Wed, 15 November 2017
Rome Snowboards Founders | Shepard Fairey X Guerilla Marketing | Spray Skiers | European Pow | Retail
Episode #59 Today we chat with the founders of Rome Snowboards, Paul Maravetz and Josh Reid . Paul and Josh share the story behind leaving Burton and founding Rome, they discuss guerrilla marketing tactics that were directly inspired by Shepard Fairey, their share their love for European resort pow we touch on their thoughts on industry wide pricing challenges and much more. Photo Credit for featured image: Shem Roose Follow Paul and Josh on Instagram at: @romefounders Details on the second annual The Not Snowboarding Podcast Camp:
[shadowbox] TNSP CAMP dates will be March 2nd - 6th, Bear Valley Mountain, California. *Not BIG BEAR in SoCal. If you're looking to fly in - book flights to Sacramento arriving on the 2nd - no later than 3:00PM PST (if you want to be picked up). Departing flights on the 6th no earlier than noon (if you want to be dropped off). Pricing is $430 per person = airport pickup/drop, 3 days lifts (Sat,Sun & Monday), lodging, one vegan dinner, house stocked with basic breakfast items, snacks, beer and Unlimited side/backcountry options right out of the door. TNSP party favors and there's more in the works. $200.00 (non refundable) deposit due on December 1st. Let me know if you have interest in attending and/or any questions via email: nate@shredsoles.com [/shadowbox] This episode's topics include: Rome’s roots in friendship and snowboarding Getting certified to ride in the 80's and 90's Dealer Councils Board design and The Agent Stiffness vs. price Launching Rome in 2002 - how Shepard Fairy influenced their marketing Gorilla snowboard marketing God Bless Snowboarding Balancing the friendship and business relationships Nate applies for a job at Rome The Burton rumor Snowboard design Listener questions European lodge Sales cycles Sneaky Powder Days Getting kids on snow Props to Burton on the riglet parks and LTR program The Lodge and the European office Spray Skiers Quotes from the episode: We bought a couple of cheap computers and eventually went for it.” -Josh “There’s Kemper, Look, Sims and Burton - there’s too man companies in the industry…”-Josh “There weren’t a lot of other brands that really drew us in at the time…. the other point was how big the ski companies were at the time.” -Paul “The ski industry was slow to embrace snowboarding.”-Josh “We officially started paying ourselves and other people here in November of 2002.”-Josh “…. the boards were all designed around a size 8 foot. The average size in America is 10.5.” -Paul “To hear that a graphic is good or a graphic is bad from the people that have to sell it is huge.”-Josh “I can make a super expensive board soft or stiff - it doesn't cost an iota more.” -Paul “Before 2004, we didn’t have any money to advertise at all.”-Josh “We don’t have any money to advertise in a magazine… So we made our own magazine and advertised in it.” -Josh “Taking the step to start doing fun shit together again.”-Josh “It’s so much easier to disagree when we fundamentally get along.”-Josh “Weekly meetings get scheduled after 10…. On powder days meetings get moved back.” -Paul “We don’t have any connection with them (Burton), we both worked there and we did stuff well early on. I think that fueled the rumor.” -Josh “Shift deliveries later an hold price longer…. We can’t uninvent Christmas.”-Josh “There’s all these structural barriers for young kids in snowboarding.” -Paul “If you have the free time and it’s fitting over there (Europe), in terms of resort riding (Alaska not included) it’s the best in the world…. You can scare the shit out of yourself inbounds.”-Josh “We do feel that a snowboard company should be owned by snowboarders.”-Josh “It’s a rounding error… Snowboarding’s not giving us (Nike) the return.” -Paul “You can’t just sit there and plan forever…”-Josh “When we started, nobody was telling us that it’s a good time, except one guy.” -Paul
Direct download: The_Not_Snowboarding_Podcast_Episode_59_Rome_Founders_.mp3
Category:Outdoor -- posted at: 5:52pm EDT |
Mon, 2 October 2017
Episode # 58 I was first introduced to Nick and his twin brother Chris by my friend Justin Majeczky who was filming the Nick and Chris in the Tahoe area about six years ago. He said, "you should sponsor these dudes, they’re winning every contest out here." Since then, Nick and I have stayed in touch, but mostly through the internet or text. We’d occasionally get to chat a bit in person at Seven Springs if our paths crossed, but I didn't really get to know Nick well until I drove across country with him last fall - we get into that road trip, his relationship with his twin brother, the secret to instagram success in snowboarding and a very sobering story about being jailed in Japan for 27 days. As a quick note, as you’ll hear at the start of the podcast - this was recorded during the first Podcast Camp at Seven Springs - link to David Zemens article on the camp. If you have interest in attending next year’s TNSP Camp - please listen to the end of this episode for more info. Follow Nick on Instagram for more amazing POV shots and videos like these: https://www.instagram.com/p/BZhIDTthCsg/?taken-by=nickgeisen https://www.instagram.com/p/BTVPixvB_Sk/?taken-by=nickgeisen Topics discussed: Winter snowfall 16/17 in Tahoe Living in an MTV Trap House Driving across the country with Nate Nick’s decision making logic Thoughts on growing up and finding individuality as a twin Thoughts on money Ian’s ability to decipher Instagram content The secret to Instagram success in snowboarding POV GoPro filming Controlling his own content production timeline What it takes to get the shot Video editing in the blood Breaking down jumps Learning skateboarding through trick tip videos The key to the 1080 Backflips and chicks - the flip frenzy! Locked up in Japan for 27 days and staying positive about the experience Pictures and videos from TNSP Camp at Seven Springs: "A lot of kids have been jumping off the lift into the halfpipe this year." “My name’s DJ and my truck is still stuck at Assateague.” “Every time I come home to Virginia - it’s calming.” “A lot of people ended up knowing us as "the twins" - I’ve realized now that it became a hinderance.” “We did everything the same up until three and a half years ago.” “A lot of people go through life and they feel lonely, but they don’t admit it…” "Knowing somebody so well that you know everything, just by one quick glance.” “My problem is learning just to be ok with being you… as long as you didn’t die you learned something.” “I hate money… We can’t eat it, we can’t roll a joint with it.. (DJ - I think we can)” “The first fifty to one hundred videos I put out didn’t get a lot of views.” “I’m not going to warm up with a back 10 and then go do a back 3…” “You do a back 10 perfect and it feels like a straight air…. I consider it a petty safe and easy trick” “I’m gonna get girls if I can do a backflip.” “I made a really stupid choice…” “No socks, no shoes no bed - the only walking I did was in a an eight by ten cell.” “I lost twenty five pounds and I was already skinny.” “Handcuffed to your waist and your feet with six police officers…” “I will always be a skateboarder.”
Direct download: The_Not_Snowboarding_Podcast_Episode_58_Nick_Geisen.mp3
Category:Outdoor -- posted at: 6:24pm EDT |
Tue, 22 August 2017
Episode #57 For this episode we sat down with Avran Lefeber during the SIA trade show in Denver. Avran is the founder of the longest running independent snowboard review website, The Angry Snowboarder. We hear his thoughts on the SIA trade show which I’ll give a quick trigger warning for industry folks listening - he pulls no punches. On the other hand as you likely know, the SIA show was recently purchased by Outdoor Retailer, so in some way Avran’s thoughts on this may have been vindicated by the marketplace. We also get into his reading habits, workflow, Russian hacking, just in time learning verses the legacy education system and how that applies to staying relevant in the digital world, dating in a ski town, how to get banned for life from Vail Resorts, and much more. This episode touches on the following topics:
Quotes from this episode: "This is the smallest SIA for snowboarding I’ve ever seen…and I’ve done 12 or 13” “When you walk in you have to go through the ski side - which is like dead mans zone.” “They have death valley - where they put all the crappy brands that will be out of business by fall.” “This is the the most pathetic SIA I’ve ever seen, thank god it will be my last….I’m just going to go to on snow.” “Trade shows for me have changed so much” “It’s the biggest industry circle jerk…I used to have to register as a fake buyer or go to Kinkos and copy a badge.” “I don’t drink because I’m missing organs and stuff.” “Fuck SIA. I’m over it.” “The regional shows are destroying SIA.” “We have most of our buying done by the beginning of January (at The Lumber Yard in Breckenridge).” “Sony tried to make plasma TV’s in 1982.” “You gotta keep your mind fresh, you’ve gotta be reading.” “I’m banned from Breckenridge..” “I have a photographic memory… and I also have an audio graphic memory.” “We’ll if you’ve ever been to where I’m from there’s nothing exciting about it - that town should just burn to the ground.” “Amoxicillin is a great drug.” “Theres not a lot of dating in ski town, but there’s lots of adult sleep overs.” “I’m just contemplating what would be worse, having nipples for thumbs or dildos for fingers.” “You supplex one person in the lift line and you’re the asshole.” “I’ve watched Vail ruin the mountain for locals.” “Amazon Prime and commitment.” “I started Angry on September 11th.” “Like a steak knife fucked a banana and it was a piece of shit (first skate banana review).” “A fat cat doesn’t hunt.” “Anyone can start a snowboard website… How far are you willing to take it?” “I got hacked by Russia and they turned my site into a viagra porn store.” “You’re a cock juggling thunder cunt.” “I’m actually a really private person.” “I don’t have a spleen.” “My brother has about 10,000 photo’s from the US OPEN around 92-94.” “I’ve been hit by four cars..” “KY tastes awful… they check for internal bleeding by putting a finger in your ass.” Want to help the podcast grow? Just click the banner ad below before shopping on Amazon and the podcast will receive a small commission from your purchases at no cost to you. Thanks in advance -Nate and AJ Right click here to download the episode
Direct download: Avran_Lefeber_The_Angry_Snowboarder_Episode_57.mp3
Category:Outdoor -- posted at: 11:15pm EDT |
Fri, 24 March 2017
Episode #56 [app_audio src=""] Nate and AJ got to sit down, in person with Joe Sexton during the Parts and Labor all snowboarding trade show in Denver. Peep Joe's new 1817 edit:
Communicate Directly with Joe at his Tumblr page: http://publicimpressions.tumblr.com/ or stay up on insta: JoeSexton1817 This episode covers: VX Filming The first Double Cork Why Parts & Labor as opposed to SIA Building Public quickly Thoughts on brand marketing and the art direction of Public Jason Borgestede’s business questions to Joe Being burned by a pro snowboarder as a kid and the impact that it had on him Facebook Live questions: David Thacker of Thacker’s Transmission How Bradshaw got on Public The power of language The board development process at Public The Jed Anderson question Leaving StepChild Snowboards Listener questions (Halldor, Alex Dunn AKA - BLOWUP Skateboards, Jason Borgstede, Noah Vincent, Mike Happy Bauer, Daniel Cochrane, Cody Nesbit) Thoughts on the future of street snowboarding Hitting his head resulting in a TBI Snoring and sleep talking The House of 1817 stories Minnesota snowboarding How your outfit impacts your snowboarding The importance of family Growing up with a twin brother Hockey Facebook pokes and phone hacking Crashing JP Walker’s motorcycle Don Brown and the tough guy shot Send artwork and VHS tapes to: publicsnowboards@gmail.com Backcountry snowboarding with Sean Johnson Quotes from the episode: “If you try it and if fails, at least you tried it.” “A lot of younger kids can fire up a great text conversaion, but when you see them in real life you can hardly get a word out of em.” “There’s been some talks - Jed’s a good friend.” "We have a team board called the General Public - that one has two wide sizes.” “There’s something cool about 3am with the generator on.” “If I’m not feeling it - it’s ok to walk away. I need to listen to my body more.” “For like two weeks -the whole world would spin and then I’d throw up.” “That’s the hard thing with injuries, you have to get obsess with being patient.” “When I lived at that house I was such a pile.” “I don’t want to sit on a chairlift for a half hour and go down the hill once. I want to ride a rope tow for an hour and a half and feel like I’ve been there all day.” “If my pants are a certain size and I wear some that are one centimeter bigger, I’m like, I have baggy pants on.” “I like to be a able to tell people how I feel and not hold anything back.” “I don’t have a Facebook… There was a fake one of me though.” “Getting a compliment from guys that you really look up to is kind of the end goal.” "When JodyHighroller (Riff Raff) face palmed me - that was a bit aggressive."
Direct download: The_Not_Snowboarding_Podcast_Episode_56_Joe_Sexton_.mp3
Category:Outdoor -- posted at: 9:29pm EDT |
Wed, 8 March 2017
Episode #55 Cover photo shot by: Alban Jehlen Photography So how to describe victor - he's a Frenchman, a student working on his master's degree, he's a surfer, a skydiver, a photographer and most of all he's someone that has tapped into the ability to appreciate every second that he is experiencing in life. To quote Victor, "I'm a city boy, but I love camping, I love hiking, I love sleeping in sketchy igloos... I don't care.... Snowboarding is my true passion." This episode is brought you by Hovland Snowskates Click Here to skate the mountain! Join Nate this weekend for the first ever Oakley Berming Man Banked Slalom contest in Snowshoe West Virginia. Click below to learn more:
Quotes from this episode: “Fuck Red Bull!” “They bring alot of money onto our industry - for some stuff they do great. But for all that - to sell more poison, don’t forget it!” “Snowboarding is not that cool anymore - we passed the cool trend… The snowboarders who are left are way more core and cool.” “I cried five times the first time I watched it from laughing so hard.” “Sick,Sick,Sick,Sick,Sick” “The other Victor had to spit on my face.” “Life is a kind of game and we’re all paling the same game.” "On this life you never know - anything can happen.” “I’m really passionate about building jumps. It’s like a kid game - you build your castle and then you play inside.” “Because I dress a little bit nicer all my friends are calling me dandy.” “In general, in snowboarding, people love to make fun of each other.” "We'll need to find some more Grandmas..." "I have some really tragic memories of POGS games.....your kid was just a looser!" "I went to a funeral last week and I want to shoot funerals - the vibe was kind of weird." "Snowboarding is a real passion for me - it's not a job." "I did an internship with Nixon (marketing)... I don't think I can work in an office all of my life." "We have one life, we need to live every fucking second." "I realized that I'm not scared to die. Life is made up of birth and death and between both you have to enjoy as much as possible." "I'm not really into religion at all.... When you see all of the wars for religion - it's retarded." "We're all gonna die." "First rule at UNO, UNO is a bitch."
Want to help the podcast grow? Just click the banner ad below before shopping on Amazon and the podcast will receive a small commission from your purchases at no cost to you. Thanks in advance -Nate and AJ |
Sun, 12 February 2017
Episode #54 AJ joins Nico, Dylan, Josh, The Kid, Tyler and Max - Nate joins in via Skype and they go right into discussing how to purchase and sell arms on the global market! Turn on, Tune in, Drop out!
This episode is brought to you by Seven Springs Mountain Resorts. Join Nate and AJ at Seven Springs for the first TNSP Camp on February 24th -26th. Check out their Rails to Rails package: Bed, shred and breakfast just got more affordable than ever! Our seven progressive parks have something for everyone to enjoy, with 70+ features including jumps, jibs and the ONLY 22’ Superpipe in the East. Seven Springs’ premier parks are calling your name! Slide a handrail and into our bedrails with the Rails to Rails Lodging Package. This episode covers: War Dogs and Govplanet.org Anonymous hackers Little Buddy Heaters and the Dakota Pipeline The Bus stories and veggie oil logistics Commodities trading Mayan Calendar and 2012 Sababa Land Gold mining and sluice boxes Redneck games and splitting wood Handling the rattlesnake situation Poison Oak parties Human trafficing into Burning Man Surfing and not being able to swim Splitboarding with Tanner Hall and Moss Brunch with Bernard Sanders Hillary vs Trump Mike Happy Bauer - “What does Miggs do?” Sustainiblity and permaculture How to build your own GBP crew Earthship The Awakening Quotes from this episode: "The price of oil is going up and down because they know a changes is coming… It’s all speculators.” “We just had to get back to Vermont for the end of the world.” “The reality of growing enough food - you’ve got to be set-up.” “I think you make like ten dollars an hour on the average day of gold mining.” “Next Gremlin Games - Axe Throwing?” “We had to kill three rattlesnakes, the first one was in the shower.” “Most of us don’t eat meat.” “There’s no animals to fear in Vermont.” “You’ve never been to Burning Man, but you have this bus?!? This is a Burning Man Bus!” “Paddling out is the hardest part.” “Splitboarding - I had never skied… I just crossed tips and fell over.” “If you’re a friend, it doesn't even matter (skiing).” “He was the only person against the Iraq war.” “Donald Trump has no friends.” “As much as people might like a Facebook page - they need to get out and vote.” Want to help the podcast grow? Just click the banner ad below before shopping on Amazon and the podcast will receive a small commission from your purchases at no cost to you. Thanks in advance -Nate and AJ
Direct download: The_Not_Snowboarding_Podcast_Episode_54_GBP-Gremlins__1.mp3
Category:Outdoor -- posted at: 11:16pm EDT |
Mon, 16 January 2017
Episode #53 AJ and Nate will be out in Denver at the trade shows at the end of this month. If you're a retailer - come visit us at Parts and Labor This episode is brought to you by Seven Springs Mountain Resorts. Join Nate and AJ at Seven Springs for the first TNSP Camp on February 24th -26th. Check out their Rails to Rails package: [shadowbox]Bed, shred and breakfast just got more affordable than ever! Our seven progressive parks have something for everyone to enjoy, with 70+ features including jumps, jibs and the ONLY 22’ Superpipe in the East. Seven Springs’ premier parks are calling your name! Slide a handrail and into our bedrails with the Rails to Rails Lodging Package. [/shadowbox] AJ loves Seven Springs and he also loves selfies - here's a video he made about both:
AJ met up with Ted and did some manual labor at the BoneZone and then sat down at Ted's place for this discussion. We chatted about: Why Ted puts avocados in smoothies Soy Sauce Nation Nirvana Ortanez (Ted's GF) Landscaping Working on the BoneZone early season Cool Logs AJ helps move logs in the BoneZone Log types and names BoneZone LOGistists BoneZone riding wisdom Old BoneZone protocall The Original BoneZone crew and how the BoneZone came to be Cat and mouse with the Police Chainsaw safety or lack thereof. Brighton got purchased Brighton webcams The Bone Cam Scaling the BoneZone The BoneZone Chainsaw collab Tall guy issues Why Ted hates the internet (not really) - Bundy Vision Skateboarders' Instagrams Spot Detectives - social media dectives Spot sabotage DVD vs. VHS vs. Streaming Video editing Apple holes Van Life Roof Box talk The Trifecta (Snowboard, Skate and Surf in the same day) LibTech Surf discussion Ted’s board got run over by a semi truck The Six Three Mafia Listener questions Meme culture and dark humor Cool jobs Life lessons from food service Cobra Dogs and the Govy Ninja Jeff Holce the Athlete Louis loses his balls Boardsliding knobbed rails Nate forgets his computer charger Snowboard prom The snowboarding video business evolution Ted Talks and Ted Bundy Growing up in Pennsylvania skiing and transitioning to snowboarding Skier’s VS. Snowboarders Quotes from the episode: “There’s one chainsaw, one hammer - so it’s kinda hard to have people help.,,,Moving logs is a huge help!” “Not everyone just dives into a boardslide (on wood), but every now and then it happens - people catch and edge and eat shit.” “…It’s like boning so it’s kinda funny.” “Welp - everything is chopped down (by the Forest Service).” “I barely touched the chaps (with the chainsaw) - I was like glad I was wearing chaps.” “There’s so much that people could see as being wrong with the BoneZone - luckily, Brighton has cool people.” “This year we have two zones on Brighton.” “We build everything so that it’s moveable - if people want to move things that’s fair game.” “We just want to get people psyched to go snowboarding - that’s the main goal.” “I didn’t know shit about chainsaws last year - we used em so irresponsibly.” “I’ll just make DVD’s and hand em out to my friends” “It’s so hard to figure out the whole like instant social media vs. saving things for a part… There’s no right way.” “Better not post that. Better not leak that. Don’t post that - we don’t want people to know where we are today.” “So many people are guilty of this - they go to spot and see that it was set-up and then they try to see who was there… Alright, what does that boot print say? Is that a 32 logo? SPOT DETECTIVES!” “I’ve been into video editing since like sophomore year of highschool.” "Me and Nirvana lived in the van all summer up at Hood.” “I’m six four - she’s five two.” “The van is ballin on a budget. I bought it for 1300… I’ve done over 30K miles across the country twice and no issues - knock on wood.” “I think everyone should work in a restaurant at some point.” “Don’t be mark, don’t be buster and defiantly don’t be a mark ass buster.” “I thought - nobody’s really done a board slide through a knobbed rail.” “There’s a glory hole in the bathroom!” “No joke, my former roommate is dating Amy Schumer” “I skied until I was eleven. I was a racer, but I didn’t wear speedos or anything.” “I really like surfing, but I get my ass kicked out there.” Want to help the podcast grow? Just click the banner ad below before shopping on Amazon and the podcast will receive a small commission from your purchases at no cost to you. Thanks in advance -Nate and AJ |