ASR 25th B-Day in January - See the Past, Present, and Future

ASR Celebrates 25 Years

A quarter century as the definitive show for the action sports industry commences in San Diego, with a glance to the past and big ideas for the future

Laguna Beach, CA (November 30, 2005) – ASR marks 25 years as the pre-eminent trade show in the surf, skate, snow, swim and youth culture market. For a quarter century, ASR has grown up alongside the action sports industry. Since 1981, companies and retailers have relied on ASR’s global reach to take their businesses to the next level.  This January, ASR celebrates how far action sports have come and where the industry is headed next.
 
Celebrate a quarter century alongside industry leaders and pros from past and future on Friday, January 20th in San Diego. The first night of ASR January, the House of Blues will host ASR’s 25th birthday bash! The high-fashion Elle Girl runway will host next season’s cutting-edge designs at 9. Right after the fashion show, Gunner Down, a hard-charging, ’80s-influenced band will kick things up a notch.  Long-time ASR attendees won’t want to miss a slideshow retrospective that will project the funny, bizarre and classic moments of ASR’s first 25 years.
 
“ASR is the platform for companies, trends, even the lifestyles themselves to reinvent year after year,” says Kevin Flanagan. “With the industry stronger than ever, January’s show will be a great time to celebrate what the industry has achieved and get a first glimpse of what is on action sports’ horizon.”
 
As the surf lifestyle began to blossom beyond Hawaii and the Southern California coast, the need for a trade show in the action sports world opened up. ASR spent the early 80’s figuring it out, then exploded alongside the industry mid-decade into a must attend event for brands and buyers from around the world. Over the last 25 years, ASR has made a home in various venues and even other continents. Many of the people who showed up at the first ASR shows with sandy, bare feet, can still be found on the floor, but now with shoes on, as leaders of successful global companies.
 
The action sports industry is constantly evolving, but a few things remain constant. Much of the success can be traced to the people working in this world, where their business is their lifestyle. And every six months, these people can be counted on to gather at ASR.
 
ASR’s future looks bright with plans for more events, a new ASR Holiday show and emerging brands popping up in the Boost Mobile Gold Box Mission. The world’s top pros continue to build ASR into their busy schedules, this January skaters from around the world will compete for $10,000 in Matix’s “Rack a Few” Rail Contest. While in 1981, computers couldn’t be found on ASR’s floor, today the entire show is wireless. It doesn’t stop there, in the next decade ASR plans to make doing business at the show even more productive using new technologies. Also be on the look out for more international expansion to meet global demand for action sports lifestyle products.