Jorli you obviously have great passion for what you speak. I've been in business for myself for over 30yrs and have employed many individuals over that time and continue to do so. It always bothers me that a certain percentage of those individuals continually speak of how I don't know what I'm doing and how if they were running the business they would sure do things differently(their way). in public I hear the rant constantly of how an employee feels they know more about their employers business and how they do everything wrong. i don't get too upset about that any more because I see how they have managed to be and employee throughout theur lives and will never be an employer. In other words Jorli......you have an opinion of how the 4 mfg's of sleds should be runing their business and in fact suggest they don't know much about the business they have created over the last 50-60 years yet you are not developing, building, or marketing in the industry. If any of the 4 mfg's believed their business would benifeit from supporting the film industry enough to warrant big expendetures towards it, don't you think they would be doing it already? It's what they do better than any one else......that's why they are still in business. Hell Jorli there isn't even a decent video out there relating to atv's and that industry is doing just fine and .....oh ya... most of those are built by the same companies that build sleds.
I believe that consumers today buy sleds based on what they know about the sled not on who they see riding them. If the film industry was as important to the sled mfg's as it is to those of us that purchase the videos they would be beating a path to the doors of producers such as yourself,Veedy, Doc Zoom and J Phelan. I think that's just the way it is.
First of all I do run my own business that involves development, production and marketing, the employee/employer relationship is nothing new to me, but a good employer will always listen to their employees even if they choose not to act on their recommendations.
What we do helps these companies and helps the sport, but we compete for attention on zero budgets against other sports that are highly competitive for consumer spending and are far more effective at communicating their experiences amongst the public. Lets face it, sledding is not spectator friendly. Please tell how an OE can communicate the experience of snowmobiling to people that have not ridden a snowmobile? How can they bring new people into the sport? Slednecks has done more to grow the sport than all the OE's combined. If I didn't see Blair whipping his sled, I would have stuck with snowboarding and probably many of the sledders under the age of 36 where drawn in by similar influences.
Lets look at the organization of the sport, between clubs, racing circuits, dealers, manufacturers, there is tremendous potential to bring people together in support of the sport, however that doesn't happen because snowmobilers can't work together. Its beyond retarded that Provincial and State Federations reject racing and any other youth oriented activity. The further up the chain of command you go in sledding, the crustier and more isolationist they get.
This attitude doesn't permeate in most other adventure oriented sports. The film side is a small part of bigger picture that is beyond stupid.
Having been the grass roots of mountain biking and seeing the same resistance from the old school there, it didn't take long for the tidal wave of profit to break their attitude towards supporting the sport in all its facets.
I think its ridiculous that a guy like KJ can't get any support, in any other sport the best athletes in the world make millions a year, he can't get a free sled to ride, and by this logic, if companies can't show how their product enhances the experience of snowmobiling, then what is the incentive for consumers to go out and drop 16K on a new machine?
The films are massive social tools that help influence consumer spending.
