Raised skiing the vertical runs of Camel Back Mountain, Pennsylvania with his siblings, Keir first pursued
snowboarding as a means to challenge himself. For several years, Keir dusted the competition at professional invitational Halfpipe and Quarterpipe events around the globe with a fluid style and hardcore competitive drive, and earned vast amounts of media coverage and notoriety for his accomplishments. Today, Keir holds the respect of both his snowboarding peers and industry leaders thanks to his superior level of professionalism and magnetic personality and has parlayed his pro ranking into a career as an action sports television host and correspondent. Combining an entrepreneurial drive, quick-witted humor, and a familiarity with the gamut of board sports, Keir has established himself as a natural and sought-after talent in front of the camera. Comfortable hosting major action sports television events from the US Open of Surfing to X Games, Keir’s charisma and credible perspective enable him to find common ground with WCT surf powerhouses, pro snowboarders, and iconic skateboarders alike. Keir continually asks the questions the core audience at home wants to know while still educating the newest action sports viewer with relevancy, welcoming verbiage, and comprehensive coverage. When Keir is not on the road
snowboarding or hosting television programs for various networks he’s hanging with his family and friends,
surfing, playing chess, or winning money at poker.

Nick Sargent is the Director of Strategic Alliance for Burton Snowboards. In this position, Sargent is responsible for the global sales, event and marketing strategy for Burton Snowboards.

With more than 15 years of experience in sports, Sargent joined the Burton family after working as Manager of Corporate Alliances for the adidas-Salomon organization. In the 5 years at adidas-Salomon, he created the brands connection too many of the worlds largest companies & brands while maintaining the adidas-Salomon integrity and connecting the corporate community to winter sports.

In 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter founded Burton Snowboards out of his Vermont barn. Since then, Burton has fueled the growth of snowboarding worldwide through its groundbreaking product lines, its team of top snowboarders and its grassroots efforts to get the sport accepted at resorts. In 1996, Burton began growing its family of brands to include boardsports and apparel brands. Privately held and owned by Jake, Burton’s headquarters are in Burlington, Vermont with offices in California, Austria, Japan and Australia.

In 2006, Burton launched the Burton Global Open Series, now heading into its 5th successful year. Volvo, AMP, Nature Valley, Paul Mitchell, Corona and Kodak are core sponsors of Burton events.

Sargent and his family live in Stowe, VT

FOLLOW THE ACTION SPORTS CONFERENCE 2010 LIVE
Starting August 3rd at 8:00am to 5:00pm PST

Live coverage provided by

Follow event live also on iPhone App (Coming soon),  Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=f464b2f63a” mce_href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=f464b2f63a” >Action Sports Conference 2010</a>

James Leitz, Senior Vice President of International Management Group (IMG), directs IMG’s Action Sports Division based in Los Angeles. The division is charged with the development of action sports and entertainment properties for IMG, it’s offices and clients worldwide. Marshaling IMG’s resources and expertise in athlete management, television, events and consulting, IMG Action Sports has established a formidable position in action sports and youth entertainment.

Leitz began his career with Group Dynamics in 1987 in the early days of pro beach volleyball. In 1989, Leitz joined CE Sports and helped grow the business into a multi- million dollar lifestyle sports firm. Leitz was a pioneer in action and lifestyle sports marketing, creating campaigns, events and tours in snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding, bmx, jet ski, volleyball and adventure sports. In 1996 Leitz created EventSource – a company designed to create, produce and manage in-house events and strategies for sanctioning bodies, agencies and corporate clients like Anheuser-Busch, NIKE, Vans, Op and many others. In 1998 EventSource was acquired by IMG.

IMG Action Sports has been active for twelve years. With a growing stable of events and television properties like the US Open of Surfing franchise, Formula Drift, Red Bull Drifting World Championships, Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, the San Diego Triathlon and the Escape to… Triathlon Series, and more. IMG represents an expanding roster of action sports athletes including Gold Medalist Lyndsy Vonn, up-and-coming surf superstar Kolohe Andino and FMX phenom Robbie Maddison, as well as action sports training centers Camp Woodward. Current management clients include Boost Mobile, Anheuser-Busch and Vans, as well as event creation and implementation services for major action sports, music and lifestyle properties like the Hurley Pro of Surfing, Vans Downtown Showdown, and many more.

As the Director of IMG Action Sports, Leitz has created the road map for the global expansion of IMG’s endeavors in action sports and youth marketing, and is an integral part of several internal business units including IMG Business Development, IMG Media, IMG Consulting and IMG North American Operations.

Leitz graduated with a BA from University California at Santa Barbara in 1987. Leitz, wife Rosy and sons David and Joaquin reside in Pacific Palisades, California.

Tacos and Tunes at the Motel No Tell

Wednesday, July 28, 2010
6:00pm - 9:30pm

The Motel No Tell
720 Pacific Coast Hwy
Huntington Beach, CA 92648  <<map

The Nike 6.0 Motel No Tell will be the hub for all things U.S. Open of Surfing, and with the event just a few weeks away, Nike 6.0 and group Y invite you for an Open House event.

Walk through athlete inspired rooms, play vintage action sports themed arcade games, and learn more about how Nike 6.0 is involved with the Safe Trestles foundation in a room inspired by enviornmentality and sustainability.

Our neighbors at Sancho’s Tacos will be serving tacos throughout the night and there will be drinks in the backyard. Grab a cold one and head to the Nike iD customization diner and let your inner art director shine through. Design board shorts, t-shirts and the most customizable Nike 6.0 shoe to date, the Nike 6.0 Primo iD.

Enter to win a NikeiD customization experiences and a ton of Nike 6.0 gear including 1 of 50 pairs of Motel No Tell custom Nike 6.0 shoes. Each entry is a suggested donation of $5.00, all proceeds and donations will go directly to Stoked Mentoring.

** GUEST LIST IS NOW CLOSED — SEE YOU ALL TONIGHT! **

Check out The Motel No Tell at nike6motelnotell.com, Nike6.com, or at twitter.com/motelnotell

MOTEL PARKING

Please use the public parking lots at: Strand parking structure (155 Fifth St, with entry off of Sixth St.) or Pier parking plaza (next to HB Pier)

** DO NOT Park in the neighborhood.

As readers may have caught in the Ypulse Monthly Events Roundup, coming up next month is the second annual Action Sports Conference in Huntington Beach, California. The event is held by action sports networking and education organization group Y (who collaborated with us on the Action Sports Pre-Conference at the 2010 Ypulse Mashup) and looks to bring together action sports and brand executives to explore different aspects of branding and marketing in the space.

To learn more we reached out to Action Sports Conference speaker Issa Sawabini, a partner at Fuse Marketing and a foremost marketing expert in action sports and related youth culture.

Ypulse: What are some trends in the action sports market that you’ll be covering at the conference?

Issa Sawabini: The group that I’m leading is discussing the appeal of action sports and how they compare to other sports. We’re going to be talking about why major corporate sponsors get involved, and why they choose action sports either in addition to other sports, or, potentially in place of other sports.

Our panel will have Kenny Mitchell from Gatorade and Bryan Johnston from UFC. Bryan has a history in the snowboard space so he’ll be able to compare the growth of UFC with the growth of snowboarding and action sports. We’ll also take a look at insights from IMG, Giant sports industry, ESPN and a few others. Really what we’re looking to key in on is how can and why do corporate brands get involved in the space, how do they maintain authenticity and how do they achieve success.

The larger conference is obviously going to include everything from trends and events, new products, athletes and overall marketing in the entire industry. it’s a great opportunity to learn about the action sports world or to engage in some great dialogue with leaders in the action sports marketing space.

YP: Where do you see a lot of excitement happening right now in action sports? Why?

IS: Looking at it from what I’ll call the “corporate sponsorship side of things” there’s still a great deal of excitement around skateboarding and snowboarding– they have the largest participation base and general awareness. We also see a great deal of additional interest in the motocross world and some renewed interest in the wakeboard space. In free skiing there’s a lot of talk right now because halfpipe and slopestyle and snowboard slopestyle are potentially being considered for the Olympics in Russia. There’s also a lot of great news in the skateboard world with the launch of Street League, the new Dew Tour event in Vegas and the X-Games launching internationally. There’s lots of new events. We’re looking at really all the action sports with some great new progression within the sports space, but also from a sports marketing standpoint with lots of expanding opportunities and continued growth.

Beyond the sports side, we see the impact of action sports fashion — specifically with skate style, surf style and motocross style — really trickling down and continuing to drive mainstream fashion trends. The impact of action sports fashion on mainstream fashion retailers helps to further solidify the importance and influence of action sports. As brands look for platforms to be in and see action sports and think of board sports, they see they’re in the right place for influencing mainstream youth culture.

YP: How do you see action sports brands leveraging mobile and online platforms to help create and deliver meaningful experiences to fans?

IS: If you take a big step back and you look at the mobile and online space what creates a meaningful experience is something useful — knowledge — or something entertaining, and action sports from the very beginning have been all about content. There have been skateboard movies, surf movies, snowboard movies for 20-plus years. If you look at other sports — your traditional stick and ball sports — they’re all working very hard to try to find content that they can deliver. Not just highlights of the basketball game, not just replays of the baseball game, but deep, exciting, compelling content. And action sports is all about content: unprecedented access to the athletes and never-ending number of locations. The content production opportunities are so prevalent there’s probably too much content out there vs. mainstream sports where you have all kinds of limits put in place by the structure of the league, the team, the association, or access to the athlete. The access and the ability to create content [in action sports] is phenomenal because there is no schedule or structure or unnecessary speedbumps in the process. Based on that you have brands that can create amazing mobile and online experiences because they’ve got great content.

But you’ve got to be smart. You have to understand how to create the content and where to share it. We’re seeing lots of brands launch entertaining and useful apps. We’re seeing content producers packaging up content and sharing it with their sponsors in new ways.

A great example is Teton Gravity Research. Those guys are a leading filmmaker in the action sports space and have a long history of making snowboard, surf and ski films. Instead of just releasing a new film every year, they are creating a weekly web series to build anticipation and they’re sharing that content out across all the top youth culture sites and their sponsors are building marketing and distribution plans around that content. As a sponsor of the movie they get access to that content that they can deliver out to their consumer base. A smart distribution plan combined with exciting and compelling content can reach so many mobile and online platforms, it’s amazing. I don’t want to say it’s easy because it’s a tremendous amount of work, but the tools are all there to create something special and some great brands are doing it right.

YP: How do you see user-generated content factoring into that?

IS: I think it’s very common for brands to say ‘Oh, everyone who owns a skateboard must also own a video camera so send me your video of you skateboarding’ in some promotional form. Oftentimes corporate brands struggle to get any type of volume in terms of participation. They might get 10, 20, maybe 100 submissions, and by scale it’s really pretty small.

What we have found is the best way to develop user-generated programs for corporate brands is to do it in partnership with one of the great action sports media companies or websites and to deliver that message in a place that the audience is already visiting everyday. Instead of asking them to come to your website and submit a video, develop something that can be done with a media partner. The other side is making sure that you’re embracing all the right tools and forums so that user-generated content can have life within your brand and if people want to create something or say something about your brand you’re giving them a platform to do that. The obvious choice is in social media and video sharing, photo sharing. Let the people have their voice and give them an opportunity to say something and build brand zealots by embracing what they’re saying and listening to them.

YP: On that note, what types of other common mistakes do you see with brands trying to connect to this audience?

IS: The common mistakes we see in action sports are in a couple of different areas. Creatively, we see so many different brands that just don’t understand the space. So when they develop an ad, be it a TV ad, a print ad, a pre-roll advertisement or digital advertisement, they just aren’t using the sports in an authentic way. They’re putting a model in instead of a real athlete, they’re using Photoshop to turn an athlete upside-down instead of actually shooting the photo, their photography is wrong, they’re not working with a photographer who understands how to shoot the space. Or, the language is wrong and they’re using stereotypes like the word “extreme.” They’re doing things that would really make an action sports participant or fan consider them an outsider. This off-base creative is actually damaging their brand instead of maximizing the opportunity to connect with this audience in a way that makes sense. You have to understand the action sports space before you do creative in that realm.

We also see brands who just may not understand how their product fits and they try to create a false relevance. Their product category may just not be as cool as a skateboard or a snowboard and that’s okay. Instead of trying to make it as cool as an equipment brand, they need to find their own platform. They may want to consider the lifestyle elements that come with action sports and connect with that audience through art, music, or fashion instead of putting their logo on a snowboard and hoping kids think that’s cool. Skip trying to make your own equipment and do something that might be a little more exciting and compelling.

YP: Are there any recent initiatives from a brand that really gets it right when it comes to reaching teen fans? Can you name one or two and explain why?

IS: There are some great brands in the space and I think the reason they do it right is that they understand the lifestyle, they understand the space, and they really are supporting, not just trying to capitalize on everything that’s happening.

A great example would be Gatorade and if you come to the conference you’ll be able to hear more from Kenny Mitchell. They’ve entered the space in a great way and they’ve had really positive responses to the initiatives they’ve created at a grassroots level.

[One great example] is the Gatorade Freeflow Tour, a national amateur skateboard and BMX series that allows competitors to advance their way through the contest and compete against the pros. It’s a great space for young up-and-coming skateboarders and BMX riders because they’re given a platform to come out and make their dreams come to life. And you can visit the event or see the show on MTV or Fuel TV and it’s all about giving them a chance to succeed.

YP: What do you hope attendees will take away from your presentation at the Action Sports Conference?

IS: We hope you’ll walk away with a better understanding of how a brand can enter the action sports space in an authentic way, maintain a connection with consumers, maintain relevance. It’s come in, connect with this audience, don’t get laughed it, build your brand, support the space and build your business and hopefully learn from some people who are doing it very right and help to consider whether you should enter it and how to get it done in the right way.

July 28, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Webinar

REGISTER ONLINE

Advanced Advertising in the Sports Industry

Join us for a discussion of issues surrounding behavioral advertising, social networks and user-generated content

Wednesday, July 28, 2010
2:00 PM Eastern – 1:00 PM Central – 11:00 AM Pacific

Presented by:

• Kenneth Florin, Partner and Co-chair, Advanced Media and Technology Department; Chair, Emerging Media Practice Group, Loeb & Loeb LLP
• Brian Socolow, Partner and Co-chair, Sports Practice Group, Loeb & Loeb LLP
• James Taylor, Partner and Co-chair, Advanced Media and Technology Department; Chair, Advertising and Promotions Law Practice Group, Loeb & Loeb LLP

Agenda:

The recent World Cup tournament is just the latest example of how the sports industry and advertisers are using advanced advertising, such as social networks and mobile marketing, to promote events and connect with fans. This one hour webinar will provide in-depth analysis of the legal issues associated with these marketing initiatives including:

• Dos and don’ts of using social networks
• Blogs and endorsements by athletes and other celebrities
• Protecting IP rights when engaging with fans through contests and interactive features
• Knowing which laws apply to a variety of mobile marketing promotions
• Using behavioral advertising to connect with fans

Loeb & Loeb’s Sports Practice offers broad litigation and transactional services and a unique combination of complex entertainment and intellectual property expertise, along with an unparalleled depth of knowledge in all issues related to sports. Our diverse practice counsels individuals and organizations in the sports industry on issues concerning intellectual property use and protection, sponsorships and endorsements, contract negotiations, purchase and sale of assets and other transactional matters, risk management, and litigation.

For more information, please click here.

The use of bloggers to promote a product or event has become an integral part of most marketing campaigns for action sports. Blogging allows action sports companies to reach their target demographic, often by relying on a celebrity endorsement. Laws and guidelines governing advertising apply to bloggers’ activities, and sports marketers have to know how to comply so that the reference to the latest product being used by Kelly Slater or Shaun White doesn’t lead to a lawsuit.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently revised its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials, which provide guidance to advertisers that ask others to endorse a product, including bloggers. (The Guides are on the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf ) The Guides are “advisory” in nature – not binding law – but the FTC uses them to evaluate whether an endorsement or testimonial violates Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive or misleading practices.

The Guides define endorsements and testimonials broadly to mean any advertising message that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experience of a party other than the sponsoring advertiser. As the FTC said in recently posted Facts for Business, the Guides apply to bloggers receiving free products or other perks with the understanding that they’ll promote the advertiser’s products in their blogs, as well as bloggers who are part of network marketing programs where they sign up to receive free product samples in exchange for writing about them or working for network advertising agencies.

The Guides also apply to celebrity endorsers who write about themselves, and the products they use, on their own blog, social networking site, or using other social media such as Twitter. A manufacturer’s own website, where employees can blog about the manufacturer’s products, is covered by the Guides as well.

According to the Guides, endorsements and testimonials must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser, and endorsements may not contain any representations that would be deceptive, or could not be substantiated, if made directly by the advertiser. In a famous lawsuit filed by the FTC against baseball star Steve Garvey, the FTC charged Garvey with false advertising relating to commercials that advertised the weight-loss products Exercise in a Bottle and Fat Trapper. Fortunately for Garvey, he had used the products and had lost weight, leading the court to rule that his use of the product constituted an adequate basis for his statements in the commercial about how much weight he lost using the product. If he hadn’t actually used the product, or if he hadn’t actually lost weight using the product, the FTC probably would have prevailed in the lawsuit.

When there is a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, the connection must be fully disclosed. The FTC suggests that bloggers should mention this connection each time they review a product, rather than posting a one-time disclaimer saying that the blogger sometimes receives free products in exchange for writing a review. The FTC recently investigated a clothing retailer that invited bloggers to attend a fashion show and gave bloggers gifts. Eventually, the FTC said it would not charge the company with violating the FTC Act because the company had a policy of telling bloggers that they must disclose any gifts they receive.

A more difficult issue for advertisers is the Guides’ position on liability: if an advertiser requests that a blogger try a new product and write a review, the advertiser may be subject to liability for false or unsubstantiated statements made through the blogger’s endorsement. The FTC recently said that it usually pursues the advertiser, not the blogger or endorser, when there is a concern about false or unsubstantiated statements.

The FTC suggests that advertisers provide guidance and training for its bloggers concerning the need to ensure that statements bloggers make are truthful and substantiated. The FTC also suggests that advertisers monitor bloggers who are being paid to promote their products and take steps necessary to halt the continued publication of deceptive representations when they are discovered. How much an advertiser should monitor bloggers depends in part on whether physical injury or financial loss might occur as a result of an unsubstantiated claim. The FTC has specifically said that the scope of the monitoring program depends on the risk that deceptive practices by bloggers could cause consumer harm, such as physical injury or financial loss. The higher the risk of harm, the more active the advertiser should be in monitoring what its paid bloggers are saying and the more aggressive it should be in following up on questionable blog entries.

The Guides also apply to other social networking campaigns. In its Facts for Business, the FTC provided the following example of an athlete using Twitter to promote products: “A famous athlete has thousands of followers on Twitter and is well-known as a spokesperson for a particular product. Does he have to disclose that he’s being paid every time he tweets about the product?” The FTC’s answered by saying it depends on whether his readers understand he’s being paid to endorse that product. “If they know he’s a paid endorser, no disclosure is needed. But if a significant number of his readers don’t know that, a disclosure would be needed. Determining whether followers are aware of a relationship could be tricky in many cases, so a disclosure is recommended.”

The Guides also address word-of-mouth marketing: if an advertiser provides free products or other incentives (such as points that can be redeemed for prizes) to individuals every time they mention the advertiser’s products or services to their friends, these incentives should be clearly and conspicuously disclosed, and the advertiser should take steps to ensure that these disclosures are being provided.

Conclusion

The rules and regulations that apply to bloggers are still evolving. Sports marketers should understand how these rules and regulations apply to bloggers so that the focus of promotional campaigns stay on the action sports product or event and not legal troubles.

(c) 2010 Loeb & Loeb LLP

Brian R. Socolow (bsocolow@loeb.com) is a partner in Loeb & Loeb LLP’s sports practice. He represents individuals and organizations in the sports industry in contracts, intellectual property and related matters.

SPECIAL CONFERENCE RATES

group Y is offering special discounted rates for our key partners and past conference attendees

IASC (International Association of Skateboard Companies) - PAID MEMBERS ONLY
Please use “ASCIASC“ in the Discount Code Box to receive $100 Off the Registration Fee

TRANSWORLD BUSINESS VIP MEMBERS
Please use “ASCTW“ in the Discount Code Box to receive $100 Off the Registration Fee

2009 ACTION SPORTS CONFERENCE ATTENDEES
Please use “ASC2010“ in the Discount Code Box to receive $100 Off the Registration Fee

** If you use these codes, and are not qualified (not paid member or didn’t attend last year’s event), you will be charged the Full amount of the Conference fee.

REGISTER TODAY AS SPACE IS LIMITED

At 6’8”, Tim McFerran may be hard to miss, but he steers clear of the spotlight as he manages the top skateboarding event in the world: The Maloof Money Cup. A consumer products executive who was tapped by the Maloofs to run basketball camps in his spare time, Joe Maloof approached him with the idea of hosting a skateboarding camp in Southern California. In that initial meeting, even Tim couldn’t have foreseen that a simple idea would grow into a skateboarding contest unlike any before seen. Quickly immersed knee deep in the world of skateboarding, Tim profusely admitted to knowing nothing about skateboarding. But what he did know was how to listen, how to take criticism (most of the time) and how to bring together a talented group of individuals and turn them into a winning team.

Just four years after Tim and Joe Maloof envisioned a skate contest that would shake-up the industry, the Maloof Money Cup has grown to become “the world’s greatest skateboarding event.” From offering the largest prize purse in the history of skateboarding and building brand-new concrete skate plazas designed by pro skaters, to working closely with skaters and the industry to drive all aspects of the contest, the Maloof Money Cup has forever changed the face of skateboarding. In year three, the Maloof Money Cup expanded to New York, leaving behind a permanent skate park for the community. Next year, MMC will expand outside the US as it travels to Kimberley, South Africa for the first-ever world skateboarding championships. And there in the midst of it all, directing the many moving parts, is the tall guy who can no longer say he knows nothing about skateboarding.