Something else going on is prepping for the mid-term. So far, we have learned about different aspects of accounting like gross profit. Geoff told us that the most difficult part of the mid-term will be lead time. We haven’t learned about it yet, but I’m worried it will be similar to the concepts I learned in my Operations Management class… which was my second least favorite class in history!!! I will be sure to keep everyone updated.

Highlights of my week are that I ordered a nice variety of decks to sell and they will be here next week. Then I will begin visiting skateshops, a part of the internship I am most excited about! I also went to Aspen this weekend for the X Games! And yes, Shaun White’s pants really are that tight.

It is currently snowing like a boss outside, so visiting skateparks will be for next week. Eleven inches plus here in Denver… time for a little urban snowboarding!

Collaborating with all the other interns has been an awesome experience. Working together has been a blessing and a challenge. The interns have provided great insight and great tools to contribute to efficiency and results. It’s been really hard getting us all together but people have been flexible and worked with their schedules for the best of the group.

We’ve had great weekly discussions. We received a great deal of information and insight into business strategy and bamboosk8’s strategy that has helped immensely to understand what bamboosk8 is all about.

I’ve been adjusting to working with new social media tools and new ways to use social media tools I’ve already worked with. I’ve had problems managing my time efficiently and I have addressed these issues by paying more attention to every task I work on and how long it’s taking me. I’ve also took advantage of having a timesheet with priorities laid out so that I have direction in my activities and know when I spend too much time on a task.

The big bosses have provided great feedback and constructive criticism. Mark has really helped me with how to address interview questions and with great insight into value added activities. They all have been great motivators, they radiant positive energy that is contagious and inspiring.

Overall, this is been the most intense, most amazing experience so far. I already feel that I have achieved much personal and professional growth and am looking brightly at the future 3 months.

It’s all about the bamboo!!

Alameda Skatepark

The street signs in my neighborhood are made with skateboards!! ha

Alameda skatepark (SF in the background)

West Oakland (Town Park)

Another West Oakland (Town Park)

The Bamboo decks I am selling at skate shops and skate parks!

We are already into week 4 of the internship! I have to admit that I did not think this internship would be such a big commitment when I signed up for it.  I am finding it is difficult to meet my 20 hour requirement while also working another job.  It is definitely a sacrifice to do something like this without being paid. With that being said, I believe this internship will pay dividends down the road. The things I am learning about business will make me much more marketable when this internship is completed.  Even more importantly, I am learning more about myself. Since I still do not know exactly what I want to do for a career, I like the fact that I am exposed to every area at BambooSk8 from marketing to sales to operations and inventory. I think working a little bit in each of these areas will help me identify what I do like and what I don’t like so I know what to focus on when I get out of here.

Even though we are only interns, we are definitely not treated like interns. We have access to all their information, facilities, etc. from Day 1. We are held accountable for meeting our goals. The office is super cool too. It is a laid back environment but everyone works really hard! Being connected to the warehouse and getting to see all their products helps even further to understand the Bamboo business model.  And finally, a company wouldn’t be anything without good people.  The mentors here are all dedicated to helping us succeed. On top of that, they are fun to hang out with. Since I work in the office on Fridays, I am around when they make their weekend plans so I got a chance to hang out with the crew for pizza and drinks Friday night, good times!

Yasha Meyer: 2nd place at 4th Southern Slaughter 2012

            On January 29^th, 2012 I attended the 4^th annual Southern Slaughter 2012 skate competition at 3^rd Lair Park in Golden Valley, MN. I went to support BambooSK8’s own ECO TRIBE- Level 3 rider, Yasha Meyer. After battling through day one and qualifying for the final on Sunday, I was there on Sunday to cheer Yasha on. He was riding the NEW 4^th Generation Owl & Cat deck with all the swag in the world. After a long day on Sunday, Yasha was ready for the results. His BambooSK8 Owl & Cat deck served him well and he placed 2^nd in the 13-15 year old finals!

            The event brought out some awesome skaters with a lot of talent. I fell in love with all the kids in the 8 and under age group. The future of skating boarding will be in those kids! 3^rd Lair did such an awesome job for this event. I cannot wait to go back for another event! Props go out to Mark Muller and all the guys down at 3^rd Lair. BambooSK8 is super proud of Yasha and everything he is doing. Check out the video of highlights from the event.

BE GREEN. SKATE BAMBOO. LIVE NOW.

Oh! how could I forget the Greenwashed Music Ritual? Curious huh? Well…

The Green Washed Ritual II digital music compilation features 10 amazing artists from around the world who have kindly donated one song each to promote sustainability.  For every purchase on the BambooSK8 website, you will receive via email an access code for all 10 songs upon completion of the shopping cart purchase.  As a bonus, you will also get the 20 songs from the first GWR compilation.  Pretty stellar, right?!?!  I mean, who doesn’t like music?

Show some love for these awesome bands by letting your friends know who you are listening to and purchase the bands music!!

With everything going on, I did steal some time to skate a bit….

      to do some luging? 

and sing “With or Without You” by U2 to a lady at work….note the pen microphone! LOL

  She was diggin it!!!

I think overall all of us interns are developing strategies to meet our goals and represent for BambooSK8 in the way should! And we will!! It’ll be really cool to see what the next couple of weeks will bring and what I will learn from this company, my mentors and from the other interns! I’m expecting the best in every situation.

By the way, you want to do your good deed for the day?

“Like” us on FB:   www.facebook.com/BambooSk8

Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/BambooSK8

Check out the Greenwashed music Ritual:    www.bamboosk8.com/misc/music.php

And last but certainly not  least, buy a bamboo board! Save a tree. Skate green!

Thanks in Advance!!

      ~T

The bosses are really helping me this week when it comes to the different goals and commitments I am working on. I appreciate all of their help, because I know how much time it takes out of their day to help us as well as how much this information will help me in relation to my future jobs. I am also learning a lot about myself, how much I can accomplish and how long it is going to take me. I am excited to start editing old videos and brainstorming new ideas for projects. I am also excited for future contests and events that we are going to hold, because it is good to be involved in the community and give these kids something to get excited about!!! I leave you with a link to the video I made from my trip to Bali in August…

I have been interning at Bamoosk8 for about four weeks now and let’s just say I got off to a very rocky start. I was so excited to start the intern process that when it actually started I got so overwhelmed with everything my performance definitely suffered. It has been really fun learning how to Skype with all of the interns, there is nine of us that have survived the first few weeks. I am also enjoying getting to know Geoff Koboldt the president at Bamboosk8. He has been my mentor the last few weeks and I have really learned a lot from him.  Another highlight was selling my first deck, it was a Bamboosk8 blank pool deck to my friend Jeff he is an old school skater and loves long boards.

Now that I am a few weeks in I have been thinking about what is next, I have been thinking of a few of the top companies that I would want to work for other than Bamboosk8 once I finish my internship. My top choice would definitely be Billabong. I have loved them as a brand for a while now and even have a few friends that I know that work there. They are located next to where I live so my commute would be a breeze which is always an added benefit. RVCA would be my next choice. They are owned by Billabong and are a very strong company. I love what they stand for; bringing art, music, and action sports together is awesome. Hurley would also be a top choice of mine, the company stands for love for the ocean, positivity, with a premium on smiles. All of these things I try and live by in my life. Having the opportunity to work for any of these companies would be great, they all are strong and have a large part in making the action sports industry what it is today.  Now, I just need to stay positive and finish the internship here at Bamboosk8, so I can hopefully work for one of these great companies someday!

We’re now at the end of our first month with Bamboosk8 and lots it’s happening. When I start to think “OK, I’m getting the hang of it” something comes up in my email and a new exciting task is given to us. So far we’ve been put in charge of different sections of the brand with KPI’s that we have to reach weekly forcing us to work hard and come up with new ways to achieve our goals.

Also, this week I’m moving to a new place which makes everything even harder, however I’m very excited to make new friends and spread the word about Bamboosk8. I’ve got some decks coming Down Under soon, so I’ll start skating different spots and get people’s attention with my higher than usual ollies thanks to the greater pop that comes from the bamboo!

Have you ever had to move house? How was it? leave a comment if you want.

On top of that, this week I also lost a friend and it’s been hard to keep positive and keep going through such a hard time. Shaun was a good friend of mine and I’ll miss him, but what I’ll miss more is having a chat everyday about the surf or having a beer on the veranda, while another plane was passing by in order to land. You would have never thought he was ill, apart from rare occasions and he was always laughing. Anyway, that’s a picture of him and I will always remember him as a friend that never asked anything in return for his friendship.

Did you loose anyone in your life? how did you cope? leave a comment if you want.

In the end, it’s been a hectic month, but I’m leraning so much that it cannot be put in text here. I’m in a team working on Facebook (go and LIKE the page if you haven’t yet at http://www.facebook.com/BambooSk8),  we’re working with athletes and followers on Hook it (http://www.hookit.com/brands/bamboosk8/)  and we’ve been learning about how to work in a team, about cash flows, income statements and more.

This internship is a massive learning curve for me and everyone else, I hope you get inspired by our stories and you will apply as well for future internships in your way to get work experience in the action sport industry and to help people learn about the environment buying sustainable brands.

Talk to you soon
Gabe

It has been pretty hectic trying to hit all the deadlines assigned, but it should get easier. So far, I have been focusing on completing my Hookit contacts and the Master Shop List. Next on my list of things to do is get all of my team on board and implementing the many ideas we have come up with! It’s time to hit the ground running and get massive traffic to the BambooSk8 site!!!!

SOOOOOOO..do me a solid and like the BambooSk8 Facebook Fan Page!!! Just click the link!!!

BambooSK8

Promote Your Page Too

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!!!!

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

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’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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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….

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!

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!!

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

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.

• 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

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 :]

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.

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.

Have a Happy turkey day,

Tyler

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!!!

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.

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!

Alright enough with the seriousness…

Big Chicago Bears victory over the Eagles on Monday. Pretty excited about it.  Over the weekend I worked a sustainable home and garden event for the Bamboo Buddy side of the company.  It was a good time, there was a lot of cool companies at the event that are focused on helping people live more sustainably.  I built a mini city out of the coasters that we give out at events, which actually attracted a lot of potential customers to our booth.

Its been a little more than 2 months here at Bamboo Sk8.  We have been using a system called MPS to track goals and results.  It has really helped me keep track of where I started and where I am trying to go in terms of helping this company improve.  Also, I just got my midterm back and I did pretty well getting 45 out of 50 points.   The midterm helped me really think about and understand the importance of an income statement and statement of cash flow, for a business.  It also made me think about how this internship has helped me grow as a young businessman.  It has helped me focus more on getting results and also on leading a team of fellow interns towards results as well.  After having to focus on my time management and efficiency (through a weekly time-sheet) I am more aware of how my time is spent and sometimes wasted.  This helps me get the most out of my time spent inside and outside the office.

Currently I am working on getting press on blogs and other media outlets.  It has been a challenge reaching out to reporters and bloggers.  However, the PR team and I are working on writing press releases for our upcoming skate events in hopes that someone will want to blog about it or post it on their websites.  Overall I am learning a lot from my mentors (Geoff- the president and Mark- the operations manager).  They helped me prepare for an interview that I had last week and they also teach us a lot about the industry and the company in general.

As for whats coming up, its almost 11/11/11.  I have to start thinking about a major wish that I am going to use at 11:11 am and pm on 11/11/11.  World Peace? Ending world hunger?…. no more like the ability to fly or maybe invisibility….

That’s it for me this week have a good weekend,

Tyler

To me, the midterm was as scary and nerve wrecking as if you told me to go surf Pipeline. I had no clue how to go about it or even where to start. During the weeks prior to the mid term Geoff k and Geoff C were able to assist me and walk me through the different sections of the income and cash flow statements, and why they are important. I ended up getting a good grade on the mid term, definitely refrigerator worthy, and I think that the understanding of this topic is something I will be able to carry with me throughout my life.

People that walked around were very interested in the Bohdi Loka dishware, and many people wanted to purchase it as soon as possible. My brother and I went to look around the different stations to see what all was going on. The garden section of the event was definitely more geared towards families than the home section, which was where we were located. Austin and I spent a good 15 minutes playing with the puppies at the adoption station and fell in love with one in particular (see picture below). Her name was Marisa and she was an Austrailian Shepherd mix and was absolutely adorable. Let me just tell you, we already have 2 aussie mixes at home and I swear we have the hardest time resisting them. We actually weighed out the pros and cons of bringing home this puppy. In the end we decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea considering we pretty much just came home with our other dogs and our parents weren’t entirely pleased.

After we were able to tear ourselves away from Marisa we headed back to our booth to continuing with the talk of sustainable living with all of the people walking by!!!

Oh, and I won a cool mustache from the vendor across the way…. sexy eh?

The other people involved in our segment were all running a little bit late and arrived only 10 minutes prior to the airing time! This caused mass havoic as everyone scrambled to set up and determine who was going to be talking. To top all of this off, there was a goat. Yes, you heard me correctly a goat named Melly was also going to star in the segment. Oh, and to top it all off it was raining.

BUT, in the end, the news segment was a success and our tiki bar got awesome exposure (as it served as the table for a smoothie and food demonstrations).

After the news segment successfully wrapped up Jenn and I took off on another mission. We were to pick up some bamboo boards from a printer in Mira Mar. This was a seemingly simple task but it was turning out that with us nothing would be. When we arrived at what we thought was the warehouse we walked in and politely asked for Frank. Two men were standing together and one of them turned to the other and asked “do you wanna be Frank today?” After some joking around between the two men they revealed to us that they were a school and they had no clue where we would be picking up the boards. We were finally able to located Frank at the warehouse directly next door and obtain the order of bamboo boards. But, have no fear it wasn’t a simple process. Frank started to ask us questions about whether or not we were taking all of the boards or leaving some for later. Figuring out what he was saying was not an easy task. Neither Jenn nor I were very good at understanding people with accents, and Frank’s was extremely thick.

We were beginning to discover that every trip this day would be slightly out of the ordinary, but that’s what keeps life exciting right?

Oh, and this is Shamroc.

I know I’ve been talking about trick tips coming out, but Nate has been swamped getting the new skate team together. Next week it’s going down though I promise! The new and improved team will consist of Nick Sauls, David Kahn, and Terrence Marshall riding flow. Matt Cartledge, Ryan Strader, and Mikee Brown will be the AM skaters. I have to study up for the midterm next week, wish me luck!

I was Mayhem (the allstate guy for Halloween), our operations manager Mark dressed up as Nate, and Nate dressed up as Mark.   What was everybody else??

Until next time,

Tyler

In other news, Chelsea and I just got back from one of the most interesting mornings ever. We made our way down to KUSI channel 9 news to do a segment for the Garden and Home fest at 7:00AM this morning to get there to meet one of the most interesting characters ever, Shamroc (see below), and if his name wasn’t awesome enough…you just need to meet him to understand. Anyway, he had given us directions to go back around to the front to get Chelseas car to unload the tiki bar, little did we know another obstacle would come our way.. We had gotten inside the gate by pushing a button and them buzzing us in, but on the way out no button was present, so me and chelsea were running and jumping around in front of the gate hoping to hit a sensor to open the gate for us, but when that didn’t work Chelsea decided to use her super human strength to open the gate, of course that failed too, so I resulted to asking the little landscaper guy to push the button on his side to let us out, for him to just let us know we are dumbasses and there was a button right in front of our faces. SO I really hope that everyone in the studio was watching us through a security camera laughing at us making fools of ourselves.  Aaaaanyway just as I thought things couldn’t get any better in walks “Sally Smarty-Plants” and her goat “melancholy Child” or Melly for short. (See picture below.) Anyway, after finally setting up for the segment, and almost watching The Red Door Chef burn down our tiki bar, things were rolling. Watching Sally Smarty Plants and Melly in action was priceless, especially when Melly began to eat the news casters script… After the segment was over we packed up and set off on another journey to pick up some Bamboo Boards we had just gotten printed.. Seems simple, right? Well… Leave it to us to make it a fiasco. We stopped at the La Jolla mall first to see if we could get some food, but apparently no food court is open at 9:30, and malls get flooded with orange-skinned cougars wearing bright pink lipstick.. Once we finally found our way to the warehouse, following a very well thought out diagram drawn for us (see below),  of course it was time to make an ass out of ourselves again by walking into the wrong warehouse and asking for “Frank.” The two guys that were in there decided that they were going to play Frank for the day and finally after 5 minutes decided to tell us they had no idea who Frank was and we were in the wrong place. So we walked out to see the real Frank pull up, and boy was he another character to add to our day, out walked a little chinese man in kaki parachute pants. Nice man, but we could not understand a word he was saying! So as me and Chelsea took a minute to compose ourselves and go outside and call someone, each hoping the other got some of what he had said, luckily Geoff C. knew what was up. So we took the boards and said farewell to Frank and moved on to go get some food, can’t go wrong with that. We had found a nice place that served Acai bowls which we were craving, but that turned into another expedition in itself. After driving in and out of warehouses we finally realized that Acai Roots was actually another warehouse we gave up and headed back to BambooSK8. On the way home I had my first experience at The Yellow Deli, I don’t really know what to say about that place other than I felt like I was in an Amish/medieval barn for lunch, but they had some pretty cool bathroom signs ( see below). After that we finally made it back to unload the car and get some work done.

This is Shamroc and Sally Smarty Plants…

The awesome Map we got to follow..

And Here are a few other pictures of the event.

Leaders work to get people to believe in their ideas and what they will become. They do not sit out their high horse and dish out jobs to their employees. Instead they immerse themselves in the company and get to know the employees. They focus on communicating their vision with their employees, tying customer benefits to employee contributions, linking working to results and instilling passion in their employees.

Leadership is essential for all companies to grow into a successful business. Through this internship I am learning about how different leaders approach running a company and what is most effective.

                                                      Beer Board                                 Ipod And Speakers Built In                                Jeff Ho Surfboard

                                                                      Shaping a Blank                                                             Drew Brophy

                                                                             Glassing                                                                 BambooSK8 Tent

Nate and I worked on filming some trick tip videos yesterday, so be on the lookout for them soon on our YouTube channel. Here’s a preview for you…

Several weeks ago, at the Rerip Surf Contest in Cardiff by the Sea, my girlfriend Katie purchased a 42″ Double Kick Tsunami deck from our booth. She has grown up longboarding the hills of Oregon and was hesitant to give up her Sector 9 ways, but she loved what the boards stood for so she took a chance. Since then a day rarely passes that she doesn’t ride her bamboo board, whether its to lacrosse practice or just to class. She still attends the University of Redlands and has noticed that her board has been getting a lot of attention around campus these days.  People have asked questions about it and she has stepped up as a spokesperson, of sorts, in Redlands.

Each new rider that chooses bamboo over maple is becoming an advocate for our decks, taking on the responsibility to share their knowledge, their expereinces and their love for bamboo!!

]]> http://www.bamboosk8.com/interns/2011/10/how-is-it-already-week-6/feed/ 0 http://www.bamboosk8.com/interns/2011/10/2848/ http://www.bamboosk8.com/interns/2011/10/2848/#comments Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:03:10 +0000 TJohnston http://www.bamboosk8.com/interns/?p=2848 Greetings and salutations,

I am excited about this week mostly because it is supposed to be 75 and sunny all week, gotta love living in southern California.  Over the weekend all of us at BambooSK8 worked at the Sacred Craft Surf Expo in Del Mar.  It was a really cool event.  There was two “shaping stations” and one section for glassing boards.  We were outside in the “Skate Zone” which had its pro’s and con’s.  It was nice because the weather was great all weekend, but when a Van Halen cover band came out to play it ruined the whole vibe out there.  I have a lot on tap this week dealing with PR and growing our videos, so I figure why not start now? Check out our commercial and enjoy your week!

Later,

Tyler

BambooSK8 Commercial

Shaping at the surf expo

But well, here is a simplified travel map of the Octobomb.

It started from Bamboosk8’s hometown Oceanside California. Then it landed in San Jose Costa Rica. Traveled around Nicoya Peninsula and found great surf. Back to San Jose and back on flying towards Bulgaria in Sofia.

From Sofia traveled by bus to Istanbul, Turkey, then by train to Eskisehir still Turkey.

Then few months after The Octobomb took a trip by car to Trabzon eastern Turkey on the black sea shores. Then a bus ride to Tbilisi; Georgia.

Then back to Istanbul by plane and from there to Eskisehir by train. Then by bus from Eskisehir to Istanbul airport again!

From Istanbul airport, to the Canarias Islands by plane during Christmas.

From the Canarias to Antigua (Caribbean’s), on a sailing boat, 20 days at sea.

From there again on board of a sailing boat to Guadeloupe. Then from Pointe a Pitres (Guadeloupe) back to Antigua by plane. And as you know, to English harbor sea bed…

All in all, 27 774 km (17 258 miles), almost 3 time the circumference of the moon! Not bad for a locker board!!

It was a pleasure to travel with that deck, sadly she is stuck behind.

Ha, I almost forgot, here is a link about the skatepark we built in Turkey, the entire story. If you have 24 min to loose enjoy! http://vimeo.com/30017852

There are many different levels and sectors in which this index can be used, whether it be for a specific product or a company as a whole. As this program progresses and becomes more fine tuned, its uses will become apparent. Companies will strive to be a part of this program, because
people will understand and value the power of being eco conscious.

This past weekend BambooSK8 attended the MOSTIC skate demo at Ocean Beach Surf & Skate. A great time was had by all that came out! BambooSK8 raffled off a deck and there was some great skating by MOSTIC team riders Patrick Donivan and Joel Mercier. Our videographer Nate got in on the skating action too!

This week has been a lot less hectic now that everyone has figured out exactly what they are doing. In my free time I’ve been surfing as much as the waves will let me. It’s been kind of small lately, but I’m heading down to Blacks today to try and catch some bigger waves. The past few nights the waves have looked really cool because they’ve been glowing with algae! I took some video of it two nights ago. Check it out!

Keep it real,

Woodrow

Until next time,

Tyler

Tarp Surfing at the Cardiff Surf event we were at last week

The first few weeks at BambooSK8 have been fast and furious, but definitely worthy of a little jealousy. Our team of interns alone is enough to make one green with envy; we’re basically a dream team, an elite group of sustainable skateboard ninjas on bamboo if you will. We’re here to kick ass and take names. Actually, we’re here to promote sustainability, sell sick bamboo decks, hit up the best events, create and innovate, and learn our butts off….but isn’t that basically one in the same?

Our skill set is diverse, as are our personalities, but combined we’re like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when their rings unite. Props to the big guys at BambooSK8 for assembling the best group of people I could possibly ask to work with (hey, our bosses aren’t half bad either). Although things have just started to get rolling here in intern class 11, we’ve already done a crazy amount of cool things and made some serious headway in the learning and planning departments. To be quite honest with you, theres far too much to tell you about for one blog post….plus, I obviously want to leave you all hanging!

Updates, photos, and all around awesome stuff soon to come!

Peace&Love

E

This week has been busy but fun so far! On Monday the interns headed to Point Loma Nazarene University for their annual Green Fest. We had an opportunity to spread the word about BambooSK8 and sold some decks. Another event that BambooSK8 will be attending is The Cardiff Surf Classic & Rerip Green Fest. We did a fun segment promoting the event on San Diego 6 this morning. A few of us tarp surfed while Mark Olson, the operations manager, talked about the boards we offer.

Getting ready to go on air...

The Cardiff event should be a fun this weekend, and I’m stoked to check it out!

Until Next time!

I knew I wanted to focus on looking for a company that had environmental values and focuses similar to my own. I stumbled upon BambooSk8 when searching eco-conscious businesses in the San Diego County.  In the recent years it has been increasingly apparent that being “green” is no longer a trend but a necessity, that all people need to focus on. BambooSk8 is an extremely one of a kind company that is bringing to necessity of being environmentally friendly to the skate world. Bringing together two realms and proving that all  people from all walks of life can make changes in order to help our planet. I am very excited to be a part of BambooSk8 and I look forward to learning everything I can from the four amazing months in my future!

I’m Tyler one of the interns from class 11 at Bamboo Sk8.  We are just starting week 2 here and things have been going well so far.  It has been a crazy two weeks for me because I just moved out here from Colorado but I finally found an apartment and am excited to move off of my buddy’s couch!

I wanted to join the Bamboo Sk8 team because it seemed like the perfect stepping stone for a career in the action sports industry.  I have been snowboarding, wakeboarding, and longboarding for about 15 years but I felt like now was the time to try to get into the business side of the industry.  I have learned a lot in my first two weeks and yesterday I sold my first longboard at the Point Loma Sustainability Fair!  All in all its pretty good out here in Oceanside.

Until next time,

Tyler

View from the Point Loma event

Go to our Facebook Page http://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/poll.php?pid=ABTYlMiTLxs to vote!!!

It sure has been an amazing experience for me to do this internship here at BambooSK8. I came here in the beginning of June not knowing anybody here and now I’m leaving knowing so many awesome people. First of all I want to thank BambooSK8 for giving me this opportunity to take one step closer to find my spot in action sport industry. This internship has truly made me more confident that this industry is where I want to pursue my career.

Thanks AG, Geoff C, Geoff K, Mark, Wyatt for all the help and mentoring. I’m sure I’m more prepared for the future challenges after this 16-week period, thanks to these guys.  I also want to thank our filmer/editor/skater Nate, my fellow interns Brian, Luna and Charlie and of course the warehouse crew for the awesome company and good times along the journey…you guys rock!

Now it’s time to take a little bit time off and enjoy my last days of my California adventure before going back to Finland. I’ll make sure to spread word about BambooSk8 in Scandinavia and I’ll definitely be in the spirit. Alright, I think that’s  it…that’s all.

Wishing all the best,

Timo

This weekend the plan was to drop by at the Crossroads Retail Show in Carlsbad to see what’s going on there. Check out the link to find out what’s up http://www.crossroads-show.com/.

So yeah, we are already in the end of week 14, which means that I have only two weeks left here at BambooSK8. We’ll see how it’s going to be and I’ll make sure to post a little wrap up of the whole 16 week internship in my last blog post in two weeks.  I’ll try to come up with some good stuff for the final post so stay tuned!

See ya,

Timo

Outside of the business hours I’ve been getting back to actually skating again after a 10-year break. At first it was hopeless (and it still is), but I’m super stoked about the fact that I got some of the tricks back that I used to be able to do. Last Friday we even got some footage with my fellow intern, Charlie, but that’s something that is not ready to be published here at this point

Anyways, things are going well and I just realized that there are only four more weeks left. So like I said, time flies by….

Have a great weekend guys and I’ll see ya later.

Timo

Our staff has experienced some changes after my last post. Our warehouse manager Andrew decided to leave BambooSK8 to pursue his master degree. So AG, thanks man for all the help and I wish you all the best with your new plans.  One of the interns from class 9, Geoff C stepped up and filled the position and things seem to be rolling pretty smoothly and he is ON IT! It is awesome to see that hard work during the internship pays off like this.

Also the new website is coming up one of these days and new decks are coming in next week so that’s good news and be sure to check them out. Other than that things are rolling and our small group of interns is still trying to do its best to push forward. It’s been a long week so I’m ready for the weekend for sure! See you!

Timo

AM’s:

David Kahn, 21 years old from Oviedo Florida

http://youtu.be/2gpF7vnHlm4

Stephen Nunez: 25 years old from San Francisco “Bay Area”

http://vimeo.com/4855708

Mikee Brown: 18 years old from Oceanside CA

http://youtu.be/iIhlu9Dj0dE

Check back in two weeks for an update on the Flow and Pro teams…its gonna be epic!!

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

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

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)

Sole Technology Training Facility

Things are going great over here at BambooSK8. Some of our fellow interns have dropped out of the program but we are still doing amazing. We have filmed a bamboo forest with a remote control helicopter!!!! So, keep an eye out for our new videos being released all over the internet. On a lighter note I have been skating at the Sole Technology Training Facility and all I can say is wow!!! I have been telling everyone over there about the bamboo decks and to be honest most people notice that it is different before I even tell them. People are stoked on it and I hope I can sell them some decks soon.

Brian

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!!!

So when I am hard at work, I have been spending A LOT of time with my eyes glued to the computer.  I’ve just been surfing the web looking for ways to spread the awesomeness of BambooSK8 to the world.  Public relations and marketing has definitely taken on a new style with online media and I’m learning a lot about what I do personally and expanding that into how to do it professionally.

I think Twitter is a great platform for sharing large lots of information, but it’s easy for a message to get lost in the chaos.  So in order to learn it all, I have been spending a lot of time on Twitter interacting with Followers and trying to be consistent.   The one thing I do truly love about Twitter is the wealth of information it is and it’s been a great help.  I have been looking for events BambooSK8 could participate in by network and educating about our boards.

I did struggle a lot this past week because I didn’t plan ahead and a mix of traveling to Kansas and bad weather created some problems for me.  Well, now I know I need to prepare better for the future and sometimes life just happens.  Can’t plan for everything, but planning ahead would have helped me to work around the problems in front of me.  Only thing I can say now is, this California Girl is glad to be home and my heart truly goes out to all the people in Missouri and Kansas who lost their homes in tornados this past weekend.

“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” – Bernice Johnson Reagon

Week 4 is coming to an end and so is my time here in Finland. It’s pretty rare that I wait Monday as much as I do right now. What makes this coming Monday so special is that I finally get to hop on a plane and head to Oceanside…man I’ve been waiting for this!

Already 4 weeks of this internship and things are rolling. I started to work on the European project last week and I wasn’t sure what to expect since I heard it hasn’t been an easy project for the previous classes. Well, shops in Europe have already shown serious interest in our short decks and long boards so I’m really getting stoked about this and I’ll keep working hard to spread the word about BambooSK8.  So all the European shredders out there, we are on the way!

I haven’t been able to work on my other projects so much yet but once I get there it’ll all change. It’ll be cool to finally meet all the other interns and BambooSK8 crew in person and get settled in Oceanside. But before I hop on the plane and start this adventure it’s time to get together with my best friends for the last time in a while and have a rockin’ time.

Wishing you all a great weekend…see ya!

Timo

A week has been passed since my last blog. Everything is going on pretty well! I set up my commitment for my internship with BambooSK8 under the help of my mentor and began to work on it. I think it is a good start for me. O(∩_∩)O

During the week, I focused myself on learning QuickBooks, an accounting software that is popularly used by small companies. I installed the software on my laptop and downloaded tutorial to facilitate my learning process. I think I am good at self study and I have made a great process after several days’ practice. I am working to familiar myself with both the software and the transactions of BambooSK8 so that I could be able to help Geoff with some accounting issues.

Besides my time for the internship, I began to study for the CPA exam which comes in August. My professor said a CPA license could double my salary; Geoff joked I love money $_$. Probably…But I really believe my study for the CPA exam will greatly enhance my professional knowledge and improve my skill as an accountant. Anyway, everything worth well deserves my efforts.

It seems that I could harvest both knowledge (with CPA) and practice (with BambooSK8) during the summer! How meaningful it is to me! ( ⊙ o ⊙ )

Have a good one!

Michelle

I think the blog gives me a good opportunity to introduce myself and show my life! My name is Xiaohan Liu and people around me call me Michelle since it is a lot easier for them to remember and pronounce (^_^). I come from Beijing, China, and this is just my first year in the U.S. I am pursuing my Master’s degree in accounting in Michigan State University, the same university that our BambooSK8’s president Geoff got his B.S. in Chemistry. It is super lucky for me to come to the beautiful California and have my internship with BambooSK8 during the summer.

It is a fantastic experience to meet my peers and work together with them in our special office that Geoff designed for us. My first day is kind of busy but it does have a lot of fun. I enjoy the working atmosphere here and I feel satisfied every time when I get my job done. The philosophy I filled this week made me realize and think about my advantages and weakness as an intern/employee. I know there is a lot to do, and I will always try my best. I firmly believe that the special internship in BambooSK8 will provide me great opportunity to improve myself and make my new achievements! I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks and I just can’t wait to project my life for the special summer—my first summer in the U.S.!!!

Hope everyone enjoy your day!

Michelle



I enjoy the scenery here, quite different than that in Michigan O(∩_∩)O

Before I get to much into this let me introduce myself! I am Beth and I am part of the 10th intern class, although I do not skateboard, I have grown up in the action sports industry which includes wakeboarding and motocross. Although when I say motocross I really mean watching motocross and going out to the desert with my family and riding bikes and buggies!  You can generally find me at the lake/beach in the summer or a baseball stadium cause I am huge fan of baseball and in the winter playing in the sand out at the desert!

Our first week in the “intern cave” as they call it here at BambooSK8, it was rather detailed and full of information, the day/week flew by which makes me think this entire internship will fly by. I am quickly learning to plan out my time accordingly and not waste any time, because there is a lot to do! I look forward to the many adventures I have ahead along with my fellow interns and seeing a whole new side to the action sports industry. Life is about to take a huge turn around and I can’t wait to see what it holds for all of us at BambooSk8.

Until next time my friends! Have a Fantastic Weekend/Week!!

Beth

This is the beginning of what seems to be a very exciting, educational and nerve racking experience! I hope to learn as much as possible about the business world; especially sports marketing!

Week one was crazy to say the least. Can you say, “Information Overload”? There was so much material to cover and recover; all very informative and important.

We met the new crew: Class 10. Everyone seems to be great so far. They will definitely help make this a fun 16 week adventure.

We even met a couple of BambooSK8 skaters! One word can describe them both: hilarious! We especially had some funny conversations with Jeff Wright like who can and cannot skate (me), what we do for money as this is an unpaid internship, why doesn’t Nate have better music, and the ultimate “to go to Vegas or not to go to Vegas”?

The day went by way to quickly; the entire week for that matter! The rest of the week was taken up reviewing the all-important intern bible and syllabus and preparing for week two. Yes, we have a syllabus! A very detailed and informative one for that matter!

Finally, a few of us ended the calendar week with our first event with BambooSK8 at the Lido Lake Skate Jam. We traveled down to Lakeside to help set up our table and ramps, sell some awesome BambooSK8 desks and gear, and watch some great skating.

There was a great turn out for the event and we were able to spread the word about quality, eco-friendly decks. There were even skate competitions, of which Nick Sauls represented by winning best trick!

Congratulations Nick!

I’m out until next time people!

Popularity Contest

The Next Generation

I came to the office expecting to hitch a ride to the event. Instead I was asked to drive the company truck, and tow a “U-Haul” trailer bearing a quarter pipe and two launch ramps. I told Mark that I had never driven a trailer and asked if he had any tips. “Be careful” he told me. Thanks Mark. Following his advice, I avoided major damage, but definitely grinded a few curbs.

It was a fun event. People were very happy that we brought the ramps. We spent a nice sunny afternoon by the lake, got to show off some bamboo decks, and do a little bit of skating. I have always been a skate park enthusiast, but I have never been able to contribute to the building process. I sincerely hope that they build an awesome skatepark in Lakeside.

Team rider Nick Sauls wrapped up the day by doing a hardflip backside 5-0 to win best trick on the box. He also did a ghetto bird over the launch ramp gap. Most importantly, he knew how to load the ramps back in the trailer. I didn’t expect work ethic and responsibility from a 16 year old competitive skater, but he surprised me. We listened to the radio on the way back and a green day dookie song came on. I crunched some numbers and decided he was probably two years old when that album came out. I’m getting old…

The summer is supposed to have its fair share of events like this one, and I’m looking forward to more.

So far a week has passed since the internship first kicked off and its been awesome! My fellow interns are all really cool and I hope to learn as much from them as I do from this internship with Bamboosk8. There is a lot of information to take in but I love action sports and I am excited to see what this internship has in store.

Stay Tuned!

Corey

Our first week started last week and so far it’s been going amazing.  It was a lot of information to take in at first, but since I’m doing something I really enjoy and I’m get into the action sports world again it just makes it easier.

Last Saturday I attended my first event with BambooSk8 for the Lakeside Skatepark fundraiser, Skate Jam.  It was a lot of fun to get out there, interact with the kids and talk to them about why bamboo boards are better.   I sold my first BambooSk8 complete and team rider Nick Sauls won First Place in Best Trick.    All together a good day except for me getting sunburned and now my face, neck, shoulders and scalp is peeling … Boo.

I’m really looking forward to the weeks to come and what they have in store.  Just so I put it out there and make it more concrete by committing it to paper… or the internet, I have given myself the personal goal of learning how to skateboard during my internship.   Please cross your fingers for me that I don’t want to get hurt.  I would also appreciate any tips you might have for me.

So I hope you keep coming back and reading all the blogs, I’ll be sure to update on any progress.  If you want to keep in touch with me some more follow @BambooSk8 on Twitter which is one of my jobs through this internship.

Until next time,

Renee

“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.”- B.B. King

I guess this is a good time to introduce myself a bit. I’m Timo from Finland and I’m part of the class 10 of BambooSK8 internship. Started last week and it has been pretty intense while trying to stay caught up but once we get this rolling, it’ll be a blast. Fellow interns seems cool even though I haven’t really got to know them that well yet since I’m doing the first month from Finland.  So maybe a little bit information about myself and what am I doing here. I’ve been around action sports since I was a kid doing snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain biking and snowmobiling and at some point I felt it would be awesome to get to know the industry a little better from the inside. So when I got to know about this internship I thought this would be a great opportunity to find out what it’s like to work in action sports. Here I am finding it out. Really looking forward to getting to know all the people better and start my California adventure.

See you soon.

Timo

skate hard. skate green.

Most importantly, stay gold.

Thanks to everyone for helping me out, for staying positive, and for showing me the right way to do things. Piece, I’m out.

Aww man, I can’t believe this is my last blog! Looking back on the past four months at BambooSK8, I can truthfully say that I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity. It’s funny to think how I almost didn’t apply for the internship thinking I was perfectly qualified to start my career; maybe I was, but I’m way more qualified now. Although interning for a skate company may not have any sort of prestigious ring to it, I know all of the hard work and challenging expectations of the internship have really helped strengthen my work ethic. In fact, most of  the tasks I took on during the internship gave me the knowledge and experience to land a job as a Channel Marketing Director for Red Rock Products, Inc (a sporting good distributor out in Anaheim). There is no way I would have qualified for the position I have now without interning for BambooSK8.

Thank you Geoff, Wyatt, Mark, Andrew and Dana for pushing me to reach my potential and giving me the opportunity to work with you guys. Thank you to Andrew, Cat, Geoff, Gerard, Lindsay, and Ryan for always being positive, helpful, and inspiring. Much love – see you guys soon, yeah don’t think I’m not going to track you all down for a reunion of some sort. ha

A special note to the future interns:

Just for the record, Wyatt did say Class 9 was his favorite, so all you other future classes out there… don’t even think about being his favorite… but if you want to try make sure to drink all of his Dr. Pepper, don’t clean up the spilled beer, and DON’T laugh at his jokes! Good luck and take lots of pictures!

CONGRATS CLASS NINE!!

If anyone reading this wants an honest opinion of the internship feel free to hit me up on Linkedin or FB or whatever and I’ll lay it on you.

Bless.

It’s pretty crazy that this internship has already come to an end. I feel like it was just getting started. Thanks to everyone at BambooSK8 for the opportunity to work with and learn from you. Thank you also to all the other interns for their input and teamwork. Every one of the interns that I worked with during class 9 will be a valuable asset to any company looking to hire intelligent and hardworking indivuduals. I look forward to working with all of them again in the future. I know that the knowledge that I have gained during the last 16 weeks of this program will be very valuable in my venture.

Don’t get off work till super late so therefore I don’t leave till super late. Get to the festival at around 330 AM. My car was driven down there for me during the day so I just had to walk in and meet up w/ my friends. Unfortunately I had a giant handle of Jack in my backpack (found out that we couldn’t have glass or hard A on the drive there) so I had to sweet talk the old lady checking bags into not actually checking my bag. After a very long and crappy walk ( I was carrying a backpack, suitcase, and 36pk of rocky mountain piss water) I finally meet up w/ Blender. He is predictably drunk as a skunk. We decide we need to celebrate my arrival by partying till around 630am or so.

2 things of note: Tuxedo shirt, carpoolchellazilla bird in the background

Wake up early cause its too damn hot. Start to indulge in frosty beverages. Time is flying by, then out of the blue look who decides to meet up and become our adopted children at our camp.

The BambooSK8 crew!

So we party all day and some go a little harder than others (i didn’t put on shoes and used a porta-potty so yeah I think I may have been a little drunk). We watched a bunch of awesome bands then it was time to pass out….at 5 pm… guess I cant party that hard after all. After I napped near the trash cans I woke up and rallied back at camp. Got back out there to see the black keys and kings of leon (right before kings, andrew had a incident, ask him about it). Met up w/ everyone for some Boys Noize then I headed over to watch Flogging Molly. After a good little dance party we went back to camp to hang and party some more.

Next morning is more of the same. Good times. We had a rule that no one could eat at our camp w/out doing a beer bong first. And we enforced it. So after beer bongs and burgers the party was on.

Beer bongs and Burgers

Mark and I stomped blender and krista at some soft bochie. There was flip cup, beer pong, and slip n slides. We went in to pick up some shirts and an epic rock, paper, scissors battle ensued. There was a free t-shirt up for grabs and of coarse I took everyone down to take the shirt and the glory! We eventually headed in for some Mumford and Sons epicness. They were predictably epic and we saw many more bands before the Arcade Fire came on. They blew me away and they place was going crazy.

Arcade Fire and giant glowing balls

We then went to some Paul van Dyk for some more dance party. Once that crazyness was over we came back to camp to explore. We found a big dance floor that we partied at till late then went to explore the roller rink. Once that got boring we checked out the strange carnival swings. Then there was a gnarly dude playing acoustic in this odd house thing w/ like 10 people in it.

strange

From there the drum circle started. Drum circle = bongo, crushed cans as extra percussion, platform to dance on, as many drunk people dancing and chanting as possible. Probably the greatest things known to man. “Wake up and dance” was the prevailing chant and it was all good times till it got broken up by the po po.

Sunday started slow but quickly picked up when we realized we couldn’t leave for home w/ any beer. So the drinking started, we partied w/ our neighbors from Liverpool and generally just had a good time. Then the Jack came out and things started to get blurry for a while.

Blurry Indeed

Mark hit the giant slip n slide, the gopro got attached to my chest, and general debauchery ensued.

mark hit this after all the eruos in speedos were done w/ it

We made it in for Jimmy Eat World who was playing at the same time as Damian Marley/NAS. We all split up and made the hard choice of one or the other. I went w/ Jimmy but apparently Damian was sick. After some more bands/ good times it was time to leave. But wait! We got talked into staying later, until the very end and it was certainly worth it. The Strokes were awesome as well as bloody beatroots, ratatat, and kanye. Andrew was incredibly stoked on The Presets and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Although I had never heard of them, I am now a fan.

Look close and there are people partying in the tape

We jammed back to the car to take off and it looked like we wouldn’t hit traffic, then while we were stopped for a minute, some security guy came up to tell us to turn off our car cause “were gunna be here for a while”. Shit. It was 1245 when we got in the car and we didn’t move again until 220. At least we had plenty of people to watch, including the girl wearing nothing but glow sticks, the crazy canadians dancing on their astro van, and the people trippin out on light shows. I eventually dropped Andrew and Mark off at their cars and got on the road around 330. Got home at 5, showered and PASSED OUT.

Good times for sure.

Arriving in Baños

After leaving Canoa I made a quick stop in Quito to drop off a bag and enjoy the most delicious Hare Krishna lunch before heading to catch a bus bound for Baños. I had heard that Baños was a cool adventure town in the mountains of Ecuador but I had no idea how awesome it would be.

Canoa is a very poor town. There’s one paved road, chickens and dogs run the streets, and a lot of the street vendors push their carts because they are too poor to afford a bike chain. After living in that environment for a month I was quite surprised to be walking the streets of Baños and see dune buggies cruising the streets, kids on brakeless BMX bikes, and several-thousand dollar mountain bikes leaning against the wall in restaurants. The town is nestled in a river valley with a volcano towering above its streets and majestic waterfalls throughout the neighboring mountains. The name comes from the hot springs, or “baths,” along the edge of town.

The Bike Ride

Baños is a great place to meet people because everyone is about to go do something cool. The first night I ran into Manuela and Carmen, two Swiss girls I had met in Quito. We rented bikes Sunday morning and rode along the river checking out the numerous waterfalls along the way. After seeing about 6 waterfalls and rain starting to fall on us the girls hopped a bus and I started riding back. The sprinkling rain felt great so I explored a side road that wound up a valley. It was beautiful and green and secluded – just what I was looking for. I know I’m not in the kind of race shape I used to be, but the road was so steep I spent an hour and a half in the granny gear until three large dogs halted my progress. I rode back into town and returned the bike just as the rain picked up.

Getting lost

On Monday I rented a 250cc dirt bike for 3 hours and took off. First I tried to find a dirt road I had seen the day before but apparently it was private property w/ a gate and guards. I turned around and, crossing the bungee jump bridge, headed towards some radio antennas. The rental company had shown me a map and told me it should take 2 hours round trip but 25 minutes of wide open throttle and counter steered corners later I was parked at the top. I followed the road as it summited the mountain and entered an agricultural valley. Taking every side path possible, I splashed through puddles, reved out climbing jeep roads, and got lost in single track cow paths. I was completely alone in the back woods of the Andes. The bike wouldn’t shift into neutral if it was running and none of the gauges worked (including gas) but I figured that was just part of the adventure.

Hiking

There are a few miradors (lookouts) on the mountain that borders town so I decided to hike to them when I got back. The first and lowest of the lookouts is 698 concrete steps straight up. From there the path turns to dirt and climbs about another couple hundred meters of elevation to the Mirador del Volcan. The path winds along cliff sides, through tomato farms, and into back yards filled with chickens and laundry. The clouds broke just as I got to the top and offered a great view of the volcano while I was there. On the way down I took random paths, followed a few signs, and asked a little kid of about 8 for directions until I found the right trail.

The trail was so steep it was difficult to walk at times, yet there was a single Maxxis Holy Roller tire impression the whole way down. I couldn’t believe this awesome trail was just outside of town with the perfect road to shuttle and I couldn’t help but think maybe Mike W. should move to Baños. (Sorry to all the non cycling nerds, you probably don’t understand any of that.) The trail even finishes a block and a half from the hospital, how convenient is that?

A moto, a jeep, and a few crazy kids

Tuesday morning I went to find an Ecuadorian I had met the day before for a horse ride but instead rounded up a group of 6 people to rent a 4×4 Jeep and a moto. Our crew consisted of 2 Germans – Armin and Daniel – I met in the hostel, and 3 Brits I had met in Canoa – Mel, Vicky, and Jennie. We took a side road just outside town and after a short hike found a beautiful waterfall. A lot of the falls are commercialized with people and zip lines and vendors. This one involved hiking through an old man’s fish farm whom we asked for directions. After following a trail that was more an indentation in the grass, we let the sound of crashing water be our guide until a waterfall opened in front of us. It was beautiful with a 15 meter drop, a small pool at the bottom, and most importantly, no one around.

After a quick stop at the Runtun, we headed for the Refuge at 3800 meters. I drove the jeep for a bit trying to understand how a vehicle in such disrepair was still on the road. The brakes were terrifying, the suspension was rock solid, and the steering wheel had a full half rotation before it affected the wheels at all, but it ran and it got 4 of us up the mountain on cobble stones and dirt so that’s all the counts. For some reason, after I almost jumped the jeep over a speed bump, the girls decided they trusted me on a motorcycle. I had to keep the speeds a little lower than the day before as they all took a turn sitting on the back. The views at the lower elevations were incredible looking down onto the town and as we got higher everything was silenced as we rode into a cloud and the views were murky and serene. It was a great adventure with a great group of people.

That night involved enough alcohol for karaoke to seem like a good idea, and in the morning I decided I needed to leave before I spent all my money on bicycles, and kayaks, and motorcycles, and jeeps. I took a beautiful, although painful, 9 hour bus ride to Cuenca.

Skate hard. Skate green.

-Geoff C

I have always attend Earth Day and environmental celebrations, but never participated.  I am really excited to share what BambooSK8 is all about and offer sustainability tips for day-to-day living.  I think it is SO important for everyone to do their fair share in taking care of this planet.  I always try to think: reduce, reuse, recycle.  Do I need that many lights on around the house? No.  Am I using a specific appliance? No.  Turn off and unplug to reduce the amount of energy I’m using.  Does that plastic bag have any holes in it? No. Reuse it for another grocery trip or outing.  I shrunk my shirt in the wash, now what? I either donate it to Goodwill or use it as a cleaning rag.  Lastly, any paper, plastic or aluminum products that are recyclable are sorted into their appropriate bins and taken to the recycling center.  All of that may sound like a lot or an inconvenience, but it really doesn’t take that much time.  To be honest, there is probably a ton more I could be doing.  The point is every little bit helps.  Think about it, what do you do to help?

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Earth week is next week, it’s kind of a big deal around here, being that we’re a “green” company and all. So, stop by our booths at the Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State Earth Week events next week, and say “hi”!

Leaving for coachella tonight. Yes, its going to be crazy. I’ll be throwing up videos and posts on facebook and twitter so be on the lookout. I’ll have a full recap of the weekend next week.

B.A.M.F.

Other fun stuff going on is the rolling out of our new graphic decks, I for one am super stoked on them, espcially the Varsity Red, def gonna cop one of those. Also keep an eye on the morning news for some Earth Day/Week/Month specials on us. If Lindsay keeps it up Geoff and the crew are going to be TV stars and we’ll have more Twitter followers then we know what to do with!! Speaking of stars, how about my boy D Rose and the Bulls? Can’t wait to see another Championship Parade in the Chi in a few weeks.

This weekend should be pretty fun for all, some of the crew were fortunate enough to get Coachella tickets, so if you’re out there be sure to look out for them, there’s the Long Beach Grand Prix going down and I’m rolling up to Mammoth with some homies to do a little snowriding. Stoked. I’m going to do my best to at least surf, skate and snowboard in the same week!

Lastly, I’m definately enjoying the weather here, all warm and sunny while my peeps back east are freezing. Here’s a quick look at a snap I stole off a friend’s FB. Def makes me count my blessings!!

That’s it for my blog for this week. Bless.

Here is a re-cap from the Laguna Niguel Skate Park Tour. It was a good time, lots of new BambooSK8 fans!

Here is a sneak-peak of some final designs for the OSF x BambooSK8 Project. We will be deciding on the prizes and winner this week. They all have done a great job! Check out their blog for more pictures: Oasis Skateboard Factory

This week I will be finalizing the Buy.com inventory so purchases can now be made at our website, Buy.com, Amazon, and Eco3P. We also have a bunch of new Sutsu decks up on our site with awesome graphics. Thursday, Dana and I will be meeting with Chris from RunningFish to go over the building of our website so that should be awesome to – should be launched by next blog – stay tuned! Next week is a busy week for us at BambooSK8, Monday we will be at Cal State Fullerton for Earth Day festivities and Lindsay was able to get us more air time on Fox 5 for April 20th. We are really coming down to the wire, with only 2.5 weeks left! Going through my personal reviews I have really seen an improvement and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have interned for BambooSK8 it’s been really fun and rewarding!

Recycled Skateboard decks used as kitchen tiles > check out more cool projects and how to get involved! Art of Board

Everything seems to be going great these days. I took a little mini-trip up to California’s Bay Area to check out some colleges that my cousin was accepted to. I wish I had my skateboard because there were soooo many spots that would’ve been fun to ride around on! It’s all good. I’m actually sitting in a car across the street from stoner skate plaza in West Los Angeles typing this up. Nick Sauls and I are here warming up before we go shoot some street spots. On the business end of things, everything at BambooSK8 is continuing to go well. Everyone is working extremely hard and it’s finally starting to pay off. We’re reaching our individual and team goals, and we’re having fun while doing it. I’m still working on coming up with new content for Hookit as well as our website. Be on the lookout for all the great things to come.

Also, I left this office today and trekked 80 miles to Downey, CA to pick up this beautiful new road bike. I’ve been looking for months now and I finally found one to suit all my riding needs. With gas prices the way that they are, I’m going to be relying on pedal power to get me places. Check her out:

Tomorrow is also the first stop of our mini skate park tour. We’ll be educating skaters at Laguna Niguel skate park on the benefits of riding bamboo. It should be a great time.

Skate hard. Skate green.

- Geoff C

Now that the Clash is done, I am working on a handful of Earth Day events with local San Diego T.V. stations and on Southern California college campuses.  I really hope that I will be able to help BambooSK8 get their message of sustainability and the awesome decks out in the public eye and hopefully in their hands!  I really enjoy community and consumer relations so these upcoming events are going to be a blast for me.  I believe that a company needs the support of the community it’s located in, in addition to the support of their consumers and other entities.  When I say support I don’t necessarily mean monetary, but just that the community knows and is cool with you.

Speaking of community, this weekend Laguna Niguel Skate Park is the first stop on our skate park tour!  Another one of the top-notch interns (uh-hem, Andrew) organized the whole thing and I am stoked to see how it goes.  Watching the kids skate, ask questions, and be pumped on BambooSK8 is the best.  Their excitement makes all the hard work totally worth it!

Well people, it is Friday and I’m stoked! This weekend should be full of good times which I am hoping will provide me with good Twitter material.  In an effort to help our BambooSK8 Twitter status, I have been asked to tweet.  For me that is no easy feat.  It’s like I have some sort of Twitter-phobia. Lame, I know.  Thankfully my fellow interns, Andrew and Gerard, have been very encouraging and reassuring about my Twitter endeavors. So here is to a weekend full of friends, community, skating and Twitter! Cheers!

This week was awesome, Mark Gregson the father of Wyatt Gregson (CEO of BambooBuddy) came in to speak with us on Tuesday about his journey as an entrepreneur, investor, Navy pilot, and much more. He provided us with many resources and great advice for our step into the business world.

After visiting with Mark, Geoff Koboldt (President of BambooSK8) took Ryan, Andrew, and I out to lunch to a tasty burger joint in Encinitas. Following our luncheon we took a ride to one of Geoff’s favorite places (from looking at the pictures – you see why!) – The Golden Lotus Temple.

The smell of the colorful flowers and sea breeze with the quiet meditating grounds and the breath taking views created the most tranquil atmosphere- you couldn’t help but smile to yourself.

After our walk through the garden, we visited the little bookstore which had so many great art, music, and literary pieces. Following the bookstore, we ventured over to a local skate shop to try to meet with the buyer about our skateboards. It was a great learning experience.

The rest of the week I focused on many different tasks. The website is finally coming to a wrap, our Skate Park Tour will start tomorrow April 2, 2011 at Laguna Niguel Skate Park. I am working with a local high school’s Skateboard Club in helping us bring the Skate Park Tour to another location as well as arranging for Geoff to speak at to their students. Overall this week has been busy but very rewarding… I look forward to next week where I will be completing many more tasks and working closer to graduation of Class 9 at BambooSK8!

After our talk with “Papa” Gregson, Geoff took us out to Encinitas for some lunch and good times. We all sat around and discussed everything from the music industry and “Friday” to life in general and how to succeed. It was good times all around and the bbq pork sliders were bomby. Then we went to the Self Realization temple down the road and I was blown away. I must have driven by this place 50 times and I never new what it was and I never bothered to check it out. It was a really awesome place with beautiful ponds and flowers. The ponds were all filled with giant koi fish and were rad to look at. The scenery was so peaceful it blew me away that we were in the middle of a big city. Once up on the top of the bluffs, we were staring out at the surf break “Swami’s”. I could sit and start at the surf for literally hours on end, so the vantage point and surroundings only enhanced my experience. Geoff was giving us some information about the temple and mentioned certain “swami’s” and then it hit me, the surf spot was named after the temple! I’m an idiot for not putting the 2 names together, but it was cool to finally make the connection.

It was such a refreshing day. Although not the most productive day I’ve ever had in bambooland, it was certainly one of the best.

Outside of the Skatepark Tour, I’ve been getting my surf on and I went up to Bear Mtn last week, that was super fun. I’d like to do the ultimate boarder challenge and skate, surf and snowboard all in the same day. Might have to attempt that in the coming weeks before the season ends. If all else fails I’ll do it back in UT and throw in wakeboarding instead of surfing and make the most of Snowbird being open til June.

Lastly, we went on a cool field trip this last week to Encinitas and the Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens. It was super fun and the gardens were remarkable. If you’re in the area I highly recommend it, especially if you’re stressed out. Like I told the crew, I’m not a big flower guy, but the flowers there smelled amazing. The Koi ponds were super rad as was the great view of Swami’s. It was a fantastic experience. Thanks Geoff for taking us down there!

Next, you will need to sign a NDA (non-disclosure).  We simply don’t share anything on the internship until after a NDA is signed as we need to protect our valuable internship documents.  At the interview is where we are able to show you the inner workings of the internship in full detail.  For now, you can read more about the internship through the intern blogs to gauge what they are experiencing. 

Some of the basics… The internship is based on 400 points.  These 400 points are made up of a midterm, final, 3 part higher level MPS system, communication with the team, weekly skype calls, 1 on 1 with mentor, blogs, communication with me, as well as fulfilling the weekly duties we require such as contacting the skateboard kids through one of our social networks at www.hookit.com  We provide a lot of structure in the beginning – there is a syllabus with details of what is due each week.  Each of the interns has a folder on our server where you keep all your documents and each class has its own folder broken down weekly with 16 weeks of material.  We also have an intern bible, which gives a lot of information on past things we’ve done, resources for finding things, etc.   On the flipside of all of this structure, is a significant amount of autonomy – it’s up to you to drive the results and find solutions to the problems we face.  50 points of the 400 is based on your ability to get the results, which leads to sales.

We provide a few key content areas that we like to focus on: sales, marketing and PR but leadership is a major focus throughout each.  It’s best to align your strengths first, but we always strive to cross-train with other content areas to broaden you.  Also, each month we rotate who your mentor will be, so you get use to different leadership styles.

The last month is devoted to interviewing skills and resume building.  The entire internship is focused on networking!

We start the 1st week of May, for internship class 10.

There were a ton of A-list pros at the event.  The thing I enjoyed the most was watching those guys shred that massive bowl the YMCA built.  It was the first time I’ve gotten to see that level of riding in something like that.  There were so many people skating the bowl, not to mention the crowd around just to watch, it made for some exciting moments and quite a few close calls.

Speaking of events, I have been doing event production for a Teen Vogue pop-up store, and got to hang out with some real pretty girls.  They don’t say much and are always down the hang out…most of all, they love BambooSK8!

Class 10 - internships will start the 1st week of May.  Apply now by sending your resume to molson@bamboosk8.com

www.pepperdine.edu

The new site looks good!

I am now engaged and I have a really great starter position at Capital Group. Capital Group has been on lists of “Best Places to Work” and has benefits galore. Out of 5,000 resumes sent and 500 actually reviewed and a series of about three intensive interviews, I was picked along with 17 other people. Having BambooSk8 on my resume was great because one of the HR ladies who interviewed me has a husband who skates and she mostly talked about my interning experiences like skating at ASR and going to gigs like GvR in Lake Forest. 

And of course having you as a reference was a great helping hand as well! I appreciate all of the help. 

Keep in touch,

 Taylor

Dear Fellow Ambitious Bamboo-Loving Interns,

Welcome to the world of Action Sports and Bamboo! If you are reading this it means you have decided to join a great team and an awesome opportunity for your future career. Nothing can be more important these days then getting a step ahead, congrats to you for taking that step!

I guess I should start out by introducing myself. My name is Kelly Loft; I was part of the Second Class of Interns. After my graduation from the program (which you will all do J), I then went on to be hired on as Project Lead to help run the Third Class Program. After my fantastic time with BambooSK8 and Bamboo Buddy, I took a year off to finish school. I then received another internship at Sole Technology, just a little place you might have heard of. I enjoyed my time there and then moved back up to LA where I now do Media Planning for Infiniti Automotive. You can say I have been involved in a lot!

Okay, so I am sure you are wondering why I am writing this. Why do you care about me or my work history? The answer would be is, I have been in your shoes asking the same questions, wondering the same thing about the program and it’s potential. I wanted to reach out to you to shed some light on questions you may have been asking. Most importantly, how does this internship stack up to the others?

First and foremost you are lucky to work with some of the most amazing people in the industry. Learn all you can from them! This internship is special because you get hands on, everyday experience with people who know the industry well. My time at Sole Tech, although fun and exciting, was never a hands on experience like BambooSK8. Of course at Sole I saw the people that were the big decision makers of the company, but never had a chance to hear their side, their story and most of all work directly under and for them. By being in such a close proximity to the Wyatt, Geoff and Mark gives you great advantage. Secondly, take time to get as involved in you can. Try to touch at least one part of a project every day. When you’re working for a bigger well known company you do not get to do the sort of tasks that you do at Bamboo. I was a spreadsheet master at Sole Tech! I am sure that you will be spending some time working on those sorts of remedial tasks at Bamboo, but I mean that was my job at Sole, ALL DAY! At Bamboo I was doing the busy office work but, I was also planning ASR, going to trade shows, creating client relationships and becoming a solid brand ambassador. I learned much more with my time at Bamboo and so will you.

I was in your shoes, sometimes wondering if I was making the right decision by investing my time with the internship you have taken on. Now sitting here I can tell you, it was worth it. I made great lifelong friends, participated hands on with  people who know how the industry works and was able to take many things away with me that have landed me in the job I am today. Be proud and don’t give up! Please feel free to reach out with any questions to me that you have! My door is always open for fellow Bamboo lovers. Have an awesome time!

Thank you,

Kelly Loft

Hey Geoff,

I just wanted to shoot you an email and thank you for the letter of recommendation that you sent my way.  Because of it I have been offered an internship that could lead to a job at Young & Rubicam in New York City.  They are an advertising agency located directly on Madison Ave.  I am really stoked about this opportunity. 

So, thanks for all that you did.

–
Brian Rock

Canoa is a pretty small town but there are still some adventures to be had. I heard about a couple sea side caves to the north of town when I had just got here but my first attempt to get there was shut down by the large tide changes.

On Wednesday I met two cousins, Mari and Siri, from Norway whose birthdays are two days apart. After celebrating Siri’s birthday on Wednesday night we decided to make an attempt at the caves on Friday for Mari’s celebration. Our planning consisted of asking around for directions which were vague at best (go north, around a cove, over a cliff, and then down) and getting some people to guess at the tide charts Thursday night. That seemed sufficient to me.

Low tide was estimated around 9am so we met at 8 for breakfast at a local gringo hangout. After some food we started walking out of town along the beach. As we passed the last hostel a stray dog, whom we quickly dubbed Rufus, started following us. I don’t know why it got named Rufus since it was a girl but Siri and Mari liked it and I don’t think the dog would have responded better to a girl’s name so I let it go. The tide was low as we casually walked around the rock buttress that had stopped my progress the first time. We continued around the cove where Rufus was briefly chased by some other dogs and then stared up at a really steep hill. There was supposed to be a “trail” going up but the recent rain must have destroyed it because no such thing existed. We met some local travelling artisans also staring up at the hill wondering what to do and since no one had any better ideas I started picking my way along a drainage the ran across the hillside. The clay mud was sliding with every step we took and my flip flops were more detrimental than good so I took them off. The drainage led us to the left side of the hill where we had to scramble up a very steep face for 3 meters before it leveled out a tiny bit following a second drainage. My flip flops were completely worthless at this point so I left them and opted to climb barefoot. I’m not gonna lie, my fear of heights was kicking in but Siri and Rufus were charging up the mountain like rockstars so Mari and I had no choice but to follow. At the top of the drainage we had to boost Rufus up and over some exposed roots and tree limbs which were covered in termites she could continue the walk with us.

Next was a brief trek through the jungle. Fallen trees, vines, termites, biting ants, and spiders were only some of the fun to be had as we picked our way along the top of a flaky sand/clay cliff that dropped 45 meters into the ocean. I was reconsidering the benefits of leaving my sandals on the hillside as we found a horse trail. Mari was convinced the hoof prints were actually that of a large human-eating beast but luckily I was able to convince her otherwise and the journey continued. After a bit more time in the jungle we caught up with the two locals in a clearing overlooking the ocean, a large field we had to cross, and the caves we were searching for. We scrambled down another steep run off and walked across a field with mud squishing up between our toes. I felt a little silly as we watched the two locals go to the exact same place walking along a road instead of through waist high grass but at least it got us to the same place.

As soon as we got to the beach I hopped in the water, happy to wash all the bugs, seed pods, and spider webs off. We waded in a little deeper, picking our way around the rocks sporadically dispersed under the water, and then making our way into the cavern. Bats were sleeping about 7 meters above us, stirring if we talked too loud, with many more of their brethren further towards the back. To be honest there wasn’t much to see in the cave but it felt triumphant to have reached our destination.

Once we exited the first cave I decided to attempt a swim to the second one which was separated from us by about 30-40 meters. No one wanted to go with me so I set out alone, fighting the current and ducking under waves as they rolled in. It should be noted here that I am a terrible swimmer. About 75% of the way there I gave up and let myself get pulled back to the beach where we played with Rufus, attempted cartwheels, and climbed on some rocks before we started the hike back.

It was pretty much the same as the way there except for an extra steep part that Siri found as an alternative way down the cliff. Rufus followed us the whole way, Mari’s camera survived in one piece, and Siri and I even got our flip flops back.

In other news I was an extra in an Ecuadorian indy film. I was standing outside a gringo bar when some kids I had partied with during Carnival asked me if I wanted to drink free beer and get paid to be in a movie with the only catch being we would shoot until 3am. I’ll try anything twice so I agreed and we headed over to loosely organized set. Around 6am we were finally released, given $7 and a sandwich and thanked for our time, sans (or “sin”) any free beer. Oh well, it was a new experience and in about a year you’ll be able to see my haggard mug in “Tenemos Que Hablar.” Check it out.

Pictures are posted at TheMusingsOfMattHayes.blogspot.com

In the meantime, I sell environmentally conscious skateboards to people and get to watch their faces light up with excitement. I absolutely love it.

Learning day by day trying to make the most out of everything without being too annoying or in the way.

Jah Bless.

I was having a good time, seeing random people I hadn’t seen in ages, then a fight broke out. I know the owners of the pub and being the good person that I am, I decided to break it up. This fight happened to between 2 rather large ladies. When I was separating them, one

of them turned on me and started kicking and screaming that I punched her or something. Someone else was holding her back, but then the chick started pulling my hair! Maybe its an omen to cut my hair, I dunno. I got them kicked out and the owner bought be a beer and I figured everything would be all good. Then I went to use the restroom and outside the back door the same chick is yelling that she is “going to F*** me up”. It was pretty comical.

The rest of the night was full of bar hopping and good times. Hoping the clash will be the same!

(Stupid, I know- I’M SORRY!)

I’m really looking forward to attending the Clash @ Clairemont this Saturday!!  I just pray that I feel better- this is not the best week to get sick! So I’m pretty excited because I will be assisting Lindsay with her PR duties – she does an awesome job, so I’m excited to learn some of her tricks! We are also hoping to get some clothing brands on board to help them possibly move into the action sport industry – maybe get them their own special board or something! Next week I should be receiving our photos for the new website, the photographer is really talented, so I’m stoked to see what he has for us! Once we get the images, the rest should just fall into place. This weekend I’ll be juggling a bunch of different things, but one of them is our midterm! Wish us all luck!!

SKATE GREEN!!

The students at the Oasis Skateboard Factory are cruising along with their designs. They sent us some updated photos of their progress. These things keep getting better and better the farther along they get. We should be seeing the final products soon. Stay tuned!

Also, as you’ve probably noticed in the posts below, we’re going to be at the Clash at Clairmont event this Saturday, March 18th. Come stop by our booth and pick up a limited edition, BambooSK8 exclusive Clash at Clairemont BambooSK8 deck. Our main man, Geoff Koboldt, will be on NBC San Diego, at 6:45 AM on the 18th talking about the event; set your DVRs.

There continues to be a whole lot of hard work going on during internship here at BambooSK8. I’ve been learning a lot about how to manage my time, improve my work habits, and what it takes to be a more competitive individual in the business world. We are more than halfway through, but I’m taking a lot with me when I leave.

BambooSK8 will be donating a portion of deck sales to the Red Cross in response to the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan. Coincidentally, we have a graphic based on a 19th century tsunami painting by Japanese artist Katsushita Hokusai. We thought it only fitting to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this deck. This charitable effort is in addition to the proceeds given to the YMCA and Grind for Life from the deck sales of our exclusive, limited-edition Clash at Clairemont V deck.  The deck will be available at the BambooSK8 booth in the vendor village at the Clash at Clairemont V this Saturday, March 19, 2011.

BambooSK8 fans can get a sneak peak at the exclusive decks and Clash events on Friday, March 18, 2011, but there is a small catch.  If you want to see the BambooSK8 goodness turn your T.V. to channel 7/39, NBC San Diego, at 6:45 AM. Ouch that’s early, but that’s Bamboo love!

For any who plan to come out and join us at the Clash be sure that you follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/bamboosk8.  We will be tweeting the clues to FREE decks hidden around the event!

So that’s all the fun stuff!  Unfortunately, if you want to play hard you have to work hard meaning our mid-term is due this week. Booo! No one likes a test, but to be honest this mid-term covers some necessary business info.  No matter what position you hold in a business the end point is to increase profits.  If I can pass this midterm, I’ll be able to proudly announce that I understand the basics of running a business, which is huge for a more right-brained person.  Good luck to me!!

In another attempt to make me a well rounded employee, I’ve been taking myself though the rigors of judging and being judged.  Well maybe “judging” isn’t the right word, let’s say evaluating.  One of our assignments is to rate ourselves in a variety of categories all relating to how we operate in the work place. Another assignment is to rate our fellow interns and their performance thus far in the internship.  Maybe you can see how the word “judge” arises.  That was the lesson to learn though; throughout all of it you are not judging yourself or anyone else.  The point is to learn how to take a realistic look at yourself and how to graciously receive feedback from others around you.  Neither of those is an easy task, but they’re necessary now and will be throughout the rest of my career.

I thought I’d take some time to write some about what its like to live, work, and play in a sleepy coastal town in Ecuador. The culture, the economy, the infrastructure and little snippets of how life rolls along down here. But mother nature had other plans…

I was awoken this morning by a rapping on my door. Not a knock, but a rap, something that makes one bolt upright and wonder what’s going on even before getting pants on. One of the other tenants of the hostel told me in a slow southern draw that there had been a massive earthquake in Japan and the coastlines of Ecuador were being evacuated. I went down stairs and talked to a few people – some of the locals were leaving, some weren’t, same with the gringos. I opted to stay noting that there was a big cliff behind us that I hoped I could climb if things got sketchy, and internet so I could check how the wave was progressing.

I booted up my computer and started doing research. Its incredibly hard to find information on tsunamis in Ecuador – Ecuador doesn’t even have its own wave buoy. I did find out that the president had issued a state of emergency and evacuated all of the coastline. We started seeing policia roll towards town in their pickup trucks and motorcycles. The cleaning lady showed up and dismissed the threat of a tsunami on seemingly no evidence. I woke up the last tenants and told them in broken Spanish that there was an earthquake in Japan and a possible tsunami. They dismissed it too with the same logic as the cleaning lady. I packed up all my stuff so it could be thrown in the truck in short notice, and then I moved other people’s valuables from the first floor to a locked room on the second. The water was the first danger, but we heard looting was close behind if we left the property.

I got back on the computer and started talking to friends in California and looking for signs of how big the wave would be. At this point I remembered that all of my belongings in California are packed into my car which is parked 6 blocks from the ocean at about 10 feet of elevation. I became less concerned for my immediate well being and more so for my stuff stashed in San Diego. The time for the wave to hit southern California came and went with no major news coverage, and then a friend told me it was a non-event, so I was relieved my stuff was safe.

I did some normal work around the hostel until about 5:00 when I went into town to find out if I was supposed to work at the restaurant. Instead of walking along the beach like usual I decided to take the most rickety, thrashed bike I have ever ridden along the road. Both wheels are severely bent, the derailleurs are rusted in place, the brakes are old style U-brakes that don’t work, and one of the pedals is completely broken, but when I pushed down on the pedals it was transferred to forward momentum so guess that counts as a bike. When I got to town it was completely deserted. There were some kids kicking a ball around in the street, and a couple groups of adults gathered around a few TV sets, but for the most part the town was abandoned. I was passed by a police pick up truck, and then two more on a motorcycle. The “passenger” on the motorcycle was carrying an automatic AK style gun in case looting started. I rode along the beach and all the businesses were closed. The only place that had any movement was Hotel Bambu. There were about 10 locals hanging out watching CNN in Spanish so I ordered a beer and joined them, picking up what I could from the conversations. When the police drove by one of the employees quickly took my beer from the table and put it on the bench next to me. Apparently all businesses were ordered to be closed and selling a beer could get them in a lot of trouble.

After about an hour I rode back to the hostel. No where else in the world had gotten a major tsunami and we were feeling pretty good. We started cooking some dinner just as we got a phone call that the Galapagos were expecting a 6 meter wave in about half an hour. 6 meters is huge, and we were suddenly questioning if we should be staying. There’s a shell of a hotel on the cliff overlooking the town and we heard that most of the expats in town were up there having a party. I moved everything from the second floor to the third, put a jug of water and a case of beer in the back of our 1970’s Land Cruiser, threw some backpacks and our dinner in, and we drove up the 4×4 road to join them.

It was totally dark by this point so there wasn’t much to be seen even if a tsunami did hit but at least we were safe. We ate our dinner of kinda spaghetti sauce / kinda chili and talked to some people who were walking around. One of the locals had set up a TV in the back of their van and we were watching a blurry CNN cover the events of the day. The more I watched it the more I felt we were probably fine. The hotel had electricity so lights were on, and different families and groups of friends had claimed different rooms making it almost seem as if it was a functioning business. When I looked closer though I saw that each room was basically a concrete square resembling more of a jail cell then a hotel. There were no doors or windows anywhere, just the holes where they were supposed to go, and there were raw ends of rebar sticking out of the concrete everywhere. One family even had a roaring fire in their “room” for a bit of extra light and to keep the mosquitoes away.

We decided we were probably safe and drove back. I was feeling fine until I had to go to the kitchen on the ground floor to make my dinner. Something about the darkness, the proximity to the ocean, and knowing that a wall of water was “supposed” to be on it way really freaked me out. I would walk down, stir the pasta, and immediately return to the second floor. Walk down, stir it again, and back to the second floor. The whole time I was listening intently for the sound of a big wave, but it was high tide and the hostel is 200 feet from the water so every wave sounds big. I went upstairs to eat and continued listening for signs that water was coming. Before a tsunami hits it draws all the water out so any time I didn’t hear a wave crash for a long time I thought maybe a wave was coming, and any time I heard a crash I thought maybe it was the big one. It was completely ridiculous and I was just freaking myself out but news in Ecuador is not like it is in California. There’s no warning systems, there’s minimal communication between towns, there’s no merchant ships w/ radios or helicopters to monitor the seas, there’s no building codes so no one knows if the house is safe or not – its hard to convey but the lack of information made for a very tense and stressful situation.

Our night guard didn’t show up either which makes sense but apparently natural disasters, or at least the threat of one, is a time of robbing and looting. I finally went to sleep but I was having night mares of getting robbed, and of a tsunami hitting, and even of ghosts which was really weird. I couldn’t believe how stressed out I was about the situation considering last time there was a tsunami warning in California I didn’t change my day’s plans at all. Part of it was being in somewhere foreign and part of it was how little of a warning system Ecuador has, but those two things together made for a very light night of sleep.

The next morning I walked down to the beach and saw that at least one wave had made it an extra 5-6 meters inland than any I’ve seen in the past two weeks, but that doesn’t count as much. And then I had one of my best surf sessions ever.

>>Originally published March 10, 2011<<

I’m in Canoa now, enjoying the small, rural beach side town w/ a decent surf break and a community of ex-pats from around the world. The town is about 9 square blocks with a normal population of about 700 and one paved road running perpendicular to the beach. Most of the nicer hostels and many of the gringo owned businesses are on the beachfront street. Though it’s the main commercial street its not paved and honestly the packed sand seems to do just fine.

However, this weekend was Carnival, and even though Rio de Janeiro and some other cities get the majority of attention for this holiday all of South America goes completely mental for the event. Canoa was expected to see 40-50,000 people over the weekend all looking to dance and drink on minimal sleep. The following is a recount of my Sunday night.

It started out innocent enough. I went to the restaurant where I’m working to see if they were going to be open or not. Since we had lost power 9 times the night before and ended up cooking for a party of 16 by candlelight, they decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and didn’t open. I struck out to find the gringos figuring they’d be at one of a handful of places. I met up with Colm and Damien, two Irish lads, walking down the street who showed me where everyone was.

We sat in the front room of a hostel mixing half and half rum and cokes and introducing ourselves to everyone else. Our crew of about 15 represented Sweden, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, the States, Ireland, Germany, and Holland and conversations were going in different languages depending who was or wasn’t paying attention. The owner of the hostel was hesitant at first but eventually joined with our party while the rest of his family looked on with reservations. It quickly got too hot in the room and soon we all picked up chairs and moved the party out into the street facing the beach. There were people walking up and down, cars w/ sound systems worth more than the vehicle driving by, and two stages and three bars all trying to play their music louder than the rest. The car with the biggest sound system lit by blue LEDs parked across the street from us so we took turns walking over and making fools of ourselves trying to dance to reggaeton and salsa while screaming broken Spanish introductions over the noise. Pitbull owned the music scene this year with Bon Bon and Maltido Alcohol, both of which seemed to be on repeat. When the rum was depleted we struck out looking for whatever was next.

We stopped at a bar next to the Surf Shack and somehow two Irish (Colm and Dave), the Kiwi (Jack), and myself got separated from the rest. As we were walking down the street to try to find them a double-decker party bus inched past us attempting to make it though the crowds of people in the streets. There was a dance party on top and that was all the reason me and Jack needed to scale the outside of a moving bus. Colm and Dave took a slightly more conventional route but managed to meet us on the roof shortly thereafter where our dance party was intermittently disturbed by low hanging power lines. Near the edge of town the driver announced he was going to Bahia, a town 40 minutes away, where we had no intentions of going. We quickly scrambled off the back of the bus (there was a ladder this time) and hopped down before the bus took off.

Walking back down the main street the Irish got separated. In an effort to find them Jack and I walked to their hostel where we found the couple they were traveling with had 1) passed out early, 2) left the door open, and 3) left shaving cream in plain sight. Either one of those, or maybe even two, would have been fine, but the trifecta didn’t work out well for them. As Damien convinced us to leave, 3 girls from Guayaquil walked up to the door and introduced themselves. They were staying in the same hostel and had to wake up their friend before we could go back out. I don’t know if every room in that hostel is small, poorly lit, and smells like 4 people have been partying constantly, or if that was just the case for the Irish and these girls, but either way we left there as soon as we could. The girls barely spoke any English but alcohol consumption had put me at that perfect equilibrium where confidence is boosted but ability isn’t diminished too much so I was speaking Spanish like a rockstar. We walked down the beach front road until we found an adequately loud street party and danced there. I left for the bathroom and as I returned I simultaneously ran into Jack and met two people who introduced themselves w/ their names followed by “estamos trans!” (Spanish for “we’re trans sexuals). I don’t understand why people introduce themselves with “Hi, I’m (name) and I am (whatever)” because that whatever is usually their job or sexuality. Neither of those are small talk topics, and in Spanish they’re way above my vocabulary.

So we left. We lost the girls we were dancing with and walked all the way south on the beach front road looking for the Swedes and the rest of the gringos. Finally deciding to turn back, we saw the car with the blue LEDs and huge system we had been dancing with at the beginning of the night pull up. Their trunk was open so we jumped in and they drove us all the way back to the center of town, music blasting, picking their way through the massive crowds.

At this point we grabbed some street food which Jack professed was the best he’d ever eaten in an effort to get me to stop being picky. I still don’t believe him, but it was ok for the moment. We walked all the way up the main street looking for our friends and all the way back down. It was pretty uneventful until one block away from giving up we found them down a side road. We ventured into an improvised building doubling as a dance club and danced there until it closed.

Back out in the street there were local teenage surf pros playing on a balance board consisting of a piece of plywood sitting on a piece of cement that had been formed in a 2 liter coke bottle. I was pretty good at this at the Fruita Fat Tire festival a few years back so I took another shot. I was at least more successful than Jack, who took a running start at it and nearly landed on his head. I was speaking Spanish with more confidence than I have for most of the trip and dancing and having a great time. I met 3 new Americans and hung out with them for a bit before deciding to call it a night.

The streets were still busy, the music was still bumping, but I was done so I made my way back. After a short walk I arrived home and checked the time, deciding 5am is a good time to fall asleep. This is Carnival – people keep that pace for 5 or 6 nights in a row. And the next morning people are on the beach at 7. I doubt it’s the same people as those we saw at 5 but it could be because music is going at least 22 hours a day if not 23, there’s food and street vendors everywhere, and it would almost make more sense to go to sleep on the beach than to try and find a hotel when a town that usually houses less than 1000 people is suddenly inundated with 40,000.

We’re also working on a handful of community outreach projects, which I think are a must for any business.  Personally I think that if the community you operate out of doesn’t like you, chances are you won’t last long.  So BambooSK8 is making some plans to be out and about in Oceanside.  More details to come!

As usual time is still flying and as you may gather from the title, there is a lot of work to be done.  It’s hard not to get anxious at times, but keeping a clear list helps me stay focused.  I do the best I can, ask for help when I need it and usually I am able to get everything done.  In order to be successful in this internship organization, prioritizing and communicating have been key!  All of those are great skills to have in life so I am thankful for the chance to tune those skills.

Alright y’all, it’s time to blow the Friday night work whistle.  I am outta here!  Have a great weekend!

EVENT SCHEDULE

10:00   Gates Open

10:30    Best Trick Practice

11:30     AM Best Trick

12:00     Vert Demo

1:00        Pro Street Demo

1:30        Audible Mainframe

2:00        Autographs

3:30        Bowl Best Trick

4:00        Agent Orange

6:00       Gates Close

This past week we updated a lot of documents and me realize how fast these 8 weeks have flown by. It’s great to reflect on where you were when the internship started and where you can be if you make the most of it. It makes you realize that you have to put in a lot of effort to see results.

On the surf front, its been pretty bleak. There hasn’t been much swell lately so you gotta be on it when its on. Got a little surf sesh in this morning and hopefully there will be more to come.

In case you live under a rock, St. Patty’s day is in a couple weeks. Get ready for green beverages and tons of debauchery

Check us making moves...

The hottest news on the Intern Blog right now is that Geoff C and myself are moguling up this weekend in HB at the Berrics photoshoot at DC. Nbd. Don’t worry that later this month we’ll be skating the Berrics and having a pizza party. Don’t hate cause you ain’t…

Other than that we’re still going hard. Just dropped the first installment of Trick Tips with Geoff C last Sunday. I’m, ok, the whole world, is anxiously waiting for the next installment to hit. There are also some rumblings that Geoff C is going to be doing some skating at the Clash of Clairemont Five March 19th so I’m excited to see how that pans out.

I’m trying to get this skatepark tour handled. It’s proving far more difficult than I anticipated but I’m gonna be hitting that obstacle in Beast mode so it’ll get sorted out this week. We’ll keep the movies flowing as long as our river of footy doesn’t try up. I’m trying to get ahold of the GoPro BacPac LCD but it’s proving harder to do than control Charlie Sheen. (Thanks Gerard)

Oh and Matt Hayes, I spent two years knee deep in the streets of Ecuador so if you need some connects or info or anything don’t hesitate to ask. It has been a bit since I was last there but I still got mad homies and let’s be honest it surely hasn’t changed too much. Enjoy it my man cause it’s a pretty amazing place and people. Oh, but be careful cause it can get gnarly mad quick.

skate hard, skate green.

Have a wonderful day.

- Geoff C

Can’t wait to see more from them.

Also, I did a layout for Empire Snow and Skates new Vader deck.  Looks super sick, so keep your eyes open for that coming soon.

BambooSk8 is also sponsoring the Clash at Clairemont coming up in two weeks (March 19th).  So, check it out, get down there, and support a good cause.

Hello there…

Doesn’t that look bomb?! ^

(sorry if your on a diet)

Anyways, on to something more exciting than a dripping ice cream cone! This week is crazy busy! It’s week 8, which means lots of assignments due this week or some may say HALF WAY DONE!

It’s kind of crazy how quickly 8 weeks flies by, I’m really lucky to have found an internship that will actually encourage me to learn and put my hands into a bunch of different projects. I’ve heard of so many internships that pose as one thing, but then basically just require office work out of you with no actual work experience to show for afterward. I know that even at week 8, I’ve gained valuable experience and I’m so thankful for it.

This week I’ve been brainstorming like crazy to find a unique style we can go with for the website. Dana (our graphic designer at BambooSK8/BambooBuddy) and I had a blast sketching out our ideas on the whiteboard. I’m currently putting together a PowerPoint to show Geoff K the direction we chose to take the website. I’m really excited to get the ball rolling, it’s going to take lots of work!

Aside from the website, I’ve been communicating with some of the kids at OSF who have started designing their BambooSK8 decks with an eco-conscious concept.  Here’s a picture of some of their work:

Uhh super RAD! Right?!

Last week, we all got a new batch of Hook’it kids. This group is serious about their sponsorship which is freakin awesome! See what I mean…

avery suarez

Alright, that’s it for now! Next time you hear from me… I’m going to be a twenty – fo! haha

I want that ice cream up top for my birthday!

When I got laid off from my international sales job I immediately started searching Craigslist for a new wetsuit. Not the standard response to a layoff, but it worked well for spending the next two and a half months splitting my days between surfing or riding BMX, and applying to about 40 positions a week. Surfing and BMXing were going along great but unfortunately the job search was floundering. Around the beginning of February I decided that my time could be better spent in a foreign country; living cheaply, learning another language, and satiating my immediate need for adventure. I got a ticket, packed up my stuff, said bye to people, and took off for Quito.

Ecuador is described as a beautiful and fairly stable country with coast lines, mountains, and rain forest all contained in an area roughly the size of Colorado. This sounded great to me, and I can’t help but think how well the size will lend itself to bike touring should the mood strike. However, this was the first time I was traveling to a foreign country alone and I don’t know the language very well so I was extremely nervous.

Yesterday morning I boarded a plane and after a brief layover in the city where the playas play (Atlanta for those of you who missed the Jermaine Dupri reference) I found myself in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Seeing how it was midnight and there weren’t any benches in the airport to sleep on I decided to follow my new airplane-seat-friends Scott and Maggie to their hotel and hope there was a room open.

We rung the front door – one in a row of 20 doors along the same edifice – and were buzzed in. Walking into a large courtyard we were buzzed into a second door and followed some stairs up to the reception desk. The attendant of Hotel San Francisco de Quito got me a room for $30 and handed me a small key with a large stamped metal rooster on the key chain. I put the key in the door, and keeping the price in mind, braced for the worst. The room was incredible. Beautiful old wood night stands, desk, closet, seat, and bedframe, were all complimented by 14’ ceilings and hard wood floors. The bed was comfy, the shower was mounted really high and had great pressure and hot water, there was just one wonderful surprise after the next. I wrote in my journal and then passed out – so happy to be in Ecuador.

In the morning things kept getting better. I wandered down to the complimentary breakfast which was in a vaulted brick ceiling room and got a light meal from a nice waitress. No buffet serve-yourself here, they include service. Then I wandered up to the terrace which overlooks all of old town and sent out a couple quick emails on their wi-fi before checking out.

Ecuadorian streets aren’t exactly pedestrian friendly, especially for pedestrians with backpacks and suitcases, but I started walking and trying to find my next hostel. An old man with about 60% of his teeth informed me I was going the wrong way – he didn’t know where I was going, but the way I was walking was “muy malo.” Point taken I turned around, walked another mile, made another wrong turn, and eventually found the Secret Garden hostel which advertised a top-story patio overlooking the city and no TV. I checked in, put down my stuff, and then started walking around the city. I got some food, bought a lock and a razor, and climbed half of a mountain by the time I was done. Back at the hostel I made the mistake of starting a conversation and sharing my flashcards with a 10 year-old Swedish boy and two hours later I finally snuck away to get some dinner. Now I’m sitting on that advertised patio listening to the soft rain on an improvised roof watching fog slowly roll down the mountainside enveloping the city lights one by one.

The Skate Park Tour is beginning to take a little bit of shape. Be on the look out for that, coming to a town near you. I’ve been enjoying working more and more with the team and learning from all of them, and I enjoy seeing the fruits of my labors a little more than before. I really enjoy applying ideas and theories I have concocted in my head and seeing them turn into something successful. Hopefully I can keep it up.

Last but not least, big ups to Wyatt for being born this week. You got partied out a little prematurely but I still look forward to seeing the wooden helicopter flying around your office! Happy Birthday big guy!!

The NBA All Star game is invading CA so get ready to be wowed by yet another amazing Chicago Bull. D Rose gonna be doing work!

Here’s my video for the blog, I dedicate it to AG, who should have some sick footy from June when he comes back or has a new gopro  if he doesn’t…

Ps. Love the song.

The past couple weeks have been about Hookit, Hookit, and more Hookit. I’ve been busy working to gather some new content and create new segments for the site. It’s getting pretty exciting as I’m starting to involve myself more and more. Be on the lookout for Trick Tips with Intern Geoff….coming soon. I’ve had the chance to do a lot more skating at the BambooSK8 warehouse and in the skateparks in Oceanside. It’s been great talking to a lot of the kids and seeing them respond so well to what we’re trying to accomplish here at Bsk8. Hopefully we’ll see more of them on our boards in the near future. Other than that, I’ve been trying to tap into the different Southern California online media sites to gain some BambooSK8 exposure. The internship has been wonderful to me so far and I’m looking forward to the upcoming weeks.

Outside of the office, I’ve been doing a lot of skating and brushing up on some finance material. I actually got a call a week ago about an internship with an investment bank in New York in the fall! Woo! I’ve also been looking to pick up a new vintage steel lugged road bike (Mid-late 80′s). I went on a 22 mile ride yesterday in Oceanside and it was gorgeous. I encourage all of you to do the same. Save some gas and get a bike because the revolution will not be motorized.

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on the ins and outs of my BambooSK8 experience.

Stay young and notice the world,

Geoff C

I just started doing some things in photoshop and damn, it’s a whole other world. I really don’t know what I’m doing but I’m learning quickly. Gerard is a pro at it and he makes some BA stuff, if I can be half as good I’ll be happy. I’ll make sure to throw up my final product when it’s done.

I’ve been surfing often which is great because all work and no play makes Ryan a dull boy. It has been crap lately but you never know what next week may hold!

-Ryan

Thanks to the many community outreach events and leads here at BambooSK8, I am dusting off my PR skills. Cough, cough, they were a little dusty! Not to mention, it’s super cool to work towards various projects I am really interested in.  In the past I’ve had to put enormous amount of energy towards projects and events that don’t really interest me. At BambooSK8 that has not been the case. Yay!

Outside the office, it was a birthday bonding extravaganza!  Good people, cake, tacos and pirates; what more could you ask for!?! Mid-day was a birthday break for Wyatt. We surprised him with a cake, which I almost dropped in an effort to not let any candles blow out.  All that matters is that I DID NOT drop it! Later that evening, we continued the intern bonding and celebrating with some bomb food at Bull Taco and tasty beverages at a local pirate hang out. Yarrr…argh…RRRR?!?! However you express the “R”, a good time was had by all! Cheers to Wyatt and week 6!

+   =  My week ! ; )

This week was definitely different, Tuesday felt like Friday and now Friday doesn’t even feel like a Friday! Tuesday was Wyatt’s Birthday, so all of BambooSK8 (minus Geoff K, Sick Ryan, and Cat) went out to Bull Tacos for Taco Tuesday. The food was pretty good, but it was a lot of fun bonding with the group. Following Bull Taco, we went back and hung out in Downtown Oceanside; overall, it was a great day! Happy Birthday Wyatt!!

This week I did a lot of studying, EcoIndex provides webinars which give you a bunch of great information about how to use the Index. I spent MANY hours listening and taking notes! We have some kids submit some rough sketches for the OSXBambooSK8 Project up in Toronto, Canada. It was so much fun looking at the artwork and concepts behind each student. Gerard and I are working together to give some feedback to the kids, I’m really excited to see what they have (it’s going to be good!) I’ve continued to contact bands individually for the GWR Compilation, but haven’t heard too much in return which kind of bums me out. On a happy note, Dana and Andrew have been great people to talk to as far as coming up with ideas for the website. There have been some challenges this week on managing my time properly, so I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I wanted on studying for my midterm… hopefully next week will be better!!

P.S. Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!!! <3

We’re now running a weekly Eco Tribe Trick of The Week contest.  Every week we are going to put up a new trick that we want to see, then you can submit a youtube clip of you performing that trick.  Whoever sends the clip with the sweetest style or most creative line will receive some free schwag.  Also, we’re doing a Friends & Family promotion, where kids get to flex their entrepreneurial muscle to earn free decks, and hook their friends up with great discounts on boards at the same time.

Another great thing which I had the pleasure gettng involved in this week is the Oasis Skateboard Factory.  “The Oasis Skateboard Factory helps at-risk students earn Gr. 9/10/11 compulsory and elective high school credits over 1 or 2 semesters by running a social justice and community focused entrepreneurial business where they learn hands-on to build skateboards, design original custom graphics, work with local artists and community partners, market and display their work and have the opportunity to receive an honorarium”. It’s an amazing program, check it out.

Craig Morrison, a teacher at Oasis, created a great class where students learn about sustainability, business, and design, which they then translate into skateboard graphics.  This is the second time he’s running it, and he’s asked Amanda and I to assist the students with their conceptualizing and the artist statements by providing feedback on how to clearly “communicate a sustainability concept inspired by the topics discussed in class and promote an image that expresses the environmental consciousness of the Bamboo SK8 brand”.  We got the first drafts of their projects today and we are psyched see what they all come up with.  At the end of the course each student will have created a graphic on one of our boards which will be featured in an art show, and a winning design will be picked by the head of BambooSK8, Geoff Koboldt, and will hang at our headquarters in Oceanside, CA (with the two from last year).  I’m really looking forward to providing feedback and seeing how creative they get with this.

Yesterday I turned the ripe old age of 23. What better way to spend it than hanging out with all the interns at the office? Seriously though, the interns here are awesome. I had the great opportunity of getting to know them over the past few weeks and at the Crossroads tradeshow this past weekend. I’m very excited for the upcoming weeks. I am currently working on several different projects for Hookit and I can’t wait to see the response we get from the community. We have a lot of new contests coming up and I’m looking forward to having BambooSK8 represented at some future events. Sorry to keep it short but there’s skating to be done, drinks to be consumed, and birthday cake to be eaten.

Have a great weekend. I know I will.

- Geoff C

Last weekend a group of us attended The Crossroads trade show in Carlsbad.  The tradeshows I had been to in the past were for the action sports industry as a whole.  It was definitely a new experience to attend a tradeshow specifically for skateboarding.  It was a day full of observations: style, fashion, lingo, and of course a boat load of skating.  Watching the warm up and competition was intense.  There were boards and people flying everywhere, sometimes it was a good thing and sometimes not.  When one of the skaters landed a trick the crowd exploded in to applause and cheers. The energy was insane! Plus, the event gave us interns a chance to get together outside of the office and have some fun!

I’ve just reread my blog to myself and I believe it sounds like I’ve joined the circus. There are people from all walks of life (interns), a ring master (Geoff Koboldt), animals (usually dogs), balancing acts (the internship), people clowning around (interns bonding), performers flying through the air (skaters), and in the end it’s all for the big show (intern graduation).  If we all traveled by train nightly, I would for sure think I had joined the circus. Twelve stops (weeks) left on our tour and I plan to make everyone of them count.  Here’s to a great show!

The internship is going super, I’m learning tons. At times it can be a little daunting with all the tasks that require my attention but slowly but surely I’m pushing ahead and learning (Cue Rick Ross, Push it). Ain’t gonna hold be down! I’m enjoying this experience a ton, I’m not sure if it’s the internship or just because I’m stoked outta my mind to finally be living in California (You might have been expecting that I’d be dropping the “Cali” word there, but i ain’t no kook). This is a little bit of a trial by fire since we’re sooo free to follow our ideas and see how they play out, this can be a little unnerving but at the same time pretty liberating as well. Big ups to the bosses for not micromanaging, you have a lot at stake to allow us just to do our thang.  A rather painful part of this experience is the daily reminder of my inadequacies in skating. Like I told the kids today, I’ve been blessed with a lot of abilities in this life but skating definitely is not one of them. FML.

Maybe with my trick tip sessions with Geoff and Andrew I’ll be able to overcome this shortcoming.

I had the good pleasure of attending Blackbox’s Crossroads, which was super rad. I got to have some words with a few pros, I’d name drop but it’s not a big deal to me. Sheckler, Lutzka, Brown. The best trick comp was insane, like watching someone play skate 3 or tony hawk pro skater in real life. It was also rad to bond with my fellow interns, I think a good time was had by all.

My voice doppelganger?

I’m pretty stoked to be starting to get my plans in motion. Facebook and Twitter is a daily challenge that I find to be super fun. It’s like a game of chess to see what I have to do to keep the peeps coming back for more. F-U-N. Hookit continues to be the bane of my existence. The kids are amazing but that site is allowing my patience to grow by leaps and bounds.

Funny Story: So I restricted my identity on my blackberry to call my hookit kids, and one actually answered but kept saying, “no really, who is this? You’re not really from BambooSK8″ and wouldn’t believe me that I wasn’t one of his boys prank calling him. Classic.

That’s about it, just trying to take this experience day by day and make the most of it. Jah Bless!

My rolemodel

Long time since last time, actually ages! So many things happen since the last article. The locker has been around, that’s for sure! But not just the locker’s travel had happen, but also an awesome eco-friendly skate park has been built on my campus in Eskisehir, Turkey.
Lets start quickly with the locker’s travel, we have been together in Georgia. Tbilisi (the capital) and definitely it is great place to hang around. Amazingly friendly people which are willing to share with you them culture and not in a stupid touristy way.. Just get around and follow what the city has to offer you, you gonna be surprised! From the Georgian bath, great wines (they are the oldest wine producer in the world as they claim) and a random rock band playing in a tunnel under the main square, of course you are able to smoke and drink everywhere! So few guys and me got drunk with the that rock band in that tunnel, drinking some Russian beers, awesome! The locker was there as well, check out the pics.
Back in Turkey, we opened finally the eco-friendly area counting a skate park in it. The main aspect of that project was, showing to people how many things you can build out of waste material and a bit of creativity. That’s actually how the world should turn on, recycling and eco-friendliness. Of course Bamboosk8 was there with also many participants, the Turkish skateboarding national champion Ahmed bozu”  the Etnies Turkish team, SBC skateshop’s team, graphers, bikers, rollerbladers, Erasmus people, random people, it was a nice mix, all different but all together!
Well now, the locker, the crew and I are going to cross the Atlantic as soon as the sailing boat is ready, hopefully in 4 days. More stories coming up soon, the locker and a mermaid having some interesting affairs..
Happy new year and all the rest! Take care fellows and hopefully we will make it! (not the mermaid adventure but the crossing itself..)
A

Check out that link, its a short video of the event itself!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1631700645271

More pics of the eco-skatepark on: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=619141007&aid=244763

WARNING! Don’t be too jealous.

Sunday I went out to Carlsbad for the annual Crossroads Trade Show. I’m not going to lie, Lindsay and I were probably the cleanest people there! haha Okay, well in all fairness the weather was nice and warm and some people just sweat easily… We checked out some cool products from Fusion, Element, Vans, etc. Once the tents started to wrap up, a skate competition for best trick took place inside. I had 2nd row baby! These guys were awesome! Check out the video: Crossroads Best Trick – Jan. 2011

This week I started up a few new projects. I will be working on the Green Wash Ritual II Digital Compilation/ Music Project. There are 2 more slots for the compilation. Bands like Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, and The Aggrolites will be on this compilation, so whoever fills in the open slots will get a lot of exposure. The compilation will be available for free if you purchase some BambooSK8 merchandise. WOO HOO! Oh real quick, I’m super stoked because I FINALLY got the inventory up on Amazon! My other project is to find out how much of a carbon footprint BambooSK8 is leaving behind so we can find ways to improve.

I’ve been learning a lot; from procedures to strategies, all of which is super interesting! I’m having a lot of fun!

Thank you for reading, here is a gift of my gratitude!

$5 OFF

It’s already week 4 in the enchanted bamboo forests. Things are going well here and I feel like I’m actually making some progress on things. Although planning is very important, I feel much better when I have something to show for my work. I’ve been learning a lot (always BCC the shops that you email) and just trying to learn from my mistakes. I’m learning that there is always something to be done. Whether it’s researching a technique that can streamline our website, or looking into new potential markets or just going and reppin’ the BambooSk8 eco philosophy around town, there is always work to be done.

I was bummed that I couldn’t make it to the Crossroads event this past weekend. From all accounts it was a ton of fun and the contest was awesome. I’m looking forward to our next event, which should be the Clash at Claremont on March 19th.

In case ya’ll didn’t know, the waves have been firing lately. Big NW swells have been slamming down on us and there have been some smaller SW swells mixing in. Combine that with stellar conditions and you have a bunch of surfers with tired arms. It has been barrel country up in the OC and I even scored a few down here in Oceanside at the harbor. When there are waves, life is good. The forecast is for good waves, and so…
life is good. ☺

I’ve been putting in a lot of hours, and there are quite a few projects that I’m working on.   Keep an eye on our social media sites, lots of new content and eye candy coming down the pipe.  With multiple projects spanning across multiple departments within the business, it’s important to examine how we operate as individuals, and how to more efficiently accomplish weekly goals.  The last few weeks have provided me with opportunities to examine my time management habits and work on improving them.  It’s def a work in progress, and I’m starting to feel less like this:

And more like this:

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Geoff Consolacion and I hail from the action sports haven known as Oceanside, CA. I’ll be joining this talented group of interns as class 9 for BambooSk8. From a very young age, I can remember being an ambitious little kid with big goals and dreams. It never mattered what it was. If it was something I wanted to do, I was going to make damn sure that I was going to be great at it. A lot of that competitive spirit and energy was channeled through school and sports and it wasn’t until I was about 11 years old when I was introduced to something that would forever change me.

My cousin gave me a World Industries Rob ‘Sluggo’ Boyce skateboard. Bom chika wah wah! It was love at first. Skating consumed almost every part of my free time. I spent hours on end learning new tricks and trying to put together little videos. For the longest time I was either doing school work, playing baseball (another great passion of mine), or skating.

Fast forward a few more years. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Finance in May 2010. I spent a couple wonderful months traveling through the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Like many of the other interns, the search for full time employment, especially in the financial services industry, was less than ideal. Even though that sheepskin diploma makes wonderful wall décor, it hasn’t quite yet opened any doors for me.

I was very fortunate to have found BambooSk8 and I was very attracted to their mission. It’s business related, involves skateboarding, and is environmentally conscious. It’s a grand slam. I will be focusing much of my time on Public Relations and Social Media, but I will also be lending my voice and opinions to the Marketing and Sales teams. I feel that the hard work and effort I plan to put worth will make this a wonderful learning experience. Having the intent of being a business owner someday, I plan on taking advantage of this invaluable opportunity to motivate me towards my future goals.

and that’s a little about me.

-geoff c

so that we can utilize every available moment of the day.

Like many people these days, my success in the recent job market has been less than ideal.  As a result, I chose to utilize my down time to improve my resume and make myself standout more to potential employers.  In my quest to accomplish that, I stumbled upon the opening at Bamboosk8.  At the interview, it was obvious that the internship was going to be much more than making copies and fetching coffee.  The program has been methodically organized and tailored for developing us into a goal oriented, proactive, and forward thinking, business weapon.

In a true eco-friendly business, “closing the loop” is a critical step in maximizing value and sustainability.  From this internship, I expect to take away a clear understanding of how to close the loop of communication between all of the departments in a business (sales, pr, manufacturing, marketing, etc.).  That is, how to effectively communicate the important information through each department and back again, to derive progress within the industry.

There is going to be a lot of hard work ahead, but I’m looking forward to the perks as well.  After all, this is a skateboard company; if we’re not having fun, then we’re doing something wrong.

Although it is a lot of time and work, I love it. I graduated from CSUF in May and since then I have not had anything to do during the day except sleep, surf, and travel. I spent 6 weeks in New Zealand, 3 months in Australia, and 3 weeks in Bali after I graduated. I was just traveling and surfing and thinking that when I came back I would somehow magically get an awesome job in the action sports industry where I could still sleep, surf, and travel. Why I thought my little degree would get me a dream job is beyond me.

When this internship came along, it seemed like an awesome chance to get my feet wet in the industry and see how the real world works. Although they do a great job of structuring the intern program, they don’t baby you. You are expected to set you own lofty goals and follow through with everything you set. With the help of my awesome fellow interns I will be focusing on direct model sales, marketing the website, and keep our customers happy.

Stoked on life ☺

-Ryan

After working for a few companies, I’ve learned what I want and expect out of my future career.  Although, it’s becoming more apparent how hard it’s going to be to get my ideal career.  Taking an internship after college, when you’re in the middle of life, is not easy.  It’s hard to find the time and money, but if you want something that bad you find a way to make it happen.  I’m makin’ it happen!  It also helps to have the support of friends and family, like I do. I believe this internship at BambooSK8 will be an amazing step along the way to a job that makes me happy.  I figure if I am going to be working for the next 45 years, I better like what I do.

In the few days that I have been at BambooSK8, I’ve gotten a realistic picture of how a small business works and where the action sports industry stands.  Let’s just say business and the industry is anything but glamorous. Not all brands in this industry work as hard or have as much foresight to realize the effect they have on the industry as a whole. The BambooSK8 team works incredibly hard to keep this brand responsible and successful.  BambooSK8 I believe you are the bee’s knees!  That’s right I said it, bee’s knees!  I look forward to the next 16 weeks, contributing what I know and learning a whole bunch of new stuff!

Oh and one more thing I am stoked on, Parker the office dog!! I’d like to thank Wyatt, Parker’s owner, in advance for all the puppy playtime…after my work is done of course!

So this was my first full week at BambooSK8 and I love it! The working environment is both fun and focused. My tasks involve website design, research, and updating our inventory on Amazon.com and Eco3P.com (check it out!). Obviously, it’s a bit overwhelming this week with staying organized and properly managing my tasks at hand. I’m going to be honest, it feels good to use my noggin as much as I have… sounds stupid but I’ve been out of school since August and working at a small board shop, applying for jobs, and hanging out, so needless to say I feel productive and inspired! I have so many ideas just running through my brain with marketing and web design; I can’t wait to see the results. So, I’ve been exposed to this site called Hook’it, man I feel like I’ve been living under a rock! If you don’t know what it is check it out! Here’s a link to our page: http://www.hookit.com/members/bamboosk8/  . I’m stoked to see what our new Eco Tribe members are able to put out there! Shout out to Big Eddie B, that kid is cool! It’s almost Friday and I’m super stoked! This weekend I might be checking out a photo shoot here at the warehouse, so I’m excited to see how that works out. Lovin’ it! I’ll get back to you guys next week with more updates!

Stay tuned!

-Amanda

The first indications I got that everything was going to be alright.

Ok take two. Apparently Safari didn’t like the first blog I wrote so as soon as I finished it decided it would rather unexpectedly quit than be part of its publishing.

So here we go again.

My name is Andrew and I moved here to heaven from Chicago (Go Bears) via SL,UT. I recently left the world of positive hopes and dreams known as college and entered the darker, crueler world called reality. After treading through this desolate landscape of nothingness known as the job market for a time that felt like forever, the stars aligned and I saw a glimmer of light off in the distance. This glimmer of light is the BambooSk8 internship program. The glorious key to the door that bridges college and the real world where I’ll learn some of the skills that are required to succeed (or atleast get a job that doesn’t have ‘burger’ in the name) in places outside academia.

So after opening this door I’ve found out a great deal about myself and a lot about the $60k+ so called education I’ve received but I digress. I am in charge of a bit of the marketing for BambooSk8, namely, the viral videos, skatepark visits, and social media outlets. At times this first week I’ve felt a little like this:

Sink or Swim

(For the record, this is super awful and CPS should be notified if you see anything like it in real life)

No coddling here, just like real life. All those feel good lessons ever do is set you up for a letdown.

But my fellow interns as well as my superiors all have been super helpful at making this transition as painless as possible and for this I thank you for being totally BEAST. I have gained more confidence and I’m sure it will continue to grow (hopefully one day I’ll be cocky enough to run a major corporation). I am currently setting SMART goals and will be working diligently to be sure that I pay the cost to achieve those goals. I have also been forced to streamline my methods for better efficiency which is always good. Another high point is to see how stoked the Hookit.com kids are on the sport and on BambooSk8, it’s just a friendly reminder as to why we do what we do. I am excited for all I will learn. Can’t wait.

My future is clearly looking a whole lot less bleak, I feel like I have regained some control over my life and that feels fantastic. Hopefully, I can find a little spot to carve my name into somewhere in the action sports industry. I’m still not sure what I want to do when I grow up and where my talents will be best used to serve, but when I do I’ll be ready to grab my piece of the American Dream (think:American Dream).

Anyways, I think that if you’re still reading this you deserve to be rewarded with a little somethin delicious so here ya go!

Siiiick.

That’s pretty radical huh? Dude gots mad talent. Sorry if you were hoping for something a little more racy but this is a family company. Jah bless til we meet again.

Uli

Even though the journey to get where you're going in life might be tough and you might take a wrong turn, the view at the end is worth it. Always be stoked about life.

I do believe this is the first post for class 9 interns at BambooSk8 in January 2011. My name is Collin Stephens and I currently reside in Carlsbad, California. I’ve spent my whole life in north San Diego county, graduating from Rancho Buena Vista High School in 2006. Following that I got my bachelors degree in Geology from California State University, Chico in 2010 and I promptly moved back to San Diego. After graduation I spent a lot of time sending job applications and resumes, hundreds of them, to every geo-tech company that had an opening. After a few hundred rejections and realizing that geology might not be what I want to do in life, I started soul searching. I looked at what I enjoyed doing and surfing, rock climbing, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, camping and skateboarding came to mind. The next logical step seemed to be action sports. One day I came across BambooSk8, I got hired as an intern and I’ve been stoked ever since. Just because you have a plan for what you want your life to be doesn’t mean you have to stick to it. In life it’s okay to live many different lives, giving you the ability to gain so many experiences. This is truly what life is all about; the experience. I encourage everyone to live life to the fullest and enjoy every new thing you learn. That is what this internship is for me. Learning business and marketing with a degree in geology is fantastic and only two weeks in I already feel like I’ve been working in the industry for some time now. These new and exciting experiences are what make us and a continuous movement forward in life is essential. This is a new year with new expectations and I am part of a new class of interns who will hopefully help bring BambooSk8 to the next level. A ton of work lay before us, accompanied by a ton of learning experiences and new endeavors to take part in. As so eloquently put by Timbuk 3, “the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” Looking forward to working with everyone!!

Skate hard and always ride bamboo

Collin

Here is an example of someone who clearly takes no responbility.  How many spelling mistakes are seen here; from a college student at that?  Why would any company take this person seriously and trust them to work for them if they can’t even take responsibility for their own self.  YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If that weren’t enough, they didn’t even answer the 5 questions we specifically asked for.  Again, this type of failure to pay attention to details will hurt ones chances of getting a job, internship, etc.

————————————-
Cover Letter / Comments
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1. From obrianing an intership job,I beleieve it will give me a lot of experience and networking opportunities so when I graduate, it will be a benefit when I need to start my career.

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Brief Profile
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I am expected to graduate with a Bachelors of Science from Cal State San Marcos, majoring in Marketing. My biggist accomplishment was becoming a professional barrel racer, it has always been a childhood dream. What makes it such an accomplihmet was the fact that I trained my horse for barel racing.

There are many lessons to be learned, so here are a few:

• If you leave the program, don’t lie about why you really left.  Always be honest.  The truth will always reveal itself.
• If you get into the program and suddenly realize it’s just too much to take on, then communicate it immediately and exit quickly so it doesn’t interupt the class as a whole.
• If you sign up for something like our internship then see it through… be persistent and don’t give up.  If you do leave, at least show some respect and turn over your activities to someone else who can finish them.
• If you are going to be negative, then don’t become a cancer to our positive environment, just stay home
• Every point is important, you should strive for every point… if you don’t, it’s a pure reflection on your ability to be successful
• You either want it or you don’t, there is no inbetween!
• Time management is everything, along with organization!

We look forward to improving our internship for class 9 starting in January.  We are now taking new applicants.  Please email molson@bamboosk8.com if you can honor our system and really want to improve your business skills.

This week has gone by so fast! I don’t know if it’s because Thanksgiving is right around the corner or if it was just a great busy week. So over the weekend we had the skate bbq which was a ton of fun. It was awesome to be there and get use to taking pictures of the skaters. This was for sure a new endeavor for me. On Sunday we had a photo shoot for bamboo buddy. I honestly think my stomach still hurts from laughing so hard. Dana might have a ton of editing to do with the how to video.

This week at the office was a lot of fun. In a few different ways I feel like I have gotten to know that guys a little bit better. I think sometimes they forget that I am a girl but that just makes it all that much funnier. It’s nice after a few weeks to feel like part of something here. I am having so much fun and learning a ton, which is just making me even more excited about getting out there and taking more photos.

Until Next time! Oh and Don’t forget to eat a ton of food this coming up week!

Rita

This weekend is going to be crazy fun! We have the bbq tomorrow, which I am really looking forward to. I am excited to see everyone cut loose and have a little bit of fun. Then on Sunday we have a little get together for bamboo buddy. Lets just say it is going to be an eventful weekend with photographing.

Also random shout out to Andrew! It’s his birthday today!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Rita

Now, to make up for all that corniness, I’ll leave you with a few words from my boy
Bobby Bottleservice

On to the more important stuf, the BambooSK8 Tour!  We got rained out at Coronado last Saturday so we had to turn the truck around, but we will be abck again for another try.  The Skate Tour isn’t making any stops this weekend due to scheduling issues, but we are hitting Encinitas on Thursday, November 11th for the Single Day Skate Day so definitely come out and help us remember our Veterans that fought hard for our country.  The BambooSK8 Team is going to get together next weekend to BBQ it up!  We have a few more stops before we wrap our invasion into the skate world so keep an eye out and we will keep you posted!

We had a fun photo shoot this week. Mark was awesome and got some people to come in for me so that I could photograph them in the t-shirts and with some of the skateboards. On what I feel like was the hottest day of the week I took Dan and Tyler to one of the local skate parks to get some new images. How both the guys were able to fit in my car and be semi comfortable I will never know. I was also able to con Mark and Andrew to get in on the photo shoot that we were having in the warehouse. It’s amazing how fast three hours go by when you are laughing and taking photos.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! If you have not made it to the beach yet, you need to. I was down there at nine this morning and it was gorgeous!

On another note, on tuesday, the world was hit hard with the devastating news of Andy Irons’ untimely death.  The surfing community continues to mourn the tragic loss.  I am still in disbelief.  Andy Irons, you were a great surfer, and an inspiration…. My thoughts and prayers are with you, your family, friends and your fans during this difficult time.  RIP AI.

So I am officially the new intern/photographer! I am really excited about all the amazing photographs that I am going to be taking. The first week here was a bit crazy. I have snapping away so that I can get some images up on the site for you to see. A few things that I am really excited about is the new longboards. They just came in last week and the designs on them are pretty amazing!

Word to the wise, if you up a flood light on top of a ladder make sure you tape it down!

I look forward to sharing all of my crazy photography adventures with you! Hopefully I’ll images soon of some of our events!

Have a good weekend!

Rita

So, as you’ve probably noticed from other posts, we got invited to the Ki up in San Francisco’s Treasure Island this weekend. Along with other crazy bamboo displays, BambooSK8 is supposed to bring and set up a little skatepark for our skaters to have fun and demo boards and whatnot. All we had, though, was a box, a manny pad, a rail, and a quarter pipe, which needed some fixing. Sounds OK, but we could do better and scrounge something up on our budget. We only had about 2 weeks to get something together, so we were scrambling like crazy to find materials. We actually hit up our neighbors at the warehouse and used their scrapped wooden boxes and crates to create an eight-foot long box with a ledge on it. We also hit up some dude by the name of Jeff King and went to Shred Ranch (which will sadly be no more in the near future) to buy some more supplies. Once all the random scarps of wood were lying around the warehouse, it was time to go to work. Andrew and the homie Phil busted their backs on Sunday attaching the ledge to the box and putting together two ramps that connect to the box. The rest of the week was spent cutting some wood, laying down some plywood, and finding more scraps we could use around town. Jeff Wright and I even ended up driving around for a couple hours and finding some steel plates to make a smooth transition onto the ramps. Amidst all this building madness, I also had to find us a moving truck to pack all the supplies for the trip, drive around some more to pick up supplies, package up some shipments, and get my assignments done on the side.

All in all, it was a fun week. It definitely forced me to set up a better schedule for myself. Luckily, everything fit inside the truck I ordered (we were a little skeptical) and the guys were able to take off to SF according to plan. I should’ve taken pictures of the ramps and box, our friend Mark threw down some sweet spray paint work. My bad…anyways, I’ll just leave you guys with these pictures I took from the product toss at the end of the 8th Annual Haunted Skate contest at Laguna Niguel that we went to last Saturday.

Anyway, what are you guys dressing up as for Halloween? I was thinking of dressing up as Cheech from Up in Smoke.  Here is an example of what I would look like:

Pretty awesome, right?

This weather has been crazy and semi cold which means SNOW IS COMING! I’m stoked!!!! I hope y’all come and visit me up in Bear cause its going to be an insanely awesome time. Alright take it easy and have a happy and safe Halloween!

Over and out.

Here are some pictures i took in Bali.  Thinking of warmer days……..

Anywho…so last weekend we kicked off the official BambooSK8 Tour!  We are gonna be hitting stops all around the SoCal area.  We are gonna blow this thing up and make it epic!  Last weekend we went to the Poway Skate Park, and it was pretty legit.  For the first time trial, we had a pretty good crowd.  Jeff Wright, a rider for BambooSK8, came out with all his buddies from the Ocean Current skate team.  We were handing out prizes from Rockstar for those skaters who were doing some pretty legit tricks.  Nika water came out and handed out water to all of our very thirsty skaters.  Overall, I would say Poway was a pretty great success for our first time!

This weekend while our BambooSK8 Team is in San Francisco, the SK8 Tour is going to make a stop at the Coronado Skate Park!  Of course free prizes and definitely some new games!  We wanna see all the tricks you got so bring it!  Each week we improve the skate tour more and more, so follow us wherever we go!  We are planning to hit up Coronado, Encinitas, Orange County, Venice Beach, and then we are gonna end with a BIG BANG in Palm Springs! Whoop Whoop!

SEE YOU AT CORONADO ON SATURDAY!

Long time, or it seems long cause so many things happened. Since Costa Rica it took me while to get to my Turkish uni. After 25 hours being between planes and airports, I finally arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital completely exhausted and jet-lag. The cab driver sadly noticed it, and took advantage of it, touring around the city making me pay 4 times the expected amount.. Next time I will order a cab from the airport instead of those illegal one. Stayed in a art hostel, which have a really good bar down stair. Few beers, straight to bed. After 5 hours of sleep, I took a bus from Sofia to Istanbul around 8 hours trip. The buses are great, cheap (30 Euros), lot of space, you even have a stewardess on board serving you coffees and snacks! When we arrived at the border, that took a while. The boarder patrol searched the luggage and the bus, after you have to get your visa. If you are from a European country, no problem for it. But I met an American girl, Janira in the bus and it was a hell for her. She had to go to Ankara (capital city) from Istanbul (6 hours by bus) to hand her visa, wait for 5 days and back there to pick it up!

In the bus I also met a Bulgarian girl who had been an exchange student in Istanbul, so she found us (Janira and I) a hostel and took us around. We met her Turkish friends and had a blast during that night! At first we were suppose to go to an art exhibition and met her friends there, but a riot happen at the art gallery, with cocktail Molotov, fights, the cops came but the attackers escaped before they could get caught. The main reason was the art exhibition topic, some radical attackers didn’t agreed with it (Turkey is a Muslim country facing some freedom of expression problems but DO NOT GET ME WRONG, its just a LITTLE radical community NOT the entire country) , so they attack the gallery and the artist went straight to hospital. Luckily no fire disaster. Well, after this incident, we went for Janira’s and my first real Turkish dinner, delicious and so many different type of food, on top of it a good Efes (Turkish beer). Istanbul is a beautiful city, with plenty of walking street full of nice cafés, bar, pub and yes mosques too!
The next day Janira and I went around, the main bazaar, the blue mosque, got lost around too, was good fun. Later on I met 2 New Zealanders, living in Kuwait, an Indian guy in exchange. We went for some beers, passed by mistake through the prostitute street, and end up in a cool little bar. After few beers, the owners tried to communicate with us, that was a great laugh! We were using the bar’s computer Turkish English translator and hand signs.. Worked out well!
Next day I took my bus to Eskisehir, one of the hostel employee wanted to help me out and carried my board for a good 30 minutes till the bus stop, nice! But again communication was limited.. He gave me his address asking me to send him a postcard from Finland, sure!
Now here in Eskisehir, the city is just packed by students, little cafés and bars. The uni is damn big, like a village with restaurants, cafés, even a supermarket! (selling beers..). I met some Turkish skaters on the campus. So, I asked them if there is any skating community around, and yes, a limited one but still. The only problem is, there is just no skateshop in this city, they have to order online or going to Istanbul. They start complaining about the lack of a skate park, I said them, let’s build one! We found an parking area on the campus and next by, a dump full of waste planks and metal parts. Long story short, we are now a group of 10 composed by 6 Turkish students, from the art department to the economic one, one Norwegian guy as a television and media student, 2 Check Republic guys as architect students and me.  The project is focus on a eco-friendly environment made out of waste material. This environment is subdivided by different areas such as  a skate area, a free art expression and exhibition area and a social area all connected to each others. We are working with no budget, just using student skills and talent to make it happen!
By the way, here are some pics from Istanbul and Eskisehir, enjoy!

In other news, I’ll have to swallow my pride and admit that I got beat in S.K.A.T.E. over at the Cardiff Surf Classic and Green Beach Fair by some kids that were probably entering the 6th grade when I was graduating college last year. I’m a little rusty alrite! One kid had to leave mid-game, so I’ll consider that a stalemate. Another kid tried to hustle me for some money, but once he started doing nollie everything I knew it was over and I told him I didn’t have any cash on me. Needless to say, I had an awesome time at this event. We got to hang out, meet, and talk to some really cool people, including the dudes from The Beautiful Girls. If you haven’t heard of them, you need to check them out at www.thebeautifulgirls.com. We also had people reppin’ our tattoos and stickers all over the place. Oh yea, this guy Rob Machado was there taking part in the contest too. I watched him for a little bit, he’s kinda good at that surfing thing. Here are a few pictures from the event that I got on my phone:

Such a busy last few weeks at BambooSK8.  First of all, what is going on with these weather patterns? I mean, 100 degree, to raining, to windy, to hot again? EEK.  Whatever, at least there was no earthquake like the one predicted.  Haha, we got a good nervous laugh about that in the office.  So last week, i discovered Pandora Radio thanks to Nika and Javier… i mean, I’ve heard of it before, but I had never used it.  What rock was i living under?  I use it all the time now, I am totally addicted.  So after being sick for almost 2 week, I went to the doctor on Tues, and found out I have bronchitis. YAY, psych. This sucks, but whatever, I guess my body needs the rest.  I can’t wait to get back into work next week and get back on track again.  Anyways, thi Sunday we are beginning our Skate Tour.  I’m pretty excited to see how it goes and how it grows in the upcoming weeks.  It’s always amazing to watch something grow from something small to something big, and I hope that is what happens with this.  Stay tuned to find out how things go with that.  Other than that, things have been good.  The Cardiff Surf Classic was a hit, unfortunately, I was unable to attend and missed out on seeing Rob Machado again… but i think i’ll live.  I can’t wait for the next events.  Things in the cave have been pretty good.  We’re staying buy and giving each other a hard time, but we’re all getting along great and having a blast and learning a lot.  Well, that’ all I have for now.  More to come….

-jz

P.S. I know this not BambooSK8 related, but it is close to my heart….. Newport Beach is trying to shut down one of the oldest and most iconic surf  shops  in orange county.  It has been around for 50 years, and now due to some bogus zoning restrictions, they want to shut it down.  If you have a minute, check out their facebook page and if you can, write a letter to the planning director so we can stop this.   Thanks guys!!

http://www.facebook.com/savethefroghouse

and the Newport Beach Plnning Director’s email is: jcampbell@newportbeachca.gov

Things I learned at the office: you never want to be called a dirty hamster! haha cause apparently thats really mean, yet hilarious at the same time. And also, everyone should google “beenerkeekee” or youtube him. Cause he’s awesome. Our first skate park tour is coming up and everything seems set, except that we need a freaking VENUE! aaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! hopefully our golden child has pulled through with something? sweet talked his way into gettin a park of some sort with no permit needed? *cough*cough* javier?? hahaha

here are some pictures. Hope youre all enjoying your life. I would say day, but really you should enjoy everyday.

I have to say though all the hard work definitely pays off and shows its rewards when we get to go to all the eco-friendly events that are usually right on the beach!  This past weekend we went to the Cardiff Surf Classic.  I didn’t go Saturday because I had to work–very unfortunate.  So I did make it out all day Sunday though and I had a blast!  Although I heard it wasn’t as beautiful and sunny as Saturday, but I kinda liked how it was a little misty and drizzling but still warm enough to have a good time.  There were so many different awesome booths!  It is always interesting to go to the events because you get to see all the different things that people do with recycling.  My favorite part though is how we really start relationships with the youngsters.  They really love the BambooSK8 booth because we have tons of stickers for them and they get to ride all around on the skate boards…It’s like a SK8board play ground for them!  Check out my pics below!

Hey Guys!

So this past Saturday, we were at an event called, The Future of Surfing. It was an awesome event where people can basically trade in an old surfboard for a ticket which they get to use at different booths… like ours! We gave away a couple of boards and had a great time.  The event was held in Solana Beach and it was gorgeous outside.  Kaila and I gave away tattoo’s and wore fake mustaches, we looked pretty good.  Check out some pictures from the event!

I’ve been traveling back home to LA a lot recently to visit and spend some of that quality time with the family. While I was up there, I spent some of my downtime on the bamboo deck just messing around throughout my neighborhood. Unfortunately, I don’t really have anyone to go skate with when I go back home because the guys I used to skate around with either don’t really skate anymore or have moved out of our hometown. So I don’t have any pictures or footage of me skating (plus you wouldn’t wanna see them anyway cuz I suck pretty bad…sooo I’ll spare you the pain and myself the embarrassment). Anyways, despite my limited bag of tricks, I know enough to say that I love the board and it rides like a champ. And when I get a nice break from all the work we’ve been doing up in here, I can’t wait to mess around on the little box and manny pad we’ve got at the warehouse.

Oh and P.S. if you’re around Solana Beach this Saturday (Sep. 25) come drop by and check us out at the Future of Surfing event.

That’s about it for now.. over n out.

More to come…

Andrew & I in the BambooSK8 booth @ Creation Care Week.

So a lot of things have been happening in the last couple weeks… getting settled in the cave, bringing in my lunch/coffee cup (thanks Wyatt!) and getting to bond with my other interns by taking skateboarding trips to get Mexican food! I’m way excited to chill with the interns more in the future! We have had a slight change up in our intern roster but I don’t think it will discourage the rest of us still left here to work hard. But to top off everything in these last couple weeks, I just celebrated my 24^th BIRTH-day! So along with getting my work done here at Bamboo Sk8 I had a lot of plans for my b-day week. First, a very appropriate party bus to kick off the celebration then an annual Las Vegas trip I go on every year. Let’s just say it was an extremely FUN/ interesting week and I surprisingly got back in one piece from Vegas! Otherwise, everything else has been going alright and I’m really beginning to get familiar with the types of different kids we have skating our boards.  I’m really enjoying talking to them about skating and hearing the stories they have to tell. This whole experience has opened my eyes to how a real business in the action sports industry works. I know I still have a ton to learn about everything but it’s helping me to analyze my strengths and weaknesses as an intern. I know in the upcoming weeks we have a couple of events to take part in and I have to say I’m excited to get out and promote Bamboo Sk8 to the fullest! Alright so I think I have babbled on enough…this is Nika signing out until next time PEACE, LOVE & SHRED!

Oh and ps…here are some pics of my b-day adventures!

Last Friday, September 17th, a few of us went to Point Loma Nazarene University to participate in their Creation Care Green Week Fair.  IT was awesome!  We got to meet all different types of people and feed their knowledge about what BambooSK8 is all about.  We were their for about 3 hours just mingling within students, chit-chattin it up about BambooSK8.  The students and staff at Point Loma were amazing.  Everyone there was so nice and welcoming; oh! and especially helpful!  This event just made me that much more excited for the future events that we will be attending!  See you in Solana Beach on Saturday for the Future of Surfing!

P.S. Check out the pics from our Point Loma booth!  Gorgeous school! Hello ocean EVERYWHERE!

So here is my last article from Costa Rica, I m flying to Bulgaria in few hours with the locker well packed in my board bag. I dont wanna leave! I arrived yesterday night in San José from Tamarindo, I had a really good time there, a little to touristy for my taste but really good waves. The hostel I was staying at was more than cool, the owners were taking me for free to all the spots around, the most epic session was a solid 9 feet an hour north by car from Tamarindo.

Guys, here are the last pics, I do not have a camera so no pics from Tamarindo sadly, but enjoy those!

Alex

How’s Cali, still nice and sunny? How are you new interns seeking to learn as much as possible from this cool company? Is Mark and Uno treating you well, cause they better! Lets stop the bull shit and get to the aim of this article..

Right now I m back in San José, came yesterday at night from the Nicoya Penisula and more precisely between Montezuma and Cabuya. 12 days ago I met some cool people around Santa Terressa (other side of the penisula) , and we decided to head towards Montezuma area. A little view of the roads quality, there is no roads! Just dirt road, getting floated and muddy as hell during the rainy season, so right now.. Santa Teressa to Montezuma is just a 35 miles trip but it takes you around 2 to 3 hours, you have to use the public buses they are the cheapest (2000 Colones so around 4 bucks) and they are more than old school, but work well. Just ones we had a flat tire, the driver didnt had a spare wheel so he just took one of his back one to change the front flat one, sounds maybe odd for you but it works perfectly!

Montezuma is a small town facing the ocean, full of great surfing spots, waterfalls, monkeys, iguanas, empty beaches, we end up for few nights in great hostel called Luna Llena. Its located  a little higher on the hill, in the jungle, there are monkeys all around on the trees, really nice and relax athmosphere. The owners are a German lady Milly and a American guy Chris, they are more than helpfull, giving you rides when they can, surfing information from Chris (he surfs damn well!) and more..

We moved to a house 45 minutes walk south from Montezuma, 2 minutes from a magic right point break, establishing our little community! Our life could be summarized as such, surfing, fishing, chilling, napping, hiking, enjoying the day as much as we could with our neighbors the monkeys and chickens .

We were at the beginning 6 people, Uli and Chalotte from Germany, Nathalie from Switzerland, Cig and Adrian from the US and I. We got perfect right waves every days. 3 days after Uli headed back home, Charlotte continued to Nicaragua. The community was left at 4 members.

After more than a week of such great dinners (Cig is a great chef, specially regarding shrimps, fishes of all sort, coconut hunter..) the swell sadly changed of angle. Nathalie had to move back to Switzerland and me looking for some better oriented spots, so we headed to San José, living Cig and Adrian behind, the end of our community..

I just said goodbye to Nathalie, and I m leaving in an hour to Tamarindo by bus for the rest of my trip

Well thats how it goes, people come and leave and you never know in which part of the world and when you will see them again. Thats the great part of travelling, life is full of surprises!

Here are some pictures of Montezuma and around, enjoy!

Alex

PS: Word press is a little messy, I cant put the rest of the pics, so they will be on an other article

So I just got back from an amazing trip to the south (while the high temps and sticky humidity make you appreciate our killer SoCal weather I must say it was nice to jump into the ocean without freezing your you know what off) and already I feel the pressure of missing the first week of school!  My first two days have been a total whirlwind but I think in the end the hard work and long hours will totally pay off.  It’s been great to finally meet some of my fellow interns and of course get to know the masterminds behind BambooSK8.

It seems like we have an extraordinary four months ahead of us and I’m super excited to see what’s next!

http://www.robmachadosurfexperience.com

I am still hanging around the office, working an the Social Media side of things… 3000 FB fans here we come!! So please “like” BSk8 if you haven’t already – you know we are the shiznit or you wouldn’t be on our website reading our blog…

Sorry for the lack of goodbye’s to all of my intern buddies… I really hate that sort of thing and might have gotten all teared up and then things would have been really awkward {if they weren’t already}… I really do “heart” you all and have certain plans to see each and everyone one of you again – whether you like it or not… Alex and I will have a back-country ski/board French Alp adventure and then he will tutor me on my Finnish while I am getting my MBA in Finland, Brian and I will shred the champagne powder that caresses Utah’s glorious slopes, Uli, Dan and I will chug 4loco at Oktoberfest, Nick and I will party with actual Rockstars, Dana & Jen will join me on the trip of a lifetime and Steven is finally going to come hang out (I mean your only like 15 mins away, so really… its time) I miss you all already!! I am not going to wish you luck in your future endeavors because not a single one of you needs luck, you are all brilliant enough. Much love and I’ll be seeing you again!

Because that was so sweet and I really am bratty, I will adjourn with this THANK YOU for forgetting about me in the only group photo of the 4 month internship:

Thanks and I heart you all - even if you forget about me...

I am currently a senior at Cal State San Marcos, and cross your fingers**, I hope to graduate this December.  After I graduate, I would love to start my career of doing marketing, public relations, event coordinating, and project management for an awesome company in the action sports industry.  Most importantly, I would just like to obtain a full time job, and jump head first into the “real world.”

I grew up in the Sacramento Area pretty much all my life, but moving around to different parts of Sacramento as my dad’s job changed.  I am from a small town within Sacramento, called Granite Bay.  I have been born and raised in Northern California all my life until I graduated from high school, and that is when I moved down to Southern California.  I love Northern California purely because I am a lake/snow girl.  I love to wakeboard, snowboard, and run as my outdoor activities, but if there was a contest for “Best Home Body,” I would win for for sure because there is nothing else I love more than just lounging around watching my favorite TV Shows and/or a good movie.

I am so excited to be here at BambooSK8 and begin my adventures here as an intern!

Thanks for listening! Ta ta for now!

How you guys doing? As you realized our internship is over, this class was a success for most of us, and I really appreciated the overall atmosphere!  So, a lot of us left Oside including me, I m writing to you guys from Costa Rica. Hell you should drop by here, amazing surfing and landscape. I m at playa santa Teressa, went for a cool morning session with some nice Euro chicks and back to my sweet hostel, swinging in a hammock, Pura Vida as we said here in Costa!

You guys will get some pictures soon from the travelling Octobomb, the concept is taking pictures of the board and cool people from all around the world, so stay tuned for some interesting pics!

Alex

I just wanted to say good bye and thanks for the great time here. I met great people, especially those who I worked with.

It was a really cool time, lots of fun but also a lot of work, but now it Holiday time

I wish you all a good future and I’m realy looking forward to see you guys again.

Have a good time

Uli

We’ve got Dan who never drinks and never likes to party…, Jessica with her “Where is my smoothie” attitude, Jen the girl who bejeweled her skateboard(first time I’ve ever seen that and hopefully the last), Stephen and his awesome thought process when you get Rockstar gum in him, Nick with his “Rockstar” life, Dana and her Michiganness…, Alex with his cigarettes and capris, and even that one guy from Germany grew on me ha ha.  A whole lot of characters made for a lot of good memories!  I will miss all of them.

BambooSK8 has taught me a lot of good lessons that I needed to learn.  I will forever ride bamboo!  Hopefully our intern class paves the way for awesome things to come from the next classes.

Peace,

Brian

Dan

Just though I’d give you a few ASR Pics. For your viewing pleasure.

Well I just got back from a week and a half vacation to New Zealand.  It was awesome, that country is amazing.  I didn’t get to snowboard or skate while I was there, but I did get to bungee jump and go zorbing.  Those of you who don’t know what zorbing is, its where they stick you in this big plastic ball type thing and roll you down a hill…needless to say it blew my mind.

Also while i was there I got to go to some skate shops.  Let me tell you, I was grateful to live in America when I saw the prices of their skateboards and snowboards.  A Zoo York deck, not even a pro model, was around $85.  A Forum snowboard with crappy bindings, was $1,000.  A Nixon t-shirt was $60.  So, I just felt bad for all the kids our there who can’t do those things because it’s too damn expensive!

But, other than that it was amazing.  The native culture was awesome, they cooked us a full meal that had been cooked in a local hot spring.  We went caving in the middle of nowhere and saw glow worms.  We took a ride on a jet boat that went 60 mph while doing a 360 about 30 feet from a waterfall.  But, I am also glad to be back to normal life.  Surfing, skating and relaxing on the beach.  Especially glad that the 12 hour flight is over with!  It took me a while to get over that, especially with roomates who play karaoke at every single chance that they get, I’m not bitter or anything…

Well, thats about all I have to say.  Can’t believe the summer and the internship is almost over!  I don’t want to leave.

Peace

Then after dinner the teams also competed in a Jiffy-Pop Pop-Off and then Camping Taboo which I had created that incorporated all the themes, activities, places, adventures or things having to do with our camping trips of the last 20 years. With some assistance of my mother we came up with the fantastic theme of ‘Foiled again!’ This means that on Saturday night (when we do our big group dinner with all 40 of us!!) everyone had to cook their food in tin foil. But to make things more entertaining and slightly ridiculous, everyone was required to make an accessory of tin foil and wear it to dinner! It was fantastic to see everyone’s creativity and geeky side come out in full swing! Here are just a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

So as we are sitting there in all of our tin foil glory, my dad proceeds to inform us all of this monstrous storm that is cross Wisconsin and should be reaching us within a few hours. So imagine if you will 40 people sitting in the middle of the woods covered in tin foil with a severe thunderstorm on the horizon. In any normal situation, you would think that these people might get up, seek shelter and remove the tin foil from the tops of their heads… nope. We finish dinner, refill our adult beverages and gather our chairs around the bonfire to continue with the festivities… a Jiffy-Pop Pop-Off!! Which sadly enough I did not capture on video but it was hilarious. There was jumping, dancing, singing, and lots of shaking done in, around, and over the fire. While comical, I do believe that we had mistakenly preformed a native Indian rain dance and brought on the rain sooner than expected. But the rain did not stop us, once it let up a little and we made sure our fire was still blazin’ we returned to the fire for round two of the contest only to be rained out again. And again you would think that after a second time being caught in the rain that any normal person might just simply retire to their camper or tent if you are a real camper seeing as how it was already approaching midnight. (Sidenote: for those of you that no me or my family, we have never made any claims to being normal or anywhere near it.) So we return to the fire for a third and then forth time to finally view clear skies till about 3:30 am, when either the early morning hours or the adult beverages have taken everyone captive. Luckily just in time, for nearly an hour later the mother of all storms comes rolling through! Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good thunderstorm and miss them seeing as though San Diego does not see much of them, but I do not suggest enjoying or watching a storm from inside a very small tent, with very thin walls, and very low to the ground! Let’s just say that Dana did not get much sleep that night for fear of floating away from the monsoon that seemed to happening out doors or the deafening thunder that made the ground feel as though we had pitched our tent on the rail road tracks with a high speed train barreling down it, never mind the lightning that light up the campground to intensely and frequently that I seriously contemplated putting my sunglasses on so I might be able to go back to sleep! After about an hour I was finally able to go back to bed and get a couple more hours of sleep before we had to pack everything up, which was still soaking wet. But I wouldn’t have changed a single moment! I miss Michigan and the amazing light flickering, wall shaking, tent flooding thunderstorms that happen only in Northern Michigan. I love camping!!

How you guys handling those really busy 2 weeks of events? Still alive for the last and biggest one, the ASR?

I hope you had the opportunity to see live the surf contest at HB, it was wicked! Mark, Andrew Uno, Andrew Dos and I were there, we saw randomly Mike Fanning on the street, saw Reynold trying some sick air, Machado full of style as usual..  The day continued with Weezer’s gig and we ended up  at a random patio waiting for Uno.

Next day, straight to Maloof, enjoyed the skating vibe. Now guys be ready for the ASR, hope to see you there!

Alex

Week 14 already and I’m not ready to leave! Seems like we just started this program and its almost finished.  Anyway, I attended the Maloof Money Cup for a bit yesterday. Wanted to stay for the finals but of course I had to go to work. I did manage to grab a few pictures though before I had to leave. I do have to say, the Orange County fair is sick and way better than Del Mar. I had to record the finals so I didn’t get to watch until late last night but there was some awesome skating going down yesterday. Congratulations to Chris Cole for killing it and taking first prize.

Anyway its Monday here in the cave and I’m all by my lonesome typing away with my coffee in hand. This week is going to be another busy one. We interns have a lot to get finished and we have to prepare and promote for ASR.  We’ve got the philosophy, charter, MPS, one on ones, ASR, the blog and more. Check one on the blog.  Time for me to get this all done. Hope you like the photos and talk to you soon.

D

This coming week Uli and I will get the fantastic opportunity to go to this eventful event and represent BambooSk8.  If you there be on the look out for the Concrete Wave Tent and massive amounts of Bamboo Merch. Things don’t get any better than saving the environment while going to one of our generations best events.  Its gonn be EPIC.  I hope to see you all there!!  Come out and say hey…you may even meet the two lovely ladies below, but only if your lucky

Peace, Love, and Disco

check this song out by Set Your Goals, one of the bands playing at Warped Tour

The Few That Remain

beside dealing with our main tasks ( like me for instance: Europe) we are preparing for the Weekend, which entirely booked out with all the skate events: Maloof money Cup and the Us Open

they are going to be great, that’s for sure, although I won’t be around. But 4 days off and visiting my friends in San Francisco sounds good to me as well. Then we have two times the Warped Tour in our schedule for next week. Thanks very much guys for taking me to the one in San Diego, you make a childhood dream come true

We also faced a new girlie board design line today, created by Jen, I named the edition “Sissy 29″( check the pictures, maybe Girl skateboards should reconsider their designs

We are also considering a cooperation with Svarowski for this particular product line. The lead slogan might be the AndrewG quote: “Go Pink, or go home”

last but not least, during all this being- busy- mentality which rules our day, we had time for the more important things in life, like for instance….

Jess

or her birthday to be more precisely:

happy birthday little lady

Here is some pictures of Pope and his favorite ladies and his boys!!!

As I’ve sure you’ve already read but Jessee, Brian and I got to go enjoy the X-games with Mark, Andrew, and Geoff. Jessee already went into great detail about it so if you would like to hear more I suggest you wait 20 minutes and read her blog again. Otherwise hang in there, I’m working on creating a video of my favorite clips from the event. But it’s taking a little longer than expected since my computer hates me and I am still looking for the that perfect song for my video stars to rockout too. So stay tuned for those fun filled adventures!

Peace, Love & Coco Puffs

Dana

The car ride to L.A. for X Games 16 with five heads (Mark, Andrew, Brian, Dana and myself) in Dana’s Civic was… memorable. We had live serenades and sick raps performed by BambooSk8′s own BRock that included original styling and lyrics to songs that everyone, but B, knows the words to. Lets just say, its a great thing he is so Marketing and Advertising savvy or I could see him trying to pursue American Idol, just to get shut down by Simon and added to the humorous hopeful episode.

Of course the competitions were sick and packed full of incredible performances of gravity rebellion. We saw Travis Pastrana take his seventh Moto X Freestyle Gold. His final run was a victory lap that included a ridiculous double back that had everyone in the arena on their feet roaring with applause – stoked!!

Pastrana being the mack daddy.

Photo Highlights:

Moto X

Moto X

Now, getting to what we all want to hear about… the Big Air Finals. These guys were unbelievable. They made falling from 40 feet in the air onto your knees look like taking a fun ride down the slide in the playground. It was nothing to them and they all just got up and walked away, no problem. Crazy!

Carlsbad kid Jake Brown took 1st after launching the 70 foot gap with a solid backflip, followed by a 540 off the 27 foot quarterpipe. Bob Burnquist was nipping at his heels, scoring a 93 compared to Jake’s 93.66, but just couldn’t stomp the 900 spin off the quarter. Still, an amazing performance by skateboarding superheros.

Two riders hitting the ramp at once. One filming the other. Nuts.

Post X Games, the raps and serenades by BRock continued – that I kept trying to chime into and quickly making things awkward… I got put in my appropriate seat in the car (you know the one thats apparently named after me, thats in the middle, in the back, where I would be the first one to die if we were to wreck), and I heard Andrew’s new favorite word(s) more than anyone needs to hear botched English in their lifetime. And Andrew, if you are reading this, “Nun yown biznez.” Ya heard?

Mark is very lucky that the X Games somehow killed my Droid because if my phone could access its’ memory card right now, this blog would have gone a completely different way. Unfortunately, the video I shot of him “dancing” on Pope’s last night in Cali, is now in embarrassing video heaven. I guess he is right, Driod does NOT; which, right now, is serving in his favor. Would Verizon hurry up and get the iPhone already?!?

BTW, Brian – American Idol tryouts are August 19th in SanFran… I’ll give you a ride if you sing your heart out and fake lyrics for Paula…

Also, Thanks for being our Mario Andretti, Dana! We all heart you!!

So the moral of this story is that being an unpaid intern still has its’ benefits. Last night reconfirmed that working in the action sports industry is where I want to be and that life is good.

I heart BambooSk8!

Andrew, Mark, Geoff, BRock, Me, and Dana ignoring us, as usual.

Left side view.

Right side view.

So yeah, I probably could go on but lets keep it interesting. Oh and the cherry to my sunday this week was I put together my first sk8 board ever and I am so excited!!!! Whos gunna teach me some tricks?

Well, I try to. As you guys might now I’m German, and although the view you guys have about Germans( eins zwei, eins zwei and so on) I have to admit that you are more or less right. For instance, Germany I the only country I’ve ever been where you are moaned at you if you are one minute too late. Seriously? One minute?Yes! 8 o’clock is 8 o’clock and not 8:01. But thank god there are other Germans as well and I am happy that I am one of those:)

But anyway, If you followed our class 7 blog history you might have realized that I am likely to bullshit around, but not in this blog; I least I will try:)

First of all I have 3 reasons to write this blog.

The first is personal: Goodbye Pope( you might know him as Jeffrey from Intern class 6). This guy left sunny Oceanside this Wednesday which made us having a great party the day before until I guess 5 am. You can’t imagine how silent it was in the office the next day:)

he left us to work on some small Island, I just know it in the Atlantic ocean on the coast of New Hamster. Anyway, Pope, hope you have fun over there, but not as much as here so you regret leaving us:) Have a good time, see you in a couple of years for an awesome surf session; being in the water is really not half as fun without you.

Second reason: today I stumbled over the Blog entry of MarkD about his recent project “Vertical Gardens”,

Check it out its a great idea in my eyes

http://www.verticalearthgardens.com

Third Issue: In week 12 we are encouraged to write a bit about the internship here and our experiences so far.

I just can say its still great and as I focused myself I have to admit that I really gained lots of important experiences so far. First of all, my English language skills have improved dramatically. Additionally I feel like my work skills and my ability to get more things done in a shorter amount of time really increased. The whole working environment here supports my personal development like I never would have guessed and the best thing is, entirely without any lack of fun. It is simply great to see how our effort we have put in this company pays off. At this point, thank you guys for getting to know you and supporting my personal development. Due to this internship I am looking forward to go back to university for another year, just to learn thing which would have been useful to know while I am here, so now I am indeed looking forward to sit in the auditory again.

I wish you all a great weekend

cheers

Uli

Well, Denmark is going to have soon the opportunity to test our boards, this Danish web magazine (http://skateboard.dk/) gonna have the honor to try, organize a testing event on them local “venice beach” and write comments about our decks ! Sweden is following right behind with Norway and southern Europe isn’t too far neither.. Cant wait start packing those samples and check them article, pics of the event and so one.

Come to you mates later with some more Euro news.

Cheers,

Aex

As we were at a stop light, a black Lincoln Navigator pulled up next to us.  It was this lady in her late 30′s or early 40′s.  She rolled down her windows and started hitting on us…we were paralyzed.  So, the world just blindsided us with this question:  What do you do when a cougar in a black Lincoln Navigator rolls up next to you and starts hitting on you?  Still to this day, I don’t know what the answer is!  Oh and Islands Burgers is amazing!  Endless fries for life baby.

THE OCTOBOMB LAUNCH PARTY

Actually it was last Thursday when we finally aired our new board and experienced that all the blood, sweat and tears we’ve put in through the last weeks finally paid off in an breathtaking result; I sometimes like to exaggerate:) but no lie it was definitely a great party. Bull Taco filled our stomaches with great tasting tacos and served the hottest sauce I’ve ever consumed( thats no exaggeration, this stuff was really hot). We danced to the tunes of Boomsnap, Seth Petersen and Whit’s Band and got culturally enriched by Jess and her fiddle. We had so much stuff for the raffle and the silent auction, for instance a surfboard and of course our new designed Octobomb shirts, we couldn’t get rid of all this stuff. Not too bad, now I have some surfwax savings:)

But anyway, when we started at 7 pm I was a bit concerned because there weren’t that many people, but it turned out that Jen is a genius promoter. Just a bit later the shop was packed and we had crazy skate sessions going on outside, and everybody loved our board; which is simply awesome by the way.  So what can I say, it was a great party, thanks everybody, you all did a great job and thanks everybody who was there celebrating with us. If you haven’t been there, you better be sad now because you definitely missed a great party.

We even  had fake mustaches for everyone; Yes, damn right, FAKE MUSTACHES for everyone and for free.

So as you can see you definitely missed a rad party, check those pictures and find even more on our facebook. Here is also a video from the guys from PB Surf Shop and check the Octobomb Skate video on our sk8 blog, its sick.

PB Octobomb video

have fun with all the media stuff and have a great day

cheers

Uli

So we had out Launch Party last week on Thursday and it was awesome!! We had some crazy things happen that I’m not allowed to write about, things that dealt with hotel rooms, random people yelling, and things that may or may not be legal.  So overall it was a success.  I made it out alive.  Hope all you guys are having a good week and to everyone out there…keep skatin’

We are still busy with the Maloof Money cup, U.S. Open, and X Games, all coming up. We are all excited and want to have a presence at each of these events. We are currently figuring the logistics of who is going to be where.  I think I will be attending the Maloof street finals Sunday Aug. 7; it’s going to be sweet. Hopefully I can sell decks and promote Bamboosk8 as well as I did at the OB street fair. I’m bringing my A game and setting a personal goal of 15 decks!

Other than that, I’m still really enjoying my time here at Bamboo. I am still learning and trying to absorb everything I can. I know the end is near and I want to finish strong and leave a lasting impression. I need to continue to work on the personal goals and commitments I set at the beginning and see them through to the end. Our twitter account is gaining followers and I am still working on ways to increase the numbers even further.  I will see you all back in a week or so with another update. Until then, Lorber out.

mondays are allways, hmmm…..well……. let’s say they are. So anyway, this monday design queen Dana came in with a bunch of boxes containing a new load of T- shirts. Now we got the bamboo logo shirt in so many different colors as you can see on the pics. Furthermore, I got a shot of a rare situation: Mark being really busy( just kidding, he got injured on a soccer game.) We also have now crocodiles living close to the office, so watch your steps. And I’ve been searching a bit in our past and found this awesome picture of buddy Bob B. holding one of ours. This week will be pretty intense, we got a lot of stuff to do for thursday, where we finally are going to launch or new Octobomb board. You should definitely come over to PB surf shop, it gonna be an awesome evening and it is freeee!!!!! So hopefully see you there.

By the way,I had a severe personal change in my mind last week As a strongly convinced street skater( unfortunately more or less retired because of my knees:( I never was really into longboards, but cruzing through Oceanside on our 46″ Pintail is so fun, so I’m now considering about taking one with me to Mexico after this intern. I just have to figure out how to manage all my luggage. Through the last week there was the “Almabtrieb” Event going on close to where I am from, check the video, the track is pretty sick.

Wish you all a monday afternoon

cheers UliAlmabtrieb track 2010

Peace, Love & Coco Puffs

So, this week I have learned that the perfect time to skate our new Octobomb board is on Thursday July 8th at 2:10 Pm!  Look closely!

But everyone is getting stoked about the Launch party that is going down next week!!!!  So, a lot of our time is being spent on the finishing touches of that.  But, this week I have been researching a lot of things about skateboarding and it made me think about skateboarding and where it is heading.  For example, skateboarding will be in the Olympics soon…I don’t know how I feel about that.  On one hand it is good for it to be popular so we will have more parks and it could be accepted a little more and may become less “illegal.”  But, on the other hand skateboarding has been the sport without rules from the beginning, where outcasts can go and belong.  So, the counter culture sport becoming part of the culture…who knows, progression is progression I guess.  Well, that is enough of me rambling on, live Bamboo!

This speaks for itself

In case you can’t read the above photo:

1. “Have you ever seen midget porn??!!” – Erick

2. “Don’t gotta get ready if you stay ready.” – Mark

3. “Thats legit!!” – Wyatt

4. “Heather, is it good for you?” – B Rock

5. “I love those Sundays with those nut sacks.” – B Rock 2

6. “Whit! You are against ninjas?? You must not use ninja techniques!!” – Uli

7. “I think that might have happened after I chugged the 4 Loco..” – Jessee

8. “Ugh, hello, I don’t lick my own butthole!” – Dana

**Attention Jen, Dan, Nick, Steven, Heather, Andrew, Geoff, and definitely Whit – I expect greatness.

I have been having a blast here. Whether it’s meeting great new people, learning the ins and out of business and skateboarding, or attending events and doing anything asked of me. It’s all good and I’m loving it. I can’t wait for next week to see how this all comes together. We just got a shipment of Rockstar goodies to hand out and raffle off.  I’m chewing their caffeinated gum right now and drinking a cup of coffee. Its intense but I’m getting a lot or work done! Anyway, talk to you all soon.

Peace, Love & Coco Puffs

Dana

Dan doing the Hula on YouTube

Expect a follow up video on the craziness of Dan the Man. 4th of July is all I have to say about that.

These past couple weeks have been crazy, hectic, and awesome. We are gearing up for the most epic party ever! Just to remind you, it is on JULY 22, 2010 at PB Surf Shop. Be there, or else! Last night, Mark and I went to check out Boom Snap, a super rad band that resides in PB and they are now officially added to the line up for our party! I couldn’t believe how many ladies were avid fans, I mean, I can believe it, just wait until you see this base player – he moves like a dream. Unbelievable.

This party is going to be the best thing since wheels on boards. I hope you have your party pants ready!

Have an awesome 4th!!

So happy Independence day American fellows and enjoy!

1. cheer on your friends at the skate park

2. cheer for Edward of Jacob while watching the new Twilight movie!!

…that’s all I could think of.  Don’t forget to check us out on facebook!!  Later Playas!!

For example, today I learned that ninjas are invisible and can beat any competitor…both fictional and for reals.  That knowledge was handed to me from Uli, thanks man. I also learned that the band Scooter is the best band ever!  Here is their lead singer…

H.P. Baxxter, best singer ever!

We are currently working on getting some videos out there.  Next week we will also start our version of “Real World” here in the intern cave, so hopefully that goes well!

Check out the Facebook fan page and invite your friends!

I’m out!

We have been intensely working on this launch party, contacting companies and getting sponsors on board that want to come and be part of our night. Also, we are having live entertainment, food, raffles, and prizes, which are only going to add the awesomeness of the evening. I’m really enjoying this aspect of the internship experience and I’m thinking this is something that I am good at and want to continue. I like being out at events and telling everyone about our company. I can sell, and market, meet people, and establish relationships. I’m hoping that these qualities will provide a substantial return to the company. Planning these events can be stressful at times, but I like the pressure, and its fun. I can’t wait to see how the party actually turns out and the return all of our hard work produces. Anyway, that’s all I have for now. This week is going to be another crazy one. There are a lot of things to do and secure up in terms of the launch party and other events we have coming up. I’m dialed in though and up for the challenge. Until the next time. Lorber-Out

Stay Classy San Diego!

xoxo Heather

Safe to say….there is no such thing as a boring day here at Bamboo Sk8.

Good morning everybody,and happy GOSK8DAY by the way. I hope you will all have (or had so far; for my buddies at home) an awesome day on the boards which mean the world. Be prepared San Diego, the Bamboo Promo teams will roll over and crash the spots all 0ver the area. I really look forward to see all of you out there rollin’ n rockin’ your ass up (hope you’re happy know Whit). We did a pretty nice warm up on Saturday here in our HQ with barbeque, our awesome new Quarter and all our team riders and friends. It was a great day, except I hurt my ankle, which is better again by the way. At this point I would like to thank everybody out of the Bamboo crew for their effort on this day, especially our riders. You were really rockin’ this day and we have a few really nice shots we will put online as soon as possible. That’s all so far, have a nice day, go skate and see you soon.

 Cheers

Uli

I’m writing to you guys with green finger tips from a freshly painted quarter pipe and it looks pimp! We’ve got out team BBQ tomorrow and the guys are going to love it! What else… Oh! Happy Go Skate Day to all you skaters out there on Monday!! We’ve been working out a game plan to hit up all the parks and officially wish everyone a Happy Go Skate Day with BambooSK8 stickers and flyers for our Launch party that we have been ferociously planning over the past week. And it is all coming together quite well. We’ve got the venue and some awesome sponsors so far, just working out some of the other details and I will be working on creating another installation piece for this event that we will being having down in Pacific Beach July 22^nd. So if you are in the area you should definitely cruise on by and check it out, we’ll have live music and yummy food. But I’ll keep you guys posted. We’ve had a crazy busy week here with lots of things to do and tight deadlines and I’m loving every minute of it, can’t wait to get started on these designs for the Launch Party and some sweet T-shirts designs that we’ve come up with for all the events this summer.  Check back with me for all the fun filled details! Laters.

Peace, Love and Coco Puffs

Mr. Lorber being his rad self.

Dan is definitely too legit to quit.

It has been a rad few weeks here at BambooSk8. Lots of things going on to keep all of us crazy busy. Our Octobomb release party has an official date: July 22nd at the Pacific Beach Surf Shop. Come one, come all! We are going to have bands, a DJ, grub from Bull Taco, and giveaways. I know we are a ways out, but mark down the date in you calender because it is going to be LEGIT! This weekend we are getting together with our team riders for a little grub/skate session. I’ve got my camera charged and ready to gather evidence of the radness of our new digs (i.e. the sweet ramp). Exciting times.

Keep shredding that Bamboo and always remember to be TOO LEGIT TO QUIT!

xoxo Heather

my failed attempt to skate around the warehouse

Dana's skateboard mosaic

We have been doing work here in the intern cave and the warehouse the last couple of weeks.  Just today we finished our own personal quarter pipe.  Nick was a champ and did most of the work.  We still had some stuff to do and it only took like 20 hours, 3 broken drill bits, 2 broken screwdrivers, and Alex and I staying till 9 last night to get it done.  But it is done and it skates well!  So, our warehouse skatepark is getting better every day!  Check out the facebook pictures to see how it turned out.

We have some cool crap going on the next couple of weeks.  Go skateboarding Day is on monday, and the launch of the Octobomb party is gonna be sick!  Gotta get back to work.

Peace,

Brian

it’s around 9:30 in the morning, I am looking forward to a great day with my Mastershoplist and I am tired. So far the news. I have to admitt that I had an awesome time so far in Oceanside. We finaly found an apartment more or less dircetly on the OS beach and today is moving day, which indicates more or less indirectly that I have to leave Mark’s chouch; unfortunately, I guess it’s the most comfortable couch on the whole wide world.

 I’m realy looking forward for the next time, we have so many different project which are all really cool and I can’t wait for saturday when our selfmade obstacles, among others a quater pipe( yyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssss, a quater pipe!!!!!!!!) are ready, thanks to mostly Brian and Steve; We’ll have awesome sk8 breaks.

By the way, you should try to see Whit playing his guitar, he can even make Bob Dylan songs bearable for my ears, but he will get famous anyway because he now is the big buddy of O’Mally Jones( yeeeessssssssssssss, O’Mally Jones!!!!!)

Anyway, a few days ago I got a text ( or, better said a few) from Melissa, which made me a bit confused, she wrote:

Why is it so easy to reject a good person? (Yet we stay with someone who takes us thru hell?) Why is it so easy… For us to leave home? ( But so hard for us to come up out of our hole?) Why do we sleep in school? ( but stay awake through a 3 hour movie?) Why is it so hard… to talk about God?( But to talk about premarital sex?) Why are we so bored when we look at a Christian book?( But find it easy to read Zane?) Why …is it so easy to ignore a Godly forward? ( Yet we forward  the demeaning ones?) Why are Churches getting smaller? (But bars and clubs are expanding?) Why… Is it so easy to worship a celebrity? (But very difficult to worship God?) think about it, are you going to forward this? Or are you going to ignore it… cause you think you will get laughed at or not cool? The Lord said: If you deny Me in … in front of your friends, I will deny you in front of my Father

Well, Melissa, true words! I have to admit these are all good questions, but I honestly have better things to do than minding about such things, like fishing, playing bocha with the French or counting every single bamboo spear in Andrew”s warehouse. Anyway, sorry that I didn’t respond, Melissa, but who the hell are you again?

So, I wish you all a great day, I will now check out how far the quater is constructed yet

see you soon

Uli

Cheers

Let the countdown to the big San Diego move begin.

Heather <3

It gets nuts in the inter cave sometimes and everyone begins to go a little crazy, you would to if you spent 9 hours in a room with no windows inhaling bamboo dust constantly.  Butttt it’s all good cuz we have some crazy stories and good times.  We’re putting together some pretty funny videos that will be posted on youtube, facebook, and other sites so get pumped for those.  In the meantime, get out and ride your bamboo decks for the world to see!! Hopefully the world will want one to.  You guys out there take care!!

ciao,

Erick

So, turns out interning here at Bamboosk8 is pretty sweet.  Everyone here is super chill.  Just working back in the intern cave with the other interns is always a good ole time.  It has been fun to talk to some of the Hookit sponsored kids to get to know some of our skaters.  Also, just getting to know the ins and outs of the company has been nice.

I am stoked for all the events and things that we have planned for the rest of the summer.  We have some cool stuff that we are getting ready for!   The Facebook and other social media are getting revamped and cool things will be happening there as well.  It is so nice to be with a company you believe in and like.  I got my first board just a couple of days ago and it rides real nice.  I just thought all the talk about Pop was just a sales pitch, but the boards hold up against all the hype.  Pretty legit!  Can’t wait for more skate sessions in the warehouse.

Keep Ridin,

B Rock

Dan Lorber here again. Week 4. Time to reflect back on the experience so far and how I think its going. Well, in short, it’s pretty freakin cool. It’s been exciting and challenging, interesting and demanding. It’s been quit the learning experience and I am so glad I have been given the opportunity to be a part of it. To date, I have not yet been able to attend an event.  We have only held one so far, the dragon downhill, but I plan to be at as many as I can. I think the experience of actually being in the field and telling people about our product will be something I’m really good at. Our product is dope, and I’m really looking forward to being in our booth and repping our decks. I’m on information overload right now. Leaning the ins and outs of the business and everything involved with it. My social media skills have improved greatly and I’m still learning. There is so much to know and I’m understanding that a strong social media presence is definitely the way of the future for businesses. I’m learning from the big bosses as well. Mainly that being organized, structured, and on time are very important characteristics to possess when operating a business. This is what I expected and I am grateful that they are here to support me and give me the knowledge and wisdom necessary to be successful in this industry and life in general.  To finish, I am so stoked for what is yet to come from this experience. I think I have just scratched the surface of what I am capable of and what I can bring to the table. I going to continue to work hard and contribute. I love my new bamboo deck and have been skating more than I have in while. So until the next time.

Peace, Love & Coco Puffs!

The event is from 11 am – 5 pm in Irvine, CA at California Avenue, below Anteater Drive, across from the Anteater Recreation Center.  There is going to be live music, Chronic Tacos, raffles for free decks, skate park for the trick skaters and a downhill bomb and slalom competition. Admission is FREE, but if you want to skate the park it is $5 and if you want to participate in the race it is $10.

I hope to see you there, I’ll have the grip tape ready!

ciao,

Erick

I eventually decided that I wanted to build something.  I wanted to create.  I wanted to help people and make my own goals.  Thus, Vertical Earth Gardens was born.  I patented a vertical hydroponics garden with the help of a buddy, and decided this was the perfect time to try to turn a hobby into a business.

So far, I have learned more than I could have ever dreamed of in the last year.  It has been a lot of ups and downs, and I have been learning the emotional rollercoaster Wyatt and Geoff experience on a daily basis.  With that said, it has also been the most rewarding experience of my life.  I’ll leave the interns and fellow readers with this…… if you are struggling with what to do in life and where you are going, know that you can pursue your own path and own ideas.

Here is a great inspirational  documentary for the skate arena……——->

Steve Rocco

I’m so excited to be starting my internship with BambooSk8. When I interviewed for the internship I couldn’t believe how perfect of a place the company was for me. I just finished working as the marketing and promotions coordinator for the nonprofit group Green Campus. Green Campus works with universities around the country to teach and install eco-friendly technologies like solar panels, smart lighting, and heat transferable turf fields. I worked to promote a new iniciative to be on the student election ballot. Basically my job was to convince the students to vote yes on a $6 tuition increase that would, over the course of 10 years, add up to $10 million to go towards construction of renewable energy sources on UCSB’s campus. The initiative passed and construction begins this summer. My favorite thing about Green Campus’s project is the installation of eco-friendly soccer fields. The fields are made from a type of turf that not only absorbs the heat from the sun but then conducts the heat and energy into a generator and heats the nearby swimming pools as well as provides electricity for the also near by recreational center. UCSB, thanks to this initiative, currently hold the highest budget for renewable energy of any university in the country, and my name gets to go on that record breaker. A big part of working for Green Campus was planning awareness events such as eco-friendly bbqs and performace displays. I really love planning events like these and would really like to get on the event planning portion of BambooSk8. Its really exciting So needless to say finding an eco-friendly skateboard company was right up my alley.

I am stuck up here in Santa Barbara though, getting my bachelors degree until mid June. But I’ll be working as hard and as often as I can through emails and skype meetings to keep on track with the BambooSk8 team. I can’t wait to graduate, get down there and really get to work. 

Adios,

Heather <3

Jessee

Adios!!

So our four months have come to an end here at BambooSK8. I have had great experience here, meeting and working with the interns as well as the staff. For me it’s all about the people you work with, and the people here at BambooSK8 were some of the best I have worked with. I feel like things just fit well with our intern class, everyone one was really nice and had something different to bring to the table. We had some great times that I will never forget, like our fundraising party, or the trip to mission beach for a kit boarding contest, and going to a celebrity gifting event in LA, just to name a few. We grew really close and I hope to stay in contact with everyone. I just want to say thanks to everyone at BambooSK8 and class 6 for giving me this great experience.

First off, I am really stoked to be part of the Bamboosk8 7th intern class, this is going to be an amazing experience.  My name is Nick, I grew up and still primarily reside in Yorba Linda, California.  Growing up in Southern California presents a kid with a lot of opportunities to partake in action sports and I feel like I have embraced them all.  Throughout the 25 years of my life I have enjoyed just about every action sport their is, from skating to dirtbikes.  I currently enjoy, wakeboarding, snowboarding, and dirtbikes.  However, I still love to jump on a bike or skateboard and take some laps around the skatepark.  The amazing experiences that I have had within the action sports industry have lead me to study Sports and Entertainment Marketing at Cal Poly Pomona.  I am looking forward to this summer at Bamboo, and I just wanna keep having fun with whatever I am doing so that nothing ever seems like work.

Unfortunately, I am still sans mohawk as well. Despite my reputation in Colorado as Mohawk Matt, I have yet to find a suitable job that will pay me a living wage and allow me to have a rockin hairdo. I’m working on it though. With some help from Geoff my resume is polished more than its ever been, and hopefully one you lovely people that read this blog will send me an email that says – Hey, I saw your post about working with a Mohawk, we have just the position for you. Until then I’m headed to the SoCal Action Sports Network casino night tonight to try to gamble my way into employment.

I would like to start out by telling you all what I am currently up to in the world of action sports. I am interning at Sole Technology doing Retail Marketing for them. If you don’t know who Sole Tech is pull your head out of the sand and look them up! They are one of the world’s largest action sports compnay boasting brands such as eS, Etnies, Emerica, Altamont and 32. I am also graduating FINALLY from SDSU and just applied for my dual master’s program in the country of Malta. So things are pretty crazy right now. At Sole Tech I am dealing day to day with POP products and customer requests for custom artwork that you often see in-store. I also help out with organizing product, seeding our top accounts with current products and imputing and organizing orders. The job is awesome and one of my best experiences yet. Seeing day to day what a huge company such as Sole Tech does has been crazy and the people behind it are just as nuts! But my internship is sadly ending there this week, just as Bamboo once did.

I am sure by now your wondering, why do I even care what you have been doing? Well I will tell you why this story has you in it. The things I have accomplished thus far is greatly due to my prior experience at BambooSK8. And if you were even thinking, just for a millisecond, of joining this team DO IT! If you aren’t aware I myself was one of the Bamboo warriors. My internship and susequential emplyment was a bumpy ,crazy, fun ride and involved a lot of really fun and crazy folks. I interned with Bamboo for three months in 2008 and then was hired on as Project Lead in 2009 for the intern program. I helped  form new customer relationships, guide the intern program and learned how to maintain goals of others (and my stress levels )

My time spent at Bamboo helped me with more than just getting job experience. It enabled me to map out goals and realize that when those goals were achieved it felt awesome. It was this goal oriented processes that Geoff and Wyatt helped me with that got me where I am today. The internship is no joke and what they have going on there now is more than I could’ve ever imagined. I not only gained experience and saw how a business grows and operates day to day but I made life friends and created many many memories.

I guess the point of the story is go for it, take this opportunity to expand your knowledge and see where it takes you. When I started I never thought that I would be here where I am, and my time at Bamboo more than helped me realize my potential and got me the job at Sole. Hit me up if you have any questions about anything! My door is always open and you should open some doors for yourself as well. Take care and follow your dreams!

Kelly

Kellyloft@aol.com

TOP 10 REASONS MEN GROW BEARDS:

1) Facial hair is cool. Seriously. Having a dark forest of hair covering your face gives you an aura of suave mystery and a classy, debonair air.

2) We grow facial hair because it makes us manlier. Sean Connery (as Indiana Jones’ dad), Russell Crowe (Maximus), Tom Selleck (Magnum, P.I.) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) spring immediately to mind. Having any sort of facial hair means you’re not a metro man. It’s theoretically possibly to be manly without a beard, moustache or goatee — Daniel Craig (the new James Bond) is a prime example — but having a beard really does help.

3) We grow facial hair because it makes us look like Chuck Norris. Norris is the poster man for action. Norris has a beard (note that it’s still well-trimmed). Therefore we should have beards. The logic is unstoppable — just like Norris’ roundhouse kicks. On the Internet, it’s rumored that Norris doesn’t have a chin under his beard, just another fist. But the beard’s still important.

4) We grow facial hair because we like the way it feels. Think about it: You might have hair on your head, but we have it on our chins. Let me elaborate with the next two points.

5) We grow facial hair because we like to stroke it while we think. Nothing else can make us look more intelligent.

6) We grow facial hair because with it we can scratch our manly arms and shoulders. Contrary to popular belief (especially among those of the female persuasion), beards are not really itchy. Sure, they might be a little itchy those first few weeks, but after a while, that feeling goes away. In fact, the natural scrubby pad that is our chins is perfect for taking care of other itchy parts of our upper body, like our huge biceps.

7) We grow facial hair because we like the way it smells. Really. It smells good. You have to rub it a few times, but the sheer manly scent generated is second only to the wonderful aroma of a crew cut. It’s hard to describe, but bearded men know what I am talking about.

We grow facial hair because we can store food in our beards. Did you enjoy that s’more you had earlier? Good. You can lick your beard and still pick out bits of graham cracker, chocolate bar and marshmallow for hours afterward.

9) We grow facial hair because the chicks dig it. Err … I mean, women find beards attractive. Ok, maybe just some girls. But I’ll take any reasonable advantage I can get.

10) We grow facial hair because we’re lazy, but in a good way. Think of it as a sort of laissez-fair outlook on life. If you don’t shave, you save time for more important things, like getting an extra 15 minutes of sleep or perhaps breakfast. Remember: This is not an excuse for being a slob; if you have beard, you should try to keep it under control.

Santa Clause OUT! 

- Geoff Koboldt, President

http://www.malakye.com/asp/front/sendmail.asp?Recor=0&sm=any&keywords=&ID=12488

Respectfully,

BambooSK8

There are a whole bunch of reasons why a forest gets cut down. Your sweet hardwood floor? Came from a forest. That paper you’re writing on? Yup, forest. Your sweet Brio trainset? That too.

So, cutting down trees is a necessary thing for us to live; especially for things like making houses. But that doesn’t mean cutting down forests is a very desirable thing. Forests do a lot of good things for us: they provide the world with oxygen, are significant carbon sinks (and clean the air in other ways too), are home to a lot of unique and fragile biodiversity, they prevent soil erosion and improve soil quality and finally (and maybe most importantly) they’re great for making tree forts. So the more forest we cut down, the less of this sweet stuff we get. Kind of a bummer right?

A lot of people quite a while ago realized what a bummer this is, and decided to plant a lot of trees, which is a really great thing. But unfortunately, as a planet we still aren’t planting them fast enough. But we’re getting better; we did a better job this past decade than we did the decade before of planting trees. And using bamboo instead of traditional wood helps too, because bamboo grows back from its shoot on its own; usually really quickly.

So, as you can see, even though we’re improving, we’re actually doing alarmingly bad. But everyone can do their part; encouraging tree planting campaigns and being really conscious of what you’re buying is a good idea (for example a bamboo deck does much less harm than a maple one). Anyways, if we can turn this trend around, we can help our planet, our health and our economies a lot.

Also, Janell smells.

See you next week!

The obsession has begun to take over our lives. We now have a weekly funds collection so we can buy our jar for next week (collected, of course, in an old Monster Mix jar). Yea, we eat a jar a week – over two pounds of Mix. Actually, lately it’s been more like a jar and a half a week. It’s gotten really bad. The worst part is, we only have a month left together. Then what? I can’t afford to sustain my addiction on my own! I’ll go into physical and psychological withdrawals, complete with the shakes and hallucinations. What am I going to do? This is gonna be bad! Oh man, I gotta calm down. Gotta get myself another handful, stat!

Let’s Begin:

There you have it, it seems to be a tie for now. Tune in later this week for Fohawk Vs. Mohawk, which is better and why. And don’t miss next week’s “Is that a beard or are you a Santa-in-training?”

This first one is an easy one: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It’s a giant area (anywhere between the size of Texas and the size of the US) in the Pacific Ocean filled with garbage: specifically, tiny pieces of non-degradable pieces of plastic. Because of how currents move in the ocean, most of these plastics are concentrated into one area (the size of Texas) and create a giant glump of garbage in the middle of the ocean. (That’s a bad thing)

Where does the plastic come from? Well, anywhere really. Most plastic doesn’t decompose. When we’re finished with something plastic (a grocery bag, a coffee cup, a telephone, whatever) usually one of four things happen to it: 1. It gets thrown away and sent to a garbage dump where it will wait for a couple of hundred years to break down 2. It will be recycled 3. It gets littered somewhere (more or less the same as the first) or 4. It ends up in Water.

#4 is a lot more common than you’d expect (or at least I expected). A lot of plastic litter ends up in waterways as litter that got swept to sea by rain or wind. A lot of it is gets dumped there deliberately (because its easy to dump in the ocean).

What’s nice about this environmental disaster, is that there’s a lot an ordinary person can do really easily to help: and that’s just trying to avoid plastic as much as possible: bring bag when you go shopping, pick products with less packaging, etc. And what’s great is that a lot of people are already doing all this.

Anyways, I highly recommend watching Vice Magazine’s Garbage Island documentary from 2007. They do a really good job of showing what’s going on without being high-minded assholes (though they are sort of just regular assholes). Enjoy!

Congratulations Winners!!

I think right now we’re right around half way through our internship here. This last half has cruised by, and I’m excited to see what the next half brings; hopefully a world draped  in bamboo decks.

So you’ve already heard about the party and all that, so let’s look ahead – we’ve been very busy here in the Intern Cave and so there’s A LOT coming up!! We’re going to have another fundraiser party later this month. The more money we can raise the better!! We are also partnering with another charity to design a limited edition deck with part of the proceeds going to the charity, so keep your eyes out for that. Finally, we are going to be at Clash at Clairemont this year, so I expect you all to stop by and say hi! It is March 27th at the Clairemont YMCA.

In the next few days I’m going to try to get a picture or two up from the fundraiser so you can live vicariously through us. haha Till then, I’m out!

Monday I weaved my way around a few rain clouds on my way to  drop off the new Zine. (Its the paper in the box telling about our company and why bamboo is the right way to go.) If you’ve bought one of our decks already you know what I’m talking about. If not, be sure to look for it in your box on your next deck purchase. The new one touches on our environmental impact, strength of the bamboo, and long lasting pop. If you’ve sent in pictures for our Photo Contest your picture might be in the Zine! Check it out with your next deck.

Tuesday was a very productive day in the Cave. We spent some time getting things reorganized and primed for greatness in the future.We also consoled Marty on Canada’s loss and I ate a lot of PB&J.

Friday was our BambooSK8 fund raising party. We were raffling decks, taking donations, and cutting up the dance floor. The bands were really good with different people switching instruments, great vocal harmony, and a fun feel. I’d highly recommend checking them out. The event went well and once everything was done the BambooSK8 staff  commandeered the second dance floor until they kicked us out at closing time. I made it home dry once again to close out the week with no rain on the motorcycle. Wahoo!

We’ve been talking a lot about art here lately; our new deck graphic, our graphic design contest; and just what a dope canvas a bamboo skateboard makes for art.

Anyways, that’s what’s on my mind these days. If you’re in the mood for watching something lifechanging about creativity check this out… education is where you find it…

http://www.bamboosk8fundraising.myevent.com/3/donate.htm

Our Goal is at least $3,000 so we (and by that I mean, the kids) really need your help!
Things around here in the warehouse have been in motion with shipments moving like crazy! Somedays I fancy the thought of climbing up the mountains of bamboo in this place, but then the thought of an earthquake comes to mind and I quickly retreat to the intern cave!…Oh yeah, and I wiped out for the first time since I’ve been here…darn those cracks in the concrete! Haha! BUT, there is nothing quite like a bruise to brag about.

Next weekend on FRIDAY is our big CHARITY fundraiser party in San Clemente, come party with us!! Three bands, multiple rooms, and some cool, good looking people — gonna be a gooood time. =)

We also are going to be at the Clash at Clairemont on March 27th! Its a HUGE day of skating to benefit grindforlife.org, which helps people with cancer. Check it out!!

This SATURDAY 2/13, we will be at MISSION BEACH (at San Fernando St) in SAN DIEGO for the CKA Kiteboarding Competition. We’ll be playing beach games, hanging out and watching the kiters rip it ALL DAY. We also have some codes for discounted boards! Woo! See ya there!!!

Last week BambooSK8 made a spash at ASR and Crossroads – two industry trade shows aimed at action sports. I wasn’t able to attend but the company was represented well and I hear our decks turned some heads.

We’ve also begun to promote our fundraising party on February 26th at OC Tavern in San Clemente. There will be some great live music, good brews, good people and good times. Its all to help us start some after school skate programs in schools and you can buy tickets at bamboosk8fundraising.myevent.com in advance. Check out Bri’s post for all the details.

There are also going to be some good contests going up on Hookit hopefully by the end of the week. If you’re not on Hookit, get on. If you are, make sure you’re friends with BambooSK8′s Eco Tribe and check in frequently for updates. We’ve got three unique contests going up soon so check in and see what you can win.

As always, if you know of some good shops that need some good shop decks, let us know. Until next time, get out there and tear it up.

These are exciting times. A couple of us went down to walk around what has been called “ASR Lite” this week and took away some mixed feelings. Even though it felt like the event itself was on life support, our decks were turning heads while we were just walking around. It feels like there’s a wave of bamboo fever about to crash on the skate scene about our cleaner, better and just plain gorgeous decks.

But the coolest thing in San Diego this week wasn’t the (lusterless) glitz and glam inside the ASR; it was what was going on accross the parking lot at the Crossroads show; all sorts of people who just dig skating were slamming it. There was a little girl, who was maybe 2 and a half feet tall shredding it with the big boys. It was nice to just see skaters getting off on skating.

Anyways world, here at BambooSK8 we’re changing the face of the skating world one deck at a time. We’re in the proccess of getting our boards under some riders and people are digging it.

They say you can’t draw water from stone, so we’re liquifying; I suggest buying a boat, ’cause we’re gonna flood.

See ya there!

If you’re in the area, I suggest getting out your bamboo board and cruising on down. Remember, the best weapon in the battle for sustainability is knowledge.

Learn yourself!

First let me say how psyched I am to be freezing inside the BambooSK8 cave, I love the vibe of this company! Let me give you some insight for what to expect from our class in 2010. If you haven’t heard about Loop’d yet, check it out! It’s an amazing site that connects action sports athletes with each other and most importantly, our sponsorship! We would love to see what you could do, so posts those videos of tricks we are yet to see in places that push the limits! We have graphic design, Top Promoter/Fan contests, and new contests are always in the works on Loop’d too.

On a side note, BambooSK8 is a totally green company and we want to know what else we could be doing that we may have missed. If you guys have any great ideas out there on how to manufacture even more green than we do and especially if you know of great, low energy ways we can heat this cave let us know! Also, if you know of any green charities and/or fundraisers we should get involved with, please email us at marketing@BambooSK8.com

See ya there!

Just landed here on Industry St. and am stoaked to get my hands dirty in the world of skateboard manufacturing. I got a mean green streak and there’s a strong environmental vibe going on around here, so I’m excited about that. I’m just getting my bearings so not much to report, except that the water is warm and I’m excited to dive in.

Winter is a wonderful season.

I’ll check back in a couple weeks. Cheers!

Peace.

On a side note, next week is our final week as interns at BambooSK8.  I am so thankful for having this opportunity at BambooSK8 and I can’t say enough goods things about the company.  BambooSK8 is truly the future of skateboarding and everyone in the industry is starting to realize the benefits of skating bamboo.  All of us interns who stuck it out and completed the internship have really learned a lot and good things are in our future.

Til next time.  KIR.

Longboard sales are going well they are flyin’ off the shelves! They look really good to I think people will be stoked on them.

Hopefully all goes well in LA on Monday…fingers crossed.

Back to the drawing board.

1. Show respect to everyone because you never really know who they are
2. If you spill your drink in the park take off your shirt and clean it up or else someone will slip and break their arm
3. If you are going to someone elses park bring a gift. If you are of age, beer, if you aren’t then water or energy drinks
4. Don’t drop in on any one EVER
5. If someone does something sick hoot and holler. Trust me they’ll do it for you in return and it will push your skating that much further.

6. Most importantly respect the park. Skaters barley have anywhere to skate anymore so why trash the one spot we are allowed to skate

BambooSK8 was fortunate enough to have a month of free advertising on Rerip.com and I was given the opportunity to create an ad for the website. Check it out if you haven’t already.  The BambooSK8 website has been going through some changes as well and it is really coming together.

All of us interns have come a long way and dedicate a lot of time promoting a quality, sustainable product, that is truly the future of skateboarding.

This Saturday (November 21st) ASEC will be opening their Greenroom at Pacific Beach Surf Shop. There will be food, drinks, live music, live art, a surfboard gallery, and much more. Come out and support ASEC with the BambooSK8 crew from 6pm-11pm! Go green!!!

We set up a booth alongside Ocean Beach Surf and Skate which featured a skate demo. Below are some pictures I took at the event.

Next year this event will be even bigger and better so be sure not to miss it next time around.

Peace…