So obviously as you can tell from the last several posts I took it upon myself to venture to Denver this past week for the annual SIA tradeshow. It was really eye opening in so many ways. As soon as I landed in Denver and got on the shuttle to town I was inundated by snow companies. In many ways this sounds like an awesome thing but to be honest hearing phrases like “pricepoint”, “market share”, “product shelf life”and “target consumer” are not how I want to view the act of snowboarding. I mean wandering around SIA was fun but obviously its a glimpse into the pure money side of the business. Of course Im not so naive to not realize what the purpose of the tradeshow is but man seriously it just wasnt my scene. Some of the bigger companies didnt even allow traffic into their booths unless you had an appointment or were able to name drop somebody and get in. Of course business is business and the “press” (as I was designated) should be secondary but to me if your booth is pretty much just a wall with a guard most of the time your company just kind of comes off as dickish.

Anyway so on day two I felt like I was kind of swimming upstream and was a bit frustrated. I decided to go downstairs to the coffee shop and buy a three dollar  20 oz. of Coke Zero.  Im sitting there on the laptop and I look up and see who I think is Sean Genovese of Dinosaurs Will Die talking to some people and apparently handling business.  Dinosaurs Will Die is one of the companies I wanted to talk to at SIA but to my dismay they did not have a booth. As I pay more attention Im pretty sure it is Sean so after the people he was talking to leave I pack up my stuff and walk over to him..

I say “Hi… um are you Sean Genovese?”

He says “Uh yeah I am”

I reply.. ” Oh cool so are you just handling business for DWD here in the lobby?”

He says that the people he was talking to are some of his manufactures or something Im not too sure now after a week or so.

Any way I introduce myself, give him my card, and we quickly talk about my site and about DWD. I shake his hand and I start back upstairs and I suddenly realize that you know its not all about price point, market share, and shelf life. At least its not if you dont want it to be. No matter how big snowboarding gets, no matter how much money is in the industry, no matter how many “booths” are really just walls with guards wielding clipboards there will always be a group of people like Sean. There will always be a group of people working around the system, holding meetings in the coffee shop vs leasing out booth space. People who are there not to try and get their product into a position of global dominance but just trying to get their product out there to the kids that dont want to be thought of as a target consumer but rather just as a snowboarder. I felt a sense of renewal and went back upstairs with a clearer head. Stoked on snowboarding….

Sean sent me a mail a few days ago with the DWD line up for next season. I thought you might like to see it…