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At what point is sponsorhip not worth it?
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So, I'm currently with this small company. Last year was great, except some of the other riders abused their privileges, so this year we're all getting new contracts. Pretty much, us team members are going to be doing lots of video blog/ photo blogs/ tent events/ competitions for only one outfit this year... picked out by the marketing director. The biggest issue, is that I don't think the owner and marketing director really get freeriding (there are skiers and riders) or the industry (they're ex-racers who don't do what all of us do). As kind of the girl on the team who organizes everything... is all that work really worth it for one outfit?
I've been sponsored for years now (mostly as a telemarker), and I"m totally willing to put in my share and more... if I feel that my company has my back. I don't feel like this one does.
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if you aren't liking it, it's not worth it.
i was sponsored for downhill/freeride MTB, and this summer i just quit, they wanted too much from me and it was interfering with my life outside of biking. being a pro biker vs. living life the way i want to, i chose my life.
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I say tell them all of that and see what they say. If they agree and change some stuff well then they have your back if not dont sign and find a company that does have your back.
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well basically you gotta kinda look at it like a job if you are required to be at all of these events. If so, how many hours will you spend working and how much does this one suit cost? does it pan out to a decent hourly wage or does it even make minimum wage. If its a company still in its infancy pushing to get larger, it may take a little extra work and sacrafice, but if they don't see themselves getting much bigger than they are it doesn't seem worth it. Pick up a regular job and buy the suit yourself or pro-form it, could be a lot cheaper and less time. Whatever you do, don't let it ruin your love for skiing! Hope that helps!
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^ exactly. it's like at what point has she signed us on to be a marketing team, and at what time does that take away from us being riders.
I'm willing to buy my clothes. I just like having a part in the industry and pushing the women's role in it. But when it comes down to it, I'm not going to whore myself out to companies and make skiing a stresser. It's skiing. It's simply supposed to be that.
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sounds like you've figuired out what you gotta do!
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sounds shitty to me if you have to work that hard just so that you can get one suit that you will then be stuck wearing all season. If you don't mind paying for stuff it'd be a lot nicer to be able to rock whatever stuff you want. Unless you think it's a company you want to stick with for a while and it will get better in the future I would ditch it for sure. I mean ti's a lot to ask just to have you rock only 1 suit all season... what are you supposed to do if you want to hit urban but your jacket and pants are soaking wet from skiing pow all day? fuck that.
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or just go along with it and just wear other shit whenever you feel like it and if they complain about it tell them to give you more shit or deal with it. you'll either end up negotiating and getting a better deal from them or getting dropped, doesn't sound like you would mind either of those outcomes.
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i'd bet you can throw some leverage around if you want more form the company... see what you can do to make it worth your while and if not, well you've got options.
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Opportunities....thats what it's all about, i guess along with gear to cut costs, which helps a ton.
But can you see yourself getting helped out in the near future through the company exposing you, helping you get to comps, setting up photoshoots etc.....
If you're only getting one suit a year, but are you getting opportunities to get exposure for yourself....
I'd stay with it to be honest, just see if you can re-negotiate the whole one suit, picked by them. Ask them if you can pick it. Skiing is about fun.....remember that.
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Hey you nailed it right on the head.
Many of you forget you work for a company. You have a contract. You are looking out for your interests and they are looking for theirs. The point of a contract is to ensure both parties agree on specific points and commit to those points.
The trend of companies taking as much for as little as they can pay and athletes/interns taking as much a they can for as little as they can give seems to be in the spotlight. Thanks for shedding some of that well-needed light on an issue rarely in the public eye.
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you want to find something that both you and the company agree on so you are both happy
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sounds like a lot of work for just a suit, I would look at what kind of deal/exposure they will be offering you if you move up in this company..
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I've never been sponsored but if I were you, I would start keeping your eye out for a different outerwear company. Don't feel like you HAVE to stick with them forever. But most sponsored people seem to stick with a company until a better offer comes up and that can take work/networking. Same thing happens with a real job, most people stick with a shitty job until they can find a better one.
It depends on how they are treating you, but if you can stick with it and start winning some competitions and getting their name out there more, then you might be able to pull some more weight. I mean depending on how good the outerwear is, most goods suits seem to cost at least 500-600$ altogether, so thats not a bad deal to get it free. I wish I got a free suit and could save my money, I might just end up using old shit just to save money cause I don't really NEED one, it is nice having new steeze, but....
IF the marketing director gives you like the shittiest setup they have, call him up and be like "WTF?!! This is unacceptable. Im not going to waste my time for crappy outerwear" for example. If they aren't willing to make it right, then you might need to just quit then I guess. Put it into perspective for them.
But shit, you are lucky to have so many sponsors. You must be a badass!
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if they are going to have you standing around promoting their crap you should ask for an hourly wage on top of the one measly suit they give you
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this doesn't sound like a sponsorship really, more like employment...except you'd be getting paid with one suit that you can't even choose. based on the amount of work you'd be putting in outside of skiing (which is the whole point of being sponsored, right?), you'd probably make more money than the suit is worth if you were actually getting paid. that was kind of a run-on sentence but i couldn't figure out how to say it more simply haha.
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only when they take your soul
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well if youre doing all this work i hope theyre actually paying you over the top of one outfit. if you are sponsored for your riding all you should have to do is ride where they tell you to. but if you are doing their jobs and not getting paid for it then its just not worth it. but don't straight up quit talk to them about it and see what they think. since you are the girl you have a little more leverage than most of the just talented guys. they need to realize that starting a small business and making it bigger takes a lot of work by themselves and they need to be able to do that.
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You could make enough money to buy the suit, I assume, working a shitty job for a few weeks.
Economically it makes no sense for you to accept the terms of that sponsorship. You need to evaluate whether "being sponsored" is worth being a cheap slave.
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i wouldnt. i mean yeah you make your sponsors happy, but you shouldn't be a slave to them for just one suit. its got to be mutual to a point. drop dem asses.
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thanks for the input...
i think i've pretty much made up my mind. you see... i have small companies that are going bigger places, and they stick w/ me and i stick with them. we support eachother. and I ultimately understand that they own the business, but I own myself. And for contracts w/ my bigger companies, we all know where we stand and we put it all out there. I'm just not sure if this current company is going to keep changing expectations on me.
i make enough money to buy my own shit. and i'll still compete and shoot for my other companies w/ or w/out a clothing company.
here's a lesson for all the aspiring sponsored skiers... just make sure you don't lose sight of what this is all about. SKIING. if a company doesn't see it that way. it's not worth it
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Talk to some other companyies. Get some offers from them and then tell your current sponsor that you've been made these offers. Either they'll up their support or you leave them for the other company.
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fucking word. why did you agree to be sponsored in the first place? probably cuz you get free shit, because it would be sick to be a sponsored skier, and because you have a sense of accomplishment. bottom line IT MADE YOU HAPPY. why would you do something that didn't make you happy if you didn't have to do it. think about it...
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mmmmm, reminds me of my friend last winter (snowboarder) he was riding for smith, and at first the guy seemed really cool he said, and he got a hat a t-shirt a helmet and goggles. After a couple weeks into the competition season the rep started being a big dick and said if my friend didn't wear all of the shit at every competition he would stop the sponsership. So my friend wrote him an email saying if he didn't get some more shit he would leave, (my friend is a dirty snowboarder) he would leave smith. So the rep was like, "we can't give you anything else but we would really like if you stayed on the team and next year we'll see what we can do" so my friend left and went to ride for DC.
I thinks it's all a matter of how badly the company wants you on their team, and, if they do something for you, maybe you'll do something for them and put out some good edits or whatever, and if not, their obviously not commited and you could find someone else to ride for
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