There's been a lot of talk these days about us, in the skateboard industry, creating some sort of "alternative" to IASC. Especially given some of the news that's coming out of Agenda, right now. Apparently, IASC has committed to a "new push... to make sure every genre of skateboarding is well-represented within IASC". I'm guessing that a lot of people are taking this as code for, "We finally want to capitalize on this whole 'longboard' trend, fifteen years after it became popular"...or, "We want a slice of that cash pie, fool!"... or, maybe even "We want to screw up longboarding the same way that we bastardized street skating"... or, whatever is making everybody so damned irritable at Agenda this week. Personally, I just thought it was funny- as usual. Like, "Oh, really?! That's cool. Where in the hell have you guys been for the last ten years...?!"
Oh, by the way: The show doesn't even start until tomorrow. So basically, we're still twelve hours away from the doors opening... and yet, IASC has already somehow managed to piss everybody off? Go, team...!
"The International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) is the not-for-profit trade association of skateboarding. The mission of the IASC is to represent the global skateboarding community as a united force by listening, understanding and acting on the needs of skateboarders and the skateboard industry..."
- from www.skateboardiasc.org, IASC's website."Listening". I love that one...
So, yeah. It just might be time to finally put that last nail in the 'ol IASC coffin, and hammer that bitch home. But then, the question becomes: What's the alternative? Doesn't this industry of ours need some sort of "unified voice" representing it...? Well, if you ask most skaters (as well as most skateboard company owners), I think that the best answer that you'll get is, "Well... maybe".
"It is a group collection with the single aim of increasing skateboarding and Pushing Skateboarding Forward..."
- from www.skateboardiasc.org
The biggest problem is that, skateboarders (as a general rule) will only "organize" themselves in any sort of effective (and sustainable) manner, when they perceive that a genuine threat to the "greater good of skateboarding" is coming over the horizon. And then once that threat passes, they tend to immediately disorganize, and go along their merry way. This is the reality that, unfortunately, plagues most of skateboarding's "industry organizations" with ambivalence and indifference, leaving them unable (and unprepared) to act in a true time of crisis.
"IASC’s goals are to promote skateboarding, increase participation, save its members money, and educate. IASC serves it’s members and the skateboarding community by focusing on areas which affect not only the business, but the overall sustainability and health of skateboarding..."
- from www.skateboardiasc.org, IASC's website
IASC, today, apparently represents that "threat to the greater good of skateboarding" that is compelling everybody else to finally take action, and get organized. Which is sort of ironic, isn't it...? That our very own "trade group" that exists... on paper, at least... to "protect the better interests of skateboarding"... is the very thing that skateboarders (as well as, a whole lotta skateboard business owners) feel like they need to be protected from...? What does this say about our "industry leaders", and our industry...? Personally, I think it says that they're both epic fails.
As far as "alternatives" go... believe it or not, about five years ago, Michael Brooke (of Concrete Wave Magazine), AJ Kohn (of One Skateboard Co), Jeremy Welch (of TOC Skateshop), and I... we started brainstorming that very topic. We all recognized that, if IASC kept operating as a totally ineffective, highly secretive, perpetually blundering, and hopelessly out-of-touch "cool club"... that eventually, they'd probably ineffective, secret, blunder, or cool their asses either right out of existence, or straight into irrelevance. Or, worst of all: Both.
From those discussions, we came to a concept that we regularly refer to internally as "The Collective". Until now, The Collective has existed largely as an experiment... a "trial run", so to speak. It was established mostly as a troubleshooting exercise, to explore the possibilities of what any future "trade group" might look like. And what, if anything, it might actually accomplish.
What we finally ended up with, was a concept that might be best described as an "Un-organized, industry organization". At first, this might seem pretty confusing, and extremely counter-intuitive. If not, downright stupid. However, we all recognized that in order to come up with something that actually works... and works well, and effortlessly, long-term... that we might have to think pretty far "outside the box", in order to finally solve a few of the problems that are unique to skateboarding's culture, values, identity, and industry.
This week, I asked all of the guys (and gals) that took the idea from us, and ran with it... for permission to take the hard lessons that we've learned privately over the last five years, public. Nobody disagreed. So with that, this is a brief outline of what we've come up with as a sustainable and effective paradigm for what the future might hold. And given the toxic tone coming out of Agenda already, who knows? We might even see this materialize, and even expand, sooner than we think:
"Formed in 1995, IASC is a diverse group of skateboard manufacturers, distributors, contest organizers, private skateparks, and individuals. A collaboration of people passionate about skateboarding- with the single aim of protecting the integrity of skateboarding and pushing skateboarding forward on a global level..."
- from www.skateboardiasc.org, IASC's website
The Name
"The Collective" is simply a collection of like-minded individuals, and industry representatives, that are moving toward a set of common ambitions and goals. Not that unlike IASC, actually. Except, The Collective strives to be all-inclusive, and somewhat informal.
As for how the name came about... let's face facts: I'm not all that smart. So when I'm in doubt about these sorts of things, I do have a tendency to literally, go literal.
The Mission
The mission of The collective is pretty obvious, and it's not too unlike any other "trade group". Primarily, it serves as an industry-wide advocacy group that looks after the interests of... and, supports the success of... all of our members, as well as skateboarding, as a whole.
Nothing too fancy there.
Primary Function:
Essentially, as it stands today, The Collective is best summed up with two simple words: "Think Tank". It's an information conduit. Or, put another way: An idea brokerage. If people (or businesses) have problems, or questions? Then, we put them in touch with solutions, and answers.
Still, pretty simple.
Secondary Function:
To launch far-reaching, broad-based, and ongoing initiatives that work toward common goals.
At some point, I think that everyone involved with this decided that we just didn't need to look at IASC for any sort of "guidance", in terms of setting an agenda. Nor did we need their blessing, either. Really, all we needed to do was to figure out what we wanted to do, and then start moving on it. No permission necessary.
I think we turned a corner on that one. Instead of simply "reacting" to whatever IASC was doing at the time... we became a bit more pro-active, and started moving on our own accord. IASC at this point, became much less of an influence on what we were doing.
It only got better from there.
One Skateboarding, One Industry
One thing that has always baffled me, is why in the good grace of God we'd ever need two, competing "industry groups" working against each other. One being IASC, which largely represented the interests of the brands. And then BRA, on the other side of the fence, which represents the interests of the retailers. Aren't these two things part of the same industry...? If so: Why do we need two different groups, representing it...?
The Collective includes representatives from manufacturing, branding, distribution, retail, nonprofits, and media- all under one roof.
Likewise: Skateboarding also has a lot of "other organizations", that represent specialized interests within skateboarding. WFSA (World Freestyle Association), ISSA (International Slalom Skateboard Association), SPAUSA (Skatepark Association of the USA), SPS (Skaters For Public Skateparks)... the list goes on. All, representing some particular interest in the overall spectrum of skateboarding. But nothing that represents just "skateboarding".
We support all of these specialized groups... but, we also recognize the importance of having a larger, all-inclusive organization that represents the entire spectrum of skateboarding.
The Practical Problem of Herding Cats:
Skaters, as a rule, just don't like to be "organized". They don't really like being "members". And they sure as hell don't like the idea of having to pay cash "dues", in order to have a voice at the table, either. That's just bullshit. And, everybody knows it.
We simply solved the whole issue, by boldly eliminating all three.
Membership:
There is really no such thing as "membership" in The Collective. "Affiliation" is really a much better word for it. There's no forms to fill out, no hoops to jump through, no bullshit to wade around in, and no litmus test to pass. If you're in, then you're in. It's that simple.
What's better than "non-profit"...? "Non-revenue"...!
There are also no "membership dues". The only requirements are that you actively participate (generally, by bringing ideas and concepts to the table), and that you get something out of it (generally, by taking ideas away from the table).
The Collective can, and will, act as a "unified voice", if and when the need arises. But truth be told, that just doesn't happen very often.
Recognizing The Power Of The Individual Contribution
Likewise, The Collective rarely moves as a cohesive power bloc (except for The Board Meeting initiative). Rather, we tend to support individuals (in any way we can) that decide to take the initiative either entirely on their own, or as a part of a small group of Collective members, acting autonomously. Rarely do we take the time to build a broad-based consensus on any given initiative. In the fast-moving world of skateboarding, we found out the hard way that that's paralyzingly time-consuming.
Instead, we recognize that when individuals (or small groups) take the initiative upon themselves to do good stuff for skateboarding- everybody wins. And, we support that.
Transparency
One of the biggest frustrations that everybody seems to have with IASC, is that they are not "transparent" at all. They do not answer criticism- neither publicly, nor privately (maybe it's because they just get so much of it these days). IASC does not seem to seek out council from outside sources (unless it's from Harley-Davidson, of all places). This ultimately leads to inherent mistrust (or distrust- you choose). They certainly don't speak for "the rest of us". And even worse: When they do speak for "the rest of us", they're doing it by putting out horrible initiatives "in our name" ("Under Fire") that are universally hated (except, predictably, by the IASC members themselves).
The Collective simply believes in transparency, at all times. The Collective has a surprisingly liberal "open door policy". We read, and answer, all e-mails. Even critical ones. We answer all questions. And, The Collective is truly all-inclusive. There is no board, no president, no "insiders"... and thus, no "outsiders", either.
"Trade Shows: IASC takes an active role in helping you bring new products to market. Our partnership with ASR Trade Show will enhance your trade show experience with added discounts and on-site promotions. IASC will supply you with a list of the items available to your company while attending the ultimate showcase of the action sports and youth lifestyle market. IASC Members generally save the amount they pay in dues through discounts at our partner trade shows..."
- from www.skateboardiasc.org, IASC's website
The Board Meeting
This is an example of a Collective initiative, in action. This one was instigated by ASR's downfall, which naturally led straight to the question of, "What will the future of trade shows look like...?"
The clear winners were trade shows that would be all-inclusive (open to anybody and everybody), low-key, mellow, affordable, fun... and that could be easily (and quickly) organized by a very small handful of people. In short: This is totally DIY. Which is the way that skateboarding- and, the skateboard industry- should be. Doing It For Ourselves.
It is, after all, our industry. It seems only fitting that we run it in a manner that's consistent with the vibe, and the spirit, of skateboarding.
Communications
The best by-product of The Collective's ongoing efforts are simply more open, honest, effective, and beneficial lines of communication between the Collective affiliates. This is, after all, an exercise in building better relationships between people. This has been especially helpful in the ongoing dialogue between brands, and retailers. Respectful disagreements happen all the time (I've never argued with anybody more in my entire life, than I've argued with Michael Brooke over the last five years). But at least they're respectful. And the bonus of "getting along great" (most of the time) is absolutely priceless.
"Healthy Skateboarding Community = Healthy Skateboarding Business"
- from www.skateboardiasc.org, IASC's website
Is It Time...?
There's definitely a consensus building that IASC... and to a lesser extent, BRA... just aren't serving the needs of the overall skateboarding community any more. Priorities are all out of proportion, and far too many people are feeling like they're simply being shut out of the process. And the more that The Collective works, the more tenuous that IASC and BRA's futures become. They represent exclusions and restrictions.
The Collective, which fundamentally represents inclusion and freedom, is essentially the opposite of IASC.
I think that's an idea who's time has come.
