Spin Master toys is launching a Tech Decks MMO (massively multiplayer online game) this summer.  So, when it’s raining you can still skate (and chat) with friends – from all over the world. 

Getting tired of simply meeting (and trying to annihilate) new friends on Halo or Runescape?  Soon, you’ll be able to travel the world with them – virtually, of course.  Double Fusion is working on Journeys “a virtual world that recreates desirable destinations from the real world – allowing travel fantasies to unfold for Web users” according to an old Media Week (12/3/07) I found under my desk.

Hmmm.  Don’t know if Amsterdam would be quite the same….

I snowboard at a little mountain that’s barely 15 minutes from home.  Sure, there’s a bigger one and an Intrawest resort about 45 minutes away.  But I can be on the snow in less than 30 minutes so I can get in an extra hour of riding.  In the night, I can ride until the lift stops at nine and still be home and in bed at a reasonable hour.  Oh, and my season lift ticket is less than half that of the Intrawest ticket. 

Anyway, a boarding friend of mine was teasing me the other day about riding on the smaller mountain.  I asked him, “When was the last time you rode?”   “Last year,” was his reply.   It’s unfortunate for him that the “big mountain” blocks his view the fun to be had on a smaller hill or even in the back yard rise (we built a small practice rail in our yard this winter…).

I just finished reading a great piece in Mar/April issue of fly fishing magazine American Angler that relates to this very topic.  Titled, “Just an Average Day,” it was written by William Tapply, author of several mystery novels including, most recently, One-Way Ticket.

I plucked four key sentances from the piece.  Imagine your sport when Bill writes “water” or ”fishing” and you’ll get the full flavor (without the fishy taste) of an “average” enthusiast’s passion.

“Unless you fish only a few times a year, pretty soon the specific memories of any particular typical day on the water begin to blur and mingle with all the other more-or-less average days until you’re left with a fuzzy kind of happy feeling about fishing.”

“It’s the aberrant, non-average times that provide us with our most vivid, specific memories, whether it’s catching the biggest, or the most, trout of our life, or getting skunked in a drenching rainstorm, or falling out of the boat……”

“What’s ‘average,’ of course, is relative to our expectations, which we subconsciously – or maybe consciously – adjust for the water where we’re fishing, the time of year, the weather forecasts, and the reports from the locals.”

“If I had the time and money to travel the world questing for the best fishing it had to offer, maybe I’d look at it differently, but I do sometimes find myself feeling sorry for these guys who don’t really understand what ‘average’ means and wouldn’t know how to have fun flicking an Elk-Hair-Caddis onto the currents of a little New Hampshire stream where a twelve-incher is considered a pretty nice fish.”

“The world Bicycles market is projected to reach in excess of US$61 billion by 2010″ according to a piece in today’s SportsOneSource.com.  The info was pulled from (a press release announcing) a market intelligence resource Global Research Analysts business report.  The Asia-Pacific region, for example, accounted for over 47% of the 2007 Bicycle market and is expected to grow 6% by 2010.

“Adults Bicycles forms the largest segment in the global Bicycles market, accounting for an estimated 44.17% of the total.”  Global Research Analysts used sub-categories under Adults Bicycles include Mountain bicycles, Hybrid Bicycles, Touring Bicycles, and Specialty Bicycles.  Although they don’t specify in the release what they are the ”Sports Bicycles segment is forecast to grow at a strong CAGR of 6.15% over the 2001-2010 period.”  

One “bicycle” they predict will grow is electric bicycles.  China is the largest producer and consumer of electric bicycles.  It doesnt seem likely to me that electric bicycles will make any huge gains in the US (remember mopeds?).  According to Wikipedia, each state makes its own rules for electric bicycles meaning one bike company may need to design bikes for different states each according to their own standards.  Doesn’t seem practical or profitable….

Unfortunately there is no mention in the media release of US market size, growth predictions or BMX and youth bikes.  But then, of course, the release was intended to spark conversation and interest in the $3,950 report – and apparently (if you are reading this) the pr/marketing folks did their job! 

Just a random number I happen to know…. the craft and hobby industry in the USA is almost $30 billion.   That’s half of what the global market for Bicycles will be by 2010….and that’s a lot of yarn, glue, paint, fabric, pins, sewing machines, scrap-booking supplies, etc.

eMarketer.com reported today on the Luxury Institues study regarding the affluent and their increasing use of online Social Networks.  Comparing January to January 2008, US Affluent ($287,000 HHI or more) Adults increased online Social Network use by 60% and are members of three online social networks!!

And, nearly 30% of Facebook users and 22% of MySpace users came from households with at least $100,000 in annual income according to Neilsen Online report from last year. 

So, are you trying to reach the affluent customer?  Maybe it’s time to dig into social networks. 

Outdoor Business Update from SportsOneSource.com mentioned the SIA’s Executive Market Summary retail audit today which notes that snow sports sales for August to end of December 2007 were up!  Yippee!

Chain stores sales were not tracked in 2006, but increased +25% compared to 2005.  Specialty stores and Internet increased in dollars over the same period last year was +15% and +47% respectively.  Yes, that’s a 47% increase in dollar sales via the Internet channel. 

But, don’t go charging to the Internet as your only growth or marketing strategy.  In a recent article, eMarketer and analysts suggest that, “online sales growth has more to do with incumbent online buyers increasing their e-commerce spending rather than increasing new online buyers.” 

Reducing energy use and green house gas is certainly a smart move but unfortunately no good deed goes unpunished….

According to a Q&A article I just read in the magazine “Fine Homebuilding,” compact flourescent light bulbs (CFLs) – regardless of all the green marketing – do have some ecological drawbacks.   A quick search came up with this NPR item on the subject.

CFLs, like other flourescent bulbs, have mercury in them.   Mercury is known to cause damage to organs, immune systems, unborn, and young children…  Particles of mercury (fallen from coal fired power plants) build up in tiny animals in lakes and streams which are eaten by larger carnivorous fish.  Eventually, some of these larger fish have suprisingly high levels of mercury.  You can find info on your local fish from you state’s fish and wildlife department.

Ever hear of the phrases, “mad hatters disease” or “mad as a hatter”?  Remember the “mad hatter” in the Alice in Wonderland story?  Well, (don’t ask me why but) felt hats at the time these phrases were born (17th & 18th century) were made with mercury in them…  The hatters, or retailers of hats, got mercury poisoning which effected their brains.

CFLs, according to the article, contain about 4mg of mercury compared to 40 mg in a normal flourescant tube.

Unbroken CFLs shoud be recycled, which can be challenging in many places.  Start by going to www.epa.gov to learn more.  A recent piece in March AARP Bulletin noted that you should open the windows and leave the room for 15 minutes if you break a CFL. 

Or, you could just have a Bud Light (that was horrible)….