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Ski and Snowboard Industries Trade Show

All the top snow sports athletes and industry heavy weights converge on Las Vegas; the town that never sleeps. Perfect for this crowd that likes to work and smooze all day; then party all night with the players always working the angles (business and/or pleasure). If you tried to get a decent 5 hours of sleep, people would think there was something wrong with you. There were during, pre, after, after after, and post parties to cap off those all nighters. The best party on the trade show floor was at the K2 Snowboard booth. They had 2 kegs, a DJ, and a good group of people were there to enjoy it all.

K2 Snowboards Party

DJ Spinning Records

Four Star Distribution stepped up to the plate and put on a party at "The Beach" with music by Wyclef, Pras, and the Fugees All Stars. The Transworld Riders pole at "The Joint" was also a good time. Peter Line won most everything for the guys and Christi Barret recieved best female rider. MacDog's latest film "Decade" won the best film of the year, but he most graciously pointed out this was supposed to be a riders pole and so gave credit to the riders and others that have helped out. The best promo prop was the thermometer combo compass key chain from the people at 32 degrees.

Here is an interesting item: a Sno-Sk8.
It is a skate deck that had a mini ski attached below with foam decking to prevent icing. We could olley it on the floor and Steve Frink (the inventor) had some pictures of him and friends riding them and it looked fun. (306) 973- 2522 Winter (509) 782-8606 Always

Redi and BOARDZ Remote Command Center

The Redi Productions and BOARDZ.COM Vegas room/office for the week. The Redi boys were editing video, printing promotional material, and other last minute back office needs. Fortunately the hotel phone line was analog so BOARDZ.COM had some fresh content. Adam Hostetter also regularly stopped by to update his Storm Trooper web site with a less expensive and faster land line.

The trade show itself had slower foot traffic than previous years but the snow sports business seemed to be doing well. Many exhibitors talked about how they already had a lot of orders from regional pre-Vegas shows and their presence here was more for marketing and image than real business. For the middle and newer brand names, this show marks a make it or break it time.

Mushroom Tip

There are always winners and losers in business. The times are pretty good again in the ski industry and OK in the snowboard world. I heard of one board company (name withheld to protect innocent) that booked 15,000 boards at the show; they did 4,000 last year. A good example of a good product line well marketed; the best way to succeed in most any business climate.

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