Skate Blog Intern Blog

Day 10 brought the interns together again for another group meeting, plus Gary via electronic futuristic conference call thingy.  More clarity and less confusion were the result……. Yay!!!  I also tried setting some skate goals for myself and started skating around the warehouse.  Needless to say, I was winded after 2 minutes and was on the edge of black out/ heart attack…..which got me to thinking that these boards would be perfect for me.  yummy yummy heartattack

-Mark D

Put your hard hats on, myself and Greg did some renovating in the intern office today.  Four power drills and a jumble of wires later, we made two holes in the table…..Yay!!!!!  It actually organized everything way better than it was before and should make the office more conducive to creativity.  I’m not exactly amazing with the power drill, but I am working on it….so watch out Village People.

So last week brought big things in this neck of the woods…with that came an earlier then normal start time, but all for the good of Team Bamboo.  I myself was here to actually see it all go down and lend a hand as the trucks showed up and some of our bamboo products were loaded up and sent to numerous Lowe’s stores across the state…and a few neighboring ones.  So you might be askin what any of this has to do with the world of skate…well, without our fearless leaders makin these big moves, Bamboo Sk8 would cease to exist.  What some would consider the “not so sexy” side of this business is what in the end keeps the lights on and keeps it all progressing forward.  I was pretty stoked to be a part of the maiden voyage and hope there are countless more to come.

Viva La Bamboo

mmmmmm….donuts and red bull does a body good……… Day 8 brought the other intern, Monica, down from LA, very fun.  I worked on a marketing platform for Bamboo Sk8 and took some pictures of the first boards i painted.  Photo quality sucks i know, but I hope you enjoy.  I think i’ll do some more themed decks, they are just so fun and funny.

Mark D…. day 7….. mission possible….. loaded trucks today, fresh with Bamboo Buddy fencing.  It reminded me why i never wanted to become a professional mover.  It was definately cool to see a product being shipped to stores though.  Also, started thinking about american trucker culture and how crazy their lifestyle must be.  I want to know everything about it, especially the shady side of trucking.  Till tomorrow, keep on truckin.

What brought you to BambooSK8?

I come from the corporate world of traditional sports and sometimes football is just not the business. I had a brief taste of being a professional in the action sports world and was hungry for more. I came across this great opportunity with BambooSK8 and was stoked! It combined one of my most valued personal ideals of being environmentally sustainable with my love for action sports. Zing!

How is the internship so far?

While there were some bumps in the road at first (Master List ‘O Death, as Mark D. likes to call it), things appear to be rolling along and picking up the good vibrations. It’s been said that nothing worth having ever comes easy, so I know our hard work doing the icky parts will really pay off in the end.

What are you learning?

As a surfer girl, my board is missing wheels, so I’m learning about all the things that go into making it roll. And I’ve been learning how to work as a team again, which is so important in the professional world. Even if you’re the president, you’re often a small piece of the bigger picture that keeps everything rolling along.

What are your goals?

I’d definitely like to work on the networking and branding for BambooSK8. Ultimately, I want to work on my photography and eventually become legit where people throw wads of cash at me to take their picture. I kid, I kid. But I really do want to use my photography to tell a story and hopefully strike a chord to promote that which I am passionate about. I hope to start by taking some photographs for our nifty company to promote the radness of our bamboo movement.

A hui hou,
j j

Greetings Bamboo Sk8 folks,

First entry into the bamboo blog, or blogs in general for that matter, so hopefully this treats me kindly.  So things on the Bamboo Sk8 front are starting to take shape for us interns.  First month was a little up and down as we all got our feet wet and figured out all that was goin on.  We were able to attend both the Blackbox Distribution show as well as ASR (ASEC Green Room…Holla!) and as we make our way into month numero dos things are gettng interesting as we all have our pet projects at this point that we want to champion and charge full speed ahead on.  For myself, it’s testing sample decks and goin all Sherlock Holmes on any and all info that I can as it applies to wheels, trucks, bearings, glues, etc. as to what would be the best combo for a complete long board.  Took one of our sample decks into a local skate shop near my house in PB last week and had the guy put some trucks and wheels on it and then took it out this past weekend to see how it held up…and so far so good.  I’m a little bigger then your average long board rider and I ride my boards pretty hard.  Took this board out for a good two hours, or 5-6 miles…whatever you prefer, and it held up great.  Had to pump way less then I normally would with my shorter board and was able to kick back and cruise.  So for the first voyage…two thumbs up.  Stay tuned for more things to come from the Longboard Lothario.

Laterz

What brought you to bamboosk8? Well, the process began when I came to the realization that corporate America was not the thing for me. What can I say…sitting in a cubical is just not my jam! But, I do want to make good use of my education and combine that with my passion for snowboarding. So I thought to myself, what combines passion, excitement, and business? The Action Sports Industry! From that point forward I began researching various companies looking for internships and part time work. In my search, I came across BambooSk8 and instantly became excited because the company combines skateboarding, environmental sustainability, and practical experience that I can take with me on my journey into the real world.

How is the internship so far?
I have previously been employed as an intern for various corporate firms within the business world and as such I have had the privilege of making copies and running errands. Basically, I felt like I was not reaching my fullest potential and let me tell you it is one of the most unfulfilling experiences I have ever had. As a result it is no surprise that I am stoked to have my own responsibilities here at BambooSk8. There is a great sense of accomplishment when you are able to directly see the results of that work that you have completed. Although at times we all want our hand to be held and told exactly what we need to do I have come to realize we are only going to learn by figuring things out on our own and by making mistakes.

What are you learning? Lets see…I am leaning a lot! Seeing as we are still in the beginner stages as a company I am able to get a feel for what is means to work in various departments. For me this is very important because like so many I still do not know what I want to do with my life. By experiencing the various aspects of starting a new company I hope to find direction and ultimately an area in which I would like to specialize.

What are your goals? My goals are centered around the Loop’d network and increasing the knowledge and importance of becoming eco friendly in all aspects of life which includes our passions i.e. skating! We are living in an era that is going to see the direct consequences of our actions today therefore I am striving to get the younger generations excited and educated on the positive effects bamboo has on our environment and how they can play a direct roll by participating in our Eco-Tribe.  PEACE-Monica!

Oh! How I love Fridays! It’s raining and freezing today at the office. Yesterday I was talking to my Dad about skating in its formative stages. He told me about this film they showed him in Second grade called Skaterdater. It is a short film about the dilemma all Second grade boys encounter. Which is it, skating or girls? This short is sick because it shows where skating started. The skaters in this film are barefoot on tiny boards covered in wax because grip tape wasn’t invented yet and they had clay wheels. My dad was telling me how mind blowing and cutting edge hopping a curb was back in the 60’s. Skating has come so incredibly far and this film proves it! Check it out!

Till next time…..B

With each new class of interns, we have new personalities and skillsets to work with.  This time, we have a very diverse group of 9 from various backgrounds and education levels.  When I look back at all the learning lessons over the past 3 intern classes, the central theme becomes how to motivate people and see the vision.  Ultimately, people don’t know what they don’t know, so it is our job as leaders to help them see the light.  Here are a few key concepts to really think about as one progresses:

1.  Learn to kick your own ass and take responsibility.  In the future, the days of the industrial revolution mentality of carrot and stick and being managed are highly unlikely.  You have to learn to manage yourself and take responsiblity for getting results.  How will you ever grow as a leader in leading people if you can’t manage yourself?  4 functions of management are planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

2.  Attitude – people get hired for ability and fired for attitude.  I’ve seen my share of people with bad attitudes and its draining.  Between stimulus and response, we have the ability to choose.  If you choose to have a good day, you will have a good day.  We’ve had interns who got good results but their attitude was poor, which is ultimately why we know they won’t do well in the business world until they change it.  We try to help them, but its hard to change a behavior of someone who doesn’t even recognize their weakness.  They will when they fail a few times though, which everyone will experience at some point for the most part.  I learned this personally when I wasn’t getting promoted and I had to stop and look at the situation – so I asked for 360 feedback from everyone around me and chose from that day on that I would work on my attitude.

3.  Communication – It is imperative to be in touch with your team and know how your piece fits in with the others towards reaching results.  I often find folks not responding to emails quick enough or failing to ask their colleagues for assistance or feedback.  We had to get rid of 1 intern this class because of failure to communicate.  The most disappointing thing for me is when people don’t take the time to rack my brain with things; they forget I am a resource.  My door is always open…  Oh, and another weak part of communication is when people whine a lot and then complain to others to support their complaints.  That negative feedback always gets back to us; always!

I am looking forward to tremendous results out of this current group of interns.  2009 should be a strong base year for BambooSK8 as the world gets educated more on our 100% bamboo skateboards.

be kind,

Dr. Geoff

Had intern group meeting today…..finally some clarity in the group and some new goals to look forward to.  we are super close to slaying the beast that I call the “master shop list ‘O’ death”.  I like to remember that recycling and caring about the environment is not just for the hippies.   It can be fun, exciting, edgy, and sexy.  I mean look at Paris….she just paid 100 clams for this guy’s whole bag of cans, proving that recycling is like totally “in”.

Hey Hey

So I will be calling my first skateshops today on the famous “master list” shop…or as Mark likes to call it… “the master list ‘o’ death! I really don’t think it will be that bad… I’m listening to Mark calling one now and he sounds like a PRO! Holla

Wish me luck…

Cheers,

Kerrya

Dude whats up!

So I just got back into town after being gone for a week in Arizona!!!

It’s great to be back in SD and definitely awesome to be back at BambooSK8!

So I have started working on a facebook page for Bamboo, we have a myspace, but seriously myspace was so five years ago. Facebook is the new thing and think it is an absolute must have for companies these days, especially those reaching out to the younger consumers.

I had some difficulties with it at first (kept saying my password was wrong, but it wasn’t!) so hopefully today it should be up and running.

Check it out!

Cheers,

Kerrya

Yup yup…..I’m trying to post as much as possible to document my time here at Bamboo Sk8 for myself and others.  learned the whole shipping process today, messed up gripping my firstt boards but got the hang of it.  The first decks looked like a group of angry badgers used the decks to floss with.  Then i got on to looking at my goals I first set for myself.  One of which is a recycling program at skate parks.  Anywho found this sweet recycled chair.  Darth Vader use to rock it in his skate days.

Literally some Crap you could respect.  Crapeyewear based in San Diego is taking eyewear to a whole other level.  Stuff like this gets me stoked to get more creative and innovate, just like Bamboo Sk8 decks.  America is still innovative and sets trends around the world.  Our generation is amazing and needs to get its ass in gear.  Rad stuff happening, let’s be a part of it.

Still on the mastershop list ‘O’ death……took some time to catch back up with skating, and never realized how insane the carlsbad Gap is.  I always had classes next to it at Carlsbad High, and never realized how important this gap is to Skate history, and some of the very first tricks ever attempted.  It looks inoccent enough, but is really just a lurking beast ‘O’ death.

Hey girl hey, It’s my third day here at Bamboo Sk8 and am learning more and more. I worked on calling shops today which seems mundane, but builds character and confidence. I am always looking to build skills on my path to where ever it is i am going. Always remember to do what you love.

As the BambooSk8 internship comes to an end, I have learned and experienced so much during my three months here.  The internship has helped me mature and take a look into an industry that I really enjoy and care about.  I met a lot of really interesting people, most especially the other interns.  I learned about sales, goal-setting, and following up on commitments. I admire BambooSk8 for starting up during these frustrating economic times.  They are an innovative company with a lot of unique ideas.  Thank you, Wyatt, Geoff, and Ron for teaching me about the action sports industry and pushing me to get a job done.  I wish BambooSk8 much success in the future.

Thank you,

Ryan Buchholtz