This really isn’t anything I can say too much about – since I’m not a pro.
But I wanted to share this because alot of youngsters really want to get sponsored, and alot of times they don’t understand why some or their peers are sponsored when they, themselves are better skiers…
I just copied this from freeskier.com, so head over there for the original article and some more photos.
Mike Douglas gave this speech at the 2009 Jib-Academy Finals in mammoth:
Ski because you love it.
Ski sponsorship is a business!
Nobody is getting rich being a pro skier and everyone is here because they are passionate about the sport! Remember, you have to sell skis in order to have a marketing budget!
It’s a Job and you have to work at it!
Competitions, filming, blogs, testing, PR, it’s all part of the job! Stickers on skis and helmets –make sure they are your sponsors and they aren’t covering up your skis. At the end of the year you have to look at what you did and make sure you provided value for your money.
Be an original!
Copycats never get ahead.
Copying other sports just makes us look like wannabes!
JF Cusson, Eric Pollard, Seth Morrison, Anthony Boronowski and John Symms are just some examples of individuals in our sport.
Work with companies you like.
Bullshitting sucks and people can see through it. Be authentic.
Telling the truth will get you much farther in the long run.
Communicate with your sponsors
Unless you are winning all the big comps, it’s really hard to keep up with what you might be doing.
Send updates to your sponsors.
Work with your sponsors partners
The industry is too small to have everyone doing there own thing.
We need to work together to achieve greatness.
Evolve or die
Your career may change many times.
Me: old school freeskier – mogul skier – coach – jibber- backcountry freestyler – big mtn skier.
Embrace social media
You need to be on Facebook.
You need to be communicating with your fans.
You need to be involved with your sponsors web objectives.
Respect always
Be professional.
Think before you act.
The team manager that you don’t like now might become your greatest friend at new company.
Many thanks to Mike Douglas for this very important talk. It was great to hear all the questions coming from the kids here at Jib Academy. Many realized that being a pro skier isn’t just about getting shots and skiing 24-7.
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I wanna end this post with saying
“Skiing, snowboarding, skating and pretty much every other sport is about having FUN, if you do it because you wanna get super good or get sponsored, you are in it for the wrong reasons, and chances are you will never make it – Sponsorship is a privilege, but it’s kinda like a job too!”
HJ
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