We want to express our sincere thanks to all of you for contributing to the success of group Y in 2007. We hope that you were able to connect with new people at the events, gained insights from the panels and most critically, had fun in the process.

group Y will be taking a holiday hiatus for the months of December and January.
We will be using this time to not only enjoy some time off, but to plan for ‘08. We want to bring you more panels, an informative website and useful benefits for members.

In the meantime, we hope you have a relaxing and fruitful holiday and January tradeshow season! We will be starting back up in mid-February, so stay tuned! As always, please feel free to share with us your thoughts and comments on how we can improve the group Y experience.

Happy Holidays and cheers to you all!

best,
group Y

Hello group Y friends and members,

Firstly, we hope that all of you, your families, and friends are safe during the fires. Some of us on the group Y board have been dealing secondhand with the issues and stress that a disaster like this can cause, and hope that you all in turn are well and safe.

On a happier note, we would love to thank everyone who came out for the panel (see photos on the left). It was a huge success, to which all of you contributed. And again, we’d like to thank our panelists, Chris Conrad, Bruce McDermott, Mel Harris, Graham Stapelberg and moderator Rob Campbell for their time, energy and vast expertise. We were very happy with how well-rounded the panel turned out, it was a great mix of commentary and personalities! Please let us know if you have any requests, ideas, and or comments for future panel discussions.

group Y MEMBERSHIP
Also, there has been some confusion about membership of group Y. In order to be a member, you must apply. This entails more than just signing up for the email list -there is a link to this on the left side of this website: Apply for Membership. If you have not already done so, please do before the next event. The panels are the only events which are open to non-members. Our normal monthly gatherings, are open to MEMBERS ONLY. So, if you’d like to attend the gatherings, please apply so we can approve you.

We are also in the process of planning the next gathering for mid-November. Our tentative location is Laguna Beach. Details to follow.

Thank you thank you, be safe and well!
Best,
group Y

When
Wednesday October 17, 2007
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Location
OC Tavern
2369 S. El Camino Real
San Clemente, CA 92672

Cost
Member – $5.00
Non-Member – $15.00 CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Please join us at the OC Tavern in San Clemente, on Wednesday, October 17th for our second Industry Panel Discussion. The topic is “Action Sports and Mainstream Business: Culture Clash or Clever Combination?” As the name implies, we’ll examine successful marketing/communications alliances between action sports companies and the larger business world.

We are extremely excited to be hosting a very knowledgeable and experienced group of panelists. They are:

Bruce McDermott – Group Director Brand Integration, Saatchi & Saatchi
Graham Stapelberg – VP Marketing, Billabong
Chris Conrad – VP Action Sports, IMG
Mel Harris – VP Motorcycle/Marine Division, Suzuki

The discussion will be moderated by Rob Campbell – Publisher of TransWorld Business

CLICK HERE to read the panelist bios

The panel will start at 7:30 sharp. Please plan to arrive before it starts.

For this panel, group Y will incur a venue fee. We will be charging members a $5 fee (non-members will be charged a $15 admission).

GROUP Y MEMBERS – If you have received an acceptance email from group Y, you are an approved group Y member. Please pre-register via our Pay Pal account in the email. If you bring someone with you who is not an approved member, they will be asked to pay $15 at the door.

We will be accepting cash ONLY at the door. We *strongly* prefer that you pay ahead of time via Pay Pal/Sure to Meet.

Thanks for all of your support,

We have four panelists joining us this coming Wednesday. They are:

Bruce McDermott – Group Director Brand Integration, Saatchi & Saatchi
Graham Stapelberg – VP Marketing, Billabong
Chris Conrad – VP Action Sports, IMG
Mel Harris – VP Motorcycle/Marine Division, Suzuki

The discussion will be moderated by Rob Campbell – Publisher of TransWorld Business

Please check out their bios below. See you on Wednesday!

Graham Stapelberg
Vice President of Marketing
Billabong USA

Graham Stapelberg started his career at Billabong as the Vice President of Marketing for USA while overseeing Sports Marketing, Brand Management, and Retail Marketing. Currently, he is head of marketing for all of North America and also part of an international marketing committee overseeing the international marketing. Billabong does business in over 65 countries and attracts approximately 48% of its sales from North America. In 2007 Billabong increased its revenue 19.7% to $1.23 billion.

Stapelberg has been involved in professional surfing for 16 years as an International Judge, Chief Financial Officer, and Executive Director/CEO for the Association of Surfing Professionals. He joined Billabong in 1998 and has been in the surf apparel business for the last 9 years while currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Association of Surfing Professionals. Stapelberg received an Honors Degree in Commerce from the University of South Africa and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Natal-Durban. He went on to pass the Board Exam as a Certified Public Accountant in South Africa.

Mel Harris
Vice President, Motorcycle/Marine Division
American Suzuki Motor Corporation

Mel Harris has been employed by American Suzuki for 26 years in positions including National Sales Manager, Marketing Director/National Sales Manager, and Vice President/Marketing Director/National Sales Manager.

As Vice President of Motorcycles, the major scope is marketing of Suzuki Motorcycles and ATVs, utilizing 1185 dealers in 33 sales districts and a sales force of 41 Regional and Sales Managers. Mel is responsible for all Sales, Marketing, and Advertising strategies to retail Suzuki Product. Additionally, he is responsible for racing activities of the five major disciplines: Motocross, Road Racing, Off-Road Racing, Enduro, and ATV

Mel holds degrees from Thompson Business School and Penn State University, and is on the Board of Directors of the Motorcycle Industry Council, and is a Trustee for the American Motorcyclist Association.

American Suzuki distributes Motorcycles, All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), Outboard Motors and Automobiles through a dealer network of approximately 2525 dealers nationwide.

Bruce McDermott
Group Director – Brand Integration
Saatchi & Saatchi

Bruce is a three-year Saatchi & Saatchi LA veteran, heading up the sponsorships, events, promotions and digital media disciplines supporting clients Toyota and EMI.

Prior to Saatchi, he did a 20-year run with Wunderman (part of Young & Rubicam Brands) as a SVP Practice Leader for promotions, retail marketing, events and sponsorships supporting clients, Lincoln Mercury, El Pollo Loco, Taco Bell and Chevron.

Since its founding in 1975, the West Coast office of Saatchi & Saatchi has been creating world-famous creative ideas on behalf of its clients. In 2006, the agency’s innovation played a vital role in Toyota’s selection as Marketer of the Year by Advertising Age and BrandWeek and as Media Client of the Year by MediaPost magazine. Saatchi & Saatchi LA is the agency of record for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., and it also serves Toyota Dealer Associations and Procter & Gamble. The LA office is the third largest in the global network of ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi, part of Publicis Groupe.

Chris Conrad
Vice President
IMG Action Sports

A graduate of UCSB with a degree in communications, Conrad began at Fleishman Hillard public relations in Los Angeles. Conrad then joined CE Sports with tasks that included day-to-day management of the Bud One Airship, as well as public relations and event production duties for the American Pro Snowboard Tour and the Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. Additionally, he assisted with the development of Destination Extreme for ESPN – the first touring property related to the X Games.

Conrad and partner James Leitz went on to form EventSource – an event consulting and production company. Clients included Anheuser-Busch, USA Rugby, IMG, Vans and Ocean Pacific. In 1998 IMG purchased Event Source – which has evolved into IMG’s Action Sports division.

Currently, IMG Action Sports assists clients with event production including the Vans Downtown Showdown, Boost Mobile pro of Surf and the Pro Tec Pool Party; it owns and produces events like the US Open of Surfing and Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon; it consults for clients including Target and Anheuser-Busch; and it manages athletes including Shaun White and Kalohe Andino.

Moderator
Rob Campbell
Publisher
TransWorld Business

Rob Campbell is the publisher of Transworld Business, the leading trade publication of the action sports industry.

Most recently, Rob served as Editorial Director for Future US, Inc. where he launched four multimedia action sports titles and oversaw all print, online, and video assets. Prior to working at Future, Rob was Creative Director for Kynetik Media and provided commercial content and consultation for clients like Honda, Slim Jim, Tony Hawk Inc., Gravity Games, Quiksilver, and more. His freelance editorial work has been featured in ESPN The Magazine, EXPN, Snowboarder, and surfingthemag.com. Rob began his career in action sports at Snowboarder Magazine, where he served as editor for almost three years, and created departments and special events that are still among the mag’s most popular today.

Rob lives in Cardiff, California, with his wife Tina Dixon, who is a television reporter for ESPN and NBC, specializing in action sports events like the X Games and Olympic snowboarding.

Thanks to those who made time for us at the ASR Tradeshow. We realize how hectic
it is and how exhausting a day on the floor can be. So, we extra-appreciate those
of you who made the effort to stop by and say hello. Also, we have to give huge
props to our friends from Red Bull -Eddie, Keith and Holly-who hooked us up with the venue and Verizon Wireless for underwriting the event.

UPCOMING GROUP Y EVENT – Oct 17th in San Clemente

We will be back at the OC Tavern on Wednesday, October 17th for our 2nd Industry Panel Discussion. We are in the process of confirming panelists, and our topic is “Action Sports and Mainstream Business: Culture Clash or Clever Combination?” As the name implies, we’ll examine successful marketing/communications alliances between action sports companies and
the larger business world.

Please look for the official invite in your inbox the first week of October. In
the meantime, if you have specific questions you’d like addressed, please send them
to for consideration us at groupYnetwork@gmail.com.

** FINAL CHANCE TO SIGN UP TO BE GROUP Y MEMBER**

Also, we know we sound like a broken record, BUT, the FINAL cut-off date for applying
for group Y membership is Monday, October 1st. After then we will be reviewing all
the applications and finalizing memberships. From then on out, you will not be on
the email list for monthly group Y gatherings unless you are a current member. Thank
you very much to those of you who have already applied and have been extremely patient
with us. You will be notified shortly of your status.

Please CLICK HERE to apply for membership and follow the prompts if you haven’t yet done so. We want to extend our thanks to everyone who has expressed both interest in and support of group Y over the last year. It has grown to levels none of us expected and we feel like we are on the brink of something big! Please continue to contact us with your ideas, comments, concerns, and questions.

Thanks for everything,
Liz, Doug, Mark, Jen and Claudia

UPCOMING GROUP Y EVENT
Please mark your calendars for the next group Y gathering – Friday, September 7th during the Action Sports Retailer show in downtown San Diego! We are excited to be pulling together a meet at ASR and are looking forward to seeing some friends who haven’t yet been able to join us! We will be meeting upstairs in the lounge at Dussini’s (275 5th Ave. – 1 block from the Convention Center), from 5:30-7:30PM.

CLICK HERE to RSVP for the event.

This event is being sponsored by:

SIGN UP TO BE GROUP Y MEMBER
If you are a past, present or future group Y participant here in Southern California, and you haven’t done so already, please take a moment to fill out our group Y application. As we have stated in recent emails, the growth over the last year has been exponential. To ensure and uphold the quality of the group, we need to make sure everyone understands the group’s mission, direction and rules.

Please CLICK HERE and follow the prompts if you haven’t yet done so. We hate to be pushy, but we need EVERYONE to fill this out in full by September 15th. If you do not apply by then, you will be dropped off our lists. Sorry!

THINGS TO DO AT ASR
Our friends from Grind for Life, Double B Enterprises, and ASR would like to invite you to the 2007 Chill Zone Lounge@ASR. Upstairs in room 14B, the Chill Zone Lounge will be open daily as a venue for show-goers to rest their feet and get some work done, recharge your laptops and minds, or meet with clients in a controlled setting either indoors or outside overlooking the bay!

Each afternoon at 4:30pm, the Chill Zone will loosen up with live music, cool parties, cocktails and great opportunities to chill before calling it a day!

Grind for Life’s goal at ASR is to help people with Cancer while working and partying! We all have been affected by cancer, either directly or indirectly—this is your chance to make a difference! The Chill Zone Lounge will be hosting a slew of opportunities to donate to the cause, including a dunk tank, raffle for prizes, sponsorship opportunities, and even a good old fashioned donations box.

For more info about Grind for Life, visit http://www.grindforlife.org

PANEL DISCUSSION AT ASR

QuikSilverEdition will host a panel discussion during the Action Sports Retailer show in San
Diego at 3:00pm on Friday September 7, 2007. The discussion, titled “The
Evolving Generation X Actions Sports Consumer and the Effects on Brand
Strategy,” will explore philosophies and strategies that professional
marketers and product developers use to target the evolving action
sports’ customer, speak to their beliefs and consistently deliver
experiences and products aligned with their values. The panel members,
who represent various backgrounds and companies, are:

. Erik Joule, SVP Merchandising & Design, Quiksilver
. Bob Carlson, Co-founder, Arbor
. Issa Sawabini, Partner, Fuse Marketing
. Staci Levine, Partner, SNL Communications
. Angelo Ponzi, President, Board-Trac
. Shon Tomlin, VP Programming & Development, Fuel TV

For more information visit:
http://www.asrbiz.com/asr/1620/conference/seminar-schedule.jsp

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the first LA meeting of group Y in August. Air Conditioned in Venice was the spot and our good friends at Malakye.com graciously provided food. Attendance was an interesting mix of regulars combined with new and familiar faces joining us by virtue of the LA-close location.

For those who have already filled out the membership form, thank you. For those who haven’t, shame — CLICK HERE to fill it out. Sorry for the extra step, but as group Y grows, we just want to make sure we can keep the invitation process moving smoothly and continue to assemble a quality group of people at upcoming events.

Upcoming Events:

September – We’ll be assembling in San Diego during ASR. Location and date are yet to be determined. Please don’t be shy if you have suggestions for locations, sponsors, dates, etc.

October – Look out for the next group Y quarterly panel in OC. The last one was a standing room only crowd and we’re aiming for another great panel of speakers.

When Tuesday August 14, 2007 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Where Air Conditioned Supper Club
625 Lincoln Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291

Cost: no host bar
Contact: group Y administrator – groupYnetwork@gmail.com

Please join us next Tuesday evening at Air Conditioned Supper Club in Venice–on Lincoln Blvd between the 90 freeway & 10 fwy.

Lite eats will be generously provided by our friends from Malakye! If you arent already acquainted with the goodness that is Malakye, check them out at www.malakye.com.

This is a standard group Y meeting (no panel this month). We are planning an informal get-together next month during ASR, and will have our next panel in OC in October.

For planning purposes and to ensure a quality group Y experience for all, we wanted to remind you about our group guidelines.

**This is a private, invite-only event. If you are forwarded this email, you MUST RSVP via SureToMeet. You may be denied access if you do not RSVP.

**Please do not bring your kids, family members or co-workers that are not part of this group.

**If you haven’t already, please re-submit your membership by taking a moment to fill out our group Y application. As we’ve stated in recent emails, our growth over the last year has been exponential, and to ensure the quality of the group we need to make sure everyone understands the group’s mission and rules. Please CLICK HERE and follow the prompts if you haven’t yet done so. We are asking that all members re-submit by the end of August, or you will fall off the contact list.

Sorry to be such sticklers, but we are doing this for all of you! See you on Tuesday!

Best,
Liz Randall, Doug Schneider, Mark Sperling, Jennifer Kashdan & Claudia Bremser

Alex Ota at ASRbiz.com did a little write up on our July gathering.

“So last night I found myself at San Clemente’s OC Tavern, mingling amongst Industry folks, seeing old friends, and meeting lots of new people. What brought us all together was the Group Y Network. Founded by Liz Randall, Doug Schneider, Mark Sperling, Jennifer Kashdan and Claudia Bremser, they describe themselves as “a collective of youth marketing, entertainment, and action sports and communications professionals who meet once a month to network and socialize.” Last night’s get together brought a slew of different people—you had a headhunter, a woman from corporate America looking to find a job in the action sports industry, someone who had lost their job and was networking and the rest of us who were there to mingle and have a couple cocktails. As one of Group Y’s founders Doug Schneider said, “We wanted to have a place where you could finally put a face to the name of that person you’ve been emailing.” Great concept. “

When: Tuesday July 17, 2007 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Where:
OC Tavern
2369 S. El Camino Real
San Clemente, CA 92672

Cost: no host bar
RSVP: You must RSVP to attend – CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Contact: group Y administrator at groupynetwork@gmail.com

Please join us next Tuesday evening at the OC Tavern in San Clemente (right off the 5 fwy at AVE CALAFIA exit-EXIT 73).

This is a standard group Y meeting (no panel this month).

For planning purposes and to ensure a quality group Y experience for all, we wanted to remind you about our group guidelines.

**This is a private, invite-only event. If you are forwarded this email, you MUST RSVP via Sure to Meet. You may be denied access if you do not RSVP.

**Please do not bring your kids, family members or co-workers that are not part of this group. If you have people who wish to be a part of Group Y, please have them sign up for membership though our website at
www.groupynetwork.com

**Please do not solicit business at these networking meetings. We encourage you to meet others and to foster a possible working relationship, but we frown on blatant attempts to push your business upon others. Our intention is to create and foster a fun AND relaxing environment!

Whew. With that out of the way, thanks and we hope to see you there!

Best,
Liz Randall, Doug Schneider, Mark Sperling, Jennifer Kashdan & Claudia Bremser