Dec
30
Wired: Bicycles are a good gadget for hard times
Filed Under Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
As part of my continuing effort to call out and celebrate efforts by the non-endemic media to promote bicycles and cycling in a positive way, here comes Wired magazine again. As I’ve written before, I’m a big fan of their blend of tech and social issues, which is essentially what a bike is: the result of (and constant source of inspiration for) technological innovation and an agent for social change.
Their latest mention of the bicycle is in the piece entitled “12 Good Gadgets for Hard Times.” Our beloved bike is in there along with other gadgets with HDTV, USB, PC and GSM in their names. In their own words, these choices:
Don’t cost a huge amount, have lasting utility, aren’t likely to break or wear out quickly, and will continue to be useful even when the infrastructure around them is crumbling.
With that in mind, here’s our list of gadgets that will be handy in case the economic recession becomes a full-blown depression and turns iPhone lines into bread lines.
And, by the way, you’ll notice that the bicycle is one of their few choices that make it through the typically vitriolic comments section unscathed. An enlightened choice, I dare say.
Kudos as well for highlighting the practical Xtracycle.
Dec
29
Social Media Primer for Bike Retailers
Filed Under Blogging, Interbike | 11 Comments
Here’s a cop-out post from me today so I don’t finish up the year with such a long posting drought. Been going through the annual holiday season blogging doldrums here. I’ve had some fleeting topics for posts over the last few weeks, but between the work of getting things going in earnest for 2009, the drain that the holidays themselves can impose and continuing allure of the 140-character-limit Twitter as an easy networking and communications tool have all conspired against this now seemingly long-form medium.
Now it’s a cop-out only in the sense that I didn’t craft the content. Having been somewhat ‘offline’ since leaving for Christmas, I was catching up on what’s been going on in the Twitter bike world and saw a post from Chris Matthews about a “gift” he made for Bike Shops during his spare time. Chris works in the marketing department at Specialized Bicycles and writes an insightful blog on issues related to “bicycles, business and the bicycle business.” He put together a nice brief, yet thorough, introduction to social media specifically geared toward bicycle retailers. As a fellow believer in the opportunities that SM can provide a business and brand, I created the Web 2.0 and SM seminars at this last Interbike for the same reason that I assume Chris wrote this.
In preparing for the seminars, I struggled to find a retailer taking advantage of SM to participate in the panel. The online communities are obviously populated with many active cycling enthusiasts. Members of the media also seem to be early adopters of these relatively new tools, and manufacturers are not too far behind for the most part (with many notable absentees). Retailers, though, are few and far between and they have so much to offer the cycling community online. As Chris writes, with the challenged economy that’s upon us, retailers really owe it to themselves and their businesses to use these free marketing tools to help weather the storm and thrive:
I noted recently that there are very few bike shops that are taking advantage of free Social Media marketing that’s available to them. This is stuff that ANY bike shop can and should do, and in times of scaled back marketing budgets, the practicality of it makes it extra sensible. However, if you’ve never used it before, it can be rather intimidating.
Here’s how he wraps up his primer and sums up the benefits of SM:
Through the strength of active and passive referrals, by becoming involved in the daily lives and conversations of your customers, and by extending the reach of the activities you’re already investing time and money into, Social Media can offer your bike shop an absolutely free way to grow your tribe, and remain strong so that you’re there for your tribe when they need you in the future.
Well said, Chris. Read his post and download the pdf of his “Social Media for Bike Shops – A How To Guide” at his blog, “Chris Writes”.
Retailers?
Dec
9
NYC Bike Polo Fashionistas
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News | 4 Comments
Because of some of the other markets that we here at the San Juan Capistrano office of Nielsen Business Media produce tradeshows in, I get trade magazines from a variety of industries. The main focus of my job is Interbike and the bike industry, but pubs like Fishing Tackle Trade and Footwear Plus are a part of my job, too. It’s fun when one of these seemingly unrelated industries cross-pollinates with bikes. Just had one of those.
As has happened more often than not, recently, bike culture in non-endemic media outlets has tended to be of the urban/fixie persuasion. That’s understandable given its trendiness. The latest issue of Sportswear International, a trade publication in the apparel industry, however, drills down a bit to focus on the bike polo scene in New York City. Who knew they were so stylish?
The photo piece highlights fashions from non-bike apparel companies like Stussy, Tommy Hilfiger, Wrangler, Carhartt and Woolrich. Bike-specific fashion was represented by Trackstar and Swrve.
The magazine doesn’t have any content from the issue on its website www.sportswearnet.com, so all I can do is point you to the website that seems to be at the center of the NYC to be one of the centers of bike polo activity and that is featured in the piece: Legit Bike Polo. Check it out and learn how to make your own BP equipment. I guess I have no excuse now not to check out that bike polo league I’d heard takes place down the coast from me in Del Mar, CA.
Did you know that there was a bike polo gathering in Vegas this year at Interbike?