The Skate Shop Showcase Presented by Ollie Pop went down on Saturday, June 20th at the Gallery 1018 in Downtown Los Angeles. Hundreds swarmed the event and flooded the room with enthusiasm and passion for skate culture.

The main focus of the event was to showcase the participating skate shops which included ZJ’s Boardinghouse, Shelter, Liberty Boardshop, Good Times, Satellite, Transport, and 9 Star to name a few. Each shop was given a designated space to design in a way which best represented the vibe and energy of their store. While some shops displayed live painting, others exhibited a more technical side to art through portraits, photographs and paintings.

Not only was the art phenomenal, but the event was further highlighted by four live performances, multiple DJ’s throughout the night, a plethora of beer and wine, and not to be forgotten, the outdoor taco stand. Vesuvia Sonic, drum-duo Ninja Academy, female recording artist Brevi, and a poetry performance by skate legend Brian Lotti all had their turn under the spotlight and wowed the crowd with their performances.

All in all, the event was a huge success – bringing together great people, good vibes, and creative energy, to produce a beautiful event.

Check out the photo gallery from this event.

Because of the server downtime we’ve experienced over the last week, we felt it only fair to give everyone a couple of extra days in the 5ones Earth contest.

The contest was officially supposed to end today, May 19th. We’ve extended that through to the 25th. It will end at 11:59 PM on Monday night. We will announce the winners on Tuesday, May 26th.

Still plenty of time to win some sick prizes from ERGO, Fox, Odeus Skateboards, IPATH, and DogFunk.com. Even if you’ve yet to register and start adding spots, there’s still time to pull off a victory.

We apologize for all the downtime this last week. The new Earth application has given us a couple of issues and we continue to work on addressing and fixing those as they appear.

Update: The contest has officially been extended through the weekend and will end on Monday, May 25th at 11:59 PM.

Are you an action sports brand looking for a Social Media Agency to represent you? Pretty common question amongst people in the industry these days. Everyone is looking for better ways to market their brands, athletes,events, products, etc. Well the guys from Snowbroader just launched their own Social Media Agency, Broader!

What sets them apart from the others? To properly answer that all you have to do is venture over to Snowbroader and see the level of involvement they have between brands, news agencies, athletes, and events. The scope of which they’ve connected to all these key elements runs deep and shows that they understand how to operate social media.

This is what they have to say about themselves:

Action Sports and Social Media go hand-in-hand.

BROADER is here to help Action Sports brands, athletes, events, listen, understand and most importantly engage in Social Media by having meaningful conversations with people and igniting positive word of mouth.

With three years of experimenting in social networking with Snowbroader they’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Whether it was being first to showcase next seasons gear, teasers, or stories these guys understand how to get people interested and market themselves. Imagine what they could do for your brand. Check back with us later on for an interview with Nico Fremont the main man behind Broader and editor of Snowbroader.

With everything that is going on with all the media outlets in the world questions have arisen, questions about journalism and what it entails. Some claim that anyone that writes, regardless of their background, whether it’s for a magazine or a blog is a journalist. While others claim it’s someone that has higher education, established themselves, and has written many articles. Are either of these sides correct in what they’re saying? What does this mean for action sports?

The dictionary defines journalism as; someone who is in the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business. That definition gives a broad look at the scope of being a journalist. It pretty much covers anything from blogs, to websites, to print media. If these were the standards everyone could call themselves a journalist.

Looking at another definition we’re given this; The style of writing characteristic of material in newspapers and magazines, consisting of direct presentation of facts or occurrences with little attempt at analysis or interpretation. For the most part this gets rid of the idea that bloggers are journalists as they’re prone to putting their personal spin on the topics they write about. This definitely showcases more of the Walter Cronkite aspect of news telling.

Somewhere in the middle of both of these definitions lies the truth of what being a journalist is. Web 2.0 makes it an interesting time with where our information can come from. You have multiple sources churning out different styles on various topics. The ultimate benefit is multiple viewpoints on topics.

But like any positive there is a downside. We live in a celebrity obsessed culture, everyone wants their moment in the sun. The Bloggosphere gives people their 15 minutes of fame, even to the point they become their internet persona. This raises the issue of are they a journalist or more an exhibitionist? Ultimately this is for you to decide.

Just like with any industry Action Sports deals with these issues on multiple levels. Whether it’s the upper echelons of brand recognition with a magazine or to the grass roots level of internet communities. The power to control it lies in the hands of the readers, they are the ones that need to encourage and promote the better writers. Only then will a higher tier of journalists prevail.

I’m not sure if this got buried with the 5ones Earth announcement yesterday but in case you didn’t know, we’re holding a contest with thousands in gear and gift certificates that are being given away.

It’s pretty simple too–all you need to do is register (if you don’t register, we can’t track your additions) and start adding spots on the map. Each spot that is added is worth a certain amount of points. Surf & skate spots are worth 3 points each, company headquarters are worth 2 points, and snow spots & pro shops are worth 1 point each.

The grand prize winner will be the person with the most overall points. There will also be a category winner for the surf, skate, and snow categories, which is the person with the most points in that category. The grand prize winner is only eligible for that win and can’t also win one of the categories. So we will have 4 winners overall.

Right now we have some awesome gear that we’re giving away from Odeus Skateboards, ERGO, Fox, and IPATH. DogFunk.com has also thrown in a $200 gift certificate.

We’ve also setup a live leaderboard that shows the current leaders. So far we have some pretty active people gunning for the win but don’t let that discourage you. I’m sure anyone who puts in a couple hours adding spots will easily be right up there in contention. That’s if you hurry up and get started. Right now they only have about a 24 hour headstart on you, so don’t let them get any further ahead.

Being Eco is an area the action sports industry is surprisingly falling behind. Recently SIMA held a green boot camp and Board Retailers Association had their annual conference. The trigger word played like a broken record “green”.

Lets start with SIMA. First, awesome that they have taken a lead in helping raise the importance of green awareness in our community. The panel was heated like a Jerry Springer episode and one not to miss. Some attendees were pissed that they felt the big dog panelists including Billabong and Volcom used being green more as a marketing ploy than actually caring about our very fragile earth. But lets be real. Everyone has their own initiatives. If at the end of the day action was taken small or large by people and companies to be Eco considerate that’s better than nothing at all.

At Board Retailers Association Frank Scura founder of the Action Sports Environmental Coalition spoke with his newly formed entourage including Quiksilver alum, Hurley, Element, and pro skater Bob Burnquist. He addressed “How sustainability and cause association will help your business to survive and thrive in a volatile economic climate.” I think he may be onto something. I’m not going to give away his secrets but if I were a shop I’d contact ASEC. He blew me away with his marketing and revenue strategies. Plus we’re only as strong as our team behind us right? He put together a team with all the expertise needed to actually make change happen effectively.

The challenge is IF not enough action is taken to impact both consumers and companies alike then all sides aren’t moved to either manufacture green, sell green or to buy green. So in order for the action sports community to really “save the world” we all need to be on the same page. Companies must step up to the plate and educate consumers how important and awesome it is to make eco minded purchases. They need to demonstrate to consumers that it is cool to be green. You don’t need to be a hippie. It’s as easy as reusing a water bottle. And consumers, start thinking about the powder you want to be riding, or perfect wave and how much it would suck if they were gone. The more we make eco purchases the more companies will be motivated to manufacture environmentally conscious products.

After all Stefanie Sekich from Surfrider Foundation pointed out that every piece of plastic since 1950 still exists. And a ton of it can be found in the middle of the ocean. So as you’re riding those sweet barrels in the morning enjoy tasting that ever so delicious plastic water.

Check out the full photo gallery from Zexsports.

This week Women in Action Sports aka WIAS hosted a panel discussion about women entrepreneurs in action sports led by Caroline Graeff, founder of Imagine Marketing Agency. Panelists included Shaney Joe Darden from Keep-a-Breast Foundation, Alex Masterson from Bitchboards, Espree Devora from Zexsports.com, Stacia Oemig from Project Nightlight, Holly Lyons from Sk8grl and Marlise Kast a freelance action sports journalist. The event was held at the Swiv Tackle Circus in Oceanside where Keep-a-Breast offices are also located. And what a killer location. Art by the pop culture artist Chase covered the outside walls, cool new clothes hung on the floor and plastered breasts added to the decor.

A small but growing group! Clearly developing, and coming up into the world as a bunch of females who are here to make themselves known and kick some serious butt doing it. No one said it would be easy in a male dominated industry, but that is not stopping these ambitious women from realizing they are not alone with their ideas and can reach out to others in need of an outlet.

ZexSports.com live streamed the event so anyone living in the interweb could ask questions and participate no matter where they were located. It was pretty cool.

Each panelist had their own unique story about their path to and through the action sports world, but share this unifying force bringing them all together as entrepreneurs. The panel was rich with knowledge about starting and succeeding in something you love. Whether discussing starting a board company or a non-profit organization, a message echoed across the board that the shared keys to success are to believe in your mission, be patient and persistent. Don’t dream it, live it.

Finally! That’s the first word that comes to mind while writing this announcement. After at least a good 6 months in development, we’re very excited to announce the launch of 5ones Earth, an interactive map for surf, skate and snow spots as well as action sports company headquarters and pro shops.

Along with the launch of Earth, we’re holding a two-week contest with thousands of dollars worth of giveaways in the form of gear from ERGO, IPATH, Fox, and Odeus Skateboards, and a $200 gift certificate from DogFunk.com. The contest works like this, you enter in new spots on the map and you’re awarded points for each one that enter. The people with the most points at the end of two-week, win the prizes. We put up a live leaderboard so everyone can track the contest results and it also explains the how the points are awarded. Skate and surf spots are worth 3 points each. Snow spots are worth 1 point. A pro shop is worth 2 points. And company headquarters are worth 2 points.

So what exactly is 5ones Earth? The idea is this; it’s a map of spots where you can go skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding as well as find pro shops to get new gear or find the company headquarters of your favorite brands. So lets say for example you’re going surfing in Hawaii and you’ve never been there before. Well you can enter in the location where you’re going and pull up all the surf spots within a radius of where you’ll be. Or maybe you need a new board while you’re out there–simple, just pull up the map and find the best surf shops. You can read user reviews too, so that will help finding the best surf spots or shops and not wasting your time hitting up the dud spots. Works the same way for skate and snow spots too.

So check it out, start adding spots (make sure you register so we can track you for the contest), and make sure you give us all the feedback you can think of so we can make it better. Watch for the iPhone and Facebook applications coming soon.

It’s been a gloomy week for action sports. Most notably we have ASG filing for a pre-packaged Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Here you have an organization that epitomizes a broken business model. How do you function knowing that you’re 1.5 billion in debt? When does the cycle finally end?

Is this our version of the auto industry bail out? It certainly seems that way with their pre-packaged filing they’ve presented. Citigroup, the same consortium that we the tax payers have bailed out, is going to do the same for Source Interlink to the tune of 900 million dollars. Giving them an 80% controlling share of the company after its 35 day restructuring and privatization.

So here we have one group that was bailed out only to step forward and bail out another group. One would think that Citigroup would only look at the amount of debt they have and the amount of assets they have and revenue they generate to say, “I don’t think this is a good idea”. Unfortunately for us they don’t see it as that.

Hunting around the internet you can find some amazing quotes from Source Interlink’s personnel.
“My take on it all, I’ll be very open, I’ve been hoping this would happen for a very long time, to get us out from under the debt the company assumed when Prime Media sold to Source. It’s been a very difficult couple of years, with everything going to service a couple billion dollars of debt.“, said SVP Al Crolius. CEO Greg Mays had this to say, “This restructuring will materially reduce our interest expense and debt levels, substantially improve free cash flow and allow us to capitalize on several operational opportunities to further improve and grow our business.” “Our employees are going to continue to come to work, they are going to get paid, they are going to receive their nice benefit package they’ve been getting throughout this whole time. And we expect to be here for a long time and continue to grow,” said Cynthia L. Beauchamp, a group vice president for human resources and labor relations at Source. Anyone else think this showcases that they have a broken business model?

Will it be a shame if we action sports enthusiasts were to lose their publications? That’s questionable but as we are at a turning point in the history of action sports journalism only time will tell. In the hierarchy of media magazines are no longer on the top tier and this will force a struggle amongst publications for better quality articles and content that is more centric to the average patrons.

While they’re in their restructuring one can only hope that they address all these problems and realize that this bail out shouldn’t allow them to be so negligent with their finances. If this isn’t addressed don’t be surprised if you see them on the chopping block again in another year or so.

The economic situation in our country has not only hit the retailers and brand name companies in our industry, it has also taken its toll on the material we read. Source Interlink, the company that publishes Skateboarder, Snowboarder, Surfing, Surfer and five other action sports magazines and web sites, said today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The special interest media company, in total, publishes a total of 75 magazines and 90 web sites, described the bankruptcy as a prepackaged filing. According to the company’s website: “A “pre-pack” is a court proceeding in which the creditors will be paid in full or have agreed to take less. It is used to implement a restructuring of a company’s capital without disturbing its daily operations. A “pre-pack” is the quickest and easiest form of restructuring through the bankruptcy courts. Using this method, we expect to complete our restructuring in about 30 days.”

The statement also addresses the status of the companies immediate operation,

“First and foremost, Source Interlink Companies wants to assure you that Source is continuing to operate its business without interruption.” The statement also goes on to say, “While we restructure, we plan to continue providing our customers with the outstanding service they have come to expect. We will continue to partner with our advertisers, publishers and vendors to ensure that the reorganization process is transparent to those we serve.”

According to Shop-Eat-Surf.com, in documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware yesterday, Source Interlink estimated that its assets range from $1 million to $10 million, but that its liabilities exceed $1 billion, and that it has 50,000 – 100,000 creditors.

While business is to remain as usually, it is just another example how the domino effect from small business trickles up to effect larger businesses. Marketing and media are usually the first avenues to feel the crunch when times are tough, it will be interesting to see if this move effects the content at all in some of the action sports industries go-to publications.