This was the the 50th anniverary of the US Open Of Surfing. With Hurley as the title sponsor, it marked the return of the event's surfing roots, and boy did Hurley go big. It was almost like a coming out party to say Hurley has arrived. You saw Hurley's name everywhere, from the retailers' large window displays on PCH, to Hurley buoys, event merchandise, banners alongside the Pier, Hurley beach umbrella stuck in the beach, and large surf event flags. Nike, Hurley's and Converse's parent company, just took over the event by putting in the Nike 6.0 BMX arena and the Converse skate bowl.
I spent some time with the locals at Huntington Beach, the workers at Jack's Surfboards and HSS, and guests to get their impression. Overall almost everyone agreed that this year, the event was bigger and better than years before. There were more stands in Surf Stadium, the nice touch of a live screen on the Pier, walkways, more space and organization. Unaminously, the locals agreed this year had the biggest crowd. It drove foot traffic into the stores with high conversion to sales. HSS had a record breaking volume of sales with the majority of men buying exclusively Hurley products. In addition this year's guests really enjoy having the top world class surfers, Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Mick Fanning, Rob Machado and others, coming out and competiting in the Men's bracket. Course, their appearance probably had to do something with largest surfing 1st place cash prize of $100,000. The stars aligned for the event: massive triple overhead swell, $100,000 first place cash prize, top surfers, a major surf brand as the title sponsor. To cap it off, a local surfer and Hurley team rider, Brett Simpson won First Prize!
Generally, the locals and surfers were overjoyed to see the event has a surf- related title sponsor. It made more sens because Bob Hurley, founder of Hurley, started as a shaper before working with Billabong to bring the brand here in the US. He knows surfing and the industry. Further, this year's event merchandise felt more special with t-shirts design of the HB Pier. Hurley went to bank with advertisment this year with event posters, programs, and Hurley Girls passing out giveways such as hats, sunglasses, and beach umbrellas.
Even though the US Open of Surfing ended a few weeks ago, the memories of it are still fresh. As a volunteer, I spent a lot of the time behind the scenes. Throughout the 9 days, I sometimes was at Info Desk at the Welcome Center and got plenty of positive feedback from guests. Comments ranged from "Wow this is great! Thank you so much for putting this one" followed by a handshake. "Hurley really went big this year." "You guys did a great job. Can't wait for next year." Guests seemed to really enjoy themselves and were very impressed of the grand scale. One VIP guest commented, "This year, the VIP area was much better. We were treated like VIPs. There were drinks and food available, not like years before where there was nothing except the higher view."
Also, the Open's webcast was a great success. Users did not have any problems watching the main event. However, many did note that they would of like to see the webcast of the Juniors draw in the early days of the event. The US Open of Surfing website was very user friendly and had a cool look to it. Online users were also kept updated via Twitter and Facebook.
While there were plenty of positives, there were a few negatives. Guests noticed there were less booths and give-aways this year. In addition, there was no Motorcross which was a very popular attraction the previous year. One big criticism was the situation with trash. One local commented, "There should of been more police force issuing citations for littering. There were just so many trash and flyers everywhere, completely covering this parking lot. They needed more trash bins. They should have volunteers picking up trash. In weeks to come, it will just all get blown into the ocean thus polluting it even more and adding to the problem." From working the event, I know this local was referring to The Strand and Main Street area. The beach was kept as clean as possible; Rainbow Disposable had a large crew on the beach. There is some validity to this point though. Huntington Beach is just a small portion of California's 900 mile coast line that sits on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. All the trash not picked up will eventually end up in the ocean. In nine months time, through the trade winds and currents the trash will end up in the Pacific Garbage Patch. The Patch, for short, is a surface area about size of the United States of trash just floating on top of the surface right in the middle of the Pacific. If you can wrap your mind around that size, you can then only imagine the range of environmental issues and the difficulty of trying to get rid of it.
So how can the US Open of Surfing get better next year aside from addressing the two issues above?? One suggestion was more prize money, but I think Hurley can pull some strings and get Bar Rafaeli to make an appearance. She is the practically the female face of Hurley. Can't wait to see what Hurley brews up for the Hurley Pro in September.
Contributions by:
Employees of Jack's Surfboards, Terry
Employees of HSS, Keaton
Huntington Beach Vistors Center
Locals of Huntington Beach
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