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Is Sponsorship a Sin?


BillA

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...The Internet poser’s world is hazy: he passes off sporting sub-disciplines for the real thing, hints at things he might do, under-reports the results of things he has done, foregoes events that offer genuine competition, short-strokes reps in the gym, refuses to use objective measuring tools (perhaps to evade the truth), and contrives virtual challenges through which he draws an apparent association with the legitimate event and its participants. This shit makes me sick.

 

It’s common for climbers to embellish or under-report their activities. Guys pull on gear when no one is looking and call it a free ascent. Others traverse around the hard sections and claim to have done the route, or do ice routes in Grade 5 conditions but broadcast their climb as Grade 7 since that’s how hard it was during the first ascent. I once thought that behavior restricted to the sport I lived and loved but attention-whores who spray half-truths and hype to attract an audience are everywhere.

 

I should have grown out of caring about how others behave, especially when it doesn’t affect me. I haven’t. Some days I am petty and when I discover words or actions that diminish the value of a sport or discipline or ideal I care about I get pissed. Today is one of those days.

 

Usually, I don’t care what others do as long as they truthfully say what they do. But insecure people decorate their achievements, “interpreting” the truth to drag it within reach, which devalues the accomplishments of those who respected the truth. The Internet poser polishes his turds to garner approval. Blogs make this more convenient than ever. Anyone can be anything. “Friends” post comments telling the blogger how great he is, which alleviates his need to convince himself. If it’s posted in the “comments” section it must be true...

 

MFT

yeah marc twight...he doesn't know anything about selfpromotion/bullshit... :rolleyes:
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Rock and Ice, Climbing, and the Alpinist are cool mags. The establishment and growth of modern climbing communities is largely due to advertisement. Climbing is a personal adventure of body and mind but as a culture, business motivation has had a significant impact.

 

I wouldn't change the culture or anyones community even if I could. I'm happy that there is so much development and so many people to share to love of climbing with.....and sponsorship is a part of that.

Brrr....humbug. Advertising does not "establish" communities. Advertising promotes awareness of climbing. Climbing gyms then act as the economic engines allowing folks to act on that awareness and sustain a relatively steady-state annual tidal flow of new bodies. Some of those new 'climbers' join or form 'communities', both real and virtual. Me? Being totally misanthropic, I'd be all for about an 85% overnight slash in the demographic, but that is never going to happen so long as the gyms and drills are powering the whole affair.

but we gotta keep a route safe for novices that might stray on to them because of a misleading guidebook write up, right? :rolleyes:
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Sponsorship is only defensible when the degree of self-promotion is equal to or less than the significance of the achievement. When Good Climber does something Rad and says, “This is Rad”, that’s fine. Kudos. Too often though, Wanna Be Famous does something mediocre and says, “This is Rad! Really! I swear!”

 

Define "rad"?

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Clearly we all need to exhibit a little more humility like Mr Semple and Mr Twit.

 

to wit:

 

"Semplicity is the cyber-portal into the brain of Scott Semple. Topics range widely, but the ranting is usually limited to common themes: Scott’s pursuit of — and others’ disregard for — quality, effectiveness, and (most powerful of all) efficiency, in work, play and life."

 

 

What a bag of dicks...

 

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I know lots of people who have been given gear to climb with. It does not matter how good they are as long as they are active and social. The gear pretty much speaks for itself. So sponsorship is probably similar. As with all marketing, a specific demographic is targeted.

Same goes for the "bullshit". Just look at the demographic being targeted and count your blessings.

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disingenuous, pls lets stick with sponsorship, not entire advertising and promotion budgets for companies. for a company that produces gear, giving some out free isn't free, but it isn't terrible. Every company I've worked for parts with extra 'product' a lot easier than it does with cash.

 

but hey, I'm sure if you take the number of items sold by mountain hardware or black diamond and then divide the amount each spent on sponsorship across the number of items, it comes out to be a statistically significant amount.

 

"pro form" gear and free gear is a statistically significant category and constitutes minor level sponsorship - the distortion of the retail market being especially irritating

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Wow, I never knew so many people didn't read or like Climbing, Rock & Ice or the like...Climbing for instance based on the Skram Media report I get in my email says that their readership has had a dramatic rise in the recent quarter or two and is still increasing....these readers must be all the "newbs" since none of the climbers on here read it or subscribe...shit I must be paying my own paycheck by subscribing to Climbing to study the "pretty" photos so I can take better photos and get published more often. This is sad...

 

My inspirations for my photography are guys like Micheal Clark, Boone Speed and Gordon Wiltse all who have been published numerous times in various mediums...

 

If I find someone to step in front of my camera and I do the image justice with my "skillz" then I want to submit it. I hope no one has issues with the photogs that shoot the "media whore" in an attempt to make a paycheck..... ideally I want to write about it too...

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Many of us have been sponsored at one point or another in our lives.

 

I've heard from an industry insider that Chris Sharma makes about 20K a year max. and everyone else makes less. Many spnsored atheletes get a jacket patch, free shoes or ice tools.

 

If you rep for a company, you work your ass off for even less.

 

Aparently no one has ever made as much as Patrick Edlinger ever did back in the day. Some say no one ever will make as much as him.

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most of the fun in creating tr's for me, aside from stroking meself, is in reliving and preserving the memory so, 10 minutes from now after i've seen somethign shiny, i can actually remember w/ some detail how the fuck i acquired all these new scars :grin:

 

spot on, LOLZ!!!!

 

This you knows. The years travel fast.

And time after time

I've done the Tell.

But this ain 't one body's Tell.

It's the Tell of us all.

And you got to listen it and 'member.

'Cause what you hears today,

you got to tell the newborn tomorrow.

I's looking behind us now,

into history back.

I sees those of us that got the luck

and started the haul for home.

It lead us here and we was heartful

'cause we seen what there once was.

One look, and we knewed

we'd got it straight.

Those what had gone before had knowing

of things beyond our reckoning. . .

. . .even beyond our dreaming.

Time counts and keeps counting.

And we knows now. . .

. . .finding the trick of what's

been and lost ain't no easy ride.

But that's our track.

We got to travel it.

And there ain't nobody knows

where it's gonna lead.

Still and all, every night

we does the Tell. . .

. . .so that we 'member who we was

and where we came from.

But most of all we 'members

the man who finded us...

...him that came the salvage.

And we lights the city.

Not just for him...

...but for all of them

that are still out there.

'Cause we knows

there'll come a night...

... when they sees the distant light...

...and they'll be coming home.

 

 

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