table of contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction and Overview...Page 2
How to Spark a Fire / Day of Event Guide...Page 3-4
How to Maximize WitS for Media and Beyond...Page 5-6
Manifesto...Page 7
Emerica’s Wild in the Streets: An Introduction and Overview
Emerica’s Wild in the Streets is the attempt to gather skateboarders of every age,
color, and creed to converge on city streets around the globe in the celebration of
pure skateboarding.
Taking its cues from a diverse history of “organized coincidences” and happenings
such as motorcycle rallies, Reclaim the Streets festivals, and Critical Mass bicycle
rides, Emerica’s Wild in the Streets is an unconventional skateboarding event born on
the streets of New York City in 2004. Even jaded New Yorkers’ jaws dropped at the
sight of hundreds of skateboarders invading Manhattan en masse. The premise was simple: meet up with the Emerica team at Autumn skate shop in the East Village and go
street skating with them at selected downtown skate spots, eventually ending up at
KCDC skate shop in Brooklyn for a blowout block party complete with BBQ, mini-ramp,
street obstacles, and the Mother of all raffles. Louder than the subway rumblings New
Yorkers have grown accustomed to, the thunder of over 400 skateboarders taking to the
streets turned heads and even forced impatient NYC traffic to a complete halt as the
procession proceeded from Spot to Spot.
Following the New York City event, Wild in the Streets went global with a massive
session in Athens, Greece. The Athens Wild in the Streets incorporated best trick
contests at a series of real street spots, which proved to be a successful idea with
the Kids.
In 2005, Emerica will launch the first-ever, truly world-wide, simultaneous Wild in
the Streets event, on June 21, the first day of Summer in the northern hemisphere
(and also International Go Skateboarding Day).
Ultimately, Emerica’s Wild in the Streets is nothing more than a bunch of skateboarders riding around together, going from one spot to another. But the incredible thing
is that, in attempting this simple task, so many important and interesting questions
come up. Why have skateboarders been marginalized by society and harassed by lawmakers? Why do conventional skateboard events seem to consistently misrepresent pure
skateboarding to the masses? Why have skateboarders’ needs been historically neglected in city and park planning? Is it not possible for skateboarders to come together
in their respective communities and make their voices heard?
The goal of Emerica’s Wild in the Streets is to build community and raise awareness
of skateboarding and the needs of skateboarders. It is our hope that Wild in the
Streets will someday take on the character of a large-scale, decentralized grassroots
movement for the benefit of skateboarders everywhere. We hope that this simple template will help accelerate the spread of Wild in the Streets events to other cities,
and will provide interested parties with the information and materials they need not
only to set up their own Wild in the Streets event locally on June 21, 2005, but for
anytime and anyplace thereafter.
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Emerica’s Wild in the Streets: How To Spark a Fire
Pick a Location, Time, and Date
Choose an initial meeting point. It should be a spot that skaters know, to make
things easy. For Emerica’s Wild in the Streets in New York, we met at Autumn, a skate
shop right across the street from the TF, a well-known spot. If you pick a skate shop
as the meeting place, make sure to include them in all of your planning. For
Emerica’s Wild in the Streets in Athens, Greece, we met at the most famous skate spot
in town. This worked well, but be sure not to pick a place that is an immediate bust
or that may cause complaints from local businesses.
The time and date are important. Make sure it is clearly communicated. Being on time
is critical, since staying in one place for too long may create problems with business owners or law enforcement.
Align with a cause
There is power in numbers, so let your voices be heard. What is your cause? A
skatepark in your town? A local charity? Make sure you let the local media know about
the event: a Wild in the Streets event is a great way to raise awareness for a good
cause in the local skateboard community. See enclosed guide to media involvement.
Announce It
Copy and distribute flyers, announce on local websites, do anything to get the word
out! Try to make sure that every skater in the community is aware of the event before
it happens.
Be vague on the exact itinerary or route you will be following. You do not want to
let people know beforehand where you will be going or you may find Johnny Law waiting
for you when you arrive.
Be Prepared!
Create another batch of flyers (“Day Of” flyers) to pass out on the day of the event.
These flyers should detail the itinerary and routes you will be taking from Spot to
Spot. A map is a nice touch. It can be hand drawn and have recognizable landmarks
(i.e. street names, fast food restaurants, etc.)
Make sure the Spots aren’t too far apart. Remember that in addition to skateboarding
to and from each spot, you’ll be skating at each spot, so don’t get carried away.
Ideally, all your spots should be within a 2-3 mile or 4-5 km radius.
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Try to give yourself an hour or less to skate at each Spot and about a half hour or
less to skate to each Spot. Then do the math and put the exact times you’ll be at
each Spot on your “Day Of” flyer, beginning with the initial meeting time. That way
if someone gets sidetracked they know they can meet up with the group again at Spot X
at 3 p.m., or whatever.
Make sure the final meeting place and time is clear. In the event that something happens along the way that separates the group, if there is a known final meeting point,
you can all regroup there and finish the day together.
Mix it Up
Plan fun stuff along the way. Anything from impromptu Games of SKATE or Best Trick
contests at each spot, to give-a-ways from sponsors, to finishing the day with a barbecue or block party, like we did at KCDC skate shop in Brooklyn for Emerica’s Wild
in the Streets in NYC. Be creative. You might plan to end at the local skatepark with
a barbecue, or at the local shop with a video premier. Have a party!
Day of Event Guide
Be Safe and Have Fun!
On the day of the event, there needs to be at least one person who knows the plan,
and who takes charge of the event. His/her responsibilities include:
• Handing out the spot lists/flyers/maps
• Instigating the skates from spot to spot, to keep things moving along on schedule
• Managing product giveaways, best trick contests, Games of SKATE, etc
• Act as point man in case of problems or injuries.
There may be younger kids around, so having at least one responsible person is a good
thing to do.
Under all circumstances, use your common sense and never instigate conflict or allow
yourself to be dragged into confrontations of any sort. The goal of Emerica’s Wild in
the Streets is to uplift skateboarders and skateboarding within your local community.
Don’t let external or internal forces drag you down. You will only be falling into a
trap, and setting back the cause. Remain above it and remain free.
Even if only three skateboarders show up, you will have achieved an incredible feat.
You’ve made three new friends in your local skateboard community. And if you keep it
fun, there will surely be more at the next Wild in the Streets you organize, and more
after that. Never doubt your own power; you are the spark that creates the fire!
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Making your Wild In The Streets, event media-friendly in just a few
easy steps
These are simple suggestions: feel free to do as much or as little of these ideas as
you feel comfortable with.
Getting Started
Newspapers and Local news stations like stories that they think their readers and
viewers will be interested in. If you’re in a smaller town, the fact that local kids
got organized enough to create a skateboarding march through town may caause a lot of
local interest. In a bigger city, that may not be enough: you may need to have a
worthwhile cause involved, or create more of a human interest story.
Discuss logistical elements with others planning the event. Think like a reporter and
a photographer to try to ensure good photo opportunities—what would your parents want
to see if they were reading a newspaper article about local kids?
Be Knowledgeable
Select and invite key people in your skate community to be spokespeople who can talk
to the media about your event. This should be someone with relevance in your group.
They should be familiar with your work, and understand and be conversant with all of
the details of Wild in the Streets.
Collect any relevant community information regarding skateboarding or action sports
that will help give you a tie-in to local news. For example, in Philadelphia where
this year’s main Wild in the Streets event is hosted, there is controversy surrounding
a legendary skate area called LOVE Park, which many local news outlets have covered.
This information will be included in our media background material that we provide.
Basically, ask yourself, “how can I use this local information to make my Wild in the
Streets event more newsworthy?
Have A Hook
A PR hook is the angle that makes a news story worthwhile to the editor. If you’re
raising money for a skatepark, or raising money for an injured friend, or a worthwhile
charity, editors are far more likely to pay attention to your story.
Contact the Media
You can look online or in the phone book to find contact information for local TV and
radio stations and newspapers. Call or email the editors, or walk into the office, and
tell them what you’re doing, and why. If you’re shy, try to have someone who can speak
well to call for you, so that the message will be communicated clearly. Do not underestimate the power that a well-spoken young person has on adults. If your parents are
supportive of you and your skateboarding, have them get involved. Your community may
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have cable stations who do news or public affairs programming – include them as well.
Think ahead when planning your media contact—news editors are more likely to give you
attention if they see that you are thinking responsibly.
Confirm fax and e-mail addresses of media you have targeted for alerts/advisories/
releases. Determine the most preferred distribution method for each media outlet.
Don’t hesitate to send the alert to more than one person in each news department.
Remember that newspapers, radio stations, and TV news broadcasts can do stories before
your event to get the word out, too, and then cover the event afterwards. If you want
to get every skateboarder for 50 miles to come skate your spots, this is a great tool
to spread the word.
Tools and Media Information
Media Alerts are sent out three weeks before your event to all newsrooms.
Media Advisories are sent out the week before and the week of your event to all newsrooms.
News Releases are sent out the afternoon after your event, with photos.
Take (or have taken) digital photos of the event.
with your news release.
Select 1-2 great pictures to e-mail
(End of day) Fax and e-mail release to all media personnel on your list, whether they
attended or not. E-mail photos to those interested. This will ensure maximum exposure
afterwards.
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Wild in the Streets: a Manifesto
Wild in the Streets is the attempt to gather skateboarders of every age, color and
creed to converge on city streets around the globe in the celebration of pure skateboarding.
We declare that skateboarding is no longer a spectator sport. We believe in demolishing the invisible barriers that separate pro skaters from the rest of us. Wild in the
Streets is comprised of all equal participants.
We also contend that conventional organized skateboarding competitions and events
are, in effect, a misrepresentation of skateboarding, safely and conveniently repackaged for mainstream corporate consumption. Wild in the Streets is about challenging conformity.
And we acknowledge that the very society that has marginalized us as skateboarders is
now formally engaged in the penetration and misappropriation of our original and distinct skate culture. They, in turn, feed it back to us as more mind-polluting product
propaganda. Wild in the Streets is about reclaiming ownership.
Wild in the Streets asserts that the pure essence of skateboarding is in the ability
of skateboarders to successfully reinterpret their existing environments to create
fun. We are about taking skateboarding back to where it was born—in the streets.
Together, we can defy convention and reject skateboarding’s image factories and the
trends marketers use to divide and categorize us based off the length of our hair, or
the cut of our pants. Wild in the Streets is about transcending these petty, trendbased diversions.
Together, we can be our own representatives to the world and bring awareness to our
own collective needs. The spectacle of hundreds of skateboarders converging on city
streets around the globe has an impact that cannot be denied. Wild in the Streets is
about doing it ourselves.
But Wild in the Streets does not seek to gather to solve the world’s problems. We
know we couldn’t, even if we tried. The primary purpose of Wild in the Streets is
pure and simple: fun. This is, and always will be, first and foremost, for this is
skateboarding.
Defy!
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