Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!

Happy Birthday Kool-Aid Krew!

It was a year ago today that I put the first post of this blog together. A simple little announcement that a new, mouthy kid was on the block to spout off about the bicycle industry and marketing related to cycling. In the space of this past year, the site has had ups and downs and lots of great dialogs- even if the posting has been very sporadic.

When I first started this project, it was just me, but I had the idea of a group blog from the very beginning because I felt it would have greater credibility to the industry itself if it was made of more than just my one opinion. I have no shortage of opinions, but I believe a diverse array of voices will better serve the industry I love so much. From the beginning, this project was targeted at the industry itself, but with an open forum that would be available to the general public. It was my belief then, and still is now, that this type of discussion and dialog will help to draw more people in to what we as an industry are thinking and doing- hopefully growing more interest and further growth for the business of cycling.

I am very proud of what has happened here so far and I am very excited about what I hope will be the future of this site. Things will only get better from here on out. A few of the early contributors have left due to busy schedules and a desire to focus on their core work. However, in their absence, some new voices will be joining us. I'm very excited to say that the dialog and conversation here will continue to expand and enlighten. All of the people whose names have been and are still on the right hand side of this blog are great people who I am very happy to get to collaborate with on this project. Though I started this thing and have given myself the koolest title, each of these folks are as important to the success of this site as I am. It is truly a group thing.

In the past we've had some great interviews and that will happen again. I will be searching for some great conversations and have a few lined up already, so be prepared. If you have suggestions and contacts, please feel free to submit them to me (tjackson at masibikes dot com). Though this site was not intended to serve as a news source, since I feel there are others who do that far better than us, news will continue to creep into the posts here. Analysis of the big stories in the industry will continue to evolve here and hopefully more discussion from other members of the industry. We have a great readership of folks within the cycling industry and I am going to continue to beg and plead for those readers to comment and add to the dialog here- your voice is what makes this worthwhile.

As an industry, we've managed to survive another year almost- doping scandals, tradeshow buzz, etc, etc. Too many things to even begin to try and list in depth, but in the end our tiny little voice continues to cry out. We may be a small industry in the grander sense of things, but I feel that we represent some of the greatest and brightest folks around. I am very passionate about what I get to do for a living. I love my job, I love my industry and I love the sport and lifestyle of cycling. I've stayed in this business for the better part of 25 years now. It's really the only thing I actually know anything about. It has kept me in its grip because of the people I have met along the way- many of those people are readers of this site or hopefully will be one day.

Bicycle sales in the US continue to do their usual rollercoaster ride with some categories up, some down and the overall market currently up a little under 10% year to date. I personally believe that the industry as a whole should continue to grow (and I really hope I'm right), so we'll continue to be less and less marginalized as we represent more dollars and more people continue to view cycling as a legitimate part of life, rather than just expensive toys.

So I hope you'll continue to stop by and take a look at what is happening over here. We're going to keep doing our thing and hopefully continue to improve on it as well. The site will get some updating, new contributors will be added, little tweaks will be happening. But most importantly, we're going to keep trying to further develop a place for the bicycle industry and the outside world to get a chance to talk to each other.

For the entire Krew here- thank you for making this one year mark possible. We'll try to make it to two with your help.

Tim Jackson
Chief Kool-Aid Dispenser

Posted by Tim Jackson at 10:30 AM