Tampa 板场高层人士发生巨变, Ryan Clements 离开了为之效力15年之久的 SPoT,6个月之后，坦帕数字帝国的缔造者 Rob Meronek 也宣布了自己的离开，上个月的 Nike City Jam 中，他也来到了上海协助举办中国的 Damn AM 比赛，KickerClub.com 借此机会对他进行了一次专访，这也是他们第一次对外宣布他们的新公司 Boardr 的信息, 顺便送上他们此次上海 CityJam 之行的 Footage
Here's the interview of the Emperor of SPoT Digital system, about the leaving of SPoT and his new site TheBoardr.com, come and check it out.
Rob 一行人来上海参加 City Jam 的活动更多图片来自theBoardr.com
1.Q:简单介绍下自己吧，比如年龄，籍贯，工作之类的
A：我今年42岁出生在菲律宾，当我离开坦帕之后，我就开始和Ryan Clements一起着手打造属于自己的新公司，他在今年早些时候也与坦帕板场分道扬镳，我们打算这个星期就将我们的公司推广出去，它的名字叫做：Boardr. 我们给它的定位是：Boardr 是一个专业的为我们毕生之热爱的滑板所服务的公司，你可以在 http://theboardr.com/about 了解更多信息
2.Q：你什么时候开始滑板的？怎样接触到的？
A：我小时候就有块玩具板，当我15岁时，我看到一个孩子在做 Invert，于是我瞬间就明白了，滑板可以这么玩！之后我就热爱上了滑板，以至于着装风格，音乐，文化，朋友周游世界都与滑板息息相关。
3. Q：你什么时候怎么开始为坦帕板场工作的
A：我在坦帕成立初期就在里面帮忙了，我在坦帕大学的会计专业毕业，所以我每个月在板场里负责记账工作，这样我便可以在那里免费滑板。后来我当了程序员，给板场的网站做维护，到了2001 年这就成为了我的正式工作。
4.Q: 你怎么会做程序员？ 你是一个人还是组织了一个团队来负责坦帕板场的数字系统？
A：我打小时候就很喜欢编程数据库之类的东西，基本上所有的程序都是我写的，销售系统，库存管理系统，网站目录管理系统，在线商店还有iPhone的线上系统，不过iPhone 和 安卓的终端软件是我雇人写的，我没有那么多时间去成为一个崭新的 Java 和 Objective-C 程序专家
From theBoardr.com
The best ground in the world is in China. Just get out of here when the garbage barge goes by. The whiff will knock you on your ass.
5.Q：你平常的一天是什么样子的
A：我离开坦帕的几个月里比我想象的要繁忙的多，人们发现我离开坦帕之后便给我提出了很多很好的机会，使得我受宠若惊。我在最后一个月里照旧帮着举办活动，同时开始忙活着 Boardr 的品牌推广，网站和后台，并且写了个新的叫做 Boardr Live 的管理评分程序。要了解更多关于 Boardr Live 的信息，想知道它是如何帮助你举办活动的话，就看这里 http://theboardr.com/live
下面两个问题如果你觉得不好回答可以直接跳过
6.Q：你为什么决定离开坦帕板场
A：你要是一年前跟我说离开坦帕，我绝对不会相信你，不过一年里很多东西变了，最大的应该属这几年负责坦帕运行的高层人士变动。我跟 Ryan Clements 和 Jorge Angel （Porpe）共同努力造就了坦帕板场的一切，从零售到日常维护到社交媒体还有组织 Tampa AM 比赛，Tampa Pro 比赛，以及Copenhagen Pro 和 Damn AM 比赛这些都是我们努力的结果。2013年1月2日，我被板场拥有人 Brian Schaefer 突然说他不能和 Ryan 和 Porpe 一起工作而搞得措手不及。尽管他的决定已成定局，我还是给了自己6个月的时间继续做着自己该做的事情，这样可以避免我做出错误的决定。6个月结束之后，我决定还是要离开，现在跟 Ryan 和 Porpe 一起在我的新公司 Boardr 工作，没有比这个还令人高兴的事情了。我很高兴我们能一起为公司未来制定的计划，开始推广我们自己的活动，帮助别人做点力所能及之事，总之，我们做的所有这些事，都像让滑板变得更好，更加有趣，有条理，这也是我们一直所拥有的
7.Q：你未来的计划是什么？CA Production 工作吗？还是成立自己的公司？
A：我刚在上面的问题里回答过了，我会和 Ryan Clements 一起成立新的 Boardr 公司，目测这个星期跟大家见面，TheBoardr.com
From theBoardr.com
James Craig having Shanghai dreams
8. Q：这是你第二次来中国吗？去年 City Jam 你肯定来过的，感觉怎么样？
A：我来过中国好几次，第一次我记得是去北京 Woodward，那次旅行太棒了。来上海已经有两次了，都是为了 City Jam 来的，来中国感觉很棒，中国有那么多好地形，人们非常友好好客，还有这儿好吃的太多了，是你们让来中国变成一件非常享受的事情
9. Q：这次 City Jam 谁给你的印象最深？
A：我是 Johnny Tang 的忠实粉丝，特别是最近在跟他一起走上街头滑板之后，没想到他这么牛逼，而且他特别谦逊。我还喜欢很有个性的滑手，“香蕉”就很棒！
10.Q：你对 Grind Media 关闭 Skateboarder 杂志这事情怎么看，你觉得滑板媒体的未来是怎样的呢？
A：这一系列事情看上去确实有点儿意思，他们停止纸质出版物从而尝试电子杂志发售，这实在是太棒了，开始的几期电子杂志着实令我印象深刻，不过同时我也感觉里面好像缺点儿什么东西，似乎缺少些使得整本杂志变得出众的东西，我也不清楚缺少的是什么。当他们出了3期电子杂志之后停止发售时，我才明确地意识到，这杂志确实缺少点儿东西。
总的看来，滑板品牌和他们的滑手可以比媒体更好地接触到孩子们，当然了，这归功于当今众多社交媒体。如果一个孩子想要去看Lizard King，他根本就不需要通过媒体来接触到他，他可以直接给它打电话，成为粉丝，可以在诸如 Twitter, Facebook, Intstagram, 等一系列社交工具里看到 Lizard King 做的所有事情，这事很是有意思.
From theBoardr.com
The security guard was witness to the third stop of HiDefHUF's world wide ollie tour. That looks like a leap over a tall building in a single bound.
上海之行Footage：
Shanghai Footage
English Version：
1, Some basic personal information please? (how old, where r u from? What r u doing now?)
I’m 42 and I was born in the Philippines. After leaving Skatepark of Tampa, I got straight to work on building my own new company after partnering up with Ryan Clements who parted ways with Skatepark of Tampa earlier this year. This week, we are ready to put our company out there. It’s called The Boardr and we sum it up like this:
The Boardr is a professional services firm specializing in what we have loved since first sight: skateboarding.
Find out more about us and what The Boardr does at http://theboardr.com/about
2, When and how did you start skate?
I always had a toy skateboard since I was a kid, but when I was about 15, I saw a kid do an invert and was blown away that you could actually do tricks with your skateboard. After that, I never stopped loving skateboarding and everything about it from the clothes to the music to the culture to the friends you make and traveling around the world.
3, When and how did you start work for Tampa skatepark?
I’ve helped out since the early days when it started. I had just graduated college in Tampa for accounting so I helped with the bookkeeping every month so I could skate for free. Then I started doing the website on the side while I worked at as a software engineer. That led to a full time job at SPoT starting in 2001.
4, What makes you a skater programmer? for the tampa digital system, do you coding by yourself or do you have a team?
I have loved all that computer programming and database stuff since I was a kid. I wrote just about all our apps and systems myself: the point of sale system, the inventory management back end, the content management system for the website, the store on the site, the back end on the iPhone app, etc. The only help I hired was someone to write the front end on the iPhone and Android apps. I haven’t been able to find the time to become an expert in Java and Objective-C, so I had to hire out those two jobs.
5, What's a normal day of yours like?
The past month since quitting SPoT has turned out to be more busy than I could have imagined. I’m flattered by the opportunities coming my way after people found out that I left. I’ve spent the last month helping people as usual with running their events and building everything with The Boardr, the branding, the site, the back end, and writing our new event administration and scoring app called The Boardr Live. Find out more about The Boardr Live and how it can help you execute a great event at a professional level here: http://theboardr.com/live
These two questions blow if you feel not comfortable just skip it.
6, Why you made the decision to quit Tampa?
A year ago, if you told me I was going to quit Skatepark of Tampa, I would not have believed you, but in that time, a lot of things changed, the biggest one being the team at the top there running everything for the past several years. I worked closely with Ryan Clements and Jorge Angel (Porpe) to build everything at SPoT from the retail to the general daily operations to social media to growing Tampa Am and Tampa Pro along with all our other events like Copenhagen Pro and Damn Am. I was blindsided by the owner, Brian Schaefer, when he decided he could no longer work with Ryan and Porpe on January 2, 2013. Despite his decision, I stayed committed and gave myself a six month time period of remaining committed so I could make the most informed and correct decision for myself and my career. At the end of six months, I decided it was best for me to move on. I could not be happier now that I’m working with Ryan and Porpe again on my new venture, The Boardr. I’m excited about all the plans we have for the future which includes everything from creating and producing our own events to helping others get theirs on point. Overall, through everything we’re doing, we are trying to push skateboarding to be better, fun, and more organized, similar to how we always have.
7, What's your plan for the future? CA production? start your own company?
Yep, explained in the other questions. I started The Boardr with Ryan Clements that will be public this week. TheBoardr.com
8, Is this the second time you come to China? (You must have been here last year city jam, right?) How do you feel?
I’ve been to China a few times. My first time was Beijing on a trip with Woodward and it was amazing. I’ve been to Shanghai twice now for the Damn Ams there. My entire experience was so good. From the great skate spots to the nice people to the good food to the hospitality from everyone, you guys make coming to China really nice.
9, Which skater gave you the deepest impression during the cityjam in Shanghai?
I’m the biggest fan of Johnny Tang, especially after going street skating with him for a day on this most recent trip. I can’t believe how good he is, and very humble about it. I like skaters with a lot of personality, too. Johnny Bananas is tight!
10, what do you think about Grind Media shot down skateboarder mag? what's the future of skateboarding media in your opinion?
Yeah that’s a very interesting series of events. When they shut down print and give it a damn good try with digital, I was impressed with the first couple of digital issues, but felt there was still something missing to make it special. I’m not quite sure what that is, but after they shut that down after the third issue, I’m sure they realized it was missing something, too. In the big picture, you can easily see how brands and the skaters themselves are doing a much better job of reaching kids than much of the media is. Of course that’s due to how many easy social media tools that we have at our disposal these days. If you’re a kid who wants to see what Lizard King is up to, you no longer need to get that spoon fed to you from a media company. You can go and directly talk to, follow, and watch what Lizard King is up to on Twitter, Facebook, Intstagram, etc. Interesting times for sure.
Post a comment