So put one more under the belt for trade show tours. After completing a brutal 10 days of shaka’s, high fives and brohugs…one thing is certain….NOW is the time of opportunity. Walking around ASR was inspiring as I saw young Brands going for it while older Dinosaurs tuck their tails and ran into obscurity scrambling to reorganize efforts. I have done 100′s of Action Sport tradeshows during my tenure, but this ASR was probably the best one ever for Skateboards.com and Surfboards.com . ASR has notably been the backbone of west coast shows in Action Sports, and when an entity “owns” the environment they write the rules. But much like the existing economic situation, rules get re-written, such is the case of San Diego ASR 2009. As we went from booth to booth doing business, the resounding response was a willingness to do business and the reception of new ideas. There we equal amounts of despair and optimism regarding the current economic situation enveloping our industry, however one one method of thought resonated throughout the show which was “WHEN IS IT GOING TO TURN AROUND?” Well, the answer to this is how we make it turn around. By getting back to the roots of our industry, taking care of the smaller more core store while still massaging the bigger buyers…the funny part is the bigger buyers are on their heels from the last two quarters and the brands that abandoned the smaller shops are no longer in demand…WHAT HAPPENED? People chased the almighty buck instead of staying true to the cause. ASR…you better figure it out or AGENDA and BLACKBOX are going to give you a run for your show. Overall San Diego and ASR was a huge success for us and we are stoked to have been there and get some business done.

SIA/Las Vegas…ahhhh Vegas. I love Las Vegas and let me tell you why. Everyone is there for one reason and that is to enjoy themselves. If you have a missing hand towel you can ring concierge and they whisk one right up….remote control for TV not working…BAM. Walk through the casino’s and eateries and everyone is doing a song and dance. Lets not forget the all hours buffet’s, oxygen induced atmosphere and a 24 hour schedule and you have all the makings of great debauchery. Onto the show, SIA was KICKING! and Snowboards.com was there to make it happen. You wouldn’t know there was a recession going on with the amount of people and brands at the Mandalay Bay convention center. Artec Snowboards, Capita, Oakley and more where there with their bells on and buyers were on point daily with their pens ready to write paper. No overbearing security guards, no random people trying to get free swag, just plain old fashion business going down. After 5 days of Vegas we wrapped it up and headed home only after contracting a combination of SARS/Bird Flu and some variation of the Oklahoma Hack. The highlight of the trip was The Expendables performance at the Rum Jungle with Slightly Stoopid where we were all VIP’d out and had the run of the place.  I played some craps with my boy Shylo from SPY and Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures on The Travel Channel and made some mad loot.  Pics from SIA below…Video of Snoop Dogg at SIA and Slightly Stoopid singer getting roughed up and The Expendables doing their thing…

Ahh, ASR San Diego…the memories of scantily clad women (some shouldn’t), high fives and hand jives with all your bro’s, stupid security people that flex on little kids and product scavengers that go from booth to booth in hopes of free product from struggling companies. Did I mention that jail is always an option in San Diego as well? Anyhow, this ASR was extra special as we were broadcasting live from an undisclosed location inside of ASR through Skateboards.com TV, Josh “MadMan” Mattson winning the Transition for the 3rd time at 2008 Battle Of The Shops hosted by Automatic magazine, cruising the floor with Animal Chin and checking out all the after parties. First off the LIVE Broadcast through Skateboards.com TV both with our stationary cam and mobile cam view went off well as we had well over 1000 people watching out for pro’s, bro’s and ehemmm…well you know the rest. While I walked around streaming from my N95 phone catching random pieces here and there like

Too $hort from Oakland in the Famous Stars and Straps booth and Battle Of The Shops coverage. Make sure you join up over at Skateboards.com TV to get alerted when we go LIVE. 2nd day of the show we teamed up with Animal Chin..

yes you heard it right Animal Chin..

we found him..in my youth I often wondered what would happen if I actually found Animal Chin and what I would do…so when we he came into our secret location at ASR San Diego, all I could do was follow him around for the rest of the day. Animal Chin and our crew went from booth to booth as he cleaned up time after time. Did I tell you he makes the best fortune cookies in the world? Now the best part of ASR…2008 Automatic Magazine’s Battle Of The Shops held this year at ASR San Diego California.

We had our Skateboards.com/Santa Cruz Skate Shop team in place, the only Skate Team to travel from Northern California and compete against the likes of Active Ride Shop, Pacific Drive, Val’s Surf, Pharmacy Board Shop and 15 other high brow shops. This was our 3rd year showing up and dropping hammers with our riders Brandan “B-Lo” Howard, Nathan “Knox” Forson, Micah “M-ZO” Szoke and Josh “MadMan” Mattson. Right out of the gate, M-Zo was laying it down in the Technical division with guys like Willy Santos standing by watching the pressure was on, next it was Brandan Howard and the Double Set after flinging his body down and taking a bad stack the Transition was next.

Josh “MadMan” Mattson was defending champion 2 years running and people were gunning for him. Curren Caples and David Loy tried and died..the MadMan was on fire using the whole ramp and skating like a possessed man in search of redemption. Last but not least, Nathan Forson was on tap to take on the Rail division with guys like Marquise Preston, Andrew Pott and Andrew Elliot charging. In the end, our Skateboards.com/Santa Cruz Skate Shop Team walked away with an 8th overall and Josh “Madman” Mattson once again took the Transition event with a 1st place making it a 3-PETE at the Automatic Magazine’s Battle Of The Shops 2008.

After winning the $500 first prize, The MadMan clearly stated he was up for a dinner at Dick’s Last Resort

and contemplating his next fishing pole purchase. Overall this was probably the best ASR San Diego show I have had in two decades. Not sure what’s next but make sure you stay tuned as you never know what hot mess we will be serving up to you next.