Stock

PIRATE · Kickflip Joined: 11 Jul 2006 Posts: 2651

Feeling inspired from another thread I thought I would propose this question.how much stock does ws.com own in wake skating. What I mean is this: around 2004-2008 this place was on fire with discussion on topics from fins, speed and rope length..... Deeper then that, other questions started arising like what brands to support, who was releasing bs products, who was in it for the long haul and "where the money came from", all debated with great passion.

Tons of riders gave there first glimpses to the world via this site, people were tuning in to see, hear and debate. Everyday there was something new and everyone from board designers at cassette to Aaron reed were in on the talk. What was said here mattered, the industrie saw this as the pulse of wake skating, at the core of what it was.

the question I propose is this. Has ws.com become irrelevant? Will wake skating history look back at this place as the epicenter of early wake skating? How much (if any) do guys like TNT the pastures (to name a miniscuall amount) and company's like oak, integrity ect.... Owe to the success of there company or themselves. Idea

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electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10751 City: Jefferton

This is going to be a short response because I'm doing this with one hand...it depends on who you talk to. In general, I think people view actual forums as a thorn in the side of the industry because people can talk but not own up to it. I remember someone out there said it was best for new young riders to stay off of this site.

I'm not sure if anyone saw this site as the pulse of anything, but it was definitely an interesting way for people to keep up with each other, see new tricks and new young riders.

Now there are different ways to promote ones self and connect, be it Facebook or vimeo. However, I don't think the site is irrevelant. I'm still really psyched and thankful that people like nick still use the site to connect or express ideas. He shared his thoughts about his move to remote and he also discussed his thoughts about his winch park. And small brands definitely buzz on here, but anyone will say that's a double edged sword because it can quickly bite you in the ass.

Also, I don't know if anyone values the history on here. I think a lot of people aren't focused or interested in that. But that's what I love and i want to build on that when i can. And I know ed is trying to build the site up with other contributions.

TTUFAN24 · Posted: Aug 28, 2012 11:42 pm Post subject:

this site used to be pretty much the only place for information about wakeskating. when wood concaves became the norm and the 4trac lock in possibilities and all the innovations and just pure stoke was everywhere, in my opinion this was it. as the sport has grown so have the options to get your information. I don't get to ride very often but I still depend on this site for a snap shot of what is going on. people have rope length and speed dialed in. winches are everywhere and nobody has done a tantrum yet. i'm in the know. CWB Lucky. my two cents.

scott a · "a" is for angel Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 4126

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10751 City: Jefferton

Scott's example is the negative side of this sort of thing..people are more brash on here than they might be in person. And I think we've all said things on here that we regret.

But on the flip side, some brands and some people were active on here. Erich released stuff on here, and I'm not sure if those limiteds in 08 would have had they buzz they did had it not been for the conversation on here. Surely it wouldn't have been the same because so many people were planing and trying to get one of those boards. That was a really cool thing to see on here.

Thomas was also really awesome on here, even before wakeskating.com was its own site. He and i think even reed were on wakeboarder.com. I remember saying stuff to thomas about how much I liked linear and it really meant a lot to get a genuine, thoughtful reply. I know they all had their issues with lame people, but they were also supportive of this site. Thomas released the 05 concaves on here...I remember that one.

And Reed's been on here from time to time--he commented on the dvs stuff a few months back. And silas has been on here to answer stuff, along with Ben, and Andrew pastura has answered stuff also.

That was an awesome paragraph detailing the ins and outs of answering stuff. On here. With people. Answering stuff.

I think this site probably means more to the people who were on here to witness that stuff. Maybe I'm wrong, it's hard to say. But it's still a good way for people to connect and ride, and maybe do some board trading too. Laughing

GnarShredd · Backside 180 Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 1529 City: Seattle

Great question (skip to last paragraph for shorter answer to the actual question, I'm gonna ramble a bit). I think back on this site a ton. Had a couple screen name changes over the years but I was here pretty early on. It's bar-none the best way to keep your thumb on the pulse of wakeskating today and always has been.

I do think this place had a big impact on wakeskating in the early days and arguably helped mold/solidify the sport by keeping riders stoked. I can't speak for the pros and I don't know how much they lurk if at all but I know that this website has kept all of us everyday riders involved and excited for wakeskating even when we can't ride. And there's some good riders out there who started on this very site getting trick tips for their first shuvits and now they're doing crazy stuff all the time. Stuff that we argued whether or not was even possible 5+ years ago. I remember things like Nick's kickflip behind a ski on his Kampus deck and just being so excited, watching it over and over and over again, getting me stoked to go out and land my first i/o kickflips.

As for pull today? Hard to say. I think some riders who have started here are influencing the sport today in big ways and we can probably take some credit for keeping them stoked when they were first starting out. I also think ws.com should be able to take some credit in the grassroots rider-owned companies that we love so much because of our support. If we didn't shittalk bigger companies or companies trying to turn a quick buck then people coming in to the sport wouldn't know where to begin and maybe we'd have World Industries decks out in wide circulation, who knows? We give a lot of advice to newcommers on board suggestions, imagine how many people haven't asked and just found a post through a google search on what skate to buy.

Anyway, like I said, rambling a bit. But I think overall this site helped to shape wakeskating in the early days and that gave-way to influential riders today. I also think we currently influence the sport through our continued support of rider-owned companies who truly love it. We're the biggest wealth of wakeskating information available (we should start a wiki!) anywhere in the world, that has to count for something, right?

senza wake · Backside 180 Joined: 07 Jun 2011 Posts: 600 City: SLC

i do agree with all that has been said, i do think tho that sometimes people rely on this site quite a bit too much. this is not meant to offend, and i do it myself, i and other people post older videos or topics because we find them awesome. im not trying to speak in any absolutes here, but example of relying on this site would be the new thread labeled Dammit Andrew, which is a link to a video made, posted, viewed months ago on alliancewake.com and even discussed and praised here, then posted again with new praise seeming that it was the first time finding it, maybe it wasnt tho. like i said, no absolutes here. my entire point was to say, i agree with all thats been said, this site has lots of credit to be given it, but lets not rely on this site to alone build our knowledge of the sport or happenings, but rather try to get info from all around and all sources, then bring that info here to share with one another. if that makes any sense at all. anyway, ws.com is great. daily ganders goin on here.
sidenote: im fully aware that the thread Dammit Andrew is quite possibly a re post because its just that awesome, and if it wasnt done on purpose, then it certainly deserved a second post. it kills!

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10751 City: Jefferton

The footage is old, but I thought the original edit was really short. This current edit was only posted a day ago, so either Patrick is rebranding it, or it's a different edit with old footage.

But Andrew is crazy...that island style is bread into those dudes.

Edit: the full edit is old. But you know, I didn't even recognize it. So it's new-ish to some people. Very Happy

Jake S · Backside 180 Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 683 City: SLC

I think what senza wake, had to say about seeing content in other media forms first before coming on here was interesting.

I think these forums are great for board discussion, riding tips, as well as industry discussion etc. but as far as relevant content, would everyone here rather have read about the details of Nick's change to Remote through a magazine (WSM, ALLIANCE), or on these forums? Would you rather check WSM.com for content or rely on others to post the links here?

Or maybe the bigger question is would you rather submit content to WSM to be published or put it on these forums?

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10751 City: Jefferton

People don't submit content to the forums, and it was Nick's choice to interact with all of the people on here. That's probably the one aspect I take offense to, like the forum isn't worthy of Nick's response or explanation? It wasn't even an article. I just think it's awesome that he even took the time to do that. He's been one of the most loyal riders to this site after nearly 10 years. And he's a good, interactive styled guy in general because he makes himself available through that formspring thing also.

And straight up, everyone looks up to wesubsist and the wakeskate mag, and i think almost everyone on here checks those sites on a daily basis, and that's where people look for content.'this is where people come to share the links and discuss what's going on, and posting a link on here doesn't take anything away from the content--if anything, this site helps direct them to it. And personally, I've been nothing but supportive for those two wakeskating sites.

As for that vid, I think this is what happened: lollar has some alert set up to notify him of new postings. Patrick is doing some re branding thing and re posted it under his own name and not alliance. For whatever reason, it wasn't that memorable and it seemed like a new video. How is that this site's fault when he re-posts it under a new name and it seems new, and the first time around you had to see it on the alliance site anyway? This site never had the opportunity to take credit for anything, outside of sending people to alliance wake to check out the vid. The only thing I can say is Andrew is amazing, and that I liked that song when i heard it in noisia vision. Weird, right?

senza wake · Backside 180 Joined: 07 Jun 2011 Posts: 600 City: SLC

please re read my post for any sign of trying to offend anyone, i didnt and dont intend to. the sarcasm about the video seems a bit much. i figured, PIRATE posted this question, "Has ws.com become irrelevant?" this seemed like an open invitation to praise, and also give good critiquing. apparently i missed the mark on that one. public site open to public opinions, if you want private, make this private. i dont think any comments made thus far have been but in the best interest of wskating as a whole, if in doing so it is stated that ws.com has a great place as a discussion forum. great. which it does. Jake S didnt say "submit" to this forum. he said "put it on these forums" no one ever acted like submitting happened here. and as to the video of andrew, its one of my favorites, for this i recognized it immediately, and maybe it wasnt the best example of the point i was trying to make. so lets all discuss on these discussion forums. carry on.

senza wake · Backside 180 Joined: 07 Jun 2011 Posts: 600 City: SLC

and as far as nicks article goes, i agree, here was a great place for it. it was obviously what he wanted to do because of his own feelings for this site. i still feel the same tho about some reliances. thats my own thought tho.

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10751 City: Jefferton

tad · 360 flip Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 5031

Wakeskating.com > all wakeboarding sites.

The whole reason myself and my work are banned from a certain wakeboarding blog was triggered by my choice to launch the MTM trailer on this site before allowing it to drop on other sites. After it was deemed worthless, I immediately started putting together ideas to start my own website. Ran by wakeskaters, for wakeskating. (with no intention to compete or replace the forums, haha)

I still have trouble reading wakeskate articles written by wakeboarders. My pitbull could write something more relevant.

And to stay on topic, wakeskating.com has and will always have a community that offers more than any other wakeskate site on the Internet. I wouldnt be where I am today if it wasn't for the dot com and it all started from the "find a pull" sub-forum.

Thanks Kyle McCutcheon!

Laughing

PIRATE · Kickflip Joined: 11 Jul 2006 Posts: 2651

Jake S · Backside 180 Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 683 City: SLC

tad, I think that is rad what you did and what you are doing. I support it fully. Thanks for what you do for wakeskating.

electricsnow, I just posted a few questions, no intention to offend. Thanks for letting me know how you feel on the topic. I know Brooke Geery was under a lot of scrutiny for her rant on people choosing to share videos on these forums vs. submitting them to an all wakeskate site. I am curious if people still feel that way with wakeskatings current media situation with WSM being launched as a site and magazine.

I'm really just curious to see what people have say on this subject, with mediums like FB and this site people have a means to share anything to their friends and peers directly without having to submit it anywhere and it has an impact on media publications. I think it's an interesting discussion. I love this site and am happy that I can be a part of it.

The Bug · Frontside 180 Joined: 16 Sep 2004 Posts: 434 City: Redding

I thought this site existed so people could cry about Erich is not making their skates fast enough. Laughing

SEAMAN · Frontside 180 Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 388 City: Atlanta

knox · Kickflip Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 4693 City: Gainesville

This site definitely has the ability to get the excitement pumping for guys just starting to ride. When I first started reading this site I was 14 and wakeskating absolutely blew my mind, I looked up to all of the people on this site and I wanted to get better because of them. Probably one of the most important things that happened to me in wakeskating early on was meeting Nick for the first time, which would not have happened (at least when it did) without wakeskating.com. I've ridden with numerous people I've met on the site, including meeting my good friend Logan Hursh after seeing a video of those guys and realizing how close it was to my place. I met some of my best friends on this forum.

This website is an amazing way to interact and network with other wakeskaters.

Party Edit Crew for life Razz

senza wake · Backside 180 Joined: 07 Jun 2011 Posts: 600 City: SLC

still cant find where Jake S used submit in regards to these forums...
"Or maybe the bigger question is would you rather submit content to WSM to be published or put it on these forums?"
SUBMIT=WSM
PUT ON=WS.COM
anyway, thats a petty detail. i agree that nicks comments or feelings or whatever you wanna call them were supposed to be on here. you mentioned how very little else was done about his move. probably because there arent many websites that concerned about wskating. i imagine that if WSM had been up in production before his move, he would have still written on here because he obviously has strong ties to this site. i also think there would have been something on WSM. now is WSM enough? no, this site is not enough either.
as for the video, ok maybe not the best of examples. i will provide others if you want. but for now i'd rather...
return to the orignial question.
"Has ws.com become irrelevant?"
Irrelevant? not in the slightest! its still performing wonderfully as a discussion forum. and thats exactly what i think of it as. not a breaking news or newest edits site.
what i mean by that is: ws.com is a crucial part of the industry and has provided a stepping stone for many in the industry as tad shared with us his personal experience. is it enough tho? NO.
is there room in the industry for other sites and pubblications? yes. without them wskating will remain where it is.
is WSM enough? NO. i hope that it is one that lasts and i know its going to impact strongly and positively on this sport. but i also hope there are many that follow suit.
my point: ws.com rocks, i hope it never dies. i also hope that other sites and media outlets flourish and that everyone pays the due attention to them, and doesnt just rely on this site alone. thats all.