But not all decisions can be solved over a simple game of table tennis. No, sometimes the toughest of issues, require a higher level of battle weaponry. In the new age of cubicle warfare- one must always be prepared. Thanks to the folks at CoolMaterial.com for providing us with a showcase of the top level weapons at our disposal, because at Backbone, we try to maintain the highest levels of professional diplomacy, but sometimes our colleagues just need a good marshmallow to the face.

Click HERE to read the full article online and upgrade your arsenal.

“Any proper trip to NYC should start with dinner a real Italian pizza joint.” Or so says John DiCuollo.  To kick off our annual spring media trip to the Big Apple, JLD pointed us to Arturo’s in the West Village.  Delicious, coal oven pizza pies with clam and lobster toppings set the tone for another great trip to NYC for Backbone.

This year we found a new penthouse in mid-town for our showroom and it was beautiful inside, with floor-to-ceiling windows affording incredible views of the city. Twelve of our brands participated: Black Diamond, BOA, Eddie Bauer, Horny Toad, Gerber, Gregory, La Sportiva, Newton Running, Polartec, POC, REVO Sunglasses and SmartWool.

Unfortunately on Wednesday, the day of our event, Mother Nature delivered us a steady stream of rain. Undeterred, media from a wide range of outlets braved the elements to attend. Everyone from tech-focused publications like WIRED and Popular Mechanics, to producers from Good Morning America and Outside TV, to travel writers from Travel + Leisure and Sherman’s, to fitness editors from SELF and Shape joined us.

The event was a big success and we’re already looking forward to our next one in the fall. Thanks again to everyone who attended; we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Here are some photos from the showroom:

Mike May shares a laugh with pro quidditch player and freelancer Eric Hansen

Peter Whittaker shows his robot dance moves to freelancer Tom Foster and Sarah Hubbard

Dax Kelm shows off the latest POC offerings to freelancer Peter Koch

Penn Newhard talks with freelancer Stefani Jackenthal and Brianne Bates from Revo

The Backbone crew celebrates another successful event in the city

Emerging media elicits different responses from everyone, Shannon, Jimmy and DC

Stinger's LZ and Colin, seriously?

You’d stand up. Ask a few good questions. And let it go from there.

Last Friday, Backbone hosted a POV event on Emerging Media.

What started as a conversation between Greg and Fitz...

With so many from our professional community visiting Carbondale for the 5 Point Film Festival (which was A+ Awesome for those wondering), Backbone hosted the POV event as a collective gathering to share information and cross pollinate ideas.

Turned into this

Brand marketers from Polartec, Patagonia, New Belgium, Trimble, Black Diamond, Big Agnes, Horny Toad, Honey Stinger, Aspen Snowmass attended as well as film makers/producers such as Anson Fogel, Dan Ransom, Jimmy Chin , Renan Ozturk, Shannon Ethridge , Dirk Collins, and Matt Hobbs. Throw in talented athletes like Chris Davenport, photographers Corey Rich, Pete McBride and David Clifford, story teller dirtbag Fitz Cahall and well, there was plenty of dynamic thought and energy.

Aspen's Christian Knapp, Kristine and Allon Cohne from Polartec, Ian, Mike Mac and Boo the Backbone guard dog

Patagonia crew with Beda Calhoun from Brick and Mortar

Thanks to all who attended and shared their thoughts and ideas. Thanks to 5 Point – Justin, Julie and Jake for continuing to raise the bar with the film fest and a special shout out to Fitz Cahall for the initial thinking and  Michele Cardamone Photography for her wonderful photos (click on Michele’s link to view all photos).

Rock & Ice's Andrew Bisharat, JT from BD, Mavis and mad musician/podcaster Chris Kalous

Boomer, slot canyoneers Rich and Ransom and the venerable Jon Turk

See you out there!

JCD on the loose

It is a classic sales vs. marketing storyline/showdown. Companies exist to sell products but they won’t succeed in today’s markets unless they cultivate and work to attract customers and communicate with them fairly and transparently. Take this a step further and witness brands that try to de-categorize traditional consumer groups and instead focus on ‘just people’ and/or their online habits.
Obviously, emerging media is an awesome ally in terms of allowing better real time analytics and data sets to base decisions upon. What was formerly marketing black magic (perhaps educated/intuitive guessing may be a better term?) is now up-to-date, re-targeted, informed decision making.

Friends in high places

Accepting and adapting to these new dynamics is exciting and provides growth, learning and opportunity but equally important remains the human side of the equation. In a world that is accelerating in terms of media and information consumption, having a personal connection cuts through the clutter and naturally raises your awareness.

AC trying to hide the fact he is in a one-piece in deep snow

Next time you get 30+ new emails be aware of how you prioritize opening them. Be cognizant of how you scan and click through your tweets. Chances are (unless you have a super tight deadline or fire burning out of control), you open and read content from friends and trusted colleagues first.

Stever givin'er

Two easy examples are a new app whatshakin that a new friend Chris Hashley just launched. It allows you to follow locations on twitter instead of people. So, if you want real time tweets on what is happening at a conference, concert, sporting event, ski town or college campus just drop the pin and follow along. I met @hashley in Jackson recently and with more of Backbone’s business trending into tourism the app is super timely and relevant in terms of macro trends.

MP and Mr. Cutts

Another cool item came across my feed from longtime friend Jason Kinzler from PitchEngine. He posted on his blog about using Pinterest in press releases to give them visual elements. This theme of overlaying new social platforms is a trend we’d also discussed recently with another great colleague Roger Katz @ Friend2Friend.

the Minister of Fun shreds

As, for all the skiing images? Oh, well that was a March trip to Revelstoke with a mix of technical apparel designers, journalists, and brand people from Black Diamond and Polartec. Nothing like all getting together and sharing a few laughs, beers and some powder turns as friends.

* Thanks to Eriks and Dave at Selkirk Tangiers, the Hillcrest Hotel, Natalie Harris Photography and Agnes at the Cabin Candlepin Bowling Alley

“We are not a tele skiing company. We are not an alpine skiing company. We are not a backcountry touring company. Black Diamond Equipment is a SKI company, comprised of passionate SKIERS dedicated to making a unique collection of trusted, award-winning gear — from skis to boots, skins to poles, packs to avalanche safety essentials — that enables us to choose any line, any time, anywhere, that makes every skiing day an epic day, that empowers us to break away from traditional boundaries and SKI OUTSIDE THE LINES.”

No, this wasn’t something that we made the everyone memorize during the group’s “welcome” program, but it was our mantra as we got prepared for our first ski day in the North Cascades.

From the left clockwise: Dave Waag (Off Piste), Thomas Laakso (Black Diamond Equipment Ski Category Director), Larry Goldie (North Cascades Mountain Guides), Tracy Ross (Backpacker), Frederick "Rico" Reimers (Freelancer), Berne Broudy (Outside/Freelancer), Drew Pogge (Backcountry Magazine), John "jLd" DiCuollo (Backbone Media) and Sam Bass (SKIING Magazine). Photo courtesy of David Waag.

As part of Black Diamond Equipment’s new Touring Series for 2012/13, BD is introducing nine new FreeTour and Tour skis — from rockered sidecountry skis to ultra-efficient tools for big, faraway objectives that will serve today’s skiers, helping them to define what is possible beyond the ropes.  In addition to skis, skins (featuring redesigned plush construction with dramatically improved glide), ski poles (highlighting BD’s new FlickLock® Pro design) and the new AvaLung Series packs incorporating Active Form Design were all put to the test from editors/freelancers from such publications as: Backcountry, Backpacker, Off-Piste, Men’s Journal, Outside, Popular Science, Ski, and Skiing magazines.

While most of the west is suffering from lower than usual snowfall totals, the mountain snowpack in the North Cascades of Washington as of April 1 is 137% of average.  Plenty of snow in the Cascades offered up a perfect testing conditions for our group, but we couldn’t have done it without the help of some local Methow Valley aficionados.  Thank you to the North Cascades Mountain Guides, North Cascade Heli and North Cascades Basecamp — as you all made our stay in PNW a memorable one.

Time for some skiing…

Courtesy of David Waag

Bluebird days were perfect testing grounds for trip sponsor REVO's Headway sunglasses (their first nylon frame to feature the Crystal Water lens).

Heading for some more turns off of Amy's Peak.

Frederick "Rico" Reimers looking for "Justice." Photo courtesy of David Waag.

Courtesy of North Cascade Heli, every day began with a “bump” to a summit leaving us with an untouched powder palette to brush our ski signatures.  Always good to start the day off skiing down, but even more rewarding to know you have the whole day ahead ski touring with a great group of people in such a spectacular setting as the North Cascades.  We will back again one day…

FreeTouring with Black Diamond Equipment in the North Cascades

BD’s new F12 Touring Series skis include:  FreeTour Category>  Carbon Megawatt (153-125-130), Justice (140-115-125), Drift (138-100-123), Revert (121-95-109) and women’s Starlet (136-100-122).  Tour Category>  Aspect (130-90-117), Current (118-86-106), Stigma (125-80-109) and women’s Crescent (128-90-115).  Look for them to arrive at a local ski shop or an outdoor specialty store near you later this summer.

Doctor. Taxman. Kid’s teacher calling. Travel. Yeah, you get the picture. That’s why the recent GOAT event in Jackson Hole, was so great. GOAT is a Gathering of Athletes, Artists & Technologists and the offspring of Alex Hillinger and Dirk and Jenny Collins.

On the hill with Hash, Dom, Aaron, Alex, DC and Hudacsko

GOAT is a loosely structured event built on the premise “that magic happens when you bring the right mix of good people into a room,” as Jenny likes to say. Small by design, with a giving component, GOAT is a mix of presentations, dinners, convos on chairlifts and meeting new people. It is the only business gathering/seminar that I have attended in the last many years where I have walked out with true friendships. Seriously. Pretty darn cool really.

Circe, Aaron, Dom, Dirk, Penn, Jenny, Alex and Teresa

This past year the event was attended by Dom Sagolla, Co-founder of twitter and Square, Aaron Gutman photographer and materials artist, Circe Wallace SVP at Wasserman Media and designer of rad women’s ski wear Circe Snow, Teresa Kellett from Sprint 4G, Rachel Kropa CAA Foundation, snowboarder Travis Rice, artist Mike Parillo, VP Blue Sphere Chris Hashley, 1% for the Planet’s Terry Kellogg and Melody Badgett, Yasmina Zaidman from the Acumen Fund, Kristen Quigley from ICON Clinical Research, Shannon Ethridge from Camp 4 Collective and others.

We learned, laughed and rode JH in an atmosphere of collaboration and walked out the door with a clear call to action – something GOAT strives toward as a concrete takeaway is a must if we are to lead by example.

Melody and Terry from 1%

So next time you get a surprise that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and dismantles what little semblance of order remains in your day – remember the solitary GOAT on a high alpine ridge. No matter the wind, snow or roughness it prevails by searching out new terrain and always walking uphill in its quest.

Special thanks to Sargent Schutt and Heather Erson photography for images

Sometimes these stories take years to develop, but the final result is always a unique glimpse into the people and processes that come together to create the industry-leading brands we’re proud to represent. This month, we had two feature stories come through, highlighting the success of two longstanding clients: Newton Running and Polartec.

Backbone and Polartec have been partners for over twelve years and we played a significant role in the global launch of their new waterproof breathable technology, Polartec NeoShell. Both the product itself and the marketing around the introduction created a lot of attention. This piece by Outside Magazine (thanks Mike Kessler and Sam Moulton) tackles some of the behind-the-scenes business aspects of the shell game: INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE- by Mike Kessler, Outside Magazine-March 2012

Backbone began work with Newton Running six years ago, when the company didn’t even have shoes to sell. We’ve been a proud partner in their growth to become a major player in the running footwear industry. This month’s (11-page!) feature in Runner’s World highlights the story of Newton founder, Danny Abshire and the story of how he set out to change the way people run, and built a shoe to help them do it.

THE SHOE BELIEVER- by Michael Behar, Runner’s World- March 2012
View the full PDF of this story by CLICKING HERE

We started in Vail on Friday at the inaugural Winter Teva Mountain Games, where we were representing both the event and presenting sponsor, Eddie Bauer. We hosted an awesome group of journalists at the event, and kicked off their trip with a day of ice climbing with Apex Mountain School.

Sarah Hubbard having another tough day at the office

Apparently there's a lot of ice in America's Hat. Canadian Elinor Fish made quick work of the pitch.

The stellar guides at Apex Mountain School took great care of our group. Look them up if you ever want to try out ice climbing near Vail.

After a morning of ice climbing, there's no better way to get warmed up than wearing a fashionable one-piece suit. That's one lucky guy sandwiched between Sarah Hubbard and freelancer Rachel Sturtz

Between writing event result press releases, I managed to squeeze in a race at the Winter Teva Mountain Games. This was shot just before I lost control completely and cased it into a stack of tower pads. Definitely the most fun I've had on a bike in a long time.

Just two days after the Winter Teva Mountain Games wrapped up, Penn, Elinor, Alison (ANP) and I headed to Cali to visit Backbone’s newest client, the Santa Catalina Island Company. It was the first time any of us had visited the island and we had an amazing time learning about one of the country’s first adventure travel destinations and all the excitement the island has to offer today. Of course, we had to sample the goods first-hand…

Not a bad break from winter in the mountains

Crossing gaurd training day, i.e. night zipping

Elinor eyes up the first zip - the zip line at Catalina is world-class

The zip line views are hard to beat

We also took a tour through the island's interior on a bio-diesel Hummer. Almost 90% of the island is protected by a conservancy. It's spectacular and almost completely untouched.

I had heard the terms “OR” and “SIA” thrown around the office but to be honest, I really had no idea what they were all about. Until a colleague asked me if I had made any appointments, I hadn’t really paid attention. But, after two plus weeks on the road and attending the OR Winter Market in SLC and SIA Snow Show in Denver, it’s safe to say I survived and have more than a few new experiences to share.

Venues: Both the Salt Palace in SLC and the Colorado Convention Center in Denver are HUGE! Walking into these gargantuan convention centers to see hundreds of companies displaying their new products is overwhelming to say the least. I was glad that I arrived on the first day with a colleague who could show me where to go. If not, I would have wandered for hours. Even after getting to know my way around, entering the building before sunrise and leaving after dark reminded me of the time vortex that Las Vegas is known to create.

New Products: There are lots of great companies making really innovative gear these days. I’m obviously biased and think that Gregory Mountain Products and La Sportiva make the best products because I’m representing them and know their products best. But the reality is that the outdoor industry is growing and lots of companies are making cool stuff. I walked by the booths of numerous name brands that we all know and love and also lots of companies that I’d never heard of before.

Trends: Before starting work at Backbone, I thought that a jacket was a jacket and a backpack was a backpack. I naively thought that the differences between products were limited to colors, basic materials, and brand names. Boy, was I wrong! Outdoor products have thousands of hours poured into their design and the amount of technical detail in them is staggering. The challenge and opportunity for every brand is to figure out how to clearly stake out the product details that separate them from the competition and then clearly describe that to their customers. Some are clearly doing a better job of that than others.

Media: For me, the trade shows were all about getting to know the media that I had never met in person. While I’ve been fortunate enough to work with lots of great writers via the phone and e-mail, nothing replaces time spent in person. Every half-hour, I met and chatted with writers who I only knew by name. Some matched my non-introduced impressions perfectly, while others were very different than I had envisioned. It was great to meet so many writers and learn first-hand what their passions are.

Food and Drink: It’s a good thing that I enjoy food and can hold my liquor because there is no shortage of either at trade shows. From lunches on the show floor to media dinners at fancy restaurants, and endless late night cocktails, there is no shortage of opportunities to indulge. My strategy was to not go overboard so that I would avoid the inevitable hangover or food coma, which I think paid off, but it would have been really easy to overdo it.

In the end, the time away from home was well worth it as I got my feet wet at my first trade shows. I met lots of great people, pitched lots of great new products, witnessed what some of the top brands in the industry are up to, and generally had a good time. Best of all, I checked another rookie landmark off the list…