SOAR Blog

The 2008 IMBA World Summit started in Park City Wednesday with several pre-conferences and opening ceremonies at the Utah Olympic Park. One of the conferences was for one of our clients Trips for Kids.

Close to 30 people representing 12 Trips for Kids chapters attended, and two attendees even came from as far away as Israel and New Zealand. Both of them want to open Trips for Kids chapters in their respective countries, which would be the first international chapters in the organizations 20 year history. Trips for Kids provides mountain bike rides for at-risk youth.

During the Trips for Kids conference topics such as how to start a chapter, how to find and work with volunteers, and how to effectively fundraise were discussed. Along with Jen Nibley, director of Trips for Kids Utah Valley, and Rick McFerrin of Two Wheel View/Trips for Kids Calgary, Canada, I spoke to the group about how to approach and work with a public relations agency on a pro-bono basis.

IMBA, which stands for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, is a non-profit association whose mission is to “create, enhance and preserve great trail experiences for mountain bikers worldwide.” Every two years, IMBA holds a world-wide conference bringing mountain biking advocates, land managers, ski resort professionals, trailbuilders, park and urban planners, tourism officials and the bike industry together for collaboration, planning, and celebration. This year’s Summit runs from Wednesday, June 18 through Saturday, June 21 at the Marriott-Park City.

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Wow! That was awesome!

When the Olympics were in town (Salt Lake City 2002), the only event I went to was the skeleton. I had always been a fan of the sliding sports (luge, skeleton, bobsled) and I wanted to attend one of these events when the Olympics rolled into town. So we went to the skeleton.

Last week, I had the opportunity of a lifetime. It was the first time I had been back to the Olympic Park since the day that Jimmy Shea took the gold for the United States. It was a Father’s Day present from my parents to take a ride in the bobsled. And what an experience.

Leading up to the ride, I read all of the information about how fast you go (up to 70 mph), how many Gs you pull (4 Gs), how far you drop (the equivalent of a 40-story building), how banged up you may become, etc. They even had me sign a waiver in case you die. So naturally, my anticipation and anxiety were at peak capacity.

They give you a whole bunch of instructions, ensure you’re equipped with a helmet and load you into the sled one-by-one. They buckle you in and give you straps to hang onto during the ride. It’s a very tight fit. The sled itself is equipped with a roll cage in case you crash at those high speeds.

So, as we loaded ourselves into the sled, I’m thinking two thoughts: 1- Please let us live, and 2 - please let us beat my brothers (who were in the next sled). As soon as we were situated, we were cleared to go, and off we went.

It’s hard to explain what happens on the ride. There are a bunch of turns, a lot of speed and some incredible G-forces. But it was awesome! We finished with the top time of the day at 101.97 and the fastest speed of the day at 68.3 mph to that point.

What an adrenaline rush it was! It had to be one of my favorite rides of all time, rivaling some of the roller coasters or ziplines I’ve been on.

So, if you’re ever in Park City, and you’re in good health, stop by the Olympic Park to check out the fun adventures. It was sweet!

I couldn’t help but notice a great article in Friday’s NYTimes.com highlighting Wild Rivers Expeditions, a Bluff Utah river tours company and one of its fabulous tour guides.  According the article, freelance writer Kate Siber and a friend signed up for a three day float trip as a way to see the historic region of Monument Valley and linked article above was the result.

Beyond her witty writing evidenced by phrases describing her guide

Nathan Sosa, a Bluff native and self-described hydrologic navigation specialist, stood on the bow of an 18-foot-long baby-blue raft and described the protocols of the river and the boat. He wore a nylon American-flag jacket, button-down shirt and tie, flimsy prom-queen tiara and rubber boots — you know, traditional outdoorsman wear.

and the landscape

Rolling past a host of almost alien-looking geological formations, cliff-top Anasazi dwellings and pristine wildlife habitat, the river is something of a greatest hits album of southern Utah’s attractions.

this article reminded me of one of the areas of outdoor recreation I have not participated in for a few years-rafting.

However, I will be redeeming myself this summer with a raft trip through Flaming Gorge and hopefully, a few product demos at the upcoming Summer OR Show. Yeah for summer!

Debbie Reid, founder and director of Bikes for Kids Utah, was a guest Thursday afternoon (5-29-08) on 1280 the Zone (1280 AM), the most popular sports talk radio station in Utah.

Thanks to the team at 1280 for letting Debbie come on the “Jake and Jim Show” to talk about Bikes for Kids Utah and what a difference a brand new bike can make in the life of any kid.

We at SOAR Communications are proud to support such a fantastic non-profit, a 501(c)3 status corporation. In case you didn’t know, Bikes for Kids Utah has donated 1,000 brand new bikes each year (since 2006) to underprivileged children in Utah, along with helmets, bike locks and assorted other items.

After holding the bike giveaways in September in 2006 and 2007, this year’s giveaway will be held this Saturday morning (5-31-08) at Intermountain Healthcare’s fantastic new Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. And once again, yours truly — Poppa P — got snagged to do the emcee duties. 

Anyway . . . here are a couple of the photos from Debbie’s interview on 1280 the Zone on Thursday.

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Debbie Reid, founder and executive director of Bikes for Kids Utah, being interviewed Thursday, 5-29-08, on 1280 the Zone (Utah’s No. 1 sports talk radio station in Utah).

Jim Fuchuck, one of the hosts of the “Jake and Jim Show” on 1280 the Zone (the best sports talk radio station in Utah), interviews Debbie Reid, executive director of Bikes for Kids Utah on Thurs., 5-29-08.

I’ve now been “officially” working in the Sports, Outdoor, Athletics and Recreation industries for slightly more than 3-and-a-half years now, and I must say I continue to be shocked at the overall lack of new media sophistication I see within these industries.

Understand that this is not meant as a slam against all companies in these markets (although it may come across as such).

I also recognize that almost every company I now find in any industry has a Web site. But for many companies, that’s it. And in some instances, companies have little more than a brochure-ware Website.

Others are beginning to step forward and are beginning to embrace newer forms of interactive media, sometimes known as Web 2.0 technologies. These solutions and tools include

• Blogging,
• Online video,
• Social networks (MySpace and Facebook being the most popular, but not the only ones),
• Microblogging (through such tools as Twitter and Pownce, to name two), and
• Podcasting.

What’s even more amazing to me, however, is the seeming lack of interactive / Web 2.0 sophistication among the media companies serving the outdoor and recreation industries. Here again, I’m not attacking every media-publishing company serving clients and/or end-users in the recreation, sports, athletics and/or outdoor industries. Just most of ‘em.

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As I sit roughly 100 miles south of the Utah State University campus, I believe I can clearly hear Coach Ray Guy’s screams of anguish as he realizes that his all-everything sophomore quarterback has just dumped the hapless Aggies in favor of Brigham Young University.

Elder Riley Nelson, a full-time proselyting missionary in Spain for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, apparently decided over the weekend that he will transfer to BYU after he completes his mission in March 2009.

As an All-American QB out of Logan who opted to join his hometown Aggies’s squad, the left-handed, 6-foot-1 Nelson was a coveted passing and running QB who set all types of records for Logan High, while also leading the Grizzlies to the 3A state championship in 2005 during his senior season.

But as reported today by multiple local media outlets, including the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News, Nelson will don the Cougar-blue uniform in 2009 versus the midnight blue uniform of the Utah State Aggies.

So while this is a sad day in Aggie-town, you can bet that Cougar fans around the world are rejoicing today. 

We all have our interests in life. A few around the office include cycling, baseball, volleyball, golf and fishing, and we’ve talked a lot about doing these activities together to experience something a little different and to get to know each other a bit better.

Well, last week we took an opportunity to participate in an activity together by taking the afternoon to play mini-golf and hit a bucket of golf balls at a local facility called, appropriately, Mulligans.

Here are some captions of the event:

The Team at Mulligans

FORE!

Can’t Quite Get Away

Scoping out the lay of the land

One too many practice swings…enough already!

For the Win!

Past the Windmill…through the tunnel…off the rock…up the volcano…in the hole!

Needless to say, we had a great time together. While we did keep score, everyone, it turned out, won. We built team unity and relieved a bit of stress…for those of us who could get away.

We’re planning to do these types of events every couple of months. Who knows what the next one will be, but I’m sure it will be a great time to be had by all, as this one was.

The setting was an tough battle between two teams vying for a shot at the NCAA Div. II regional playoffs: the league-leading girls softball team from Western Oregon University versus the girls team from Central Washington University, a squad trailing Western Oregon by one game.

In a nutshell, Sara Tucholsky (a part-time outfielder for the Western Oregon Wolves), came to bat last Saturday (4-26-08) in the top of the second inning of a scoreless game with two runners on base. After taking the first pitch for a called strike, the 5′2″ Tucholsky smacked a home run over the center field fence for a commanding 3-0 lead.

Except that in her excitement at hitting her first ever home run, the tiny senior with a season batting average of .114 (4-for-35) missed the bag when rounding first base. As Tucholsky turned to touch first base, the ACL in her right knee gave way, leaving Tucholsky in a heap and others around her with a dilemma.

If a coach or her teammates touched/helped Tucholsky, she would be declared out and her run would not count. Similarly, if a pinch runner was brought in to replace her, her hit would be recorded as a single and not a home run. [NOTE: These were the official rulings on the field; according to the NCAA, both rulings are incorrect.]

Regardless, what happened next will stand forever as an epic display of sportsmanship. Specifically, two players from the opposing team, picked up and carried Tucholsky around the base path, allowing her to touch each bag and then homeplate to complete her home run circuit. Here’s an ESPN video with an interview of all three girls:

As one might suspect, players from Western Oregon were in tears as Tucholsky crossed home. And to be honest, I choked up the first time I read the Associated Press story found on the FOX Sports Website and Graham Hays’ detailed version of the story on ESPN.

The outcome of the game?

Tucholsky’s three-run shot turned out to be the game-winner in the 4-2 tilt, a home run that also knocked Central Washington out of the post season hunt.

But talk about losing out on the post season with one’s head held high. WOW!

It reminds me that as important as winning is in sports, it’d definitely not the most important thing. Thanks ladies.

I’ve written about my adventures in geocaching recently. There’s a great article in the most recent version of The Costco Connection, which basically describes Geocaching, what it is, how it works and why it’s appealing. Click here to read the article about Geocaching.

In a copyrighted story that ran in the Saturday, April 26, 2008 edition of the Deseret News, Lee Davidson and Stephen Speckman detailed what they believe to be “troubling trends” in Utah’s National Parks.

Citing their analysis of “five years of National Park Service data on budgets, visitation and satisfaction surveys, from 2003 through 2007,” the reporters claim that

“visitors may be loving the parks (in Utah) to death while the agency is cutting back on full-time employees and its budgets fall behind inflation.” [Emphasis added by DPolitis/Poppa P.]

 Deseret News, 4-26-08, pp. A1 & A4, Davidson and Speckman

During the five-year period they analyzed, the DNews research showed that visitors to Utah-based national parks and monuments increased 4.2 percent while combined staff levels at the venues decreased by 43 full-time employees. This while the average budget increase per venue was 9.0 percent; however, national inflation during the same timeframe was 12.7 percent.

Starting above the fold on A1 (the front page of the paper) and continuing to a full-page of copy, photos and charts on A4, this is a very solid piece of journalism entitled “Fewer funds, more visitors hurt parks?” 

Click here read the article in its entirety. It’s well worth the effort.

Good job, Davidson, Speckman and the Deseret News. This is a very good and well-researched piece.

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NOTE:  I meant to get this post up sooner, but got bogged down in day-to-day stuff.