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The Boardroom Co-Locates With the Vans US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach

The Boardroom is excited to announce that it will co-locate with the Vans US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, California on July 23 – 27.

Posted 2/20/2013

(San Clemente, California, February 20, 2013) A celebration of surfing, surfboards and the shapers who make them, The Boardroom will be held within the Vans US Open Of Surfing in a 50,000 square foot freestanding pavilion that will be floored, carpeted, and fully climate controlled. It will feature shaping competitions, seminars, entertainment, autograph signings and hundreds of booths filled with surfboards, legendary and contemporary shapers, surf apparel and accessory companies. The Boardroom will be a hybrid trade/consumer event with two days exclusively dedicated to retail buyers and media as well as two days also open to the general public.

"I'm psyched to produce The Boardroom in Huntington Beach at the historic H.B. Pier," says The Boardroom Founder and Director Scott Bass. "From the early days of George Freeth to the U.S. Championships to the Katin Pro-Am to the Curren v. Occy showdown to the massive southerly groundswells coinciding with H.B.'s own Brett Simpson’s back-to-back victories, epic boards and epic waves have been and will continue to be ridden at this culturally significant landmark."

Vans and event owner/operator IMG Worldwide (IMG) have announced a three-year partnership encompassing Vans' title sponsorship of the US Open of Surfing. Re-igniting the future of surfing's most prestigious contest, Vans and IMG aim to engage the surf industry back to its roots, advocating an all-inclusive, world-class surfing competition and cultural festival.

"This will be an event unlike any our industry has seen," says GLM SVP Roy Turner. "Nearly one-million people visit the US Open over its nine-day run, giving exhibitors at The Boardroom unprecedented reach to not only top retail buyers and media, but to tens of thousands of passionate surf fans."

According to IMG SVP James Leitz, “I like the idea of bringing the industry back to the beach. And what better way to be inclusive than having The Boardroom on the beach, in the backdrop of the US Open. With upwards of 300 brands, the country’s top surf and skate retailers, and business leaders from across all of action sports, this B2B component is sure to create a ‘market week’ feel for the industry.”

Leitz says the addition of The Boardroom is bound to enhance the entire US Open. “The Boardroom is a massive footprint,” he says. “It is going to be a visual destination by the shear physicality of it. Combine that with displays, premiums and promotions from the world’s top surf brands and The Boardroom is going to be one of the hot spots on the beach.”

According to Doug Palladini, Vans Vice President of Marketing, "We are really looking forward to bringing the entire surf and skate industry back to the US Open of Surfing, leading by working with all of our peers, and inspiring a whole new generation of action sports fans. Beyond that, the B2B opportunities provide even more reasons for every skate and surf brand, athlete, and retailer on the planet to be in HB from July 20-28."

As always The Boardroom will center on the surfboard manufacturer, the shaping culture, and our iconic symbol of enduring youth: the surfboard. "The surfboard will forever be the alpha and the omega of the surf industry, the surf world, and the surf lifestyle," says Bass, "because deep down surfers really only care about two things, waves and the equipment to ride them with." For more information and announcements, stay tuned to boardroomshow.com.

For information on exhibiting at The Boardroom at the US Open, contact Scott Bass at sbass@boardroomshow.com or Nikki Houston at nhouston@boardroomshow.com.

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