Bridge of the Gods Event June 19 2010-The Gorge
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 10:27 am
2010 BOTG Information and Competition Format
For those that missed the 2010 Events post I put up last month we are currently at 3 months Shocked until this years Bridge of The Gods Kiteboarding Festival. That's right, June 19, 2010 is the day for this year's event. Time to start getting in shape and making plans!
BOTG has been organized the last couple of years by Steve Fisher, Gary Reed, and Dave Smith. As some of you may have heard Steve Fisher is fighting with cancer and does not have the time or energy to take the lead in setting up BOTG this year so he has asked me to try to fill his shoes. I have a ways to go to get up to speed and many people still to talk to regarding the event but hopefully with Steve's guidance and Gary and Dave's experience I wont hose it up too bad.
Having said that there are some changes in the works that I want to share with the community.
First up is Event Sponsorship:
For many years Slingshot has been heavily involved in sponsoring the event, and while they have done an outstanding job taking care of all of us, , and with the difficult economy everyone is struggling with, it is not fair for them to shoulder the majority of the costs for sponsoring the event, advertising, personnel, coordination, insurance, etc... For this year's event Slingshot will not be the headline sponsor as my goal is to solicit more equal participation from each of the big vendors who have a presence in the Gorge. I'd rather get $500 from 6 sponsors and one person from each of them on event day than ask Slingshot to cough up $3,000 and tie up 6 of their folks. More to come on this later as I make headway in this area.
Next, competition format:
The last couple of years there have been questions and comments about past winners and sponsored riders competing in the event. Considering that BOTG has always been billed as an Amateur event I'm leaning towards the following format for the event:
* Past BOTG Winners (1st Place in any previous BOTG category except Juniors) and Semi-Pro Team Riders (mens & womens)– Judged comp and trophy’s but no cash or gear prizes. (maybe win back entry fee for top 3?) I'd love to see Joe Ruscito, Alex Fox, Reed Brady, Ben Wilson, and all of the other past winners show up for this and put on an awesome show for the crowd.
* Amateur Comp: Juniors, Mens, Womens, Masters: open to anyone who hasn't taken 1st place in a previous BOTG category (juniors excepted - they can move up to Mens) - Cash, trophy's, trip, gear
* SUP Relay Race open to all, thinking maybe a brand v brand team event for bragging rights
* Photo Contest
* Video Contest
Last (for now), Party/BBQ/Campout/Band?:
Trying to move the whole BBQ/Campout/Band/Drunk thing to happen at the Fairgrounds Saturday night and find someone outside of myself, Dave or Gary to head up coordinating this event for everyone. (CGKA sponsor/coordinate?)
That's all the information I have for now but I'm working on more magazine involvement, the food vendors, beer tent, mini-sponsorships, swag and volunteers. I'll post info as it becomes available.
If anyone out there has energy and time, and wants to get involved, PM me and I'll get you hooked up.
Thanks for reading through all that and I appreciate any constructive criticism or suggestions for helping keep this one of the funnest, most awesome events in the country.
Tony
ps: I'd really appreciate it if someone could put a post on PSKite, kiteboardbc, and any of the other West Coast forums for me and link it back to here.
For those that missed the 2010 Events post I put up last month we are currently at 3 months Shocked until this years Bridge of The Gods Kiteboarding Festival. That's right, June 19, 2010 is the day for this year's event. Time to start getting in shape and making plans!
BOTG has been organized the last couple of years by Steve Fisher, Gary Reed, and Dave Smith. As some of you may have heard Steve Fisher is fighting with cancer and does not have the time or energy to take the lead in setting up BOTG this year so he has asked me to try to fill his shoes. I have a ways to go to get up to speed and many people still to talk to regarding the event but hopefully with Steve's guidance and Gary and Dave's experience I wont hose it up too bad.
Having said that there are some changes in the works that I want to share with the community.
First up is Event Sponsorship:
For many years Slingshot has been heavily involved in sponsoring the event, and while they have done an outstanding job taking care of all of us, , and with the difficult economy everyone is struggling with, it is not fair for them to shoulder the majority of the costs for sponsoring the event, advertising, personnel, coordination, insurance, etc... For this year's event Slingshot will not be the headline sponsor as my goal is to solicit more equal participation from each of the big vendors who have a presence in the Gorge. I'd rather get $500 from 6 sponsors and one person from each of them on event day than ask Slingshot to cough up $3,000 and tie up 6 of their folks. More to come on this later as I make headway in this area.
Next, competition format:
The last couple of years there have been questions and comments about past winners and sponsored riders competing in the event. Considering that BOTG has always been billed as an Amateur event I'm leaning towards the following format for the event:
* Past BOTG Winners (1st Place in any previous BOTG category except Juniors) and Semi-Pro Team Riders (mens & womens)– Judged comp and trophy’s but no cash or gear prizes. (maybe win back entry fee for top 3?) I'd love to see Joe Ruscito, Alex Fox, Reed Brady, Ben Wilson, and all of the other past winners show up for this and put on an awesome show for the crowd.
* Amateur Comp: Juniors, Mens, Womens, Masters: open to anyone who hasn't taken 1st place in a previous BOTG category (juniors excepted - they can move up to Mens) - Cash, trophy's, trip, gear
* SUP Relay Race open to all, thinking maybe a brand v brand team event for bragging rights
* Photo Contest
* Video Contest
Last (for now), Party/BBQ/Campout/Band?:
Trying to move the whole BBQ/Campout/Band/Drunk thing to happen at the Fairgrounds Saturday night and find someone outside of myself, Dave or Gary to head up coordinating this event for everyone. (CGKA sponsor/coordinate?)
That's all the information I have for now but I'm working on more magazine involvement, the food vendors, beer tent, mini-sponsorships, swag and volunteers. I'll post info as it becomes available.
If anyone out there has energy and time, and wants to get involved, PM me and I'll get you hooked up.
Thanks for reading through all that and I appreciate any constructive criticism or suggestions for helping keep this one of the funnest, most awesome events in the country.
Tony
ps: I'd really appreciate it if someone could put a post on PSKite, kiteboardbc, and any of the other West Coast forums for me and link it back to here.