FREE 4 ALL FRIDAYS…WTF?!

I must apologize before this post as it really has this has nothing to do with anything I’m into. It’s just randomness that makes you go WTF?

The #

I can’t think of a day when I haven’t been asked what the hell does “686” mean?! Not until recently did I give some sort of an explanation to the REAL meaning of the #’s. Per the history on our site, it has something to do with mathematics and the date, June1986. Well, that’s not exactly the full story and I’m gonna have to tell you the rest another time. But for now, I want to show you some creative heads (of all places, from Russia!) that showed their own interpretation of what 686 means to them. Big ups to our Russian 686 family as they took some time to come up with some interesting ideas. If you have a crazy idea, email me at info@686.com

Grass is always greener, where?

Hot damn!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

I wonder how many cars got dinged for this.

People do the most interesting things.

Lights, Slow shutter, action!

If you do something like this in LA, you might get shot.

And one of my favorites…printed media 4 ever.

Made in the USA…damnit!

The next morning I had to cram a bunch of things into the schedule. First stop was the premiere street/sneaker website, KARMALOOP, which is located in the heart of Beantown across from a very famous park.

We’ve been working with the Loop for a few seasons, however this is the first time they have asked me to come in and do this. They run a very successful web show called Karmaloop TV- Catch them at all the best gigs around the world - from Slate @ Magic to interviewing all the founders and artists of your favorite brands. If you know me, I’m typically lowkey and prefer being behind the lens versus in front of it. This time, I have no choice. (except blacking out my face here). If you want to see the real thing, click here.

Thanks to the Karmaloop production crew.

Jason (686 New England rep) lives in Maine. But like any good rep, he drives way too much. This is what it looks like when he sleeps only a few hours.

This is what his car looks like when he doesn’t clean the hair from his dogs.

For the last part of the day, I was excited to head to New Balance’s Lawrence factory. Check out Lawrence’s industrial powerhouse.

In today’s world, making anything in the States is a rare thing. Making footwear in the USA is non-existent. The exception is New Balance, where they take deep pride in US hand-crafted manufacturing. For over 30 years, Jim Davis (owner of NB) has firmly believed that the best quality workmanship, fit and function all originates in the states. I think it clearly tells it here.

And here

We had our own private tour of the manufacturing area. This nice lady is one of the supervisors of the plant (here for 20+ yrs) who gave us a full-fledged tour.

I’ve been to a lot of factories overseas in the 20 years of doing what I do. What I saw was something I’ve never, and I mean NEVER seen before. What it all came down to is the PROCESS of how they do things. It’s all about Efficiency and Safety with a CAPITAL “E” and “S.” I’m actually sworn to secrecy as they had me sign my life away. All I can give you is one shot of the general area (and unfortunately none of the rad things I witnessed)

Well, maybe just one more little thing. NB is into IDEAS.

They are into it so much that they award employees for coming up with better alternatives of doing things. The more stars the better.

One cool thing working with a company that firmly believes in function, fit and performance is that we have full access to their Testing and Research Labs for the NB686 boots. Again, sorry no pictures in here. You’re gonna have to believe me when I tell you that the snow industry has never been able to do some of things we did.

Boston Bound…Again

After a good ole time in Denver, I jetted to Boston for a few things. We had our East Coast launch of the NB686 Collection at Concepts. Concepts is run by a dude named Tarek (with Frank the Butcher). He also owns The Tannery and a few other key places in the city. If you’ve never been to Concepts, it is a must see for the select sneaker connoisseur.

Just before the show starts-check it from the outside

To the inside

To the jacket side

To the DJ side

D is for DENVER

The past week, I took a short trip to Denver and Boston for some meetings. The good thing is that Denver is only a two hour flight from LA, then I can take a red eye to the East and in a blink of an eye (or two), I’m there and back for dinner (well kinda). I’m on the board of directors for SIA (Snow Sports Industries America) and we have one last meeting before our big tradeshow in January. This trip to Denver was to finalize a few things as well as meet the people running the city (Pictures of me rubbing elbows with the Mayor or Governor somehow got lost…) For all the snow heads, SIA in Denver is set to go off (I think this is what the blurry picture says)

Downtown Denver has come a long way from back in the day. Next time you’re in town, walk around the city and you’ll see.

Leaves are a-turning

I had breakfast with Steve from Pabst. I’ve known Steve for a minute way back when he was at Airwalk (yeah that shoe company that started it all). From there he had a long run with Red Bull handling Marketing in the West. Today he’s in charge of anything marketing related for the Pabst umbrella company (PBR, Schiltz, Primo, Lone star, Colt 45 and the list goes on…) Besides talking about what’s happening in the beverage world, we rapped about the simple things in life like shredding with the boys to spending time with the fam. Good to hear that working in the liquid nation can keep you still in gear.

BTW, thanks for sponsoring all our gigs

Later in the day, I met up with our 686 extended family member, Dave. Senor Dave has been our rep for Utah and the Rockies for a long time. He’s also one of the best all around guys I’m proud to know. He’s about to open his showroom for the year and he invited me to check out what it will eventually look like. Hi Dave.

With a little imagination, I can picture how things will turn out. Although Dave insists that this entire area will look like nothing I’ve seen. Ok, let’s do it.

Speaking about doing it - I had one last establishment to check out in Denver. I think it’s “my duty” to make sure the visitors of the show will enjoy the types of entertainment the city has to offer. I wonder where I am.

Hey Jared (Vans), aren’t you supposed to be cutting down?

Don’t you love it when it’s mandatory that certain “employees” must make sure their hands are clean?