Lurper – a contributing writer to Jenkem Magazine has released this controversial article about the corporate changes in the skateboard world lately and how lots of skateboarders and their companies are being forgotten about. It’s a great article which makes some strong points and is definitely worth a read. Unfortunately though I can’t agree 100% to everything he talks about. I agree that we have to hate on Corporations and how they see our talents as their profits, and I definitely do not agree with any type of Corporate Takeovers of small companies. But being a long time skateboarder, almost 27 years of skateboarding now, I have to argue some points in this matter. When speaking about Steve Rocco, Mark Gonzales and Mike Vallely rebelling against corporate control in the late 80’s, early 90’s he might have forgotten to mention that Steve Rocco was the one who taught the entire skateboard world how to focus your board, and that it was cool to do so. That was a huge money ploy, but since it was a skateboarder, did that make it right? No. It’s a business and it’s always going to be about money. Just like how wheels changed hardness so that people had to buy them more often. Skateboarding also almost completely disappeared in this 80’s to 90’s era and only the true hard cores continued on with the lifestyle. So as much as it may hurt to know how much corporate support is funding these huge skate events like Maloof Money Cup, X Games, and Street League, isn’t there some positivity to seeing our sport and lifestyle promoted positively across the world. This will help it to survive and will give the true skaters more chances to start their own small companies and continue to be supported by the locals. It’s an unfortunate balance to our society as skateboarders. Yes it sucks that long time rippers are getting cut from the sponsors after how much they have given them over the years, but it’s the “1 guy” that sold out the company they should be mad at, not the corporation that bought it. And yes it sucks that they are trying to change the world away from street skating altogether by creating skate parks all over the world, but street skating was never accepted in the first place, so the people who do it are always going to do it. And with amazing skate videos like Pretty Sweet still coming out I believe that even the younger generation will always be encouraged to rebel against the system and skate street. But I also believe that this display of skateboarding on these huge TV Networks is actually helping street skateboarding be accepted in some cases. By having more people seeing it on television, the more people start to understand it and support you for your efforts.

I don’t agree with the fact that these select few kids are making humungous amounts of cash and others don’t get the chance to even try, but I look at it as just another huge sport. I’ve always compared skateboarding with Golf, in the sense that you have to perform well to make it. You have to show up to events, qualify to make it to the finals where the money is, and then compete for it. Then once you’ve proven yourself enough times you might get some recognition and big sponsors offering you some deals. It’s not like Baseball or Hockey where you sign a deal for this amount per year for this many years and then you just go play. In that world a lot of the top contract signers start lacking skills after the first 2 years of signing. They feel as though they are taken care of and don’t need to prove themselves as much so they can sit back and take it easy. Skateboarding is definitely not like that, and never will be. Look at Ryan Sheckler, this kid has been amazing since before he was 13 and is still out there competing hard. And I think he gives it his all every time he goes out there. It’s a whole different mentality to be published on television every move you make. I just look at it as 2 completely different societies. There’s the faces of skateboarding that the whole world knows, and sees on TV and thinks they are amazing. Then there’s the real skateboarders that no matter what happens in the world, they go out and skate. They film and work hard for themselves, not for others, and  they keep skateboarding what it always was – a lifestyle.

But unfortunately in today’s crazy economy, it’s hard to know whether or not skateboarding would survive without all the world-wide publicity it has been receiving over the past decade and a half.

Always support your local brands and skater owned companies, let the posers buy the rest of the products, support the real skateboarders that are just out there to skate, but also thank the ones on the TV for helping to build skateboarding into how big it has become.

I’m not the type of person that would ever sell out, but I do understand the mentality these others have and why they take the offers that get put on the table. It is a corporate world and if they don’t join it, someone else will. There is no stopping what has become, so I guess the real question is how to handle it….

Read the story below by Lurper and let’s hear your feedback

http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2012/11/26/how-corporations-are-changing-skateboarding-and-why-it-matters/

“With all this Drama about UBC, it’s kinda hard being me H-I-P-P-I-E.” Is that Snoop Dogg?? Or just a worse version of it?

I love being stuck in the middle of this stuff. It’s hard for me because I have my negative opinions about things but I also have so much respect for certain people who have created the world we are living in. It’s awesome how this conversation began and then continued on and on. 1 Man made his opinion clear and along with others voiced it loudly. But I wonder how many emails were sent that said that the UBC Park Design was good and people were excited for it. I’m sure there was lots of positive feedback as well. At least I hope there was. It’s very difficult to create a new spot that everyone is going to enjoy, especially when you take in all the factors of Finances, existing pipes and other obstacles in the ground, and how many different suggestions come out of the meetings. After talking with Kyle Dion from New Line yesterday on the phone I am reminded of all of this. Sometimes what we want isn’t always possible in the location dedicated for it to be built, Guildford Bowl was the same way where we were told by the City that we had X amount of square footage, but then the blue prints showed all the gas lines, and that number changed dramatically. The other thing to remember is that just because we didn’t show up for the planning meetings, it doesn’t mean other people weren’t there. Over 300 people gave feedback about what they wanted to see built at the UBC location and the designers have to go from there. I’m sure it was a lot of work just figuring out how to try and please everyone at once, like usual. I think the biggest problem of all is that we, the skateboard community in the Lower Mainland, are completely spoiled with Skate Parks. We almost have too many to be able to respect them all anymore. For all us old guys, let’s reminisce back to the 1990’s and remember how hard and long you used to have to work and how many people would have to be involved with petitioning and finding sponsors for funding and getting the city’s approval to even consider having a skate park. It would literally take years just to get to a planning stage. Those days are over, and New Line Skate Parks are one of the main companies that brought us past those days. Without their positive influence on skateboarding across the world, where would we be right now? And I think we should all be grateful for them and what they have done for all of us.

This UBC Skate Park might not be a destination spot for all skateboarders, but that wasn’t the intent of it in the first place. The design meetings happened and the response was huge. And they worked through all that feedback to come up with something that would appeal to both the street skaters and the tranny skaters. They have been super busy reading through all the emails and replies to this design and have definitely taken people’s opinions into account. As I said before, whatever gets built there will be constructed properly and will be fun for many people.

Love it or not, it’s your choice whether or not to go there. And if you don’t want to, then pick and choose one of the other 60 local skate parks that have already been built for you….

After a couple of crazy days being in the middle of a major discussion Sean Campbell is stepping back from the lead role on this UBC Skate Park design issue. We thank him for being the leader and getting the ball rolling towards reconsideration of a new style design of the park. Both the reps from UBC and New Line Skate Parks were receptive to the opinions and comments Sean and others have made so far and I’m sure will leave their ears and minds open for more feedback about this subject. But it is now up to you, the public to continue this discussion with them. Sean does not want to be the Face of this battle, he just wanted to encourage people to join it. And really, it shouldn’t be a “battle” in the first place. One thing that we all know is that skate parks costs big money, and any design plans for any type of construction cost money too. I’m sure there is room to change but is it possible without more funding? I’m not sure. I wasn’t personally involved in any of the planning for this park.

Continue to send your feedback directly to New Line or to the UBC Planning Department just like Sean did initially and we’ll see what the outcome ends up being.

Either way there will be another skate park in Vancouver next year, and it will be built right.

Hopefully it’s one that makes sense…

From the story we posted earlier about the upcoming UBC Skate Park written by Sean Campbell and from many people showing their true feelings though emails and comments on Facebook as well, the representatives at UBC and New Line Skate Parks are ready to sit down and review the design plans. Read Sean’s story below, and remember that your opinion does matter in the world, and your voice can be heard. So if something is happening out there that doesn’t make sense or that you have a hard time completely agreeing with, let people know. The word Protest is a very strong word, and people relate it negative behaviour. But protesting is just a way of stating your opinion to try to make a difference or a change in the world.

Positive Protests can go a long way…

Thanks Sean

My UPDATED UBC Skate Park Story!

by Sean Campbell 

 Thursday, November 22, 2012 ·

I would like to drop an update about my UBC skatepark story so that everyone can be in the know !

A few days ago I wrote a couple of emails and sent them off to NewLine and The University sharing my opinion of the skatepark design. I didn’t think it would do a whole bunch – but I’m an opinionated guy so I sent ’em off anyways. Then I posted my shpeel on facebook here sharing what I did and how it worked out pretty good. I had seen a lot of other people online still commenting negatively about the park design and thought it would be good to share my story and let people know.

Suddenly I wound up talking directly to representatives from both UBC and NewLine. Both of them have taken the time to call me personally – which I think is amazing – and after discussing the logistics of the park space and many many other related topics I would like to put this out there …

NewLine and UBC are on the team with the rapidly emerging opinion that the park design is a little less than stellar. Even though it is considerably late in the game for changing the whole park design I would like to let everyone know that NewLine IS sitting down to review the design – not to change it completely or maybe even at all – but they are concerned enough to take a look and see if there is any way make to improvements. That is AWESOME! So yeah – the emails and shit worked – to whoever did send one in – kudos!

After talking with the planners and designers I’ve got a MUCH better understanding in general of the whole project – and I think the fact that UBC and NewLine were genuinely concerned enough about the incoming opinions to take a second look is proof enough that the park is going to wind up being the best that it can be. Any concerns I had about the park design have been laid to rest now that I know more – and no matter what is built at UBC it’s still going to be new and fun.

I grew up in a time and place when skateparks were non-existant – and to me every new park is an epic chance to fulfill every skatepark dream ever and see it put it in concrete! The reality now however is that the city is already planning to build more new skateparks than you could shake a stick at in coming years .. and just because this ONE park doesn’t provide every kind of terrain isn’t the hugest crime ever. It is still a NEW SKATEPARK and it’s going to be fun.

I’m actually still blown away by the calls and other feedback I got from two emails. I’m obviously passionate about skating and I wasn’t expecting to suddenly be in the middle of a debate – and I’m grateful to everyone who shared my note or gave their opinion – and I’m extra grateful to UBC and NewLine for building a new park!

So yeah  – once more – the park plan IS being reviewed and that’s all we can ask for !

please spread the word – i’m not doing the tag 50 people thing again! 🙂

happy skating! – Sean Campbell

(Here’s a little write up from Sean Campbell about the “new” UBC Skate Park which was planned out years ago and is now finally about to be constructed. Sean has voiced how the plan that was revealed by New Line Skate Parks is old and out of date, and straight up, not meeting the standards that New Line has recently proven themselves to be capable of. In my opinion, I have to agree in a sense that this Park  Design is lacking in potential. I have my own opinions about all these smaller Skate Parks popping up around the Lower Mainland which “Yes” they are great because there is no Park in that area, but “No” they are not so great because they are too small and and not thought through all the way by the community, waste of space in my mind sometimes. Look at Mt. Pleasant Park and Mackin’ Park for examples, to me these Parks hurt my feelings when I show up to them. I understand that these Municipalities are the ones to blame as they are the ones who decide how much the Skate Park will cost. But when I show up to a brand new Skate Park and my first thought is about how you couldn’t skate there with more than 7 people, to me that’s a bit of a waste. Maybe I’m just spoiled with all the Skate Parks in Surrey being worth more money and better designed to allow freedom of direction. Don’t get me wrong, I love New Line, these guys are amazing, and they do awesome work. Skate Park Construction has evolved so much since they built LaFarge in Coquitlam and we all thank them for the efforts they put in, but I look at this photo of the design for UBC Skate Park and wonder “Is it worth building just to have a park there? Or should there be consideration to take it back to the drawing board and redesign something that will benefit more people at once? Is this gonna be another Strathcona Park?” I think that no matter what happens from here, the UBC Skate Park will be awesome, and will be well utilized. And we are guaranteed that New Line Skate Parks will doing an incredible job constructing it. Read Sean Campbell’s Story below and add your comment to the pile…. – Hippie Mike)

I tried my best all last week and up to today to try and get NewLine and UBC to review their park plan. As many people are discussing online and in the real world – the plan is remarkably outdated and offers no modern terrain other than the bowl. Not only is the park insufficiently out of tune with current trends in skateboarding – the elements that are present are all repeats of features that have been readily available to skate in the community for decades already – with in easy reach of the UBC campus.

I wrote to NewLine , I wrote to the President of UBC ( maybe a little over the top there but it worked real good ) , and I asked them both to review the park. Both UBC and NewLine replied with the same statement – that the park plan was a product of the planning meetings that were held. The relative obscurity of these meetings – as well as the fact that they automatically exclude anyone who has a scheduling conflict from providing their input – left me wondering if there isn’t a better way to handle the process of gathering public opinion. After speaking with people who were actually at these meetings I get the feeling that overwhelmingly the voice of the skateboard community was not taken into regard at all and that the park design that resulted is a bland , outdated , budget-over-function fail.

To be fair I think the bowl is amazing. Every park should have some sweet transition – especially the UBC park considering it serves a wide area – but to go and waste ALL that other space with some big grey pads and two f’n banks is not only a shame – it’s a concrete crime! There are countless more inventive ways to use that space would provide modern terrain that is anything but a repeat of every other park in the city. NewLine is famed for their inventive terrain – what happened here? I made sure to ask the University planning committee why an institution dedicated to preparing people for the future would build such an outdated facility?

Lastly – and why I wrote this – is that the guy from the UBC plannig committee offered me the slimmest sliver of hope. UBC called me on Tuesday to discuss my concerns with their current plan – and I think that’s pretty cool. After hearing my arguments and getting my input I was given the opportunity to go ahead and gather up opinion and support for my own arguments – if I could find it – and present it to them before the end of the week. I was told that if I could pull together enough local opinion that there might – just miiiiiiiight be some tiny sliver of hope that the design could get a review.

This morning I woke up and decided not to put a ton more effort into this. I wrote my letters to give what I felt was a diplomatic and informed opinion and to offer some suggestion. To go and track people down and try to gather statements and signatures and put it all together is too much. However – if everyone else who is concerned about the poor design takes the same steps that I did and sends an email directly to UBC and to NewLine – perhaps if there is enough of THAT – then they will realize that I’m not the only one who thinks the design is a real bummer compared to what it could be. Shit – it’s not even up to the standards that NewLine themselves have set!

I also think it’s important to be respectful of the Campus and NewLine here – they ARE building a skatepark and we should ALL be grateful for that .. but the waste of an opportunity like this is something worth trying to change .. and considering the track record NewLine has and the parks they build everywhere else – it’s baffling why the UBC park is so remarkably bland and out of touch. If you write them emails please be cool about it – don’t go off and try to tell them how to do their job! I tried to be brief and diplomatic and honest while making sure I drove my points home – and it seemed to be very effective.

I’m ONE dude and I received way more feedback than I could ever have hoped for .. if lots of other people put the effort into giving input there is a very good chance that the planners and designers would get on board and provide UBC and the skate community at large with something worth the effort.

For newline I just went to their website and found a ‘contact us’ link .. for UBC I kind of went nuts and sent my letter directly to the president – but his email address was front and center on their contacts page so why not?

Lastly – the park is schedule to start RIGHT AWAY – as in maybe even Monday. The reality is that it would be a true miracle of the heart if both UBC and NewLine were wiling to change the plan – and that’s why I decided to drop the issue – erase the stuff I had posted previously from my feed – and let it be. All I wanted to do with my emails was put the opinion out there. I’m not prepared to champion the fight that could cause planning delays and scheduling nightmares for people I probably know – but if NewLine and UBC show some love and do what should have been done in the first place – build a relevant skateboard facility that provides modern terrain for all skill levels and ages – and if that happens because a bunch of us were genuinely concerned enough to provide informed opinions and constructive input … well shit – that’s how it should be!

Anyhoo – that’s my park story.

please share this article with anyone you want  to spread the word . I tried to tag a ton o peeps just to share this. Time is very short but the internet is a great way to get the word around …

And to be blunt – commenting on MY note here is pointless. Like it or whatever to show some support for the idea if you feel the plan needs reviewing – but if you want to type – send the planners a letter!

– Sean Campbell

UPDATE #1: Sean Campbell Gets his Point Across