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Hey, all you peeps!! My name is Ryan Sandru, and I am stoked to be accepted into BambooSK8′s 12th intern class!! I heard about BambooSK8 a while back and was pleasantly surprised to discover the innovative, superior, and eco-friendly skateboards that the company produces. I was born and raised in North San Diego County and I’ve been skatin’ for a long time. I never seen anything like BambooSK8! I am fortunate to be working with such awesome people at a great company.

In 2003, I left San Diego and moved to Pasadena, CA. I studied Illustration at the Art Center College of Design from 2004 to 2006. I quickly discovered that I couldn’t swing the tuition of $15,000 per semester!! I took some time off and finally finished my degree at Cal State Fullerton. I majored in Graphic Design in 2010, and that was that. I missed San Diego the entire time that I lived in L.A. County! I didn’t want to be an actor or famous musician… I wanted to work in the skate capitol that is San Diego. As soon as I could, I moved back home.

Here I am BambooSK8!! Working for a skate company isn’t as easy as it may seem. It is definitely a professional and task-driven environment. But I wouldn’t have it any other way! After all, you can’t learn anything under any other circumstances.

We are currently wrapping-up the second week, and I can wait for future weeks. Nice to meet you all!!!! SK8 the BAMBOO!!!!

When I found this opportunity at BambooSk8, I had recently graduated from college in San Francisco. I took a couple months after college to relax, get my resume together, take a little trip to Florida, and a cruise to Alaska. Once I got some vaca out of the way, I started to get into the swing of things, sending out endless resumes for all kinds of jobs, getting a response very rarely of a phone interview and no return call. I started to think more and more about what kind of company I really wanted to work for and how I can make it happen.

My first thoughts were that I needed to gain valuable experience no matter what, so I focused a lot on internship opportunities. I realized I’d like to work for a company that is socially responsible, or who has a greater cause. Or I’d like to work with a company related to my interests in skateboarding or plants. BambooSk8 was everything I was looking for in one opportunity.

I really started skateboarding when I was about 11 years old, and like Pringles chips, once I popped I couldn’t stop, hehe. Ever since then I’ve been hooked and have continued to go out and have fun skateboarding, especially being in the bay area hitting up fresh spots I didn’t grow up skating.

My interest in plants came from a project I did for fun for my parents, completely redoing their landscape and irrigation. I turned planters of dirt and rot into tropical succulent lush beautiful planters of life. I planted fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, flowers, ferns, succulents, pretty much everything I could get my hands on. Definitely some bamboo, 4 different varieties!!

When I began the internship, I realized it wasn’t all running through fields of bamboo with wind in my face jumping on my board shredding bamboo half pipes. Although, I did also realize that this is going to be an intense program that has the potential to greatly enhance my professional development and help steer me in the right direction towards finding a career path I can walk down with a smile on my face. Also, that it’s up to me to make the most of this great opportunity.

So far, we have been getting used to some of the tools we are going to be using to promote BambooSk8 and to interact with skateboarders. We’ve also been learning all about BambooSk8 and what makes it a great company. We’ve been working a great deal on our own professional development: learning our weaknesses, our goals, and how we can improve our interviewing skills. We’ve done a lot of collaboration between interns and mentors, contributing ideas and sharing lessons, and started to become acquainted with one another.

M future goals are to take what I learn in this internship and to move on to gaining more experience relative to tasks I excelled in during the internship. I want to narrow down a more specific career path and have more specific goals. Once I have my focused path, I will bust my ass to become the best at what I do. I’m looking at the next 14 weeks with the highest hopes and a hungry, determined spirit. Much thanks to everyone at BambooSk8!!

The video links at the bottom of this post (Berkeley, Bobby longboarding) may be glitchy or take a while to load, especially the longboarding one because it’s longer, and don’t view it full screen, sorry bout that.

Makeshift spot right next to the ocean

The infamous hubba hideout on the verge of destruction

One of my favorite spots

Nothing like shredding a mini in the snow - Tahoe

Video Links:     Berkeley                   Bobby longboarding

It’s been quite a ride for me to get to where I am with BambooSk8 today. So I guess I’ll begin with where it all started. I was born and raised in a suburb of Connecticut about an hour outside of New York City. I continued on to Penn State University where I had a great college experience. After college, I followed what I thought was the expected path and took the 1^st high paying job I was offered without really giving much thought to what I really wanted to do with my life.  After 18 months working back in Connecticut with a well known insurance company spending most of my days in a cubicle managing multiple Excel spreadsheets, I decided I had enough. So I quit my job and moved to South Lake Tahoe, CA in December of 2010. I spent the winter working for Heavenly Mountain Resort and snowboarding just about every day. Life was good, but as spring came and the snow melted I knew it wouldn’t last. But what I did realize was that I wanted to work around something that I was passionate about. For me, that was snowboarding, or really anything in the Action Sports Industry. So when I moved in with some old college buddies in San Diego this past July, I got an awesome internship with an upcoming snowboarding magazine called SBX Magazine. I learned a lot about marketing and worked with some really great people. However, I knew that working in the Action Sports Industry was difficult to break into. I just didn’t have enough connections or experience. So I got a job valet parking to pay the bills here in SD while I refocused on my search for a more traditional career. But I did still frequently peruse Malakye (the job listing site for action sports), which is where I found the opening with BambooSk8. So here I am today, trying to give another shot at following my passions by working with BambooSk8!

PS. Attached are a couple photos from my winter in Lake Tahoe, there is one that might give you an idea about how much it dumped last winter!

Hello from Wisconsin!

I am happy to say that I am part of the 12^th class of interns and the first class with out-of-state interns! I am currently living in Menomonie, WI and going to school at the University of Wisconsin- Stout. I am majoring in Retail Merchandising and Management with a concentration in Buying and Product Development, a minor in Business Administration and an emphasis in Apparel Design.

I am going to be very busy these next couple months. Along with this wonderful internship, I have a job with the productions club at my school. I am the Special Events Coordinator. This means I am in charge of bringing a bigger name artist to the Stout campus. In the past we have brought Atmosphere, Ingrid Michaelson, and Motion City Soundtrack. I have a passion for music, art, fashion, and the action sport industry.

I am excited to see all the doors that BambooSK8 will open and all that I will achieve. I am so happy to be part of this BambooSK8 team. I have NEVER worked with such driven people and I am already learning so much. I have BambooSK8 on the brain all the time now and it’s great. Menomonie, WI is pretty far from Oceanside, CA (2021.76 miles), but it is amazing how close the Internet can bring us together. I will be taking Wisconsin by storm and looking to get BambooSK8 all over the state!

I’ve finally started the internship at Bamboosk8 and now I am part of the tribe as well. I gotta admit.. I thought it was going to be an easy start you know??!! Au contraire! We’ve been flooded wit lots of things to do and to set up, which I’m really happy about, because unlike other internships I’m not going around buying coffees for everyone else, but I’m actually working to improve the company results and the tight crew here at Bamboosk8 really welcomed us all with open arms.

I’m working from Australia, which is cool since Bamboosk8 is not known here, so I’m really excited (and the guys in the office are as well) to hopefully expand in the land Down Under.

There’s interns from all over the US and from different walks of life, just stroll around the blog to read their posts as well and see how they’re going and what they think about the internship. It’s awesome to work all along towards achieving our goals in life and on the professional side.

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to go and watch an amateur contest search here on the Gold Coast (Australia), so I took the initiative of taking some footage with my Gopro for you all to see.

http://youtu.be/59RlUmXdChQ

It was great to see so much talent and the vibe was really cool, no barriers or security, so I could actually go and mingle next to the competitors in the contest area and have a prime view of the shredding happening. You know, there might be future flow riders there that haven’t been discovered yet!

Anyway, these two weeks I’ve started learning a lot about myself as a person and how hard it is to actually manage my time between my other job as a lifeguard and the requirements of the internship. From next week things will change again and me and the other interns will start working really hard to get quantifiable results that we can use towards achieving our goals.
My goals for the internship is to learn as much as possible about marketing and the action sport industry, while making leifelong friends and connections along the way.

Keep following my posts every second week to find out what’s happening at Bamboosk8 and how the internship evolves.

Cheers
Gabe

Hello all! My name is Jessi, and I am very excited about being apart of BambooSk8′s 12th internship class. I grew up in beautiful Encinitas California. I am also fortunate to have spent most of my childhood and summers in Jackson Hole Wyoming. So I have had a lot of diversity when it comes to outdoor activities. I LOVE to fish, camp, snowboard, swim and travel. I actually just spend a week in Cabo San Lucas with some pretty awesome friends…

Anyway…The question of the year seems to be what do you do now that you are out of college? To which I answer, I supplement my surgical consulting job with an internship at Bamboosk8. Then I am usually hit with, “Why an internship?”  Well….let me tell you. Having just graduated from Cal State San Marcos (WOOHOOO) I needed a job! However, if you aren’t aware by now, obtaining a super awesome 9-5 that can pay your bills has seemingly joined the ranks of mythical creatures by being IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND! Even though my resume is pretty solid from years of hard work to put myself through college, it is a bit scattered. This didn’t help my job-hunt. So, I thought that finding a credible internship where I can get actual experience and help fine-tune my resume is just what I needed.

ENTER BAMBOOSK8!!!

I found the internship opportunity online at Malakye. Before I applied I looked over their website and found what I was looking for. I wasn’t going to be filing documents and taking out the trash like normal internships can consist of. I was actually going to be apart of projects! Setting and reaching goals, and creating a track record! And lets face it…being able to track your progress and prove that you did something is just what is needed these days to get you ahead in this 2012 rat race.

So. Once I got the internship I started my orientation week. I felt that I was back in college! There are numerous deadlines that I will be accounted for. Documents due every week, and weekly meetings to make sure I can still keep my head above water. But let me tell you!!! I couldn’t be happier! I’m meeting awesome people, getting awesome life lessons, and living my life post college!

Here are some photo’s of my recent trip to Cabo.

Hello Friends! My name is Michelle and I am also part of the first class of “out of office” interns. I live in Denver, Colorado and let me tell you, the weather is not as nice as it is in Oceanside right now. It is currently 14 degrees outside and dropping. I grew up in a small town in Southern Colorado and have been snowboarding since I was 14. I moved to Denver for school and will graduate in May with a business degree in marketing and management. BambooSK8 struck my interest because I hope to have a successful career in the action sports industry.

With my future career goals, BambooSK8 was definitely a step in the right direction. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to work with a company that is innovative, environmentally responsible and very organized. It is absolutely incredible what BambooSK8 is doing for the skate community and I assure you that BambooSK8 will continue to grow in the future.

We are currently in week 2 of the internship program and it has not been easy. This internship is not about getting coffee and stopping at the dry cleaners for the boss (thank goodness). There is a ton of information that needs to be learned and getting all the details perfect is the key to success for this internship. Getting into the swing of things has been tough but I am confident that it will get easier once I find a routine. So far, I have only met and worked with Geoff K (owner/president) and Mark (operations manager) who have been incredibly helpful with the whole process so far. You can tell that we are working with professionals and it is a great privilege to do so. As of now, everyone and everything is great and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next few weeks.

Well that’s it for now. I will leave you with a few pictures so you guys can paint a picture of what life in Colorado is like.

Hi!! My name is Tameka or you can call me Meka. I am part of the first ever “out of state” internship cycle with BambooSK8!!! I’m stoked on it, can you tell? I grew up in San Diego and in Illinois and ride a longboard most every day that I can. (I had a military mom) I will be interning from the great snowy state of Illinois! Wait, I forgot cold, too. First and foremost, I am honored to have been chosen to be a part of such a fantastic company. Before, I ever thought about applying for the internship, I fell in love with the company, its beliefs and goals. There isn’t another company like BambooSK8. They are without a doubt changing the way people look at this industry one bamboo cane at a time. I’m thrilled because I, too, believe in this company.
After I read : “According to the Science Channel (January 2008, Episode 7 – “Invention Nation”), skateboarding has replaced flooring as the #1 contributor to deforestation of maple trees in North America,” I knew I wanted to become involved with BambooSK8, not only, to promote and amazing eco-friendly product but to help educate others on the benefits of bamboo.
This internship marks the beginning of a new year and a new chapter. (How cliché right?) It’s the golden ticket that opens the door to the world of bamboo and the action sports industry. Normally, I am involved with the event coordinating or starting up skateboard ministries. I feel that to become a well rounded intern or employee, I would need to know more about business. I am interested in furthering this knowledge from marketing and/or public relations stand point and learn how a company successfully operates to sustain longevity. My goals during this internship is to become a sponge and soak up everything that I will be taught to gain a better business sense and obtain an event operations or marketing career within the action sports industry. I am looking forward to the next couple months, the people I will meet and the things that I will learn!!
Have a good one,
~Meka

( When its dangerously cold out…too cold to skate or even snowboard, you have to keep yourself busy right?)

Hi my name is Jamie I am one of the new interns for the 2012 spring internship, I am super excited to start working with Bamboosk8 and can’t wait to get started. I found Bamboosk8 online and found out they offered an incredible opportunity for a marketing internship. I graduated college around a year ago with a degree in marketing and really had no real life marketing experience; I knew this would be an amazing opportunity for me to get my foot in the door. I currently am a hair stylist down in the South Orange County area; I have been doing hair for around seven years and love what I do! I am just ready to take the next step in my life. This brings me to what brought me to want to work at Bamboosk8. One of the other things that I am passionate about is action sports, I wakeboard, snowboard, and paddle surf and watch many of the others on television. Bamboosk8 seemed like a good fit for me to learn about marketing while working with people who share the same passion as I do. I also love the fact that Bamboosk8 is a green company; working for a company that is trying to make a difference by helping the environment is really inspiring to me.

I have been at Bamboosk8 for almost a week now and have learned a lot about the company, as well as the products they sell. The company as a whole is great! Everyone seems super excited about the company they work for as well as the products they sell. The use of social media has really brought a huge following for the company; I hope I can help to bring in more followers to help expand the company. Learning all of the different social media avenues is really important especially today. Most everyone uses the internet for either personal or business reasons, so learning how to properly use social media to promote a company will diffidently help me along the way with marketing. I also have learned how well the company has grown over the last few years; the company started off as just a manufacture of decks and now has a team of riders as well as a complete brand for the company. Starting to work with a company who is in growth stage will help me to see what it takes to grow a company from the ground up. It will be interesting to learn how all different pieces within the company connect to inevitably create a profitable lasting company.

Now that you know why I am here and what I have learned so far I thought I would share some of my future goals. In the next 16 weeks I hope to have gained more real life knowledge in marketing, especially in social media as well as knowledge about the skateboarding industry.  In the next year or two I plan on switching careers completely, I will give up my hair styling business and hopefully venture out into some type of entry level marketing job, hopefully for an action sports company if I am lucky. In the next five years I plan on having a secure job in marketing with a company that I am not only am passionate about but enjoy working for. Sometime during this period I would also like to have gone back to school and have gotten my MBA in management. And, hopefully in the next 10 years I plan on either managing a team or maybe even owing my own company, so an MBA would definitely help me.

Hello all, Ryan here!  I have just joined the wonderful Bamboosk8 internship team which I am very thankful to be a part of. As from what I can see this opportunity is going to be just the right, rigorously challenging experience I have been looking forward to take on! At the same time I know it will help me in many ways to grow in the exact direction I am looking for and give me the experience to be successful in the industry I have been interested in since I took my first-step on to that wooden plank with wheels.

I grew up on the west coast of Florida where it is exceptionally boring and skateboarding gave me life. It was not only an outlet from the rough times at home, but also a way to feel connected to something bigger, society. Ever since then my love for boards and action sports grew rapidly. I eventually moved to San Diego to live near family and attend college at San Diego State University where I am currently a student. I have the luxury of living in Ocean Beach where I am close to good surf and the O.B. skate park which gives me ample time to do what I love! It is my ultimate goal to develop my own company some day in the action sports industry, but right now my goals are to increase my marketing and sales wherewithal by working with others to reach maximum output and potential. I now know Bamboosk8 is the perfect place to learn how small businesses survive in this economy and more importantly how they thrive! I look forward to these next few months with excitement!

I leave you with a quote to celebrate the holiday, “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” Martin Luther King Jr.

My name is Sam Britt, I am one of several interns for the spring class of 2012…

I recently have had the opportunity to join BambooSK8 for their in depth internship.  Just this last Thursday I was invited to Bamboo’s skate facility for our orientation.  As I approached the office, I realized this was uncharted territory for myself simply because I realized I have no skate experience to bring to the table.  I haven’t a lick of information on why their audience likes Bamboo’s decks over standard competitor decks or for that matter what some of the trick moves are that skaters use with these decks.  All of this ran through my mind as I approached the door to the “Intern Cave” where all interns gather for idea crunching and education.  It was there I was exposed to all things skateboard.  Literally!  There were many different style decks posted throughout the room with various graphics.  The boards cover wall to wall.  From what I gather these decks have been designed by previous intern classes and hung in “The Cave.”   One of our mentors Mark Olson, sat and introduced us to Bamboo’s way of life and of course the syllabus we all will be using for the next 4 months.  For those of you who are considering this as an easy internship, let me just say this is not a position where you can walk in and ride your board and think you can literally “skate by” on this internship.  This curriculum was well though out and planned and requires alot of your personal time in order to be successful at BambooSk8.   What I did realize is regardless of the industry, all businesses have a business model they abide by and Bamboo is no different.  The one thing I look to take from this internship is something in the public relations and social media realm.  BambooSk8 is a unique company and requires a unique tactic to grab its audiences attention.  I intend to absorb any information I can with this company and I am looking forward to meeting all the different individuals involved with BambooSk8.

So long for now….

As I sit here typing my last blog as a BambooSK8 intern I’m amazed that 4 months have gone by.  I think that statement alone says something about this internship.  It was definitely difficult and frustrating at times (what job isn’t) but it was definitely a lot of fun too.  Being busy and having fun makes time fly by.

During the internship I learned about the role that social media plays in a small company, about growing video views on youtube, and about creating press releases.  Through our midterm and final I learned about the income statement and statement of cashflow, how the two relate, and how important they are to a business owner.  I also learned a lot about myself. I now know that if I pay attention to all the little details and am more efficient with my time I can be successful.  I learned a lot in 4 months and I’m definitely proud to be 1 of the final 3 interns.  Now that its over I definitely feel more prepared for a career in marketing in any industry but especially the action sports industry.

I want to thank Geoff K, Mark, Wyatt, Geoff C, and Jackie for all the help along the way and I want to congratulate Kyle and Chelsea for making it all the way through.  Thanks guys for making this such a great experience!

For everyone out there reading this, I’m leaving you with some pictures of the office ugly sweater Christmas party…..

Have a happy Holiday!

People always say that as you get older time seems to go by quicker and quicker as the years go on, I must be getting old then because I have no clue where the last 16 went! It is hard to even describe what has happened in these last 16 weeks but it seems that so much about myself has grown. When talking with all of my friends from college I said that I learned more in my time here than I did during 4 years of college. They would all laugh about this little “joke” they thought I was telling, but it was the complete truth. Leaving college I had a plethora of environmental knowledge and know how but I had minimal real world business knowledge. This internship has allowed me to learn some of the ins and outs of a small action sports company. This being said I am extremely proud of myself and to date I think this has been my biggest accomplishment in my “career” realm.

If you are interested in working within the action sports world this is the perfect stepping stone for you. This is an internship that will push your boundries and your knowledge, but in the end it is all worth it. You will spend hours setting up your excel sheet and studying for the midterm and final, but you will spend just as much time immersing yourself within the culture of the action sports world at events and outings.

There were moments when I thought I was never going to make it out alive but I stuck with it and pulled through in the end. I would like to thank all my fellow interns that made this an amazing experience and I’d like to congratulate Kyle and Tyler for finishing it off with style!

Thank you to everyone at BambooSK8 that made these last 16 weeks amazing!!

Its getting down to it folks, only a few weeks left here at BambooSK8.  All the interns just took the final which was more difficult than I thought it would be.  It taught me a lot about lead time, which basically means I learned about inventory.  A company has a given amount of lead time ( say 8 weeks ) to get new product from the factory (total of ordering and then shipping), if you do not order your items early enough then you will run out of inventory before the new shipment comes. So business owners/companies have to plan ahead in order to optimize their inventory.  Basically the test asked you to look at the big picture and determine when you need to order your next shipment of skate decks.  I actually did pretty well on the test scoring a 47 out of 50 so that felt pretty good.  The final helped me understand the relationship of the income statement and cash flow statement with regards to lead time.  It also taught me that no matter what your area of expertise (marketing, management, accounting, finance) you need to have a basic understanding of the other departments in order to get things done.

On Tuesday I noticed another addition to the warehouse.  We can now take breaks and play ping pong!  Last night after work I beat the other intern Kyle 10 times and only lost once…. kind of a beat down…. but it was definitely fun and brought me back to when I used to play all the time.

Here’s a link to what our ping pong game looked like:

ping pong match

Thursday all the interns had mock interviews with Mark, Geoff, and Wyatt (the boss men).  I kind of sucked.  But the experience was definitely positive.  They were all super supportive and gave great feedback.  Some things I need to work on were exuding more confidence and making eye contact with all the people that were interviewing me.  They also gave me feedback on all of my interview answers so that I can practice them for future interviews and so that I can have more confidence in my answers moving forward.  At the end, they reviewed my resume and gave me some feedback on that as well.  I definitely feel more prepared for the next interview that I get, wherever that may be.

In other news I was up in LA and then visited Venice the other weekend which was a lot of fun.  Venice is a really cool town, with a lot of great skate parks, I attached some pictures because the view from the beach is great.

Venice Beach

View from the apartment I stayed at in LA

Until next time,

Tyler

As Chelsea mentioned there are only two weeks left in the internship, which is hard to believe! The mild Southern California climate doesn’t make it feel like December. Back east its really easy to tell when the seasons change because of the chilly winter temperatures that roll in as the year progresses. Living in Oceanside I find it a little hard to keep  track of the changing seasons. That being said it was unseasonably cold the past few nights as temperatures dipped below freezing.

Luckily the High Tech High fundraiser was last week. This high school used BambooSK8 decks as a canvas for students to create art with. Held at Haggo’s Organic Taco in Leucadia, the fundraiser showcased the finished product of the student’s hard work. The best part about the event, other than the mouth watering tacos, was that a portion of all the proceeds from food sold that night went back to supporting the arts program at the school. The BambooSK8 crew showed up in full force to support the arts and fill up on one of the best tacos in San Diego county. The assignment for the students was to paint something to do with sustainability, activism, or social responsiblity. One of my favorites had to be the deck depicting a whale getting revenge on a Japanese whaling vessel. If you are ever in the area Tuesday-Sunday around lunch (11-3) be sure to support the good folks at Haggo’s.

Last week we also took our final exam. Although taking a four hour final was not as fun as eating tacos, it was great to find out that all of the interns did really well! This week the interns have been focusing on trying to get all of our commitments completed. We also had a mock interview with Mark, Wyatt, and Geoff to try and hone in our interviewing skills. On top of getting work done this week we have been playing ping pong and getting good at the extremely addicting traditional Japanese toy, Kendama. If you’re unfamiliar with it check it out on YouTube. I leave you with a picture of us grinding out work in the cave and the office Kendama.

**Please be sure to answer questions at bottom of job description**

BambooSK8 is an ecologically-based skateboard brand and manufacturer of high quality skateboards made from sustainable bamboo from managed forests.  We are social entrepreneurs who believe that giving back to our communities is as equally important as profits.  We service core shops, brands and individuals around the globe while providing a solidified partnership and unique experience with each.  We have been a part of action sports and skateboarding our whole lives and now passionately hope to inspire others to take actionable steps towards the preserving of our natural environment.  BambooSK8 is a division of BambooBuddy LLC but has the same owners.

If you are ready to make a difference in the world, work super hard without whining and get some killer real-world experience – then we are happy to meet with you.  By all means, please visit our website and read the “internship-in-training blog” to gain insight on what is all entailed, as our program is designed to be intense and kick your butt a little bit.  Internship will start the first week of January 2012.

We are currently seeking:  Marketing Interns-in-training (non-paid) for both in-the-office and out-of-the-office

In-the-office:

• Oceanside, CA working directly with the Operations Manager, Warehouse Supervisor, CEO and COO

• A minimum of 1 day per week (8 hours) in the office is expected but the internship requires nearly 20 hours per week total, for 4 solid months.  2 days per week is highly recommended to maximize ones learning.  If you aren’t financially stable and can’t realistically fulfill these requests, then please do not apply.  Also, if you are using the internship as “filler” until you find a job, then please don’t apply.

Out-of-the-office (limited to only 5 interns who live out of the state of California):

• Online working directly with the Operations Manager and COO

• A minimum of 20 hours per week total, for 4 solid months

Internship is graded on 400 total points involving weekly duties such as managing your commitments/goals file, writing weekly blogs, weekly Skype calls, updating your MPS philosophy, providing mentor feedback, intern matrix grading other interns, mid-term exam, final exam, communication with COO, etc.  The internship is broken down into categories:  sales, pr, marketing and social media.  Each month a minimum number of points is required in order to continue in the program.  You will have a new mentor inside the company to work closely with each month which includes having 1-on-1 weekly meetings. The last month of the internship is devoted to improving your resume, interviewing practice and other key actions  to maximize your opportunities for job growth.  Past interns have gone on to work for Fox Moto-X, Sole Tech, Action Sports Group, BambooSK8, Dark Horse Distribution, HARO Bicycles, Rock Star Energy drink, etc.

Responsibilities:

• Assist with marketing campaigns – print and digital; viral-focused

• Assist with generalist duties – organizing/filing emails, making phone calls, etc.

• Assist with public relations – updating database of contacts, writing press releases, finding positive publicity

• Visit skate shops, skate parks, attend industry events (X-games, Vans Warped Tour, Maloof $ cup, Tampa Am, etc.)

• Assist with social media (Facebook, Hookit, Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon) and Internet presence – top blogging sites for skate and environmentalism

• Learn fundamental business concepts across a myriad of disciplines (marketing, production, sales, strategy, etc.)

Internship-in-training Requirements:

• Applicants should be active participants with a thorough understanding of the skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding youth culture; prefer skateboarding-focused.

• Applicants require a minimum of 6 months experience in an action sports related generalist position

• Applicants should be outgoing and personable with good social and conversational skills

• Must be analytical, process driven, detail oriented and be trusted to get the job done

• Must be able to manage your time with outside life, work, etc.

• Must be a leader and a self-starter…but also maintain the ability to work independently

• Prefer college graduates, but others can receive college credit

**Your resume should be molded to fit our needs and be focused on action sports; no cookie-cutter resumes**

***No cover letters please!*** –  Remove them entirely when submitting.

Failure to answer these questions automatically disqualifies you.

1. What are you looking to get out of an internship in relation to your future goals?

2. What do you feel makes you a qualified candidate?

3. Why have you chosen BambooSK8?

4. What days of the week are you available to come in and work a full day?

5. Are you financially stable to ensure that you can do an internship up to 4 months unpaid?

Please submit your resume and answer to the questions to info@bamboosk8.com

It is absolutely insane that after this week we only have 2 weeks of the internship left! Although at times everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, the internshio has sped by. I don’t know if bamboo products are becoming more prominient, or if I am just noticing them more these days, but everywhere I turn I seem to see new bamboo products. Yesterday when I was Christmas shopping I came across the “bamboo bottle”. This is actually a really awesome idea they have come up with. It combines the strength and beauty of bamboo with the safety and renewability of glass. I think that it is amzing how bamboo, such a sustainable and renewable, is being utilized for a mulitiute of products in all aspects of our lives. Although it may be a small step, I think that this is definitely progress.

In other notes more related to the internship, we took our final examine this past week. I couldn’t help but think about how much knowledge I have gained during this internship. If someone were to hand me this final 13 weeks ago I would have run for the hills, literally. I had absolutely no knowledge of accounting, finance or even business until this internship. This program has established a foundation that I intend to grow  and develop as time goes on.

Oh, and I got a new tattoo this week which I am absolutely in love with :]

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and survived black Friday. I’m not really one to deal with that whole scene, but there are already some pretty hilarious videos online Black Friday Insanity. It was a short week here at BambooSK8 as we only worked Monday/Tuesday.

Last week though we were able to support our videographer, Nate, at his RAW Artists event at 4th and B downtown. Nate and I drove from Oceanside in the peak of rush hour, and we had the privilege of sitting in stop and go traffic.

It was all worth it though as he ended up winning the Filmer of the Year award for San Diego! We’re all stoked on his success!

Several of us also had the opportunity to celebrate Victoria passing the Bar exam at Fluxx night club. I’m thankful to be surrounded by so many great people here at BambooSK8.

I spent the past weekend at an event I never thought I would be at… a sorority informal. I was slightly nervous about this whole situation when my girlfriend invited me but as it turns out the ladies of Kappa Pi Zeta aren’t too shabby, in fact they may be bordering on great! This weekends adventure started off with one night in a hotel in Long Beach preparing ourselves to weather the storm, literally, on Catalina Island.

On Saturday morning we boarded the ferry to travel 2 hours to Catalina at the god awful time of 7 am. I assume everyone had a good boat ride because when I woke up from my Dramamine induced slumber everyone was in good spirits, and slightly tipsy from their morning mimosas. We arrived on the island with only sunny skies and the festivities began, whether it be beer pong or  the hookah people were all enjoying themselves very much. The day progressed and nap time began, but Katie and I decided it would be a much better use of time to play on the swings then go swimming in the icy ocean and retreat to a warm shower. After nearly dying of  frostbite in the freezing ocean we took off towards the showers hopeful we would soon be warmed up. Little did we know warm showers were not an option in our little camp! After many attempts to dry off and warm up we went to dinner with the rest of the gang. As the night progressed everyone became better and better friends and the pictures tell the stories of the night. We woke up the next morning to a threatening storm and we all wondered whether or not the ferry would vernture back out to  pick us up. In the end we were able to get home safe and sound.  All in all, I would say this was an extremely successful weekend : ]

In other news everything with the internship has been going really well. We were having some issues in regards to getting repsonses to emails regarding media contacts so we have done a little revamping in hopes of upping these responses. I think that that one of the tasks I have enjoyed a lot within this last week was creating a list of artists to contact in the hopes of using them to design decks. This has been really cool to see all of the artists that are out there, along with seeing all of the different types of art.

I just had a great weekend down in Florida with my family.  I caught a bunch of fish and golfed for the first time since I had my ACL surgery.  But now I’m back to work.  Its really time to get some results as we only have about a month left here at BambooSk8.  The big thing that I am working on and trying to get done before I leave is to get our decks onto Backcountry.com’s group of websites which includes whiskeymilitia and steepandcheep.com.  So hopefully within the next month you will be able to see BambooSK8 on those websites.  Also, two other interns and I are contacting local highschools in order to sell some decks to their art programs.  Its a pretty cool project because the schools will be able to buy our boards at a discount and the kids can use them for their art projects.  Other than that I am just getting excited for all the tasty treats that come with Thanksgiving.  Can’t wait for the stuffing…. whats your favorite???

Have a Happy turkey day,

Tyler

Yes it is almost thanksgiving, a time to stuff your face until you can no longer move, and may possibly have to be rolled around like a giant bouncy ball…. but thats not what I am talking about. I mean there are only four weeks left of this internship… I’m not quite sure where that time went, I feel like I was just sitting down to meet everyone, and now its almost over.
Its definitely been a bumpy road full of laughs, jokes, learning, trying over and over, and a bit stressful at times, whether it was stress over if you are going to make all your points, not being able to figure something out, or things just not going your way. All in all I’d say it was definitely a positive experience. I definitely have been learning what goes into running a company and how important key factors, such as communication and team work really are. I’m also happy to say I will walk away a more confident person with a few new friends.
The most stressful points in my intern experience would definitely have to be selling boards and managing my time efficiently. Sales is definitely not a strong point of mine, never was. I am not pushy enough when people show me they really are not interested in the product. I just think of when I am shopping and that one sales person comes up to me and constantly tries to keep selling me things, it makes me want to leave the store, and I just fear that someone will think that of me. BUT managing my time more efficiently was definitely something I was able to work on. In the beginning I just did things as they came to me, not stopping to think how much time would be needed or how it would effect other things I had to get done. Needless to say that got me in some trouble and actually caused me to fail the second month of the internship. That was a wake up call for me to start looking at my week before it happened. Looking at what NEEDS to be done and doing those things right away so I could make time for the smaller commitments I had, and the photography I had to do. Which I am also very happy about, that Geoff has decided to make me the Photographer for the skate team, so I get a chance to incorporate what I know and what I love to do into my work.

Well on the more personal side of things tomorrow I am leaving for TAHOE! Yay!! I get to go snowboard and see all of my friends for a week. I also get to spend thanksgiving with my aunt and grandma so I am pretty happy that I will get to see them as well.
So I am sure you’ll have a pretty exciting blog by the end of the week to read, full of pictures.. but until then…

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Just thought I’d make a little blog for you all to share the events of Nates surprise party we held for him last night…..At Chuck E Cheese…. thats right… I said it. Nate didn’t even see it coming, I mean, who would? 9 grown ups at chuck E cheese? Anyways, after all the girls’s stealth moves to run through the place without being seen through the giant windows, Geoffs clever plan to get Nate into the door, and me Jackie and Victoria tackling him screaming happy birthday, all Nate could say was “Are you serious right now?” And we answered by crowing him King of Chuck E Cheese that night with a token filled blow up crown. After stuffing our faces with pizza, it was time to take it to the game room, where, as Nate would put it, we showed off our “Epic” skills, (even though me and Jackie spent half the time in a roller coaster simulator) and ended up winning Nate close to 800 tickets, where he then picked out his new office weapon, a nurf gun. GREAT.

But Hey! At least me and Jackie found our new rides!!

Jealous? Yeah, I know.

Anywhoooo… Here are some more awesome pictures from the night.

I have learned many things from my experiences here at BambooSK8 that will help me in the future. Creating a weekly time sheet has really helped me plan out my time that I spend working for BambooSK8. It has made me a much more efficient individual, as I know exactly what I need to do and what time I should spend getting it done. Before I knew what had to get done, but would struggle to get my work done in an efficient manner because of a lack of planning.  Another practice that has helped me is creating a philosophy. This allows me to realistically judge my different skills and attributes so that I can improve on them. It has kept me focused on constantly improving and not settling for being stagnant. The charter has helped me understand what my role is at my position. It gives me a sense of meaning at BambooSK8 and helps me realize how I fit into the big picture. By having a MPS commitments sheet, I have been able to plan out what needs to get done by certain dates. This helps me keep on top of my work and plan for the future, not just on a weekly basis. Without the commitments, I would not get nearly the amount of work done that I do now.

My commitments have taught me a lot about each individual area I am working on. First and foremost I have learned about what it takes to manage a company’s social media outlets. I have been the leader on the HookIt and Twitter platforms. I have learned all about HookIt as I have not used it prior to this internship. I also have learned different strategies to try and get the users to interact and complete all the terms of their contracts. I have also learned a lot about all the different aspects of creating quality video content. Different shots, angles, effects, etc. I’ve learned so much here, it’s hard to put it into one blog entry!

We’ve all had some interesting and exciting experiences during this internship, or at least I can say I definitely have! BUT there is a serious side to all our joking around. I’ve learned so much just in these first 10 weeks of being here.. In the beginning we were introduced to something called the MPS System, which is basically a chart system with 3 parts, our Philosophy, our Charter, and our Commitments. Our philosophy help us grade ourselves as a person and makes us realize our strengths and weaknesses, in which I have learned a lot about what I need to improve on such as asking more questions when I am confused about something, and realizing that not everything is going to go my way 100% of the time. Our commitments have also been a huge help in helping me to monitor my week and basically break it down in front of my eyes to help me to realize where I am slacking in my duties and where I am excelling, which is also where my Weekly Wrap up comes into place. The weekly wrap up helps me to write out a time sheet in the beginning of the week to help me to better manage my time and to see what needs to be done within that week. It also shows a breakdown of what I’ve learned that week, and the higher level discussions that took place that week. At the beginning of the internship I was very skeptical about using this system, I felt that it would hurt me with managing my time more than help me, but it has actually proven the opposite.
Another major happening in the intern life of BambooSK8 was the MIDTERM. Probably one of the most stressful things we have had to do yet. I was always good in the math field, but accounting threw me a curve ball in the beginning, but by the end I was completely confident in myself that this midterm would be a breeze. (a breeze found in a hurricane that is.) Unfortunately I messed up one number and it messed my ENTIRE midterm up, but Geoff was kind enough to let us fix our midterms and re-submit them for a higher score. This midterm actually taught me a lot about the importance of income statements for a business and how money management is key in running a business and keeping it running. Now we just need to prepare for the final.. aye-yi-yi.
I’ve had a few road blocks during this internship that were slightly hard to get around, and about 90% of them were lack of communication and time management, but I’ve been working very closely with my mentors and I am on my way to the right route! One of the major things they’ve been teaching me is to ask questions. Just ask and ask and ask until you’re blue in the face. Communication is key if you are going to make it anywhere in life. My only trouble is in sales. I got a shop back home in NJ to buy 10 boards, but they are taking their sweet time with the process so it is effecting my points at the end of every week so hopefully someone will light a fire under their @$$ on that one!

Alright enough with the seriousness…

So the past weeks has been very stressful with the midterm and MPS.The midterm was a great way of learning how to build a company from scratch. I learned how to manage cash flow,and how to make net profit. It was crazy because I have never taken a accounting class in my life! I made a few errors, but I learned from my mistakes. We also had to completly redo our MPS. This took a lot of time to figure out. Thanks to Tyler he sent out a template that we could go off of. That helped so much.I am really focused in my sales. I need to get a huge order to get the points. I have been talking with Escape skate shop that our team rider Nick Sauls rides for. They are very intrested in our decks. Hopefully a big order will happen! Thats whats been going on in the last couple weeks. It has been crazy, but learning a lot! PEACE