we're in downtown Seattle with a ton of skyscrapers? Amazingly there was an angle and it worked out.
We also had about half the normal budget required. This meant not flying out MSIs' regular film and grip crew, but instead having me find people here in or around Seattle. Granted we have two film companies, but all the crew wanted to walk the red carpet and be apart of the event instead of behind the camera. Luckily, I have a pretty good network and found the necessary people.
The event itself was pretty epic. We oversold the premiere, stuffed the theater well over capacity and the production side of the event worked out. It's amazing how things come together. The person responsible for scripting the event arrived with nothing, so Keith Carlsen from MSI and I put it together in a couple hours.
So getting athletes, sponsors and media in the right place at the right time can be like herding cats. We needed them to ride in the limo to the King Cat, walk the red carpet, talk to the talent and be filmed. So I threw down my credit card at the Sushi restaurant, The Red Finn in Hotel Max, and had open bar and sushi for two hours leading up to the event. Ouch, nothing like spending $2,500 and not getting to participate. But this way I could corral the right people at the right time into the limo and coordinate with the production crew at the venue.
It all worked. There was a huge crowd gathered outside, slapping high fives with athletes as they arrived. The talent managed to ask the right questions, the athletes responded correctly plugging their sponsors and projects, the stream worked, everything was live, the crowd cheered and everything went off.
My only regret was I didn't get to participate. I hoped that I could have ridden in the limo with the Nimbus Crew, been interviewed, etc. Instead I had to run around and produce the event. I've been the guy behind the scenes for so long, I don't know if I would have even known what to do in front of the camera. I did get up on stage when Nimbus was introduced and seeing all the people in the crowd was awesome. Tons of people getting posters signed and fighting for SWAG.
I am proud to say it was the biggest world premiere Poor Boyz or Nimbus has ever had, which isn't saying much for Nimbus as we've only been in business for 2 years, but for Poor Boyz it's been 15 years. All the sponsors, media and athletes raved about it. So when the dust settled, the event was a huge success. Every space of the King Cat was occupied by people. The Green Room (VIP room), the bar (which had flat screens showing what was going on in the theater) and even the aisles were packed with consumers.
I have to say a big thanks to the crew at Mobile Rider and Mountain Sports International. It wouldn't have been possible without their hard work on everything. They were extremely professional and a joy to work with.
I don't know how long the event will be available on the microsite, but if you want to check it out, click here. It's ten bucks. I will also post a bunch of images from the event in my gallery section when I have time.
So besides working for Nimbus Independent, I am working for another ski film company called Poor Boyz Productions (PBP). I feel the success of both film companies are inter-dependent, particularly the film tour we share. To acquire good non-endemic sponsors, these film companies need a successful 50 stop North American Tour.
So as the business manager, besides putting together the biz plan, doing media deals, PR, sponsorship contracts and adding a more aggressive digital aspect, I'm going to be focusing on the film tour. I am also going to try and execute an industry first, broadcast the World Premiere live, streamed on the internet. The two films are rather different from one another. Where Nimbus is more about trying to tell a story, PBP showcases incredible action from the previous season.
The new film is titled "Everyday Is A Saturday," where as a pro skier, each and everyday that they go skiing is like a Saturday to a consumer. Here's DVD box art:
Having seen the film already, I can tell you that there's some of the most amazing action that's been captured in years. Tanner Hall does a pretty good job narrating the majority of the movie, newcomer Dane Tudor shows his diversity ripping both big mountain and park. Then Tim Durtschi closes the movie with what I have to call stunt skiing. The bonk's of trees, spinning and flipping combinations are truly creative. Having seen most of the ski films for this winter season, I can say this one is the best. Here's the banger teaser:
I'm not going to hide it, I have become a tech dude. Never thought I would get that into technology, computers and electronics but somewhere along the way Apple spoke to me. It all started when I had to make the switch for dealing with large image banks, video files and working with international ad agencies. Sometimes you just have to open Adobe Suite and adjust an image or layout yourself.
So years ago I made the switch from PC to Mac and have never looked back. Everything has been better since the switch. All the stuff you read and hear about has been true for me. No chronic blue screen or application crashes. Well, actually lately I have had a coupe applications shut down.
So I'm happy to announce I just gave my sister my old Powderbook G4 and my G5 tower and cinema display to a friend. Now sitting on my desk is a shinny new Macbook Pro 15" with the new 24" LED Display. I can't begin to tell you how nice it is having everything on one computer. Granted a few items are on external hard drives or my Time Capsule, but the new Macbook is more powerful and faster than my G5 was. Oh so nice. With compressing so many videos, I just needed something faster or I was going to lose any hair I have left.
But wait, I uploaded Snow Leopard and am having the first issues I've ever had with my Mac equipment? What the hell? The display on my 15" MacBook flickers ever so often. Just a quick black screen then right back. It happens more when my external monitor is plugged in but also when I'm just using the laptop by itself.
Then when the computer comes out of sleep mode, sometimes one of the monitors has a light blue tint. The color is all messed up? Where did this come from? The first time I've had problems with any of my Mac or Apple products. My faith has faltered.
Is Apple moving too quick? Are they getting too big and the quality is starting to suffer? I sure hope not and hopefully there will be an upgrade or patch to my situation soon. I may have to make an appointment with a Mac Genius at my local Apple store.
The time has come to see the response to our new ski film, "Contrast." I'm always nervous because we are trying to do something different from the commercial norm. But what's life without a little risk now and again? I really like the film, it's the project I wanted to make so I'm happy with it. All I think I can do is produce something that I'm proud of and hope that others enjoy it as well. Things can always be better, but nobody knows the other possibilities except the people behind the scenes.
I have to give a lot of credit to my Nimbus partner, Eric Pollard. He works harder than anybody in the ski industry. I think we've worked together since I sponsored him at age 15 or 16 back in the day at Helly Hansen? He has always been one of my favorite people to work with.
So what is Contrast all about? Well, it's still a ski film. Basically it takes the viewer through a couple different stages of skiing: beginning, learning, creativity, crew and adventure. For me it's kind of the life cycle of skiing.
01. Beginning - How do people start skiing?
02. Learning - The process of learning to ski.
03. Creativity - Once you know how to ski, you then don't have to think about how to turn, but where to turn and what to do with the terrain you ride.
04. Crew - As skiers stop progressing in skill level, the enjoyment comes from the social aspect of skiing. Who is your crew or friends that you ride with at the local hill? One also has to rely on their crew for safety and support.
05. Adventure - Another aspect to the sport is the pure adventure and traveling associated with skiing.
One of the reasons why I like the film is because we have universal themes skiers of any age can relate to. As I'm older, the last two elements are more pertinent to me. When I was younger, the fun of skiing was getting better. The better I got the more fun it was. Now that I'm not in the park, hitting jumps or sliding rails, nor dropping big cliffs like I used to, the fun comes from being with my friends and the adventure of going into the mountains and nature. Just getting out of the city.
The film jumps from studio shots at Nemo Design in Portland to individual action segments of the main athletes. We wanted to engage the viewer fully in what was being said, then totally dive into the action. Contrasting segments... Get it?
This project is more of a collectors edition than a normal DVD. It's a six panel digi-pack, double-disc set. One DVD has all our "Hunting Yeti" and "En Route" episodes, which is literally eight half hour shows while the second disc has the feature film with a ton of fun extras. We put more resources into the second film to make it a premium piece.
I'm also excited because I did a TV deal for Nimbus. All of the Hunting Yeti and En Route episodes will be featured this winter on The Ski Channel and Resort Sports Network. The Ski Channel is a VOD service with 30 million households while RSN is shown at 114 resorts in North America with an additional 60 million potential viewers. Should help build the brand.
Here's the trailer, which we also wanted to do totally different from the norm. You know, most teasers are total jump-cuts, tons of the best action cutaways, fast and and heavy hitting. We decided to kind of make fun of the typical trailer format, do a lot of narrative, use lots of shots reflecting other aspects of the sport and just having fun. Check it out:
There are certain elements needed to enjoy the great sport of skiing, like snow for example. As many of us enjoy it, we are destroying that very environment at the same time, putting the future of our sport at risk. Mark Abma has taken the first step to help create awareness and bring attention to climate change.
Mark has created an environmental advocacy group to help ski resorts and skiers reduce their carbon footprint while still encouraging people to get out and enjoy the mountains. The charity, which was launched last fall, is aptly called "One Step." Mark is leading by example by creating environmentally conscious products with his sponsors, like his new bamboo ski with Salomon, supporting the Ekolab products at Helly Hansen, working with Dakine on more environmentally friendly gloves and backpacks, and using Smith helmets and goggles made out of recycled medical plastic. But that's just the beginning.
Mr. Abma realized that a large part of his carbon footprint is driving a big truck with a couple sleds on the back, not to mention accessing terrain with snow mobiles, snow cats and helicopters. Working with Helly Hansen, The Public Works and One Step, he installed a bio diesel converter in his garage. Mark will now get oil from local Whistler restaurants like Sushi Village, take it back to his house and make his own bio diesel fuel to run his big rig. Eventually, he hopes to take this initiative to ski resorts and encourage restaurants to donate extra oil from their deep fryers to power the areas' snow cats.
When asked what made Abma start his advocacy group, he explained: "I was inspired to create One Step because I love the mountains and skiing and have been noticing the effects of global climate change all around me. It's affecting ski communities all over the world and I want to create a voice and model in which we can start to make positive changes towards sustainability and a brighter, greener future."
During the Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, One Step held a launch party at the Blake Jorgensen Gallery. All proceeds from the evening went towards the Whistler 2020 Energy Task Force. Mr. Abma spoke to the crowd, addressing his concerns and offered some insight. "When we connect leaving the lights on to energy shortages and pollution rising, when we connect our trash to landfills and disease, and when we connect the things that we buy and use to the places they come from, we more fully understand the importance of being mindful," he said. "Ignoring the causes and effects of what we do and how our actions impact our world will eventually come back to haunt us. When we examine issues through an environmental lens, consciousness is raised and the opportunity for change occurs."
Mike Douglas, along with his beautiful assistant Kristi Richards, got behind the mic and auctioned off photos by Jorgensen, year long yoga passes, Lululemon gear, Salomons new bamboo skis, clothing by Helly Hansen, Whistler vacation packages and some spa time.
With good friends and supporters in attendance, the kick-off event was a huge success. Look for a lot more to come from Mr. Abma and the One Step organization. For more information visit: 1 STEP.
It’s time for the third and final winter installment of the “En Route” webisode series from Nimbus Independent. There will be other short edits coming out this spring and more short edits coming out next fall, but this is the last major release of this season. The plan to shoot the whole thing in Montana fell through due to injuries, weather and travel fatigue. Everyone chose to hang close to home and hit the West Coast. The crew decided split into two groups for increased efficiency.
After a few days rest from the trip to Europe, Pep, Wiegand, Andy, and newcomer Blake Nyman headed to the Mt. Baker area. Upon arrival, sunny skies and good snow greeted them. Moving quickly to avoid landing zones getting side-hilled by the ever growing sledneck population, they built a nice wedge into a steep transition. Blake and Andy went back and forth on the jump, landing numerous tricks backwards or what’s called “switch.” Pep rested his knee but still managed to have some fun on his sled. They celebrated that evening by preparing “the best burgers ever.”
The snow turned good again the next week, prompting Andy to recruit Ike up to his home terrain of Yakima, Washington. Andy showed Ike a nice jump spot the first day. It was one of the few times Ike’s seen a sunny day with cold, deep snow in the Northwest. They took full advantage of the weather and put a few more shots in the bag, then spent the storm days doing avalanche control work with the ski patrol at Andy’s home mountain, White Pass. This led to more good shots and allowed us to ski the resort an hour before the public.
While one crew was in Washington, Chris, Eric and Wiegand hopped down to California and a well known sled zone. They had four good days of sun and deep snow before parting ways. Chris went to Canada to film for Warren Miller, and Eric and Wiegand joined Andy and Ike in Oregon.
The last leg of our journey took place in Eastern Oregon. Everyone drove thru the night expecting to get another sunny powder day. Unfortunately the snow was already baked, so we headed back west to check out Mt. St. Helens. To no one’s surprise the snow was baked there too! Guess it was the first week in April, but nobody complained and still made do with great snowpack and some airsoft guns. Needless to say, the next webisode has variety. If we were to tell you everything that happened, it would take longer than watching it. So don’t forget to go to nimbusindependent.com on or after tax day, April 15, to watch “En Route - America.”
Well, we just launched the second webisode for Nimbus Independent. It's a lot shorter than the first one, but still pretty good quality. Launching this episode was not as smooth as the last. Actually now that I think about it, neither have been that smooth.
You know how you have certain projects that just never seem to get totally completed? I have a couple of those going on right now. Need to finish the Investment Prospectus and Biz Plan for Spacecraft, been hammering on BNQT to finish the Nimbus site. Then I have to get going on the film tour and organizing the Poor Boyz Production business. Better to be too busy than bored I keep telling myself.
Hopefully I can check some of these off my list once and for all. I need to feel like I'm moving forward and progressing. Just having a bit of an instant gratification issue. I want it all done and to happen now. I need to clone myself four of five times. Anybody know of a good place to clone yourself?
So I'm going to just get to it. The following is the latest webisode from Nimbus. It's best to go to our website and download the HD version. Or just go to the website to watch a larger streamed version. Still having embedding issues, so our media player may cut off some of the video content. Guess I better get back to work then.
How do I use this thing? It's been so long since my last blog post, I hardly remember how it even works. I'd like to think or make the excuse the reason why I don't blog as often is because I'm too busy. I am very, very busy but there is always enough time to say a few words.
Maybe it's because I think I'm a deep guy, who needs to say profound things when I write? That I have to have cool images to go with my posts? That I have to "wow" the audience. I do have deep topics that I want to write about and share. I imagine I've lost any audience I once had. There were times when you'd email me, asking for more. Those emails have subsided, to now once and a while a friend may casually mention, "man I miss your blogging."
It has to be a thing of habit. I keep saying I'm going to start and get a regimen, but it's just like dieting and/or working out, you want to do it and you know it's good for you, it's just getting started is so hard.
So what's been going on? How far back should I go and how much time do you have? Let's see, so I'll give a little update from January until now. I went to Salt Lake City for the X-Dance Festival. It's kind of like Sundance, but in Salt Lake City and without all the Hollywood types. It's an action sports film festival, where some 300 films enter, then 40-50 are selected and a few win some awards. It takes place over the course of five days, with back to back film screenings with a few seminars and question answer series. I saw some amazing surf, skate, motto, enduro, ski and snowboard films.
So I was there to represent my favorite client, Nimbus Independent. I had submitted our ski film "Hunting Yeti." We did pretty well for a first year film company, just being an official selection was an honor, then we got nominated for Best Core Film, Best Soundtrack, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. To think, with our little film budget, that we could compete against the likes of million dollar budgets is pretty astonishing.
So at the same time, I was staying with my friend Jon Atencio. Him and I go way back. He's a nice guy, whom I used to party pretty hard with. Now he still gets it going, but now he has a lovely wife and two kids. Jon works for Backcountry.com, so while I was there, figured I should stop by the office and try to sell them some Spacecraft goodies.
It was an eye opening experience. Backcountry.com is an e-commerce force. I felt like my parents must have when I explained to them DVD's were going to replace VHS. These guys have it pretty well dialed in. So I met with a bunch of different people on numerous topics.
It was great to hang out with Jonny and his family. They showed me a great time and drove me all around SLC. So right when I was leaving, I got to meet the guy who sources our music for the ski films, Chad Davis. The whole Poor Boyz ski film crew arrived and we got a second to chat. Then off to the airport.
So home for a couple days, then packed and went to Aspen for the X-Games and Powder Video Awards. I barely made it there and back. I mean we tried to come in and land four times, finally touching down and the last attempt. When I left, it was just as much a miracle I made it home. Flying is not what it used to be, it's now a huge hassle instead of a fun adventure.
But Aspen was awesome. Ran into a ton of friends and people from the wintersports industry. Started out with Poor Boyz Productions and came to an agreement that I would become their business manager. One more client for the G Brand. I'm excited as there are a lot of economies of scale between Nimbus and PBP. It's going to be rewarding, as I love the film industry.
Then it was off to the Powder Video Awards, where "Hunting Yeti" was nominated for Movie of the Year, Best Concept, and Best Editing. We won for best editing and I got up on stage and accepted the award on behalf of the Nimbus Crew.
Nimbus award for Best Editing and PBP award for Movie of the Year (I held on to it for safe keeping that night, so it wouldn't break in the celebrations.)
After the ceremony, it was off to the Helly Hansen after party at their Aspen flagship store. It was one big hug fest with my old boss and co-workers. It was very rewarding to be standing inside, watching Hollywood types and the main TV personality for the X-Games having a tough time getting in. My old boss Cory and I dreamed of that moment years ago, when we could barely get anybody to come to a HH party.
That's my old boss Cory, me after too much Red Bull, and Mike, who has my old job at HH.
My friends at MSP.
Eric Hjorliefson, me, and my marketing chins. I gotta get some exercise.
Next morning it was a few meetings with Oakley, Red Bull and then off to fly home. In and out, get home, unpack and repack. I am leaving the morning after I return home from Seattle to go to Las Vegas and the Snow Sports Industry Trade Show.
Got down there, set up the Spacecraft booth, which was an art project in itself, and then started to conduct business. Meetings, drinking water all day, more meetings, then drinking booze and eating all night, with more socializing and parties. It's a very trying week. Kind of like a marathon that leaves you exhausted upon completion. Since this was the last year for the trade show in Vegas, it was in over drive.
This is our booth, made of hollow core doors with hinges, unfolded and wheat pasted.
Sell it ladies!!!
Beers and beanies.
I'm going to skip much of what happened while I was there, as what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Let's just say there were some amazing VIP parties. Saw Snoop Dawg perform, that was a highlight for sure.
Whew, it's always tough to get home when the sun is just coming up. Time to shut the blinds and grab a few hours sleep.
So then home for pounding out some serious work. I have been knee deep in websites for what seems like forever. I'm not even that web savvy, but I had two sites that just were a mess. I can't say either were my best work. I had them organized and well thought out, they just took forever to get done and were two steps forward and one step back. So glad that they are done. The first was the main Spacecraft website. The second was their online storefront which features art and collectables. Trying to save money sometimes ends up costing you time and more money in the end. It's all about execution.
But all of that frustration was made up for with probably the best web project I've been apart of. The last three weeks I have been working with some great people in launching our new website for Nimbus. I mean, we delivered on exactly what I had envisioned. How often does that happen? It was like magic. Granted we still have some tweaks and more phases to roll out, but the infrastructure and CMS is there.
The Nimbus Crew also launched it's first websiode, En Route - Japan. I can tell you that this is it. This is my future. I can see it clear as day. We have a great product and I think I have the business plan that will yield great success. If you like what you see, please tell your friends. Below is the webisode.
There is more I could type, report on, but I've already written a small novel. I hope this update finds you all doing well, even in these tough economic times we are facing.
To see the En Route -Japan webisode as it should be, go to our website and click on the HD button to the left of the player. The download is a hefty file coming in at just over 800mb, but it's well worth the space on your hard drive.
Yep, I've gotten pretty behind with blogging. I will use the excuse that I've been too busy to blog, but that probably isn't totally true. It doesn't take that much time, just energy. So I've really been lacking the energy to write. I'll say that I'm going to get back to it, as it's great therapy and good writing practice, but it's got to become habit again.
So I've almost completed one year of working for myself and the G Brand. It's been great personally, sometimes challenging financially, but I'm going to stick it out. Just starting to ramp up for season number two of Nimbus Independent, as the first year "Hunting Yeti" project is now done and completed. It went really well in my opinion, too bad the economy is going into the crapper. Should be interesting to see how much money I can raise for the new project.
So since I feel behind in posting the episodes, here they are. This fourth post is a summer surf session the crew had. The download is amazingly better than the stream, so go download it if you have time on our producer page: Rip.Tv.
So then in late summer, Chris Benchetler and Pep Fujas broke out on separate trips to Australia and Argentina filming themselves. Not as solid as the first four webisodes, but still fun to watch none the less. Enjoy.
I do have to say that the support for the project has been awesome from consumers and the industry. Let's hope that translates into good DVD sales. Seems like a lot of work completed, with more in front of me. I have to say it's very rewarding personally. Making ski films is sort of a childhood dream come true. I always loved going to the Warren Miller films.
I'd like to make the excuse that the last month I've been too busy to blog. Well, it's only partly true. If I wanted to make the time, I probably could have. So this entry is to bring you up to speed on what's being going on.
First, I purchased a cool OBEY print, supposedly signed by Shepard Fairey. There is also a show going on at EVO by a local collector. You should check it out.
So I've been working away with Nimbus Independent. The DVD edit is finished and I have to say Eric Pollard is the man. So talented and driven to get things done and on time. We are in the authoring, encoding and replication phase. I'm proud to say we'll have the first DVD or ski film done for the upcoming season. It's got an amazing soundtrack and great creative. Check out the box art.
Working at Spacecraft has been a fun filled adventure. All the people who work there are great, the product is cool and the potential is high. Did some great media buys and have been in full on business planning mode. It's nice to get out of the house and go downtown three days a week.
I have a new roommate, Mark, who's moving in as I'm typing. I've being rolling solo for a while, which in some ways is nice, but I'm glad to have some company. We've been friends through the years, were in the same fraternity in college and have the same group of friends. He's also pretty clean from what I hear, so the pad should remain nice.
My buddy from Norway, Endre Loovas came to town again for the 4th of July. The man is twice my size but insists that I drink just as much. Whew, fun to go out on the town with the man. His accent draws a nice contingent of ladies. I am his wingman.
Last weekend I got out of town and rolled down to Mt. Hood. Drove down with Andy and his wife, swung by Pollard's and proofed the movie. Then after a short business session, drove up to Government Camp and checked in at the Huckleberry Inn. We were in town for the Think Thank film premier of Stack Footy. Spacecraft is a sponsor and Andy a good friend of the filmmaker, Jesse Burtner. The kids came out in force to support the project and it was fun evening. After the film we went across the street to Charlies and enjoyed drink tall boys.
The next day we hooked up with Christina and Lindsey and went for a hike to a beautiful waterfall. It was great to get some exercise and be in nature. Check out a few of the pictures.
That's about it for now. Just working all weekend on film tour, the film itself, business planning and catching up. Too much to do, but it's better than being bored.
The withdrawal from skiing can be hard during the summer, especially the first month after lifts close. Luckily Nimbus Independent is here to make it just a little easier with the release of their third “Hunting Yeti” webisode.
This latest installment has a fun, end of the season feel. Watch as the Nimbus Crew packs up their gear and heads out for some volcano camping on Mount St. Helens and Mt. Hood. Nothing like campfires, hot dogs and PBR during sunset sessions. Then there’s playing on a cornice, doing natural wall rides. Also check out Chris Benchetlers neighborhood as the group converges on Mammoth Mountain, meets up with Garrett Russell and gets laps in at Snowboarder Magazines Superpark.
I have to say Eric Pollard, the Crew and I have been working hard. We just finished tons of forms, copy writing, the teaser, box art, print ads and a big PR kit. Well, I still have a little bit to do but we've accomplished a lot in the last couple weeks. The teaser and a bunch more information will be posted in another two weeks. Have to let webisode 3 breathe for a little while. On behalf of the Nimbus Crew, we hope you enjoy the latest installment.
To view the webisode in all it's glory, go to our producer page at www.rip.tv/nimbusindependent and you can download it as an iPod or HD computer version. It has more footage and a full credit run.
If you live in the northwest, chances are you've seen it. You just didn't know what it was. Look around and you'll see the iconic symbol of an old Tucker snow cat. This image was made into stickers and placed all over Seattle and other cities to bring the magical feeling of the mountains into the city. The idea behind this was that an image could contain intrinsic value and could affect humans on a sub-conscious, archetypal level. It's safe to say the stickers were a hit.
As different people joined the movement, the stickers organically spread out around the world. It's amazing the different places you may spy one of the many Spacecraft stickers. I was at a friends wedding last summer, deep outside of Winthrop at a horse ranch. Beautiful setting, miles from anything and there it was on the back side of a stop sign, bam, a Spacecraft sticker.
But what is Spacecraft really? It's a vision of creativity, purpose, and the blending of different themes by an artist whose communication medium just happens to be stickers, posters, hand knit beanies, t-shirts, sweat shirts, jackets, belts, wallets, bags, and other collectables. Which to me is interesting coming from an industry that's similar but sort of in reverse. Where other companies are manufacturers first, who then hire artists to create designs for their products. I would compare it a little to street graffiti artists. It isn't about money, it's about sharing art and a creative vision with people. It's an answer to the question of how to display ones work and reach as many people as possible. I really like the Spacecraft look and feel. It combines natural and man-made elements from where water touches the shore, into the city and onward into the snow covered mountains. It's a totally unique blend that's hard to categorize, so I'll stop trying.
So who's vision is it? The artist who took that iconic picture of the snow cat, Stefan Hofmann. From what I know, Stefan took what was an idea or art project and it sort of organically turned into a functional, profitable business while maintaining creative integrity. He draws influence from life, with sports like skateboarding, climbing, surfing and snowboarding to experiences traveling throughout Asia and exposing himself to other cultures. Then somewhere along the journey Stefan meet Sarah O'Brien Parker and together they put together a capable crew, sharing their creative vision for the last six years. Spacecraft has two space stations, one in Seattle and another in Bali.
Check out the Bali office, now that's a great work environment.
It's an amazing story, one which I can barely scratch the surface of in a blog. I guess I just like companies with a true and meaningful purpose. I'm drawn to brands that are a mixture of art, fashion, imagery, sport, community, and culture. "The Story" is explained as the following: "Spacecraft is cultural mythologies. Spacecraft is visual propaganda. Spacecraft is dreams and reflections. Spacecraft is Godzilla reruns, spicy noodles, jet-lag, peeling waves and 18 inches of fresh snow. Spacecraft is a story in progress. Spacecraft combines recurring characters, themes, images and ideas to create an ever-changing, ancient narrative that hasn't been written yet."
Yeah I know that sounds pretty deep, but pretty cool too. It has passion and purpose. It's a strong brand, surrounded by and made up of good people with an outstanding product. That's why I'm so excited to have the opportunity to work for Spacecraft. The G Brand has partnered with Spacecraft, which now becomes my second client. I'm so happy to be focusing my efforts on Spacecraft and Nimbus Independent, it's a career dream come true.
Check out the following Spacecraft video. Click HERE to check out their website.
The time has come and the second webisode is ready for your viewing. Once again my friend Eric Pollard created an amazing edit. He and the whole Nimbus Crew again delivers a film that's a true joy to watch. I hope you like it as much as I do, but then again I'm a little biased.
Within this episode he Nimbus crew gasses up, grabs their snowmobiles and heads north to explore the backcountry of Whistler, BC. Here they team up with pro snowboarder Shin Campos for a tour of his favorite zones, hitting pillows, cliffs, and natural features. The Nimbus crew continues to showcase their backcountry snowmobiling skills with road trips to Sonora, CA and Cooke City, MT.
The wait is over! It’s been two months since Nimbus Independent premiered their first installment of a five part webisode series titled, “Hunting Yeti”. Now on April 15th, the Nimbus crew delivers another stellar episode of documented ski culture and filmmaking. Witness the crew of Pep Fujas, Chris Benchetler, Andy Mahre, Ike Smith, Justin Wiegand, Eric Pollard, Christian Sirianni, and Shin Campos as they hit the backcountry slopes around Whistler, BC, Sonora, CA and Cooke City, MT.
The second webisode takes you more behind the scenes with injuries, travel challenges, down days, herding Bison and the crew’s snowmobiling skills, while maintaining the same signature vibe only Pollard edits bring. Also returning are some original music tracks from H-Mob Productions, the group that brought you the original soundtrack to the debut film “IDEA”.
Having previewed the episode, I can tell you it just keeps getting better. This one has more backcountry freestyle skiing with huge kickers, natural booters, and lots of air time. It's a seriously talented group of people.
I could wait no longer. The new 16 GB Apple iPhone came out and I just had to have one. I have envied friends with their hand-held computers that happen to also make phone calls since the first one came out. It's amazing I made it this long, limping ahead with a blackberry Pearl. I am afflicted with instant gratification syndrome.
The iPhone is truly a revolutionary device. I only know how to use some of its features, but learning new capabilities every day. Go pick yourself up one today, it's an eye opening experience.
Throwing an event, party, or premiere is always just as entertaining behind the scenes as it is for the attendee. There always seems to be a little stress, anxiety, doubt towards success, and exhaustion upon completion. The world premiere of “Hunting Yeti”, presented by K2 Skis, at evo was no exception.
The question you have to ask yourself in the beginning, is how big do you want to go? Since this was a ‘world’ premiere I wanted to go freaking HUGE. But going big takes serious budget, something Nimbus doesn’t have yet. I had visions of renting a thousand dollar HD projector, getting a band or big name DJ, finding a drink sponsor (booze), hiring an event staff, filming the event, and presenting to a sea of people. It’s important to aim high, even if you miss the mark.
So we showed the film without the band, DJ, booze, event staff, or red carpet. Instead we showed the film to a smaller crowd of friends, evo employees, industry insiders, our partners, and about 150 people who were truly interested in the project and there to support the cause. It was as I should have envisioned from the beginning.
Leading up to the show, the amp blew so we had no sound. I rushed to American Music up the street to rent one, just to arrive as they closed. Then I called my friend, Ryan Goedhart, who rushed over to the POW Gloves office and we ripped out the company stereo. Then rushed back to evo just in time to set up before the show started. The sound problem was averted. Thanks buddy, I owe you one.
The next challenge was my very own computer. My old Apple Powerbook is lacking the processor strength to play a 10 GB HD movie file without becoming jerky. It drove me crazy but the crowd didn’t seem to notice.
The first episode ended to the sounds of applause and praise. We then cleaned up, put merchandise back on the floor, and the crowd headed for the High Dive for something to quench their thirst. I told people I needed to drop gear off in my car and would be right there, but pulled a phantom move instead, went home, and crashed.
A big thanks to everybody who came and showed their support. Also thanks to all our partners, as it’s been a collective effort. Thanks to Matt, Molly, Peter and Grace at evo for staying late and hosting the event.
Whew, what a couple of weeks. I can honestly say I haven't worked this hard and enjoyed my work like this since my prime at Helly Hansen. I love coming up with a new business plan and doing things different. The beginning thought you have, "is this possible?" Then as you explore the opportunities and things take shape, I can see that "yes" it truly can happen. Which makes my mind race and sleep hard to find. It's the uncertainty of every day and the learning that comes with trying something new that becomes more of an adventure than a job.
Had a prescreening of the film on last Monday, then a world premiere on Friday night, and have been pressing hard for a while. More to do than there is time in a day, week, month... But we hit our deadlines, at least pretty close.
Probably the most fun and passion I've had for a project was a promo film I produced and directed called HAPPY HAPPY. I worked 14-16 hour days with my good friend Kris Ostness for two months straight and loved almost every minute of it. Every day doubt seeped into my mind whether or not we'd accomplish the objective. Yet we did. We distributed more ski/snowboard DVD's than anybody ever has (412,000). The goal was to reach as many people as possible. This new project feels much the same. Lack of sleep driven on potential and passion.
The fuel? People telling me that they'd be surprised if we accomplish 50% of what we set out too. Those nah sayers just motivate me to prove them wrong. There is so much potential here it's ridiculous. Every night new ideas come to me which I promptly put down in my journal. It"s a feeling of accomplishment that can not be measured monetarily.
It's a great group of people which also makes a big difference. I want to see everybody in the group feel the same sense of satisfaction that I am. That and I know, respect, and enjoy working with all the partners. I get just as much fulfillment from them sharing and contributing to the project then just us doing it ourselves. For this business plan (I'm not going to get into it fully, but we're trying to revolutionize the way people view wintersports films) to succeed, it will take all of our business partners working together collectively towards our common objective. Alright, enough of my babbling and time to get on with the show.
So we have only released two parts of the first "Hunting Yeti" webisode. They are about 10 and 13 minutes in length. Then you can also go to our producer page and download them for your iPod. We will also have HD computer and another iPod download of a full-length version that's 28 minutes long. We may release the full length one on a couple sponsor sites and do some guerilla marketing where kids find it and tell the rest of the viewers via different chat rooms. That and we need to share the streaming and downloading so Rip doesn't take as big of a monetary hit. But hopefully all formats and all versions will be available for free to anybody who has the patience for the download.
Okay, okay, I'm getting to it. Here's Webisode One - This is opening day at Mt. Hood, some night riding, and then a little kicker session. The second half of the episode is all riding at North Cascade Heli Skiing. Just to give you a taste of some big mountain and amazing powder pillow riding action. Wow what a great early season it's been.
So this has been the only client of mine for the G Brand so far. I keep contemplating how much further I go just working for them, as it's not enough money to make a comfortable living, yet. Do I keep charging forward and try to raise enough support so that it's my one and only client? Do I put everything I have into Nimbus, although I'm not an owner? Do I change the way the film industry does business or do I take on other clients and dilute the potential for success I may achieve if I stay solely focused? I hope that in the next couple weeks I can raise the support I need to just do this project, at least for another 5-6 months. I have other potential clients just waiting for an answer. I keep putting them off to keep on the Nimbus, Hunting Yeti quest. I guess it's just a matter of faith in the group and faith in my abilities to make it happen. Stay tuned.
Hope you like it. Be sure to check out our producer page and download the film for your computer or iPod HERE
Getting ready for the first webisode for Nimbus Independent. Too busy to blog really. Hope to get back on a regular schedule again. Come check out the prescreening Monday and the big public showing this Friday.
I seemed to have this itch that needed scratching. The itch to work for myself and get the G Brand under way. It just took a friend of mine Eric Pollard to ask if I would be his business manager for a new ski film company for me to take the risk. So I left K2, got my business license and now have been working for Nimbus Independent selling sponsorship, setting up trips, doing PR, contracts, media relations, and a little strategy. I'm very excited for this new opportunity and enjoy working from home. I will miss the folks at K2 and wish good luck to LINE and Full Tilt.
So we are just really starting to roll. The first Nimbus Independent print ad just hit in Freeskier Magazine. Check it out..
So we are pushing the whole web side of things with online webisodes. Should be pretty cool. So the following is sort of a beta test on the player. Below is the video press release for the project.
NIMBUS INDEPENDENT CONTINUES QUEST WITH RELEASE OF
“HUNTING YETI” AND SHORT FILM WEBISODES
New Ski Film Production Company Follows Success of 2007’s IDEA Release with Films that Offer Different Viewpoint on Skiing and Mountain Culture
WELCHES, Oregon (January 17, 2008) – Nimbus Independent, a new ski film production company driven by Eric Pollard, Pep Fujas, Andy Marhe, and Chris Benchetler released its critically-acclaimed debut film “IDEA” in September 2007. In 2008, Nimbus intends to reach a much broader audience with the release of five short-film webisodes through Rip.Tv that showcase an innovative and creative viewpoint on skiing and film making, followed by a feature film release of “Hunting Yeti” presented by K2 Skis.
“Hunting Yeti” takes skiers on a global tour as seen through the eyes of the athletes. Unique to Nimbus Independent, the riders in the film share the duties of producing, directing, filming and music selection for the final cut while Pollard creates the edits. After successfully capturing the artistic and soulful footage in IDEA, videographers Justin Wiegand and Ike Smith return to help document the “Hunting Yeti” quest. The webisodes and the feature film follow the tight crew around the globe and share life from their perspective as they meet up with other skiers, both professional and locals, to capture all aspects of skiing and culture along the way.
Nimbus is developing a unique business and distribution model founded on digital/web technology and has partnered with Rip.Tv to host their website, webisodes, and become their digital distributor. Check out the online Nimbus Independent producer channel at: www.rip.tv/nimbusindependent.
Sponsors and media partners can embed the Rip.Tv media player for skiers to view the “Hunting Yeti” short films. Each webisode will be broken up into multiple 5-8 minute streams with the option to download the entire 15-24 minute feature in Standard or High Definition format. Catch all five free webisode premiers on the 15th of February, April, June, August, and October.
Additionally, Nimbus Independent has partnered with evogear.com. Evogear.com will be the official online storefront for all things Nimbus. Look for limited edition products, new product releases, pro models, and the option to purchase exactly what you see in the “Hunting Yeti” films.
“Hunting Yeti” is presented by K2 Skis and produced by Nimbus Independent in association with Poor Boyz Productions. Look for more information on the crew, films and partners at: www.rip.tv/nimbusindependent.
The wait is over. Yep, as you may have guessed from my lack of blogging, I got the job I wanted. Funny thing life, you never know how good you have it until it's gone. Now that I'm back to work, I realize how much I love my work.
I still would have liked to execute the G Plan, and still intend on doing my plan down the road. It hasn't gone away, it's just been updated. So what am I doing you may want to know? Well, I'm the new marketing manager for LINE skis and Full Tilt boots. K2 Sports bought LINE skis a little while back and it's been a dream of mine to work for K2 in my youth and for LINE as an adult. Full Tilt are the old Raichle Flexon boots whose molds were purchased by K2.
Both great products, have great people working for them, and has amazing potential. More importantly, I'm back working doing what I love. I also get to keep seeing and working with all the friends I made through my time in the industry. So many positive things about it, now I just have to get er' done.
I found it funny that while I was waiting, some people asked me when my next blog update would be every day. Then you all stopped asking. Recently, you started asking again. Now that I have re-organized myself a little, I will try to post at least 3 times a week.
I'm afraid I've missed a lot of topics. Went on my friend Adam's bachelor party and went Cat and Helicopter skiing in Nelson, BC. You can see the images in the photo gallery. Then I took my new job. First week was testing skis and boots up at Snoqualmie, then a couple days in the office and it was off to Whistler and WSSI, home Sunday and flew out Monday, and off to Lake Tahoe for a week long photo shoot. There's my first month of work.
Lots of images to upload in the gallery, lots of new ideas and topics for my blog. All of which I will get on. So, if you've stopped checking in on the world of the G, I'm back. Back on the great world wide web of information.
Ah, it's good to be back. Both online and as a contributing member of the working world.
Ok, I'm breaking my first rule of blogging. Never drink, write and post. So if you are reading this, it's most likely the day after and I haven't proof read nor edited it to a more tasteful version. Read it now because it won't be the same later on tomorrow .
Went out tonight for my friend 'Lil T's' B-day party and then was supposed to meet another beautiful woman later. Got home around quarter to midnight and decided I should stay in and catch up on my 'Routine' and other work items. I should go back out to the party, but the next stop on the tour was the Make Out Room and I'm already a kissy face after cocktails, so I would have probably gone around kissing all the ladies I could. Trying to change my ways even though there's no harm in kissing the ladies in my book. Practice makes perfect, right?
So on to the Vegas trip in review. I realize my last few posts have been a little gushy for a dude. A lot of how great friends and people are, but my trip to Vegas was like getting back together with a girlfriend who once broke your heart. My past experience with the Action Sports Industry was a love/hate relationship. I loved it to death but became unhealthy with the fun and partying aspect.
I also left having over extended myself and made business promises I could no longer fulfill. Not to my own fault. This was the main reasons why I left. I thought my reputation was tarnished and that my name no longer held much credibility. I think that was one of the reasons why I was looking for work outside of the Industry. But going back to the SIA trade show made me realize how amazing the people are. How much positive energy there is and how happy the work makes me. How could I possibly leave it?
The first thing I came to realize is that I lived many men's corporate fantasy. I had three amazingly hot interns at HH. They were all awesome and I wish them the best in life and in business. I was fortunate enough to go out with two of them in one evening. They are Lynsey Dyer and Kylee Miller. Completely beautiful people and more like sisters than anything else (including the 3rd named Nancy). They are the ones that you root for. Hoping that they find success and happiness. Check out the pictures of us in the limo. Yeah, two nights in a row we used limo's instead of taxi's. So spoiled. Love the VIP lifestyle sometimes.
Then I saw so many athletes, people who work for magazines, individuals who run film companies, graphic designers, peers in marketing at other companies, and just good people that I used to spend time with on the road. The positive energy was almost overwhelming. So much friendship that I had missed and no hard feelings with how I left things with my old job that I felt a huge relief. I hadn't blown it, I hadn't burnt my bridges or lost the respect of those I worked so hard to earn. The following are a few pictures of those people. First off, check out Pat (The Community Project Film), Murray (MSP) and Jonny (Poor Boyz Productions). Icons of the Action Sports film industry partying together. Then the following image is Joel Berman, graphic's guru at Scott USA, and I.
The whole trip was magic. Checked in at the Mandalay Bay and they upgraded my best friends fiance and I to 'The Hotel' and a amazing room with two bathrooms, a small office, bar, living room, and a nice big ol' flat screen TV. We started out living the good life in Vegas. Here's a shot of the room. They hadn't completely cleaned it as you can see, they missed taking down the Bachelorette party sign and didn't vacum up all the confetty. I was happy none the less and they cleaned it up a little better the second day.
Every night included expensive dinners with friends and VIP parties through the evening. But at the same time, I managed to pace myself and only drink a little, making sure I had lots of water in between my cocktails. This was also my first time in Vegas where I didn't go to the Crazy Horse. Still haven't decided if that is an accomplishment or not. Here's a couple images of the MSP kids and Hugo in the limo on the way to the Biz Markee party. My friend who works at Giro helmets had a co-worker in the band who opened. Crazy small world. So many more photos, wait till the gallery posting, it should be entertaining.
It was awesome to see so many of my past and current friends, that I am now making more of an effort to stay in touch. I'm back, healthier and smarter than before. I love skiing and snowboarding (only sometimes, I'm not going to pretend that I'm a snowboarder) and if I can work, doing something that I love to do more than anything else, than it's a win-win situation. I loved my work before, and I will love it again, I'm just going to be smarter about it the second time around. More balance...
I would liked to have taken more pictures, but since I was working and flapping my lips to get paid , I just didn't make a good enough effort. I plan on gathering a bunch of images from friends and will post them in my gallery when I have time.
Thanks again to Ryan and Dustin of POW Gloves for getting me there on contract. Without you I wouldn't have realized all that I missed. I'm so looking forward to getting back to work and sharing our passion for the sport, having fun, and making wintersports better for everybody. Peace.
I also plan on catching up with my 'Routine' entries. This one is over a week past due and I have 15 topics in my journal I need to get down. Stay tuned, more to come. That and they are getting out of order. Whatever.
Today I received my first paycheck for contract work under the G Brand. It's a proud moment really. I'm even happier because the check couldn't have come from a better group of people. Sometimes things just align and unlock a certain chain of events that make you wonder about the possibilities...
As I've been floating around the last few months, putting together my "life's plan", I've been asked by multiple people to help with their businesses. I am truly fortunate to have so many people interested in my talents. One of those people is my friend Ryan Goedhart. We started out at HH together as the passionate marketing kids who could see where the US division of HH should go, yet couldn't seem to find the right voice to communicate our good intentions.
Ryan created his own business and became a HH sales representative in the Northwest while I started to slowly climb the corporate ladder. Recently we both parted ways from our first employer. He took the reigns and is now the Sales Guy for POW Gloves and still a sales rep for Bern Helmets. Through him I have gotten to know an interesting and good group of people.
They are: Dustin Goss, Dan Egan, Scott Scoggin, and as you can see from the picture above, the beautiful Liesel Kiel. There is no question that following your dream in business is a scary and exciting thing to do. It take guts. What you have to have is a good product, good people, positive energy, and the need for adventure. POW Gloves has these attributes.
Ryan approached me a couple weeks ago needing some marketing and PR help for the company. That meant going to Las Vegas for the SIA trade show which I have eluded to in early 'routine' entries. I wasn't sure if I should go? I had changed my partying ways and this meant going to the city of temptation. Could I go and not party too hard? I figured this would be a good test of will power. That and if somebody will pay for your room and then a day rate to reconnect with old friends, it hit me as a no brainer.
The show was a huge success for POW and the energy/response was very positive. It's easy when there is good product. All I had to do was tell people to touch and feel the glove, then put it on their hand and watch their facial expression. "Wow, that's the most comfortable glove I've ever put on", were the most common words coming out of peoples mouths. Plus they have a great PR story. People from the Northwest getting together because they love action sports and want to make the best gloves in the business.
I heard owner/founder Dustin say, "When every Nascar driver is wearing a pair of POW gloves, then I'll relax." They also have some great products that offer a point of differentiation. They may be the first one to bring cinematography and photography gloves to the market. Then they have the 'fun factor' glove in the SHOCKER, which if you don't know what that is, you're outta luck because I can't explain it here. Then they also have the most fashionable golf gloves made. It ties back to them providing the highest quality leather gloves in a fashion forward design, at an amazing price. So if you need a pair of the best gloves in the Wintersports Industry, go buy some POW.
They also brought in some local Seattle talent to entertain the show goers. Local band The Mob Law put on a very entertaining show. They are a mix of Danzig, Rage Against the Machine, and Sublime. Keep an eye out as it won't be long before they hit it big. Hopefully both groups make it big.
Outside of my first G Brand payment, I want to thank POW for bringing me to Vegas. I hadn't realized how much I missed everybody. Below are a couple more pictures of the booth, the band, and the fans of both.
Took a little while to figure it out but I'm off to Las Vegas for the Snowsports Industry of America Trade Show (SIA). I'm excited to catch up with tons of people I used to work with. I'm also really excited to be working again. I'm so ready!!!
So the G Brand has landed it's first paying client. Yep, it's official. Nothing long term as of yet but some fun projects to help pay the rent. Well, that and it gets me to Vegas.
Still keeping my irons in the fire for more clients, projects, and potential 'in-house' employment opportunities. I'm just happy to have good options and different opportunities. I'm truly fortunate.
Sealed the deal last night with this Wintersports client up at the local hill, Alpental. Nothing more appropriate than a little brainstorming session and business while sharing your passion. It was my first night skiing of the season and it was so much fun.
Granted there isn't as much challenging terrain to ride, there's just something about being on the mountain at night that makes it a party on snow. You navigate the trails and hit the little jumps like a kid, pulling out what little tricks you have in your bag. Then it's fast cruiser runs and a few bumps to get the blood flowing. I had even forgotten how fun it is to just cruise the groomed.
There was also this quarter pipe hit with a horrible transition but it didn't even matter. Tried to pull off nose presses and a little rock in roll action just about every run.
Grabbed a couple beers in the pub to cap off the fun evening. Listened to a bunch a guys at the bar talk about Helly Hansen and how they used to dumpster dive looking for cut up samples. Too funny. Then watched as the bartender tried to sell a matt shot to the same group of guys. Now that's rough. Below is a shot of the 'night riders' and the making of the matt shot.
I'm closer than I have been to being fully employed again. Lately I've been exploring the possibilities of working for myself doing contract work under the G Brand. Right now it's looking really good.
I have contacted and am in communication with three Wintersports brands. All of which seem interested in having me be apart of their business if the sun, moon, and the stars can align properly. The question for some is whether it would be better if I just worked in-house. I'd be willing to do so with one of the brands.
At the same time I've been researching what it entails to own your own business. I'd have to make more on contract to take care of taxes, health care, retirement, 401K and IRA's, office supplies, cell phone, computer, etc. I've been trying to figure out what to charge for my services. What percentage of what I bring in would have to be put aside for the previously mentioned? Right now it's looking like anywhere between 30-34%.
Then there is how much to take on. The work is all on me, which is actually pretty exciting. I think I'd like the pressure since I've been so relaxed the last few months. The trick would be to have a very defined contract with clear parameters stating what my responsibilities are and what's outside the scope of the contract.
If I start my own business, I will most likely only take on two of the three potential clients. I want to try and find local non-Wintersports contract work to expand my creative marketing brain. I have so many ideas that I don't want to be a one-trick pony.
What I need to decide next is whether or not I should go to SIA. SIA is the Snowsports Industry of America trade show in Las Vegas. It would be great to see everybody and the work aspect I could do in my sleep. I have enough flight miles to go for free and multiple lodging options.
I think I'll make up my mind after reviewing some business plans and see how the interview process goes with different agencies here in Seattle. Stay tuned.
After much hard work, I founded my own country on the world wide web. It wasn't as difficult as when Christopher Columbus puddle jumped over to America (as the story goes) but it did have some challenges. I want to say thanks to Harrison Boyce who put me on the map and Aaron James Draplin for establishing my border. I'm very happy with how it all turned out. Take a tour and let me know what you think.
I'll try to update my 'Routine' as often as possible with fun facts, events, and photos. It's easy right now since I'm unemployed and enjoy documenting my life but won't make any promises once I find a new job. As I become more proficient with the site my gallery and blog's should become more entertaining.
Take it easy and welcome to G's spot on the world wide web.
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