We now are all caught up and holding hands and you just looked over at me and winked. I wasn’t looking at you though as there was a silly looking man roller skating but you wouldn’t know the difference in my smile. were all good right?

We went to Vegas a few weeks back kidnapped a few people like Alex Yang from DC, Ryan from O’Neill, Jessica his wifey from Ezekiel. Anyways we went out to see a fight. It was a brawl between Jason “skater, mma, radio host” Ellis and Andy “none of those qualities” Bell. It went down at the Hardrock. That place rules!! good fighting.. girls fighting, guys in blind folds. girls fighting guys, the list goes on.

I stopped by the RAEN office a couple days ago on way back from a trip. I wanted to get the contract for the Feb CLASS @ ASR. Those guys are neato. Not only is RAEN killing it now but they have there creative agency called Libre Design. If you need to pretty up your program I would suggest you check em out libredesign.com ..

I was in a conversation with somebody a bit back and they explained that the biggest skate company in the world is Sector 9. I worked with Dwindle for a few years and I never really thought they would blow the doors down. well they did.

Dan Moylan and I fired down to Sector 9 for a visit. Those guys are pretty amazing. We got a chance to tour the whole set up with EG. check out some pics below.

Speaking of Dwindle. I Went with Skateboarder Mags Billy Deans for a visit to Dwindle this week. They showed us there new little baby in the warehouse. hmmm .. pretty little thing. you’ll hear more about it soon. They gave my son a Cheese and Crackers tech deck half pipe thingie. He hasn’t even peeped Backyardigans since I fired that thing in his lap.

No waves but I hope to get a bit wet tomorrow after I visit PT @ HSS in the boardroom. He’ll be there for a chat and a cup of coffee from 7 - noon tomorrow 11/14.  HYPERLINK “http://www.hsssurf.com/surfnsport/2009/11/chat-with-pt-at-hss/” http://www.hsssurf.com/surfnsport/2009/11/chat-with-pt-at-hss/

Speaking of PT. his seed Tosh is now on O’QUINN.. yaaaaaaa…

take care and talk soon.

Jim Shubin

ASRbiz.com

CLASSatASR.com

This girl is amazing. She holds the fort @ Sector 9. She is the mother hen of their Movenmber Program. hit em up.

In EG's office @ Sector 9 with Dan Moylan talking ASR. I Looooooove the velvet artwork above them..

EG showing one of the very first boards they made. Hand drawn artwork etc. pretty neato. EG told us a great story in Mikes office. He said they've always backed ASR and Surf Expo Tradeshows. He said right after the 911 craze when a few backed out he painted their booth RED, WHITE, and BLUE and did their thing. These guys are great.

a first in the Sector 9 print campaign. everyone I met on the Sector 9 tour was amped. all super happy. This was like walkin Zappos. the employees are pumped. After this Dan and I went straight for a quick surf and grabbed grub @ Wahoos which is part owned by Tal. Tal is a key part of Sector 9. When in La Jolla go there to eat.

Whitney does the marketing @ Dwindle. This is the new not-so-mini. Its perfect. Look at the ladders. I bet you Daewon has something to do with those. When I worked with Dwindle we had the Globe mini for a bit but had to take it down. Well they found room for an amazing replacement.

This mister was king neptune of the Hardrock Pool a few weeks ago. YESSSsssssss i say.

Hello there,
it’s been a bit since we last hung out. Truth is Leanne the ASR mother hen of  mktg etc taught me the ropes of word press.. It took me a while needless to say.
So, lots and lots have been going on so I’ll do my best to give the quick and easy. That is if this even works and goes up on the site.. ha!

Just got back from SIMA’s PR Bootcamp today at the Camp. We all met upstairs in SEED. That store is great. Do go check it out when you get the chance. I have a few events to catch you up on but for now lets just talk for a bit, and maybe throw in a giggle or two. You know since its been a couple weeks lets just get reaquainted.  Coffee and a little danish. Or perhaps a tuna sangwich on rye with a medium orange soda. thats right, I said SANGWICH. sandwich but with a G. it sounds better.. Anyways now that where both on speaking terms and are holding hands again I’ll bust a move. xo XO. ah crap mom just told me we’re cousins. sorry.

Hey, ASR / CLASS at ASR February 3rd and 4th in San Diego. Just saw a nice ad this morn in Transworld Business. yaaaa. Contracts are coming in. People are happy.  I’ll keep you informed. Over @ Transworld Rob Campbell got moved up to Big MR Ed of all the Pubs. Ya Rob! Over @ Skateboarder Billy Deans got the Ass Pub job. yes. Mr Irons got in his car, left Surfer and drove straight over to Dragon while Tony “the sexican” Perez will now be the Publisher of both ER and ING. ahhh ..

There was some neg news that came up today on my news radar. I hope things all smooth out. I’m sure it will. Now I can’t take this anymore. I have to see if this will work.. More very soon..

PS. The title has nothing to do with this blog post. I just liked the sound of it..

Love, Jim Shubin
ASRBIZ.com
CLASSatASR.com

——————————-

SIMA PR Boot Camp. @ Seed in Costa Mesa

CLASS@ASR is on the other end of this Space Mountain looking tube in Feb. Pretty neato! its just above the spot we had in Sept.

RANDOM-I took this pic a few years back in Miami. the front was jacked up a bit so i focused on the neat part only. FYI I want one of these!

Well all’s good. Back from Baja Sur for SIMA Surf Summit 12 and the Image Awards. I love San Jose Del Cabo. I really think the place is amazing. We got waves too.. Yaaaa!

We landed last Monday so we could meet up with some friends at a house we rented on the East Cape. The place was incredible. Anyhow we came back to SJC to the Crowne Plaza to join the SIMA tribe on Wednesday and things went neato.

So there were some good stories but you’d have to ask us face to face. There were many, many funny things that went down.. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble so I’ll just  say a few key words and you can let your imaginations go wild.

Here I go:

Avocados, SIMA!!, East Cape, Back Slaps, Scorpions, Waves, KARAOKE, meetings, Bulls and rental cars, Industry Rock, Lillard, flat tires, Bryan Rusk, cut butts, broken leashes, wrestling, sunglasses, Ruiz, chicklets, dude T-shirt dancing, some shipwrecks, Atwater, HOTSHOT, Buzzards, Tropical Storm Paul Harvey, #7, Ogio pockets, Jane Buckingham, Zolli, Monster chicas, Water, Tweet this, Bell’s Hand, Billabong, Attorney, O’Neill, SSS, good night.

Congrats to all the winners!!!!!! Soooo good.

I like what Andrew Zolli said. “Tomorrow won’t be worse, It’ll be different.” Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

I’ll get you more soon. check out a couple links for some photos and coverage. http://business.transworld.net/ and  http://www.shop-eat-surf.com/

Take care. love,
Jim Shubin
ASRbiz.com
CLASSatASR.com

This is the first day. Reef’s Kevin Flanagan moderated a look from the retailers point of view looking out. Flanny Killed it!! yaaaa.

it was actually yesterday at Ship Wrecks. Dan Moylan (ASR Director) and I left and got 9-Palms better than this.. yay.

This is how Tyler Callaway (from FCS) and his wife Indie get around the East Cape

RANDOM PIC- My short ass cousin’s name is Mike Valov. I call him Michael V. He is like 5’ 5”. He went to the DMV 3 weeks ago for his new license. This is what came back. Read his height. He thinks I might have a friend at the DMV. What do you think?

If you don’t know yet, The Journal in NY just turned TEN. Wow, 10 years already. Check them out. They are a nice couple of fellas .. http://www.thejournalinc.com/

Anyhow, all caught up with your paper chasing? I hope so. The tradeshow craze has simmered and the next run is coming soon. Get ready.

Sad news at Transworld. Skateboarding Editor Eric Stricker passed away this week. 32 years old with a family. Big loss. Regards to his family and the TWS staff..

Next up SIMA Surf Summit 12. See you there. I’ll update you with some pics when I can. I fly in a few hours.

See below for information on the Transworld Surfari on Thursday morning. Spray Charlie Anderson all morning then head back for the meetings at noon.

A few pics from SIMA Surf Summits in the past below.

Be safe. Have fun. Love you.

Jim Shubin

TransWorld Surf-Ari Invite. Oct. 1st, 8 a.m.

People doing stuff

Sean's hair in 2003

James Lynch on left. Stoddard on right. A jackass in the middle.

I believe this was SIMA in '04, just prior to the Image Awards. I wonder who won what. Stubbies perhaps?

Random Pic - I’m not kidding. I almost crashed when I saw this sign.

Did you surf this weekend? damn it was fun. Anyhow, Leanne Milliken from ASR sent an email a little bit back saying that Simple Shoes had a few things going on. They had a couple categories that will be launched at ASR in a few weeks.

Their PR guru Danielle Diblasio sent some shoes for us to check out. I haven’t heard about Simple Shoes in a while but I remember a nice dude named Eric Myers in the early nineties at ASR pushing some shoes that at the time seemed to do well. He was a rad guy and had a business card that was made of wood. I tripped out and never forgot that. Not sure what he’s up to but his baby lives on.

Anyhow the shoes came in and I am very particular with my shoes but had a good look and the next day did the trestles trail with them.. Not bad.. I researched these guys a bit and was pumped on the environmental efforts they were working on. 100% sustainable with a bit of hipsteeze.

Anyhow nice job Simple. You made me also use your 100% sustainable box for my receipts from 08.. loved it. I wouldn’t dare throw that thing away..

Most other shoes take up to 1000 years to disappear from landfills where a pair of these BIO-D’s will vanish and turn to dirt in about 20.

They will also show their bio degradable flip flops at the ASR show as well. Make an appointment to see them at booth # 1705 at ASR. While you’re there take a look at their bags. I have see them in a couple spots and really liked them. check out Simpleshoes.com.

Anyhow we’ll see you in Vegas at the shows. Good Luck and talk soon.  Get ready for ASR and CLASS at ASR. We’re excited for you to see what we’ve worked on for Septembers show.

One last thing. I am sorry for the loss of Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein. I had the pleasure of working with him a few times in the past at a few events. It is a horrible loss. Regards to his family and close ones.

Thank You,
Jim Shubin
ASRbiz.com
CLASSatASR.com

Check out Simple’s new boot.. Carry On.

Here’s a little pick of one pair sent over from Simple. If you take a close look you will notice the tire tread on the sole.

This is the pair that took the Lowers trip. Comfy. I will kick a terrorist in the nuts with these..

This is Tom Kabash from Pleasure Ground Eyewear. I ran into him at CLASS Santa Monica and he was flossing a pair of Simple Shoes. You’ll find Tom and Pleasure Ground Eyewear at CLASS at ASR in booth # CL633

RANDOM Pic - Nielsen gave ASR and CLASS at ASR the chance to fly in key retailers and distributors. I have talked to some of the distributors that I have worked with in the past. most of them are coming to the show in Sept. This is one of them.. His name is Matt Law. He owns a distribution company in the UK called Jett 26. He is on point. Well most of the time. This evening he was beat up by stickers.. See you in SD Matt. Fly safe..

This week I took a redeye to the south east. Reason for the trip was to go on behalf of ASR / Class at ASR and support a couple of tradeshows in Florida.

Usually I can handle redeye flights with ease. This one kicked my ass however the trip was a great one. I landed in Tampa grabbed the rental car and headed to SPoT. They we’re throwing a tradeshow called the Moat Show. Let me tell you, it was WARM. Very warm. There was an eyeball named Bill spinning in the Atlantic that didn’t hit land while I was there which couldv’e added to the fun but people we’re amped on the surf about to pound the east coast.

So the boys at SPoT had a good turnout. Skate companies came out and set up their 10×10 easy-ups. The people I talked to seemed to be satisfied with the retail turnout and the crowds of the general public cruising the show. Immediately after the show a best trick contest began so as the show closed we headed inside where people were skating all day. Torey Pudwill from Dwindle / Podium manhandled the best trick. Congrats sir!

Czar in Ybor City once again to end the evening was good times as always.   Woke up the next morning and started my drive to Orlando for Surf Expo. I was greeted in the front by Sean Smith and a good game that almost made me shit myself. Anyhow, I met up with Surf Expo Captain and 1st mate Roy Turner and Sean O’Brien for a badge and chat. Those guys are really rad guys. Thanks for letting me in misters. need I say more?

The show was good. Volcom did there thing and themed it up. Pretty funny booth set up.. love them.. RVCA, Atwater, Sector 9 and Vans seemed to be killing it in my short time there. I went by to visit John Gothard in the Sanuk booth and they were crushing it with their new Tube Flop. Wow! they are going to sell a grip of those.. Nice job guys!

Got to visit with many friends at the show I haven’t seen in a while. Some of them were there to skate the set up Surf Expo did for their demos during the show. Enjoyed that as well. Others like the Eastern Skateboard and Surf Supply crew were there doing their thing.

Thank you both SPoT and Surf Expo for your hospitality.

The Moat. I have seen people swim in this for free product during Tampa Pro and Tampa Am contests in the past.

The Moat Show!!!! The show was set up out side behind the park. It was balmy but you can head inside the snack shack to cool off and check out some art.

SPoTs Barak Wise with Jose from Dwindle. Barak is an idea man but it wasn’t his idea to have those two dude in the backround.

Surf Expo’s Roy Turner and Sean O’Brien. they rule.

Eastern Skate Supply main man Reggie Barns on left. I surfed with him in North Carolina. He surfs well. middle is Bruce Walker of Ocean Avenue, and  Abraham Paskowitz was good to catch up with as well.. Abe’s running Mavericks Surf Clothing now and we wish him the best.

Autograph signing in front of Eastern Skate Supply booth. Creager got me good this very night..

RANDOM Pic. Okay .. Usually I go through a few of my pics from the past and when I laugh I post the “Random Pic” Well this pic was actually taken at my hotel in Orlando. I wanted to meet up with Josh Hunter from Transworld Business and a few others and jump in the pool.  Here’s the story.. SOMEONE POOOOOOOOOOhed in the pool. We asked to see the person who committed such and act on this warm post tradeshow evening. I figured if the person looked pretty normal we can still jump in. No such luck. Security surrounded the pool. It was probably a little tike,  so we found some of the Volcom crew in the kiddie pool / fountain and we splashed about in that for a bit.   that was cool and all but have a look at the guy in the pic behind the security guard. He is setting up to hook something big in the pool. How big was that thing?

Hey maams and misters. Hope all is well. Things are kicking into high gear for ASR and CLASS at ASR. A couple days ago was SIMA’s Waterman’s Weekend and I had a chance to go thanks to ASR. I was pretty slammed on Thursday but had a chance to see the golf tourney. It was at Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point.  Amazing place. check it out when you get a chance. Or just sign up and play for the 21st.   Make sure you dial in a good kit for your foursome because people didn’t really hold back. I won’t even say who my favorite was but I will say that there was NO recession on the coarse that day. At least not in the team’s outfits. I will say that one gentleman tried tackling me with a Kilt on and once he ended up on my front porch I lifted his “skirt” for “someone’s” photo op. I will keep this rated PG 13. Just a solid turnout of companies and people supporting, good times, and SIMA killed it. Good Job.. More details in the Rated PG pics. I might have some t-shirt ideas though John. did I just say that out loud??  Onto Friday.. LA was kicking me straight in the balls that day and not letting me get to the Ritz in Dana Point but once there I parked my 94 piece of work and rolled in with some borrowed duds. I was floored at  how nice it was. Yes its the Ritz DP but I’ve always rolled by on the trail and surfed creek down below. Once registered and given my sheet of barcodes that I need to do the silent auction with I walked right back outside and stuck one on the front door of the Ritz and one in the men’s on the urinal. So I own both of those now.. If any of yous need to saddle up for a weekend there do so. Just say “its all good. Jim got me”.   So again I was a bit late but made it outside for a little of the silent auction. Really good stuff to bid on. Maybe 2010 - 21st Waterman’s Auction I’ll get that trip to Hawaii with all my friends and yes maybe I’ll call you John Gothard if there’s a cancellation.   Swept into the main ballroom. Dinner was sooo good. GES people we’re kind and gentle. GT killed the mic like Erasure on a comeback tour. over 400K was raised in an incredibly funky economic silly year. That shows how strong it is when we all get together and make it happen. Like the late 2009, 21st Waterman’s Ball “SIMA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Mr Dick Baker always said. “Its about growing the Pond” The industry came together and did just that Friday night.. It was incredible..   Rob Machado - Waterman of the Year and Dave Rastovich took the award for Environmentalist of the Year both deservedly so. Congratulations to all three of you guys and Dick, we really miss you sir. Thank Yous came from everyone on stage that night to him (Baker) and his family who gave 3 amazing acceptance speeches that evening. With them and Dicks great friend Shaheen Sadheghi (founder of the Lab and Camp in Costa Mesa) a huge standing ovation took place with hundreds of people showing their gratitude to such a blessing of a person we all miss.   Thank you SIMA. Sean, didn’t I win you in the silent auction. See you Monday. Bring a paintbrush Holmes.   Again 400k raised. more than last year. In a crap recession. Pretty rad!   Oh and Gerry Lopez was there.. Gerry Lopez. hear me? I think he came in on the Sea Shepard.
Thanks again.
Jim Shubin
ASRbiz.com
Classatasr.com

This was my first stop at the SIMA Waterman’s golf tourney. It was the ASR sponsored hole. I think it was # 2. the crew and a dude with a steel drum making us feel tropical. pretty neato. Leanne Milliken, Ginger Conrad, Darren Bridges, Nisa Meineke, and crew.

WOW. so Vans went all out. I sure they won a prize. If not Ima getem one. Notice the bookends. I don’t know the “politically correct” way of explaining besides just throwing out I saw dudes that looked like my son but older than me manning their fort. I love that..

Transworld Surf Pub Charlie Anderson lubing up as always.

I think its hole # 3. Surfline’s sponsored hole. You have to get one of your foursome to get a ride down to the water and get a few turns in on a Lost Surfboard and your score gets deducted from your golf score. If your foursome turns down the surf at hole three you donate $50. ha! love it!!. I got a pic of Charlie on a little one but the pic sucked. This pic is the setup on the beach. Tony Perez from Surfing / Skateboarder mag and friends set up a side charity to make things interesting. If you hit a tennis ball off the bluff and hit a surfboard you win it.. they raised some extra scrilla for SIMA.. nice!

Gerrrrrrrrrry LOPEZ. nothing funny about that. well he was in Conan the Barbarian. He’s the man.

Another cool moment I remember was Electric Sunglasses Bruce Beach’s son Max. 6 years old focusing on every moment of the evening. Hey max I’ll pay you to hang out with my son. wait. I’ll pay you to hang out with me homeslice. Rob made a smoooooth acceptance speech.

MAX BEACH saying “remember me later” !!

Standing Ovation… Dick, we’ll meet you in the clouds and be with the Lord forever.

Shop eat Surfs Liberace of the keyboard Tiffany Montgomery along with Ginger Conrad from ASR marketing team lookin zippy.

RANDOM Photo- someone just reminded me of this.. This was mid May a couple years ago at Jack’s Corona Del Mar. All I have to say is Santa and a Bear showed up for a few hours in the shop to hang with this kids. Well and the cougars came out as well.

A few years back I worked with Debby Martin sales manager for L*SPACE. She was a great person to work with and was always on point. We spent a lot of time working together and one day I bought her a live sheep for her birthday not to mention a lot of other good times we shared.

Anyhow, I figured today I would give her a call to talk about CLASS at ASR and ask for some info on L*SPACE for todays blog. Well the little lady is on point as always. I received 4 emails containing more info and great pictures than I knew what to do with.. L*SPACE is a fave of many girls and I have to say the design and marketing genius is Monica Wise. She deserves all the recent success of the brand. Monica you can rest assure sales is dialed with Debby at the helm. Oh and they have some hardware with 24K gold. are you kidding me!? On point..

So I’ve been watching a little Shark Week this evening. I am writing this blog and need to focus. I hit the L*SPACE link to marinate my angle about Swim a bit and BAAAM. My attention is 100% on and into this.. http://www.lspace.com/
such a good site. I had to sent Deb a text as I stumbled upon a product video section for each piece in the collection. I asked if it was her voice.. it is. what a fabulous idea for a sales tool. The music right when I clicked the link made me want to re-grow my mustache. I’ll keep it clean and tight but I need it back with a little accent. My wife just said not to write this part. I should be a Spaniard and not Russian.

Here is some key info from Debby and the site for you.. read up. I don’t want to mess it up so I’ve copied it verbatim.
Another addition is our capsule collection partnering with Omnipeace. Omnipeace is a humanitarian fashion brand that donates 25% of it’s proceeds to promote peace, education, human rights and to end extreme poverty by 2025. L*Space personally donates 20% of it’s proceeds from the Omnipeace swim collection to help Omnipeace in their efforts. Can fashion save lives? We think so!!!

Also L*Space was honored as the Mercedes Benz Presents designer this year at Miami Fashion Week! www.youtube.com/watch?v=22FH0RGpDiA Check the link for a look at the show and L*SPACE 2010 collection.

I have a question. So we’ve all said 08 then 09 (oh nine) for a bit. How are you going to abbreviate 2010? Oh ten, ten, twenty ten.. let me know.. thx!

Anyhow the past 2 years L*SPACE took home The SIMA Image Awards “Women’s Swim brand of the year”. They are nominated once again for both Women’s swim brand of again and Women’s marketing campaign of the year for their “What’s Your L?” Campaign in 09.. See you in Cabo for SIMA Surf Summit 12.

I want to also mention a few of the other Swimwear brands we have coming to ASR  and CLASS at ASR. Despi, Luli Fama, B Swim, Red Carter, OSKLEN, Vitamin A, Surfkini, and over 50 more..

See you at the show.

Thank you,

Jim Shubin
ASRbiz.com
CLASSatasr.com

This was a little show L*SPACE did at Sun Diego. Sun Diego stores are great retailers down in San Diego. When in town for ASR go hit them up.

This item is called One Love. I call it “im just sayin” . this is my favorite from the site’s lookbook.

Deb sent me this pic. It is their Eco Friendly piece..

RANDOM- In Barcelona I saw a dog driving with a big guy in tow. it was amazing.

This blog is a long one so saddle up. Lots of stuff going on.  Summer has been non-stop action. Today we’ll touch a couple of things that have gone down the past couple weeks. So a quick snapshot of July.  Right after the 4th of July weekend I grabbed a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah for the weekend. A few friends we’re getting together for the weekend at Andy Bells house.  We gathered a few bikes from OGIO, and a few of his Nitro Circus & Thrill Billies friends. Andy works with OGIO as well as busting himself for Nitro Circus. Check the shows out on MTV and Thrill Billies on Fuel TV. It was a great weekend and I really enjoyed meeting some new friends Andy is surrounded by. Thanks Andy for a great weekend.   HB was getting geared up for the US Open of Surfing. Nike /Hurley did a solid job branding and with a solid NW swell do to hit it was going to be quite a show at the pier.  Another thing that sticks out in July was an event at Motel No tell in San Clemente. I met Adam Warren from Surfing at Lowers to grab a “few” waves. an a few was all I got so I got out and on my walk back decided to grab a couple at Upper Trestles. I had fun and couldn’t wait to see what this swell was going to do for us for the weekend. Anyhow once dark I ran over to Motel No Tell on El Camino Real. The reason for the event was to launch a shoe that Madsteez did for Nike 6.0. The place was amazing. Steez did an incredible job dialing in the place and the event went well.. Nice job guys.. Can’t wait to go back.   Then a little surf to ease the pain of not having solid surf for a while. Everyone scored and it felt so good to recharge the batteries. Felt like a week long surf trip even though most of us would have to hit HB for events, meetings, and or just to network at the contest site. The final was fun watching local schralper Brett Simpson take the top off anything pulsing from the south.. Thank You to Braden from New Era and Transworld for the food and shade. New Era VIP Gold Club provided plenty of room to chill, eat, drink and watch some of the best contest action in HB in a lonnnng time.   Last week was a busy one as well. With X-Games 15 in town and a few things to attend people we’re again buzzing around getting it done. Prior to the X-Games craze La Jolla Group had a nice grand opening of their new facility. Really solid turnout of people coming to wish them a house-warming hello. Metal Mulisha did a jump demo just behind their enormous warehouse to get people fired up.Then it was back inside to meet, greet, and tour the incredible new home of O’Neill, Lost, Metal Mulisha, and Rusty.   Woke up got some work done and headed to Home Depot Center for the Group Y / Action Sports Conference. With over 250 people in attendance people came from all walks to talk shop. From core participants in Action Sports to Non-endemic industry leaders blending for the day to grow the pond. They had an amazing line up and hit home with the food. Thx ASR for paying my entry..  I love you.. Mark Sperling and Liz Randall founders of Group Y should be proud. high-five guys. Then went to meet up with a few friends at Staples for the X-Games. DC had a couple suites to watch the action. Once we left there we all met up at Standard Hotel for the DC Gold Standard in LA. In a nutshell DC takes over the Standard in Downtown LA for the weekend of X-Games 15 to hold events, house staff, athletes in town to compete, a couple celebs and key industry folks. We met up with Mike and Jen West and hung with them for a bit. Jens a blast. her husband Mike is big man at 686. We wet up to the rooftop to catch up with a few friends. Thank You DC. Really nice job. Oh ya, I went to see Pastrana attempt a 720 at best trick. It was incredible. just before the moto best-trick kicked off BMX i witnessed a Double Front-Flip on the Mega Ramp and somehow he didn’t win the gold. Check it on you tube. His name is Anthony Napolitan. it was insane.. PRod took gold in street, and Rune took another gold as well. X-Games was neato. Good job Tim and Caroline good job. Didn’t see you this weekend but your hard work paid off.   My wife is back in town so I’m going home. Maybe she can explain to me why that kid Anthony didn’t win the gold on the double front flip.   also look at the exhibitor list for both ASR and Class at ASR , for more on the events I touched on. Rob Campbell Transworld Business Publisher was at EVERYTHING. Get some rest Rob.  have a nice week!!
Thank you,
Jim Shubin
ASRbiz.com
Classatasr.com

This is from my Utah trip to visit Andy Bell. It is a pic from the Thrill Billies Compound. pretty cool place. DANGER.

The OGIO headquarters. Amazing spot. I checked out their skatepark and we picked up a few dirt bikes so we can ride that day.

This was Andy showing Kurt Nichol’s (KTM Manager / Super Moto) wife and Mark Fiore (Transworld Moto Mag Publisher) the bike stand made from OGIO. its insane. you don’t have to lift a 250 lb bike anymore.

We rinsed ourselves off with a 3 hour river tube ride. Andy has a great group of friends. about 50 people came out from the area to join us for the body scaring white-trash fest.

this is Motel No Tell. Madsteez themed it up for the event. this was the candy room. The Motel looked insane. Not to mention there was a Delorean right in the middle of the event punching me in the vision. loved it.

Here’s Mark - Madsteez. he was giving me the tour and had to show me the kitchen. check the “Do the Urkel” board game on the fridge. I will take you down in that game. check Mark link for a good time.  http://www.madsteez.com . also buy a pair of his kicks.

My favorite swell of silly ole 09. Carlsbad getting zippy on July 24th.

New Era / Transworld Surf VIP Gold Club at the contest.

La Jolla house warming. from L to R. Erin Barajas (California Apparel News Editor) , Jessica Rush (Ezekiel Girl’s Brand Manager) , Lindsay Henkles (Lost Girl’s head of Sales)

La Jolla Group board of director / Lakers Assistant Coach and my girl Sofia. I wanted her to kiss him for locking Odom for next season.. yaaaaa!

This pic is from the Group Y meeting at Home Depot Center. his name is Ron Semiao. if you see him hug him. because this mister is not only Senior VP of ESPN Films he also created the X-Games. Thank you sir!!!!

At Gold Standard LA. DC had their Rally cars displayed in front of the hotel. This is Travis Pastrana’s rig.  You can see Ken Blocks car in the pic as well. Next year I want these two in the Rally final battling for the Gold..

Random Pic- I love this shot of Dan Moylan (Director of ASR Tradeshow) I surf with him now and then. This pic was one he showed me from a few years back. He was a boatman on Namotu Island in Fiji. Dan and I heckle each other pretty bad. balls in my court now. This is Dan Moylan on a right off Namotu Island. Girl in the photo is looking at him saying “man I haven’t seen Bud Llamas in a while” but I find myself looking at the photo saying “man Dan, this photo doesn’t quite show the clear Hula Hoop you’re whipping about on this little turn”. Once you all are done with ASR and need a little water time. hit up Scotty and Mandy for a week in paradise. the link.   Just make sure to look out for Danimal the one armed animal and his clear Wonder Woman Jet hula hoop in the line up.

Just got to the Ocean Institute in South Orange County. We were there for SIMA’s “Sales & Marketing”Boot Camp.  It was a pretty day out, so parking my pirate ship was tough but I squeezed into a spot. Hope I don’t get a ticket.   Anyhow Doug Palladini from Vans and now pres. of SIMA delivered the opening address.

Next up, Michael Wood from TRU. TRU is a market research and consulting firm for the youth. He did a great job and reading the little bio on him I saw he has been quoted in NY Times, Business Week, CNN, Wall Street Journal and much more.. Now he made this busted blog… Nice one Michael and thank you for the solid info… Check them out at tru-insight.com.

Then Transworld Biz boss, Rob Campbell came up to moderate our four panelists. Tom Holbrook from Quiksilver, Jeff Moore from Vans, Greg “GO” Osthus of Atwater, and some handsome youngbuck from Hurley by the name of Mark Weber. All to talk about navigating our current changing climate. I would say this was a very inspiring panel. These guys have a wide array of industry knowledge. A couple tidbits I’ll share are as follows:

• You’re reps are feeling isolated out there so provide them with support and motivation to keep momentum.
• Build and or focus on product that best represents the DNA of the brand and sell items to retailers that will properly follow suit.
• Retailers are focusing on margin more than ever.

Mark mentioned the consumer’s mindset is to look for a deal out there right now. So true.  We can all agree we are in the same game. I have never looked at the price of eggs and milk until end of last year. EL Prez Palladini came back up for a bit to share the 2008 SIMA Retail Distribution Study Results. If you are not yet a SIMA member sign up. Then email http://www.jennifer@SIMA.com for some solid info.

Some good news from this though. There are 4900 Surf / Skate shops. Of the shops surveyed footwear is up from 06 to 08 and softgoods are just about flat. Not bad!! Another thing that stuck out for me was the importance of Skateboards within these shops. food for thought…

One thing I want to get off my chest. The new dates are locked for SIMA in Cabo. Send/ fax or drive your registrations to SIMA like today. I want us all to come off the tradeshow craze and just shy of the holidays, we go down and celebrate the good life of Baker and just posse up for a good end of the year goodbye to a silly 09. DO IT!! Lets surf…  See you at ASR then Cabo.  Thank you ASR for getting me there.  Thank you SIMA for a great job and solid insight to chew on for a bit.  Thank you Flanny for your duck-tail.

-Jim Shubin
ASRbiz.com
ClassAtASR.com

Check out live tweets from boot camp via ASR’s Leanne Milliken aka @HurricaneLeezy

The Posse. Love, live, learning.

During the break. Is this where they filmed night at the museum?

Flanny’s new thong ishh. love it.

The Panelists killing it..

SIMA’s Executive Director Sean Smith (wow what a year he’s had) and Leanne Milliken, Nielsen Group / ASR’s retail group marketing manager post Boot Camp. Hey guys this girl is rad. FYI.

Shit.. i got a parking ticket! sticking out from the curb again..

random pic- This is a pic from 5 or 6 years ago at the ooolllld SIMA offices. I was at Ezekiel at the time and for Cinco De Mayo I paid for a 6 person Mariachi Band to roll with me around town. A few mags, and few companies , etc. Well, this is when we blasted through the doors of SIMA. I was never reimbursed for these expenses.. ha.