Staf Magazine: ASR/Agenda Trade Show Recap (Mar/Apr 2007)
STAF Magazine: "ASR/Agenda Trade Show Recap"
By Travis Jensen
March/April 2007
Thursday, January 25th:
I arrived in San Diego from San Francisco a little after 9:00 AM on Thursday morning. I ended up hanging out in my hotel room for a solid three hours until my friend and fellow San Franciscan Leland Ware arrived. Since I booked my airline tickets for the show ridiculously last minute, the two of us were unable to get on the same flight going down to San Diego. I was, however, able to get on the same flight as Leland returning home. (You will understand my reason for mentioning this information later in the piece).
Leland is the creator of the acclaimed San Francisco based skateboarding website 48blocks.com. Be sure to check out his website if you haven’t already. The site provides by far the most accurate depiction of the current skateboarding scene in San Francisco. Not only that, but Leland is quite diligent about updating the site with new content on a weekly basis.
Leland and I arrived at the Agenda Trade Show a little after 1:00 PM. Being as I work as the Minister of Information (Public Relations/Media) for Stereo Skateboards, naturally our first stop at the show was the Stereo booth. This was Stereo’s first Trade Show since the brand was re-launched independently last summer, so people were more than anxious to see what all we had up our sleeves. I wasn’t at all surprised to see that the Stereo booth was packed upon our arrival.
After catching up with my fellow Stereo co-workers, Leland and I made our way to the bar in the middle of showroom floor for a much-needed cocktail. The drinks were free by the way, which is always a nice little added bonus. The two of us then walked around and checked out the rest of the show. Some of the standout exhibitors at Agenda, in my opinion, were WESC, Fourstar, Adidas, Stussy, Rebel 8 and Stereo (of course).
Leland and I left the Agenda Trade Show heading for the ASR Trade Show around 4:00 PM. Agenda had a fleet of limousines shuttling people back and forth between the two shows. This too was a nice added bonus. We had plans to meet up in front of ASR with some friends of ours that had also come down from San Francisco: Ando Caulfield of FTC/irEMBer, Doug Van Binbergen of Western Edition Skateboards, Hidehiko Fujiwara of Techstyle Media, and Yong-Ki Chang and his assistant Tara of Solitary Arts/Hessenmob Skateboards.
Although Hidehiko and I were the only two individuals in our posse with legit ASR passes, surprisingly, everyone somehow managed to get in. (Side note: all you needed to get into the Agenda show was a business card).
As always, the inside of ASR was a little overwhelming. Actually, that’s an understatement, it was an absolute madhouse! This is where all the larger brands exhibit their lines: Volcom, Etnies, Element, NHS, Giant Distribution, etc. If you are uncomfortable around large crowds, ASR is most definitely not the place to be. You’ll guaranteed faint or have an anxiety attack.
Anyway, we circled ASR once, which took well over an hour, and decided we had enough for the day and headed back to Agenda. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out and shooting the shit over drinks at the Stereo booth.
Leland and I were both tired and opted not to go out that night, so instead we chilled in the hotel room, drank beers, and watch "Menace to Society" on HBO (which is a great movie by the way).
Friday, January 26th:
Friday was spent pretty much the same as Thursday: lots of networking and bullshitting over drinks. The highlight of the day for me was the Lord of the Lines contest that Matix was hosting over at ASR. I arrived just in time for the finals. The skating was absolutely insane! Denis Busenitz took third place, Joey Brezinski took second, and Ronnie Creager took first and skated away with an extra 15,000 USD in his pocket. Not bad for an afternoons worth of work, huh? Although Creager definitely deserved to win, I must say that I fancy the skating of Denis Busenitz a little bit more. The guy has style and skates ridiculously fast. Not only that, but he also lives in San Francisco. You can see video footage of this contest on Youtube.com.
Later that evening, I hooked up with the Stereo and WESC crew and headed over the big Vice Magazine/WESC party. Even though we arrived early, maybe a little before 10:00 PM, the place was already packed. Luckily I was with some of the people involved with organizing the party, so we had no problems getting in. The place was overflowing by 11:00 PM. My San Francisco crew was supposed to meet up with me at the party. I became a little worried because, even though I had made sure to get all of my friends on the list, the doormen stopped letting anyone in.
My crew finally showed up a little after 11:30. As suspected, the doormen wouldn’t let them in, but Stereo Co-Captain/WESC Activist Chris Pastras came to the rescue and managed to pull some strings to get everyone inside.
However, this is where things drastically took a turn for the worse. One of the two doormen managed to loose Leland’s identification. As unrealistic as this sounds, it’s true. Needless to say, Leland was freaking out saying: “Dude, how the hell am I going to get on the plane tomorrow?” After September 11th, here in the States you must present your identification to get on the airplane. The doorman was being an asshole about the whole thing and pretty much told Leland to piss off. Both Chris Pastras and WESC owner Greger tried to talk to the doorman about the missing identification, but they didn’t have any luck retrieving it either. The doorman was swearing up and down that he handed Leland’s identification back to him after checking it.
I told Leland just to chill and relax and reassured him that he was not going to have any problems getting on the plane, but he wasn’t trying to hear it. Leland was so upset that he decided to leave the party early and went back to the hotel room. The rest of us stayed at the party and enjoyed the free drinks and live music.
After the Vice Magazine/WESC party ended, we all headed off to the Satori party, which was much, much mellower. I had a couple of drinks there, chatted with some old friends that I hadn’t seen in years, and then stumbled ten or eleven blocks back to the hotel. By this time, it was well after 3:00 AM. Leland was passed out on his bed when arrived. He still had on his clothes and shoes, and the television and lights were still on. I watched a little television and went to bed about 4:00 AM.
Saturday, January 27th:
I woke up the next morning with an a slight hangover, but managed to make it to the Agenda Show a little after 10:00 AM. Leland was still in panic mode over his missing identification and kept saying to me, “You’re going to stay behind with me if I can’t get on the plane, right?” I assured him that I wouldn’t leave without him. I was confident that he was not going to have much trouble getting on the plane, because I’m sure he wasn’t the first person to have lost their identification while on vacation.
Saturday was a big day for Stereo at Agenda, because Jason Lee was going to be in attendance. Chris Pastras and Jason Lee together are seriously too funny, a real force to be reckoned with!
I wasn’t at all surprised to see the Stereo booth packed upon our arrival. In fact, I can confidently say that our booth was pretty much the focal point of the entire Agenda show this particular day. People had heard Jason Lee was going to be attendance, so they made it a point to stop by our booth to say hello, get an autograph, and take a photo. Although many people were interrupting Jason during important meetings with buyers, Jason was and always is a good sport about the whole thing.
I spent most of the morning and afternoon nursing my hangover with water and chatting with Jason’s financial advisor, Kevin Burke, about skateboarding, surfing, and writing.
Leland and I were scheduled to be on a 5:00 PM flight back to San Francisco, so we started saying our goodbyes to everyone around 2:00 PM. We needed to be at the airport extra early since Leland didn’t have his identification.
At the airport, I could tell that Leland was really nervous about not being able to get on the plane. I suggested that he check-in first. I figured it would have been pointless for me to check-in if he couldn’t get on. Remember, I promised Leland that I wouldn’t leave without him.
Leland managed to convince the lady at the counter that he was who he said he was and she allowed him to fly home. I remember telling Leland, “See, I told you that you wouldn’t have any problems.” Leland’s mood instantly change, and we made it to the gate with almost an hour to spare. Leland said, “Let’s get a beer!” And that’s exactly what we did. It was the perfect way to end a fantastic weekend in San Diego.
Side note: Leland received a letter in the mail a week after we returned from San Diego. Enclosed was his identification and a letter from the doorman from the Vice Magazine/WESC party apologizing about the mishap.
By Travis Jensen
March/April 2007
Thursday, January 25th:
I arrived in San Diego from San Francisco a little after 9:00 AM on Thursday morning. I ended up hanging out in my hotel room for a solid three hours until my friend and fellow San Franciscan Leland Ware arrived. Since I booked my airline tickets for the show ridiculously last minute, the two of us were unable to get on the same flight going down to San Diego. I was, however, able to get on the same flight as Leland returning home. (You will understand my reason for mentioning this information later in the piece).
Leland is the creator of the acclaimed San Francisco based skateboarding website 48blocks.com. Be sure to check out his website if you haven’t already. The site provides by far the most accurate depiction of the current skateboarding scene in San Francisco. Not only that, but Leland is quite diligent about updating the site with new content on a weekly basis.
Leland and I arrived at the Agenda Trade Show a little after 1:00 PM. Being as I work as the Minister of Information (Public Relations/Media) for Stereo Skateboards, naturally our first stop at the show was the Stereo booth. This was Stereo’s first Trade Show since the brand was re-launched independently last summer, so people were more than anxious to see what all we had up our sleeves. I wasn’t at all surprised to see that the Stereo booth was packed upon our arrival.
After catching up with my fellow Stereo co-workers, Leland and I made our way to the bar in the middle of showroom floor for a much-needed cocktail. The drinks were free by the way, which is always a nice little added bonus. The two of us then walked around and checked out the rest of the show. Some of the standout exhibitors at Agenda, in my opinion, were WESC, Fourstar, Adidas, Stussy, Rebel 8 and Stereo (of course).
Leland and I left the Agenda Trade Show heading for the ASR Trade Show around 4:00 PM. Agenda had a fleet of limousines shuttling people back and forth between the two shows. This too was a nice added bonus. We had plans to meet up in front of ASR with some friends of ours that had also come down from San Francisco: Ando Caulfield of FTC/irEMBer, Doug Van Binbergen of Western Edition Skateboards, Hidehiko Fujiwara of Techstyle Media, and Yong-Ki Chang and his assistant Tara of Solitary Arts/Hessenmob Skateboards.
Although Hidehiko and I were the only two individuals in our posse with legit ASR passes, surprisingly, everyone somehow managed to get in. (Side note: all you needed to get into the Agenda show was a business card).
As always, the inside of ASR was a little overwhelming. Actually, that’s an understatement, it was an absolute madhouse! This is where all the larger brands exhibit their lines: Volcom, Etnies, Element, NHS, Giant Distribution, etc. If you are uncomfortable around large crowds, ASR is most definitely not the place to be. You’ll guaranteed faint or have an anxiety attack.
Anyway, we circled ASR once, which took well over an hour, and decided we had enough for the day and headed back to Agenda. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out and shooting the shit over drinks at the Stereo booth.
Leland and I were both tired and opted not to go out that night, so instead we chilled in the hotel room, drank beers, and watch "Menace to Society" on HBO (which is a great movie by the way).
Friday, January 26th:
Friday was spent pretty much the same as Thursday: lots of networking and bullshitting over drinks. The highlight of the day for me was the Lord of the Lines contest that Matix was hosting over at ASR. I arrived just in time for the finals. The skating was absolutely insane! Denis Busenitz took third place, Joey Brezinski took second, and Ronnie Creager took first and skated away with an extra 15,000 USD in his pocket. Not bad for an afternoons worth of work, huh? Although Creager definitely deserved to win, I must say that I fancy the skating of Denis Busenitz a little bit more. The guy has style and skates ridiculously fast. Not only that, but he also lives in San Francisco. You can see video footage of this contest on Youtube.com.
Later that evening, I hooked up with the Stereo and WESC crew and headed over the big Vice Magazine/WESC party. Even though we arrived early, maybe a little before 10:00 PM, the place was already packed. Luckily I was with some of the people involved with organizing the party, so we had no problems getting in. The place was overflowing by 11:00 PM. My San Francisco crew was supposed to meet up with me at the party. I became a little worried because, even though I had made sure to get all of my friends on the list, the doormen stopped letting anyone in.
My crew finally showed up a little after 11:30. As suspected, the doormen wouldn’t let them in, but Stereo Co-Captain/WESC Activist Chris Pastras came to the rescue and managed to pull some strings to get everyone inside.
However, this is where things drastically took a turn for the worse. One of the two doormen managed to loose Leland’s identification. As unrealistic as this sounds, it’s true. Needless to say, Leland was freaking out saying: “Dude, how the hell am I going to get on the plane tomorrow?” After September 11th, here in the States you must present your identification to get on the airplane. The doorman was being an asshole about the whole thing and pretty much told Leland to piss off. Both Chris Pastras and WESC owner Greger tried to talk to the doorman about the missing identification, but they didn’t have any luck retrieving it either. The doorman was swearing up and down that he handed Leland’s identification back to him after checking it.
I told Leland just to chill and relax and reassured him that he was not going to have any problems getting on the plane, but he wasn’t trying to hear it. Leland was so upset that he decided to leave the party early and went back to the hotel room. The rest of us stayed at the party and enjoyed the free drinks and live music.
After the Vice Magazine/WESC party ended, we all headed off to the Satori party, which was much, much mellower. I had a couple of drinks there, chatted with some old friends that I hadn’t seen in years, and then stumbled ten or eleven blocks back to the hotel. By this time, it was well after 3:00 AM. Leland was passed out on his bed when arrived. He still had on his clothes and shoes, and the television and lights were still on. I watched a little television and went to bed about 4:00 AM.
Saturday, January 27th:
I woke up the next morning with an a slight hangover, but managed to make it to the Agenda Show a little after 10:00 AM. Leland was still in panic mode over his missing identification and kept saying to me, “You’re going to stay behind with me if I can’t get on the plane, right?” I assured him that I wouldn’t leave without him. I was confident that he was not going to have much trouble getting on the plane, because I’m sure he wasn’t the first person to have lost their identification while on vacation.
Saturday was a big day for Stereo at Agenda, because Jason Lee was going to be in attendance. Chris Pastras and Jason Lee together are seriously too funny, a real force to be reckoned with!
I wasn’t at all surprised to see the Stereo booth packed upon our arrival. In fact, I can confidently say that our booth was pretty much the focal point of the entire Agenda show this particular day. People had heard Jason Lee was going to be attendance, so they made it a point to stop by our booth to say hello, get an autograph, and take a photo. Although many people were interrupting Jason during important meetings with buyers, Jason was and always is a good sport about the whole thing.
I spent most of the morning and afternoon nursing my hangover with water and chatting with Jason’s financial advisor, Kevin Burke, about skateboarding, surfing, and writing.
Leland and I were scheduled to be on a 5:00 PM flight back to San Francisco, so we started saying our goodbyes to everyone around 2:00 PM. We needed to be at the airport extra early since Leland didn’t have his identification.
At the airport, I could tell that Leland was really nervous about not being able to get on the plane. I suggested that he check-in first. I figured it would have been pointless for me to check-in if he couldn’t get on. Remember, I promised Leland that I wouldn’t leave without him.
Leland managed to convince the lady at the counter that he was who he said he was and she allowed him to fly home. I remember telling Leland, “See, I told you that you wouldn’t have any problems.” Leland’s mood instantly change, and we made it to the gate with almost an hour to spare. Leland said, “Let’s get a beer!” And that’s exactly what we did. It was the perfect way to end a fantastic weekend in San Diego.
Side note: Leland received a letter in the mail a week after we returned from San Diego. Enclosed was his identification and a letter from the doorman from the Vice Magazine/WESC party apologizing about the mishap.
