Skate Blog Intern Blog

I made a trip to Colorado this week. I got to visit a couple shops and show them some bamboo skateboards.  The people over at Radio Boardshop in Aspen bought a couple samples off me, and are stoked to be carrying our product.  The local population there Is extremely conscious of the environment.  It is so beautiful there, why shouldn’t they want to take care of it?  I got to enjoy that environment quite a bit myself when I went swimming in a river and a hot springs.  We also did some skating and went to the rodeo.  Colorado gets a 10/10.

So far so good

Like I said on my last post that there might be trip or two to LA coming up. My first trip to L.A had nothing to do with the internship; I just had to go to see one of my favorite bands, Mötley Crüe, in Hollywood.  The concert was absolutely awesome so I was more than happy that I did this trip.

MVI_2052

This week we participated Go skateboarding day in Venice. We saw good skateboarding, crazy Venice locals and we also saw how easy it is to trick a Finnish intern but that’s enough about that.

Besides trips, we interns have been working on our projects and preparing for our coming mid-term exam. To clarify this a little bit, we are going to have an exam where our skills to understand running a business are tested. Our fellow intern Michelle is our accounting specialist and she has been a big help for the rest of us to figure out that stuff.  If you are reading this, thanks a lot for the help once again and I’m speaking for all of us.

This internship is in the half way and it’s crazy how fast the time has passed so I guess that’s what happens when your days are filled with interesting work. All in all, things are pretty good over here and I’m enjoying my time that’s for sure.

This weekend people in Scandinavia are celebrating the mid-summer fest so kippis (cheers in Finnish) to all my friends back home in Finland and have a good time guys!

Stay tuned and I’ll see you later!

Timo

Our group!!!

Timo is sooooooo happy!!! We have a lot of fun working here!!!

Wow! Almost done with week 6 and lots of things have happened since my last post. First of all, after too many hours of waiting and flying I finally arrived in Oceanside and already on the next day I went to the BambooSK8 office to see what’s going on there.  Next thing on my to do-list was to rent a place to stay and surprisingly I found one on the first day so things have started pretty well over here.

On my way...

I have been to some events lately with our warehouse manager Andrew. Last Saturday we hit the YMCA skate park in Encinitas to participate in El Camino High School Skate Club’s last contest of the year and this Tuesday it was time to go spread the word about bamboo skateboards to the Go green family night at Lakeview Elementary School in Lakeside. Kids seemed to get pretty stoked on our boards and we saw the next generation of rippers. All in all the event was way different from typical skate event but it was fun to talk with parents and kids about our stuff and in the end of the day we felt like we did a good thing for the community.

Kid giving feedback.

It has been cool to meet all the other interns and staff at BambooSK8 in person. The atmosphere here at the BambooSK8 “intern cave” has been something I’ve never experienced in my previous jobs. We work hard on our projects and when things get too overwhelming then you know it’s time to take a short skate break.

Skate break

So that’s pretty much what’s up and can’t wait to see what this well started adventure holds. At least in the coming weeks there is going to be a trip or two to LA and hopefully much more kick ass stuff. I’ll promise to keep you guys updated. Have an awesome weekend and see ya later!

Timo

I got with a couple friends and headed over to the MOCA in Downtown L.A. to check out this exhibit called Art in the Streets.  It featured a collection of “street artists”, who specialize in creating guerrilla art in public for everyone to enjoy.  If you are interested in learning more about street art, the documentary “Exit through the Gift Shop” tells a pretty informative, and entertaining story on the subject.

It was awesome to see the skateboarding community well represented by the likes of Mark Gonzales, Ed Templeton, Craig Stecyk, and Neckface, along with other heavy hitters  like Banksy and Shepard Fairey.  There was also a skateable installation made by Lance Mountain and Jeff McFetridge that was really cool.

skatable art

Skateboarding has a lot to offer to all kinds of folks.  Athletic people tend to approach it as a sport and emphasize physical power and ability.  Artistic minded people tend to think of skateboarding as an art, and focus more on style and expression.  The Art in the Streets exhibit was an awesome presentation of art influenced by skateboarding lifestyle.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the relationship between art and skateboarding.  (it ends august 8th)

It is inherent in every class that some interns will bail early, others will flunk out and the strong will survive.  First and foremost, we recognize that not everyone is going to like the structure of our internship program but the greater percentage always do.  This is why we work hard in the interviewing stage to get a feel for those that will truly enjoy it and be successful.  Now, like most things in life, you don’t know if you will like something until you get in the trenches and we understand that.   We always want people to do what is best for them.   The part that is sticky is when people bail on their commitment to finishing the internship with little regard for the fact that in the beginning they said they would commit to the full 4 months and we already invested heavily into them.  When one leaves, it say’s something about their trust-worthiness, their integrity, etc.  In this type of close-knit industry, it’s never good to burn a bridge because that will ultimately come back to bite you in the ass one day.

Anyhow, we’re use to this cycle, as we are dealing with young fresh college kids who don’t have much experience in the real world and who have yet most often to really have their character defined or to even understand what it means to have character, integrity, etc.  It’s all a part of the amazing journey of life and life is beautiful.

For those interns that are still working hard, we appreciate you.  Keep up the good work!!  We couldn’t do this without you!!!