Most of us lurkers and the brave listers, have known and enjoyed the value of sways for some time now.
Some have left and some have returned but all who have come out of the dark to actually post have made a difference in one way or another including Roy and Paul…
Somehow in this current time and place I believe the value of Mike’s cyberspace invention has just risen exponetially.
Probably a good time to enforce the “Check the Archives!” rule, as I predict they will be coming here in hoards now.
Also things may get a bit more “commercial” with the sales of Sways gathered info… That could be a danger in itself to this wonderous place as well.
Sway’s time has come and it ability to make it biggest impact here…
We all need to do what we can to calm the frenzy and supress the panic.
We need to do what we can to keep it going too ($)
Somehow in this current time and place I believe the value of Mike’s cyberspace invention has just risen exponetially.
I did a fast pass here earlier this morning and after a couple of uneasy hours decided to hook up the old computer that I can still post from…
Between the internet news and a couple of California newspapers and one L.A. morning news show I have to mention that the closure of Clark Foam is being seen from “legit journalism” as a story broken by Surfer Magazine. The Los Angeles Times went to SIMA spokesmen for comment. SIMA is the trade organization for retailers and clothing and accessory manufacturers. The other big source of info was Clark’s fax.
100% without fail what I have seen or heard today portrays Clark Foam as a gross criminal polluter who got caught, and uses his own letter out of context to support this notion. It is done simply and quietly and probably not even with mailce, just the usual modern journo “Entertainment Tonight/CNN” lightweight half-assed effort.
Things may get really ugly in the surf world for a while over this. I could easily forsee a lot of heat headed in the Swaylock’s direction. I would strongly advise Mike and the Moderators to work up a statement in advance, and Greg and maybe even Bert should do so as well. No matter how heated discussions have become around here, every one of us with any surfing experience of significant duration have used Clark products. Greg’s resin could be used with Clark products. My read of the previous 5 billion pu/pe/Clark posts leaves me with the impression that this current sea change or churning was more likely expected to have come from EPA edicts about resins, not foam production. Usually such industrial businesses are “grandfathered” into local zoning - clearly there was more involved in targeting Clark.
Having the “leading spokemen” of surfing still be part of the surfing-industrial complex allows them to really attack hobbiest/backyard/freelance/freethinkers. Maybe instead of slapping tariffs on imported boards or materials they support slapping taxes on domestic production under the outward guise of environmental stewardship, with the trade protection eye on maximizing retailer profit margins. The powers that be are only interested in selling clothes anyway.
Maybe some of you logo/clothing designers can add some t-shirts and stickers to the swag shop offering: “Free Grubby”. You probably won’t sell many to people who strap their boards on the car nose first, but what the hell.
Yes thank you Mike, information is gold these days for many people, and Swaylocks has always been a goldmine. Evolution will be driven in some way by Swaylocks, that’s sure.