Local Flavor

Since 2007, I’ve been involved in longboarding and skateboarding.  I’ve been highly active in the online community, watching trends come and go.  I’ve been one of maybe a dozen longboarders on a campus of thousands of students.  Since longboarding as a trend EXPLODED in 2009 (unfortunately, the year I took off of the board), there are TONS upon TONS of longboarders everywhere.  So many new, small companies have popped up in my state, so it’s really bizarre seeing this many small companies out of Michigan.

Working in a skateshop like I am has given me a very interesting perspective on how peoples’ minds work in relation to fads like longboarding.  I’ve seen people who are ALL about the local brands, as well as people who couldn’t give two shits about local stuff.

I just can’t get over how many Michigan-based longboard companies there are.  Off the top of my head, I can think of enough companies to build a complete board…trucks, wheels, bearings, even griptape and hardware.  I guess it’s weird to me because, like I said, I’ve watched the scenes explode on the east and west coast, while states like Michigan have gotten the snub quite frequently.  To share a bit of anecdotal evidence, I threw a well-publicized event in the fall of 2008, and couldn’t get a lot of the California-based companies to sponsor it because it was in Michigan.  I got a few East Coast companies to throw down, but I just couldn’t believe the bias against the Midwest!  I know I’ve touched on it before with my post on Social Media, but longboarding has snuck into the mainstream using the internet and word-of-mouth, and I think this is a reflection of what is happening in Michigan…the scene has actually grown itself, with minimal outside effort.

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