WP Photos

Had these photos sitting on my desktop for the past few weeks. Been meaning to write an in-depth post about the World Premier up in Seattle, but I'm just going to say that it was a great weekend, one of the bigger highlights of my ski career thus far and I'm super humbled to have my name listed next to the likes of Eric, Chris, Pep and Andy. I'm going to steal a post Gary Winberg did over on the Nimbus site. It's much more detailed than what I would have created. You can check out the original here.
The assortment of photos have been stolen from Freeskier, Powder, Newschoolers, Surface and the Nimbus site. Enjoy...

There is a lot that goes into planning big events, much of which is stress, large quantities of caffeine and many sleepless nights. Once the event date is set, there are only so many days, hours and minutes left to get everything done. As the planner and organizer you can appear confident, yet in the back of your mind, there is still a fear that nobody will show up or something massive will go wrong. In the end, you just keep your eye on the prize, focus on what you can control and hope for the best. Unfortunately, the process can be so taxing you just want it to be over or you are so busy during the event, it's not as enjoyable as it should be.

The World Premiere for the Triple Threat Tour had more elements of planning than most I've done in the past. We had people flying in from all around the world, hotels to book, a reception/party at the hotel, limo rides, red carpet, a photo/art exhibit, DJ's, VIP packages to arrange, shop visits, poster signings, advertising, email blasts, organizing all the tour assets, setting up the theater and the biggest challenge being, putting the whole event live over the internet.

As you can probably gather from Nimbus, I'm a big believer in digital distribution. So this fall, I wanted to implement new digital downloads of our films directly off of our website, and even grander, broadcast the World Premiere live online. Okay, so that requires scripting the event, herding athletes, sponsors and media down the red carpet at the right time. Having two talents, Mike Douglas and Jeff Schmuck, interview people and then beam the whole thing to a satellite in space and back. Oh, plus creating an iFrame, getting it posted on our media partners sites and the creation of a microsite.

Luckily I had the help of Mobile Rider and Mountain Sports International (MSI). They combine forces on a regular basis, producing events like the Powder Video Awards and Freeskiing World Tour to name a few. For them, putting on a event like ours is a walk in the park. Keith Carlsen and the MSI crew had just gotten back from Chile and a live event, came out to do ours and have another one this upcoming weekend. Then I had the assistance of PBP too...

So how did it go? From what I heard and saw, the event went off!!! The reception at Red Fin had sushi and cocktails flowing for an hour straight, until I couldn't let my credit card take any more abuse. The limo pulled up, the Nimbus Crew loaded first, then PBP, followed by athletes and sponsors for over an hour. Hotel Max is just two blocks from the King Cat Theater, so it was easy for the limo to circle the block. Upon arrival, VIP's exited the limo to a crowd of young fans, slapping high fives as they walked the red carpet into the venue.

We oversold the venue with a thousand plus in attendance, the Amaani Lounge was packed the whole evening, the VIP area - called the Green Room - was as hot as a real "Green Room" with heat lamps. Kids lined up to get there posters signed while other viewers checked out the framed photos by Eric Seo and artwork from Icelantic. The theater had people standing in the hall, sitting in the aisles and kids sitting on the floor down in front. It was so crowed there wasn't an empty seat in the house, instead people were figuring out new places to sit.

We showed our new film "Contrast" first. It has been a while since I'd watched the whole thing, and can say I'm very proud of the work. It's not ski porn, which was the goal. There are enough ski porn films in the industry, we don't need more in my opinion. I'm happy to think we successfully brought something more unique and a different perspective. It's about the sport of skiing, in a manner that people of all ages and abilities can relate to. This format may not be as commercial, but I hope you enjoy it.

Then we had a huge raffle and SWAG giveaway. Next the PBP crew got up on stage and introduced "Everyday Is A Saturday". This is one of the better films PBP has done. It isn't as long as most of the big film companies and although I haven't seen any other film projects yet, I'm guessing will be the best ski porn of the year. Dane Tudor has a breakout segment and Tim Durtchi closes out the film with a segment that takes stunt skiing to a new level. It leaves you with your mouth hanging open.

After both films were shown, people lingered for more celebrating, staying at the bar until the theater wanted to close and kicked everybody out. We migrated to the Hurricane for more celebratory drinks and food. I was practically delierous from lack of sleep and decided it was time to pull the cord. My night was done, although I heard of some amazing stories of adventures that lasted well into morning.

Now you might think we are done, not even close. We are just getting started. Two weeks going into the event, I was averaging 3-4 hours of sleep a night and it's going to continue for another couple weeks. MSI just finished editing the World Premiere and we're in the process of getting the show back online. Hoping for Thursday or Friday. I ask everybody to be patient, as it's takes a while to edit four and a half hours of footage, compress it and then upload. You will also notice a new download button in our navigation. This is for you to purchase Contrast, Hunting Yeti and IDEA. IDEA isn't up yet but will be soon. We are still working out some of the bugs of our digital storefront, so bare with us there too. If something goes wrong, rest assured, we will get you a refund or make sure you get the video files.

As far as the online stream and live show itself, it didn't go totally as planned. Yes, there were problems I wish hadn't happened, but it is what it is. We did something that has never been done before, of course there are going to be some problems. But I figure you have to get the first one done, learn from our mistakes, adapt and we will be better in the future. The goal is to share our love for the sport of skiing with as many people as possible. To help our sport grow. That objective was met, even if it was a bumpy ride.

Since I was helping produce the whole event, I unfortunately didn't get to eat the sushi, ride in the limo, walk the red carpet, slap high fives, get interviewed, etc. so I'm looking forward to watching the final production to see what really went down as much as you are. I hope you will join me this Thursday or Friday, when it's back online for viewing. It costs $10 bucks for a month subscription. You will only be able to watch it from the computer you purchase it on. We've had a number of people buy the subscription and then email their login info to others. We track the IP address, it won't work from other computers. That and it protects us from people trying to share passwords.

For those of you who made it to Seattle for the event, thanks. To all our fans who are supporting the Nimbus cause, thank you so much.

Time for me to get back to work... Check out the imagery provided by: Mark Epstein, Matt Stauble, and Parker Hemingway