Posts Tagged ‘bamboo skateboards’

One month down, three to go

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Wow! Today is the last day of week 4 and time has just been flying by! We have learned so much in this first quarter of the internship and I can’t wait for what’s next. For me, this week was about getting my ducks in a row. There was some serious lack of communication going on between the sales team, so we made a huge effort to get on the same page and begin working as a team. Luckily that effort paid off and we should start meeting goals and seeing results in all future weeks! Go team!

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!

 

 

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Skate the Bamboo!!!!

Friday, January 20th, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Makeshift spot right next to the ocean

The infamous hubba hideout on the verge of destruction

One of my favorite spots

Nothing like shredding a mini in the snow - Tahoe

Video Links:     Berkeley                   Bobby longboarding

 

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The ASR Experience

Friday, September 18th, 2009

The ASR experience was something I will never forget.  I have been to the show before but this was the first show where I felt like I actually belonged and served a purpose. Other times I had been there under some other alias, or at the job fair, but it was never this productive.  The first day was spent spreading the word of Bamboo as an alternative and superior product to maple.  Kids and other buyers that stopped by the booth were well aware of who we were and seemed very interested in our skate decks.  I spent a lot of time networking and talking to kids about our products.  It was really special to see that kids were well aware of our products and why purchasing our decks, as compared to maple, directly effected the environment.  To hear a kid tell me “bamboo grows three feet a day and has more pop than maple”, that was something else.  Its just a great feeling to know that part of our younger generation is aware of sustainability and its importance for generations to come.  By the end of the first day our company was lucky enough to land a spot on Fox News San Diego and I went home and watched it that night on the 10 o’ clock news.  It was a great story about how companies in the Action Sports Industry are going green and using environmentally-friendly products.  It set the stage for the days to come and created a buzz about BambooSK8 around ASR.  BambooSK8 is one of those companies at the forefront and I am proud to be a part of that.

There was plenty of entertainment and eye-candy throughout the weekend.  One of the highlights of the event was probably the Volcom skate ramp.  It was fun watching groms destroy it and old school skaters trying to hang.  One kid that definitely stuck out was Little Louie Lopez.  Its hard to keep up with the skate scene these days with all these young guns coming up.  The trick that stuck in my mind was a gap to frontside krooks down and across a good portion of the ramp.  Freakin’ Groms!  One other highlight was the first ever Office Boyz skate contest.  Its a contest put on by Malakye that involves desk jockey’s and employees from around the Actions Sports Industry.  You would be surprised at the level of skating by the people who sit behind a computer all day and  work in this industry.  Do they really work all day? I think they are taking way too many skate breaks.

Overall ASR was a great experience and our team of interns did a great job.  People were even asking for our decks when we were loading up the truck in the parking lot.  I would say it was a success for BambooSK8. Way to go team!

Peace out.

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Along came a Peach……..er

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

My name is Nathan Peacher. I bring to the table a B.S. in Advertising from Northern Arizona University with a Graphic Design and Web Development background. I am currently pursuing a web publishing certificate from UCSD.  One day I hope to be part of a creative team for the action sports industry.  Growing up in Laguna Niguel and Orange County, the mecca for the industry, I am a life-long consumer of all the big name brands.  I was fortunate enough to grow up in an area where I was always at the beach, skateboarding, or snowboarding.  I love all outdoor activities and have lots of hobbies including photography and painting.  I pursued my passion for snowboarding by living and working in Lake Tahoe for six years. I have maintained a consistent amount of freelance work and recently moved back to Southern California to pursue a career in Web Development.  I am very excited to work with a company like BambooSK8 who is revolutionizing the sport of skateboarding. My life long passion for board sports will prove to be invaluable during my internship with BambooSK8. It is a great opportunity to work with a company that is involved in changing the world for future generations to come.

More to come……

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ASR is coming!!!

Friday, August 28th, 2009

BambooSK8 is coming to ASR this year with all new and improved 100% and 70% bamboo short decks, along with our New 100% bamboo Longboards in three different shapes and sizes!  If you get a chance to come to ASR this year, held at the San Diego Convention Center, come check us out in the ASEC Green Room, a section dedicated to sustainable companies in the action sports industry.  Hope to see you there!!!!

Skate Green,

Mark O.

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To New Beginnings…

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

I still can’t believe our internship is coming to a close. I’m sorry to see it go. The experiences and experience I’ve gained through this program were absolutely amazing. I’ve talked about these before on the intern blog, so I won’t bore you with the same story.

But with every end there is a new beginning. I really didn’t have any idea what PR actually included but I’ve had a blast trying to figure it out and being a little creative with it as well. I will definitely pursue a career in PR just because it isn’t your typical behind a desk nine-to-fiver. I feel I have a certain knack or talent in it and I just enjoy everything that comes along with it; going to events, meeting cool and interesting people, creative writing and trying to “hustle” my way with certain publications to get us some exposure. It’s a blast!

Going into my BambooSk8 internship, I didn’t know what I would be doing. I was given the option to do what I am strongest at and it helped me and it helped the company. I gained  tangible results and received some experience points to mark up on my resume.

In years to come, I know I will look upon my days at BambooSk8 as a truly fun and rewarding experience. And truly life altering. In this crazy economy no one wants to take chances on new college graduates. Employers want people with experience and get results and now thanks to BambooSk8 I have the experience to get a decent career started in the PR field.

And to quote Whitesnake “Here I go again on my own…”.  – TJ

Here’s from an earlier post:

From Unremarkable to Marketable

 

I have to admit, going into the BambooSk8 marketing internship I didn’t know diddley squat. It seemed like everyone else in the program was a Marketing major in College and I was just had a seemingly pointless degree. But the first day of the program I immediately found my niche in the program. I was “creative one”.

 

Let me go through my story a little bit just to let you know where I come from. I graduated from a four year college with a degree in English. Originally, I wanted to be a teacher but decided against it by my second to last semester. So when I graduated, I found myself with a degree that was worthless for the types of jobs that pay above minimum wage. So one day, I was perusing Malakye.com and came across a job posting for Bamboo Buddy. I’m not going to lie, I was a little skeptical of the whole thing. But after meeting with Geoff and his enthusiasm for the company, the product and helping people out who are willing to work to get where they want to go, I decided this was the gig for me.

 

The first day of the program, we all went to the X-games to pass out fliers. I had a blast! I got to see many skaters that I had only seen in the magazines and videos like Eric Koston and Corey Duffel up close. Then we got kicked out for guerilla marketing in an un-authorized guerilla marketing zone. But that was alright, I laughed all the way out of the competition area.

 

In the upcoming weeks, I got to see what I was really talented at. I chose the public relations route of the program and truly felt like a natural at it. I already knew how to write pretty well; so I decided to make some absurd Blog posts (if you scroll down you will see the Marty McFly blog; that one was mine) Also, did I mention we didn’t even have the first shipment of boards in! So I had to be creative to be productive. Geoff saw the creative potential in me and had me doing all sorts of art direction things to work on from criticizing the website and throwing in my two cents to make it more useful to our target customers.

 

I also got to use my talents by writing and sending out pitch-letters left and right and writing all sorts of blogs and editing magazine articles and press releases. It is amazing to see how a guy with no experience suddenly started seeing his ideas turning up all over the web. 

 

This all turned into great information on my resume and not just padding to BS my way into a decent position. I actually have the ammo now to take to an interview and make the interviewers coo at my coolness (inside joke there).

 

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Reflection

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

I’ve either been actively skateboarding, BMXing, aggressive inline skating, body boarding, or snowboarding since I was 5 years old. Action sports have always played a major role in my personal life and recently I have made the decision to make it part of my professional life as well.

I was at the midpoint of my MBA program and I thought it would be a good idea to start getting some contacts within the industry, especially since I did not have any prior professional experience within the action sports arena. I was already pretty busy with another real estate internship, school and other side projects so I wasn’t really sure how I was going to fit in an additional job into my schedule. I came across the BambooSK8 job posting on Malakye and I thought it was almost too good to be true. They offered experience that I needed within the action sports industry and they only required interns to come into the office once a week. So, I submitted my resume, interviewed with Geoff, and my first day was the following week.

Within the first few sessions, Geoff had each of us interns set goals for ourselves in regards to what we would like to achieve for the company and what we would like to attain on a personal level. He encouraged us to work together and help one another to accomplish their goals. He also put forth an additional effort to tailor responsibilities in a way that would set us up for success. Since I didn’t have any prior action sports industry experience, one of my goals was to learn as much as possible about the intricacies of the industry. Geoff did a tremendous job at showing me the ins and outs of the industry and how I need to position myself if I want to be a successful player.

I have to admit, this internship is definitely atypical when compared to my previous internships. First of all, I come from mostly a corporate background and now being able to wear shorts and a tshirt into work is the most epic thing ever. Being able to come in at 10a.m. is probably just as awesome. Secondly, Geoff Koboldt, the President, gave me the opportunity to really be involved in many of the inner workings of the business and be a part of decisions that directly affect the livelihood of their company. For a President of a company to show that level of trust and respect for an intern is definitely uncommon.

The journey over the past 3 months has been amazing. The time intensity was higher than what I had originally anticipated and only coming into the office once a week quickly turned into working from home on a daily basis. There were several sleepless nights and long weekends but I must say that it has definitely been worthwhile.

KT

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