Trade Show Season!Learning Action Sports lessons in San Diego
I had big plans for this ASR. I was going to do an expose on all the new flip-flop technology. Maybe patronize the booths that really make you feel bad for the person sitting in them because they are empty and everyone else is trying not to make eye contact. Somehow though, even with the generous four hours I had scheduled for the trade show, neither of those things happened. Here’s what I did do: First I found a manikin with giant boobs. It was amazing. Then I watched a fashion show of this seasons “hottest pieces from action sports brands.” From that I learned action sports clothes aren’t made for girls with asses and Vans is making jeans. On the way out I ran into someone from DVS who shoved a free drink ticket into my hand. Apparently half of the DVS booth was a Hooters themed beer garden with a plethora of free drink tickets. The best part of that is they said “Ten more till’ camp classy.” I didn’t notice the questionable spelling of “till’” ‘til the next day. They should really hire me to copy edit. Before accidentally getting drunk in the beer garden though I checked out the anti-trade show Agenda. It was cool because I got to ride in a limo to get there and apparently there was an open bar (although I didn’t find out about that until I was on the way back.) Agenda actually had a bit of culture (read: real black people) and some rad street wear. My favorite part of Agenda though was that I didn’t hear the word bamboo once. Now that everyone has given up on making anything in the USA, bamboo is a great justification. You can’t go in a booth without hearing how “green” they are because they are making something out of bamboo. “It’s like wood, but it grows like a weed!” “It’s easy to transport to the factory!” “Blah, blah, blah, blah!” You heard it here first, bamboo will save us all. The end. |
“Working Media” is the best scam ever. No stressing about how to get into the trade show for me, I just saunter up to the counter and toss out my business card that happens to say “media” on it and am instantly issued a coveted trade show badge. I bet I could get into any trade show like this, whether it has anything to do with the type of media I do or not. But I suppose, since I do legitimately work in action sports, ASR in San Diego isn’t that much of a stretch.