If Steve at Exit making a huge stink about the last video had something to do with this video update, great. Us skaters do have to revolt and be heard to get things done. I think it is only a testament to how important the bigger picture still is to many skaters and skaters in the industry alike.

Oh and Koston, thank you for that sweet message at the end. It warmed my holiday heart.

What does an Ad cost in a Magazine? I would say probably $3,000 and that is for 1 month. Berra willing to give your shop a year of Advertizing on the biggest website for skating ever and you think that $5280 is too much?

Ok so here is the argument that Berra makes it sound in his video that the program is there to help Skate shops, but does not mention the cost?

Please Berra needs to make money as well and its clear the Owner of Exit is using his “We cannot afford as much as nocturnal, you won’t help us” as a ploy to get advertising by being the small guy. You want to see through something . see through that guy because pretending to be a victim here is see through. Nothing in life is free and for the price of 2 months worth of Magazine Ad’s Berra is willing to put your shop on blast for the entire skate world to see.

My opinion he is helping the little guy.

Good job Exit!(not that I think your intentions where disingenuous)

the whole religion argument is kinda weak.
xenu vs. zombie jesus? religion arguments are dumb cos you cant argue against a persons belief structure and making fun of them is just hitting low. however.

if the berrics were “helping out” they would be donating loot to groups providing support for skateboarding directly. helping out means kicking down money for concrete. helping out means renegade spots.helping dudes make rent if theyre hurt. the berrics helped out nick mullins and they should get credit for that cos that was a stand up thing to do.

i may have a different definition of helping out, but buying into a “help program” doesnt sound right.

this whole thing could blow over by a simple word swap, which is the funniest thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp4CZFt3Qbs

From Encyclopedia Britannica

“If you’ve ever been to the Berries site, you’ve probably noticed rhe Anonymous Content image on the wall. Anonymous Content is a production and management firm that represents, promotes, and creates content for clients ranging from websites to actors to music videos and films. They manage Steve Berra, who brought up the idea of a site for his park, and together they’ve created everything available from theberrics.com. Anonymous is also in chaise of payroll for the park’s employees. 5. Active Ride Shop is the only sponsor besides Anonymous tbat has had a Ic^o on the wall. Steve and Erie wanted to have the park be a neutral space so everyone can film there without feeling impinged upon. Active was allowed …”

“hey, the frickin bandwidth is killing me here…we need support” I think you’d have a lot of shops come on board. Or maybe not.

To my way of thinking, the Berrics started out with a “if we build it they will come” as a business plan. Unfortunately, with the web, that usually takes you down the path of “now that they have arrived, no one wants to pay.”

I think mostly everyone appreciates your hard work and the investment…but a lot of skate businesses don’t want to support or can’t support many of the marketing efforts out there. That’s just the way it goes.

Full disclosure would have worked better – now you are just getting what the CIA calls blowback…

And one other thing: Steve, you are running into a bit of a slippery slope with the statements about core vs. mall shops.

For example:

West 49 (Canada’s version of Zumiez) is in a ton of mall stores…and West 49th sells Berrics gear…

Then again, most of the industry seems to have no problem saying how much they appreciate core shops while at the same time unloading massive amounts of product into mall stores.

It’s like saying you’re just a little bit pregnant…

I suppose I know enough about some friends in the industry that I could believably impersonate them online. But that would be an incredible betrayal, not to mention time consuming. So to answer your question, “censored” probably is Salman but there could also be a very sick man out there pretending to be him, albeit, not using Mr. Agah’s name directly.

Somehow, I can never see Ed Templeton getting involved in this kind of mess. He’s been around for blah blah blah, and he’s still blah blah blah. I’m just ramblin’ here. There’s plenty of blah blah, and this is starting to sound like that Gorillaz song.

Fuck it. Time for the East Coast to rise. The Northwest gets my respect, too.

We don’t know this. Honestly. Yes it is a bit odd to have 69 in her username, but assuming anything is, well… Ass U Me. Let’s try to keep this respectful and not bash any other commenter personally. It gets us nowhere.

Things are still happening and this story is still developing.

Yes, believe it or not, some people strongly believe what they say here, whether you agree or disagree. I don’t think anyone is a “faker” if they actually buy into all of this.

Charging for advertising is not the main issue here. It is the delivery and devaluing of shops that don’t pay into this, whether due to finances, or opposition to the program.

So you’re saying this is all our faults for not assuming Berra was full of shit? You are incorrect on that regard too. Most of us suspected something was fishy. As an adult I “KNOW” your business as well–probably a Berrics cronie. “69″ in the screen name and you resort to sexism in the end? Sounds like Agah in drag.

I also apologize for not reading through the whole post, thus avoiding this post :P. I agree fully with haveboard

I like the content on the Berrics and a lot of things the Berrics does. I don’t agree with the video associated with the Berrics Unified.

The use of the phrases “helping out” and “So you know who the important skateshops are” is what stinks here.

http://www.berricsunified.com/plan-selection.php

Not hidden or anything

Also: This is my first post on this site, I really like theberrics and I am going to continue watching their site.

It was obvious (maybe just to me) from the beginning of berrics that, as far as their website was concerned, would become a strong source of ad revenue for them. There’s nothing wrong with that. But this is different. Skateboarders are family and look out for each other. The shops and companies and skaters should work together to make this grow properly. This doesn’t help.

It’s a little funny bringing in the whole scientology thing, but it IS relevant, making these shops pay indulgences is silly. And I think you should just say fuck it. $5280? yeah right dude! let me break my tax returns out…shit.

this is really distant from my relationship with skateboarding. Steve is in the right. This makes me feel more distant from the west coast than ever. It’s silly. Let them do their thing. Your shops not going to flop because it’s not listed on the berrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz08JTrtXd4

This video WAS misleading the common child/skater. The video states that shops shown on the berric are the “important” shops in the community. Money does not buy importance, and I hope your children one day understand that. PLUS as much as you would like to believe this video was to show your kids to “stand up for what you believe in, its okay to disagree and helping others is admirable” You are WRONG.

This video was a recruiting video for more shops. I may be wrong, but did the end of the video state “If your a child and think Steve Berra’s awesome send us a message.” No it was a video directed towards struggling shops who need help.

Saying the BU showcases “important shops” and that his system checks for “smart and willing people that it is excluding from participation” .. is comical and a bit sad at the same time.

To the shops out there reading this:
Theberrics.com has an Alexa ranking of 3,800, making it easily the most highly trafficked skateboarding website online – http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/theberrics.com – this site has more traffic than any skate mag, brand or rider site.

Obviously, if you aren’t selling online… my entire point will be moot but – IMAGINE if you could place a FULL PAGE AD for YOUR SHOP on the most HIGHLY TRAFFICKED skateboarding website online… and it only cost $5k for the year. If you have any fucking ounce of eCommerce in your game, do the math:

(5280/50) / 12 = 8.8
$50 = Average Skate Shop Sale
$5280 = Berra Unified Ad Cost
12 months
8.8 sales a month is what you would have to make from your ad in order to break even.

If you can’t make 8 sales a month off an ad that looks like this:
http://berricsunified.com/CA/defy/
…

Hey I hear you, it’s funny to me to, hey it’s strange to me too but we’re talking about practice man, we’re not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we’re talking about practice.

It’s not only misleading to the customers but more importantly misleading to the SHOPS. From what we have heard tons of shops have inquired about the project, and were shocked to find out the thing cost money.

Advertising = Good
Making Money = Good
Misleading the people your suppose to be helping = Bad

Just Sayin