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| Q&A: Michael Brooke - Publisher, Concrete Wave Magazine (7141 Posts)
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twb
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On 10/9/2007
slim
wrote in from
United States
(75.61.nnn.nnn)
I think you guys need to realize that the story being discussed below was not a TWS story. It was in Transworld Business. Big difference.
Secondly, I find it odd that some of you guys want so badly to be on the "team" of mainstream skateboarding. "Look at me! I'm a "skateboarder" too!" Why do you care? Why do you need validation from the likes of Thrasher and TWS? I mean, I can see why those trying to get money out of people's pockets would like those mags to cover "longboarding", but the rest of you? What's it to you? Just do your thing.
Besides, if Thrasher started covering downhill, slalom, mellow boardwalk fitness longboarding, college kid transportation, and pad dad skatepark action (i'm guilty of most of those categories), then Concrete Wave would possibly cease to exist. Isn't it good to be the only mag covering "longboarding" and the other black sheep of the skateboarding flock?
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evolutions dvd...more posted at Google
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On 10/9/2007
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(67.70.nnn.nnn)
here is part 3...
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-916213916898366382&hl=en-CA
and part 2
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-3518207834197388631
and part 1
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=2565580465291133230
part 4 to be loaded up soon...
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daddies
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On 10/6/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/twbiz/industrynews/article/0,21214,1637502,00.html
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caught on tape: MB
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On 10/6/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/twbiz/columns/article/0,21214,1601972,00.html
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write to transworld...and skateboarder....and Thrasher etc etc.
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On 10/6/2007
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(67.70.nnn.nnn)
Keep these guys in the loop...the letters and emails do get read.
They may never change or accept change, but they do read mail.
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transworld
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On 10/5/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
hmmm, that old copy of tws buyer's guide I got is from 1999, featuring 4 longboard decks in the deck section and the kryponic classik in the wheel section.
quotes from the brief longboard paragragh:
"Longboards have been a part of skateboarding ever since kids began nailing roller-skate trucks to 2X4's in the late 50's'"
"the popularity of this type of skateboad in the past few years has catalyzed the development of an entire longboard industry, as well as encouraged prominent skateboard brands to build boards in the 36-60" range."
"So whether you just want to cruise or itching to bomb that huge hill, you'll probably want to grab something a little bigger tahn your street board. Maybe something a lot bigger."
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Conventional Skateboarding
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On 10/5/2007
Jack
wrote in from
United States
(64.166.nnn.nnn)
"conventional side of skating you have guys jumping 70 foot gaps and doing 540s 25 feet out."
A handful of skaters do this...once or twice a year.
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TWS
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On 10/5/2007
buddy rawls
wrote in from
United States
(128.158.nnn.nnn)
"What do you want? an apology from Transworld for not covering enough downhill/slalom/longboards/freestyle/softwheels/o ldskool for the last twenty years? "
No, what I want is for them to drop the trip, that downhill, slalom, longboards, freestyle, softwheels, and oldskool (products) do not fit in skateboarding, beyond being a novelty. It pretty much seems that skateboarding for the mainstream consumer (their target group) is based more on support of brands and pros than the actual activity of skateboarding.
Case in point, look at the ads.
Transworld Skate, Nov 2007
~78 total ads
55% geared towards soft goods.
45% geared towards hard goods.
23% of the hard goods ads were related to specific product design.
Specific product design made up only 8% of the total ads.
Concrete Wave, Fall 2007
~44 total ads
3% geared towards soft goods.
97% geared towards hard goods.
53% of the hard goods ads were related to specific product design.
Specific product design made up 52% of the total ads.
"product design" within the hard goods category, differentiates an advertisement that describes specific product aspects or advantages versus a “name dropper” ad that simply announces a brand or a professional skater for a brand. As a bare minumum, if they showed a specific photo of a specific product, they made the cut.
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beer
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On 10/4/2007
gOAd
wrote in from
United States
(71.81.nnn.nnn)
10:30pm my time having a BOULEVARD WHEAT in you name..CHEERS
a lots of fun keep in touch, hottub pics soon.
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transworld
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On 10/3/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(140.239.nnn.nnn)
I was thinking about Transworld. I don't subscribe, just read it off the rack (cuz i am cheap you see..)
I got an old buyer's guide from 3,4? years ago, and it covered a small selection of longboard decks and trucks. (not sure about the last couple of years)
I browse it off and on and liked the increase in pool/bowl pics the last couple of years. But I don't think I ever seen Sector9 advertise in there. Why? marketing decision from sector9? not the target market?
how much for a full page ad in transworld these day? vs CW?
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a few points...
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On 10/2/2007
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(67.70.nnn.nnn)
I just came back from an epic slalom comp in Statesville, NC. It was the Worlds.
Everyone enjoyed it...it was great hanging out with fellow skaters. The level of racing was out of this world.
On the Saturday maybe 100 folks showed up to watch it...on the Sunday...maybe 30..
So, it's not big numbers...it's never been about big numbers for me. Sure, I would love to see more money for the organizers and for the racers, but the stoke in the air was something incredible.
No matter how big or small it gets, skateboarding is something I will always do. It's a honor to be able to write about events like the Worlds and the cast of characters that show up. They all have heart and a sincere stoke.
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GF hurley
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On 10/2/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
guerilla marketer needed...
http://www.gfhboards.com/?q=streetteam
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tws
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On 10/1/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
psr, not sure what you point is. What do you want? an apology from Transworld for not covering enough downhill/slalom/longboards/freestyle/softwheels/o ldskool for the last twenty years? ;-)
We (people on ncdsa) all wish that Thrasher and Transworld could be more like Skateboarder mag of the 70's, but what can you do? kids love tricks and stunts and big airs and that what the mags give them.
Longboard the new Rollerblade? (not rollerskates, that's back in you days dude!)
skateboard's two main discipline street and transitions are not very beginner friendly, to join the club you need at least an ollie and a kickflip and for bowls drop in and 50-50.
To get into the longboarding club, well you need to learn to push and carve left and right. Much easier. Like *gasp* rollerblading!
BTW, I am 34, started during the mid 80's boom, by that time magazine coverage were street and ramps. Nobody in my neighbourhood had longboards or soft wheels or even know they existed.
Anyways, longboarding is doing good right now, lots of kids on longboards around my neighbourhood, and on college campuses. some will discover the more 'core' side of longboarding, (slalom/park/sliding/hills/tricks) Others will just push and glide.
BTW, for you skate historians,
in the 70's, longboard sales were what percentage of the market?
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Thanks
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On 10/1/2007
Steve C.
wrote in from
United States
(72.55.nnn.nnn)
Thanks PSR, I hope you did not think I was baiting you because I was not. Instead I hear comments from people that interest me and often times the bait is a good way to get them to elaborate. I agree that most modern skate/snowboard media is pretty limited in their scope, but they reflect more of what is going on the "popular" markets, and have been nothing more than catalogs for many years.
And the traditional thing is right on point in my opinion. People are more interested in what is "cool" at the time. And that is pretty much the bread and butter of most shops. Not all obviously, but you get the picture. And this has been going on for far longer than 10 years. Hell, back in the 80's when I started skating their were far more kids in skating for the look than for actually skating. It is funny how little things changed after all these years.
Not to mention that on the conventional side of skating you have guys jumping 70 foot gaps and doing 540s 25 feet out. Steet skating continues to evolve, and most of all you have people having fun. What is so bad about that? Sure, you have stupid posers, but the "old school" revival and longboarding has its share of posers to. What you call conventional is not nearly as static as you make it sound. I am 36, and I do kickflips. Hell I will grind a ledge. I play skate with kids who are 20 years younger than me. Does that make me lame? I have a longboard and I don't ride it. Does that make me stupid? I still ride Indys, am I missing out on something? You may think so but I will tell you this, I am proud to be conventional. I am glad I am part of the crowd. It is fun. I see some awesome skating all the time. I have friends and we have a good time. And you might think that we do it because the magazines tell us, but it is because it is fun. I am part of something and it is not the kind of shoes I wear. I am a skateboarder! I like to read magazines. I like to see people who are freakishly good, and I like to see kids who can hardly roll but are having fun. I hope this all makes you think I am a kook because I am. I had two surgeries this year to repair damage to my body from skating. I had staples in my head two weeks ago from falling in a bowl. I am a conventional skateboarder, and I guess that makes me a jack ass. Oh well, it is fun.
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TWS, Longboards
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On 10/1/2007 PSR
wrote in from
United States
(75.68.nnn.nnn)
HC, yes, TWS did a nice 'Time magazine' type coverage of Longboarding, very PC, not at all enthusiastic. You can't get excited by what you don't understand, can you?
True enough that current Longboard and Vintage/Reproduction sales are aimed at the 'cruiser' skateboarder, not the 'launch onto a rail w/kickflip' type of media antihero that TWS and Thrasher boast about continuously. I'd guess that maybe 3-5% of skaters can do what's prescribed for them 'to do' by way of action-sequence photos in these mags. It's 'fluff' for shoe ads, nothing more.
The Suits moved in long ago, not far from the offices of these two prominent magazines. Soul, in skating, is a figment of a bygone era. Please be sure to BUY MORE HYPE, and signature-series shoes, too.
Rollerskating is Longboarding? NOT! You found out about 'soft' wheels in 1990 thru skates? Um, I found out about soft wheels with Power Paws and OJ's back in '76-'77, and discovered Kryptonics and Powerflex by the end of summer in '77. Made my first 38" deck that year, too. Tradition has Roots, and I KNOW there were longboard riders out there way before me, 'cause I was landlocked (and media deprived) in rural Vermont (Um, as I am now, yet, still) far, far away from California. Luckily, though, I was just down the road from the Snurfer Champion (and race organizer) Paul Graves, and not far from Burton's early factories.
So, Steve, TWS has indeed pissed me off by it's very narrow view of both Skateboarding and Snowboarding. Hardboots notwithstanding, when IS the last time they even mentined a Race? Or Tree/Glade Riding?, Or, Carving? BoarderCross? They have that same attitude, only MoreSo, with Skateboarding.
It's not 'Tradition' they espouse, it's 'convention'. Look these two words up in a Dictionary, and their mis-use, and their narrowminded veiwpoint become quite clear. In terms of 'time' maybe a decade is enough to start a tradition, but Generatioally, no.... I look back, and forwards, and see that a traditional board would be a Hobie Parkrider, or G+S Warptail, maybe a Sims Taperkick. Why? Because these boards are timeless; A rider from '65 could get on, and Ride these, as could a a rider from the 90's. Could a skater from '76 get on an '06 popsicle-deck and feel the Love? Maybe, but I doubt it (although, a skater from the early 60's would Love the wheel's of today for their quietness and grip! ha.. Satire).
When I think of Longboards, I see more than GF Hurley's version...
I see Brad Edwards taking Gravity into the Future with mellow, functional concaves and useable nose/tail kicks. I see Comet asking Racers what might work better, and having Caveman step up and give them something to shoot for. They've been making the Best Vertical Laminates for Years, boards that are unreal to Bomb Fast with. I see Pierre Gavel getting the drop-thru shapes at Kebbek just Perfect for descents at 90 KPH on Nor-Eastern-Canadian backroads.I still see Chuck Barfoot making boards that are gorgeous, solid, and Surfable with a passion that's unreal. I also see Sector Nine looking into 'exotic' woods like bamboo, or nifty builds like the Tri-lam, when they could just make the 'commercial grade' stuff instead. I see wheel companies stepping up with both retro and new ideas that get us more speed, grip, and better rolling charachteristics. Hell, there's even a SOFT Ricta out now!! Trucks have improved greatly to deal with both the demand for stable speed, and increased accuracy/traction.
Meanwhile, at the conventional end of Skateboarding, there's NEW GRAPHICS on THIS YEAR'S product!! Oh, and NEW SHOES, too. Yup, traditional, indeed.
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TWS
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On 9/30/2007
Steve C.
wrote in from
United States
(72.55.nnn.nnn)
So PSR TWS is somehow constrained by time? They have been around 20 plus years, that is longer than most of the mags out there, barring Thrasher. And what exactly is so wrong with the viewpoint that they put forth? I am really wondering. Because it seems like TWS has some credibility and is interested in more than just street skating, which seems to be a complaint about many mags out there. Don't they put out a snow mag to? Oh wait, they don't cover enough hard boots for you:)
But seriously, what is wrong with this article. It is a business article and it seemed really on point to me. They even have GI Joe Lehm's point of view. So what seems to be the issue? The use of a particular word, or do you have something against them personally? The word traditional in this case is very appropriate. Most shops sell "short boards" and that is the traditional skate shop market. I don't know where you live but where I have been longboards were generally not a big item. Most shops sold board, shoes, clothes, etc. Longboards are relativly new as a core item. That is reality. So TWS is really off base with this article? Please explain how?
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soft core
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On 9/30/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
psr, I thought that article was a fairly accurate portral of today's longboard
market.
A great percentage of longboarders are just cruisers. Many are oblivious of the 'core' scene. Nothing wrong with that. They are just enjoying the very basic of skateboarding, pushing and gliding. (gesmer quote ;-) )
I read on another forum, some guy called longboarding, the new rollerblading.
IMO, in many ways it is. Come to think of it, when I got a pair of rollerblade @1990, it introduced me to soft wheels. I got a Krypto skate wheels soon after...
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Corporate Groms from Transworld
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On 9/29/2007 PSR
wrote in from
United States
(75.68.nnn.nnn)
HC, I read that Transworld article... What a hoot!! Take the word 'Traditional' as it's used repeatedly in the context of Transworld's narrow, and time-constrained view of skateboarding and it's history as an example of their own cluelessness and secularism. Damn twenty-somethins...
They need to Sit Down, and have a nice long Chat with Tom Sims, Chuck Barfoot, and Ed Economy.
Of course, that would implode their brains as readily as having a hit with Tommy Chong, but... their veiw is already smokily clouded enough. ;-)
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Skitch
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On 9/29/2007 Paulskiiwog
wrote in from
United States
(65.122.nnn.nnn)
Love the Skitch. - P
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Thanks
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On 9/29/2007 Paulskiiwog
wrote in from
United States
(65.122.nnn.nnn)
Hey Brooksie, Thanks for keeping me connected if you had anything to do with it. The Check is on the way. I got sorta lost in working on repairs our 1st house. Schlater - P
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longboard article...
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On 9/27/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/twbiz/features/article/0,21214,1538381,00.html
usually these article are pretty 'business correct'
but I notice a jab at sector9 under the 2nd pic's caption...
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Danger!
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On 9/27/2007 Skitch
wrote in from
United States
(75.202.nnn.nnn)
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'green' skateboards
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On 9/26/2007 hc
wrote in from
United States
(71.198.nnn.nnn)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091001153.html
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wondering about the cover...
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On 9/26/2007
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(67.70.nnn.nnn)
Well, I wondered when someone would ask that question....
I had found what I thought would be good cover shot that would tie back into the main story of the issue - pushing longboarding to new heights.
When I discussed this shot with my editors, we came to the realization that while the shot was really very cool, it just didn't gel as a cover. This was decided upon at the last minute...unfortunately, I did not change the text of the story (an oversight and one that I take full responsiblilty for)
In future, we are working on our covers first...and not at the last minute.
Thanks for your patience.
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CW Cover
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On 9/26/2007 Geo
wrote in from
United States
(64.207.nnn.nnn)
In the latest CW you mentioned in your article "Pushing Longboards" that Steve Lange was to be on the cover, I have Cara Beth Burnside in a pool, what happened?
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