Jackalope Mississauga - 2024
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The Setup at Jackalope 2024 Needless to say, this was a massive event and undertaking. The City of Mississauga hosting an extreme sports festival of this magnitude says a lot about how far skateboarding has come. It is no longer a fringe sport for a select few - it has become a massively popular activity, growing in demographics where it lagged in the past. Seeing more women involved in skateboarding events is truly inspiring, and being part of a festival that celebrates skateboarding in the community was an amazing experience. We are so thankful for the City of Mississauga, all of the Sponsors and the Jackalope crew for bringing this event to the area, and inviting us to be a part of it.    |
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The Art on Deck Booth Getting invited to have a booth at Jackalope2024 was a true honor and privilege. The event staff we super friendly and welcoming, allowing us to prepare and set up ahead of time on each of the 3 days. Our booth location was great as it allowed us enough space to set up our board displays, and table for assembling custom completes on site. We also featured a few original art pieces, and custom clothing pieces for sale by our guest artists Tekty and Moving Comic Factory. We were very proud to showcase some amazing brands from across Canada and the USA.      |
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My Amazing Helpers - Moving Comic Factory & Tekty It would have been impossible to pull off a vendor tent without help from my amazing crew - Brady and Vince aka Tekty and Moving Comic Factory. These guys helped out with setup, transportation, their own time and effort. At one point, during a freak thunderstorm, me and Vince helped hold the tent down from being blown away. It was a truly scary spectacle. As a way to say thanks to my crew, they were allowed to also showcase and sell their products commission-free. It was really awesome to help represent local talent. One of the competition winners was blessed with a custom-painted skateboard design by Vince aka Moving Comic Factory. He was painting this deck on the fly under huge duress in the middle of a thunderstorm. What an unforgettable experience!      |
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Custom Completes Nothing is more fun than assembling custom complete skateboards for customers, and seeing the happiness and joy they have walking away with a brand new skateboard. From recommending different parts and helping customers choose different combinations of products, each custom build is just as exciting as the last. No skateboard is exactly the same, which makes it highly personalized and unique. Some customers brought decks to us they had purchased from other vendors, and asked us to help customize them with trucks and wheels. Here are handful of the custom builds we did for our amazing customers:     |
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Vendor Booths One of the best parts of Jackalope 2024 was getting to meet other vendors, and talking with them about skateboarding and sharing their excitement and passion. It was a stroke of fortune, the vendor booth next to us was Afternoon + The Motif Brand, two brands which we carry and support. Getting to talk to the owner was insightful and inspiring. Getting to meet the owners of CoMaCan, ColorBlind, Ride Skateshop, and Les Plancheux was a real honor. We were truly amazed at the dedication of these other vendors, many who had traveled from other Provinces to be a part of this event. We were so busy with our own booth, that we didn't get a chance to meet all of the vendors, however we were able to capture a few photos.     |
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Closing Comments All in all, Jackalope 2024 was a huge success. One of the common bonds we felt from our own experiences and sharing stories with other vendors - is that skateboarding businesses are involved for the community aspect and love of skateboarding way more than they are for trying to make a profit. All of the vendors I spoke with shared a commonality of wanting to be share the love of skateboarding with others. This was something I really cherished, as it helped me feel less alone when it comes to trying to survive in this very challenging market. See you again at Jackalope 2025! |