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Last month, this little thing called the “X Games” (oh, you’ve heard of it?) was the big talk around town here in LA.  That’s right around the time I heard about Group Y.  Working in the Marketing and Action Sports industries myself, I always love it when the two come together, so I decided to take a deeper look into the premise of this organization.  

This past week, I caught up with Elizabeth Randall, one of the co-founders of Group Y, to chat about the group she started and what it’s all about.  Developed as a group “where action sports and youth marketing come to meet,” Group Y hosts frequent panels, conferences and events for action sports industry professionals and hopefuls in the SoCal area.  Past speakers John Stouffer, Director of PR and Endemic Relations at Fuel TV, Rob Campbell, Publisher at Transworld Business, and Shana Frahm, Global PR Director at Burton Snowboards.  The short: Some pretty big names in action sports.  Simply put, Group Y is pretty rad.  

For Liz, the Group Y journey began three years ago.  Though action sports is a fairly small, close-knit industry, she still felt that there was a need for more networking opportunities.  One day, she was having breakfast with an industry friend and together they thought, “hey, why don’t we start a group for action sports industry professionals.”  Not a bad idea.  The first meeting, held in the corner of a local bar, had about eight people in attendance, and the number slowly grew from there.  Now, meetings typically average 100 - 150 attendees, including CEOs and VPs from top brands in the action sports industry, and are held at all kinds of locations up and down the Southern West Coast of SoCal.  Topics tend to focus on marketing and entertainment, but also span into sales, branding, online, and music.  And its not just the men who attend; there are plenty of women, too!  Nearly a 50/50 split on average, notes Liz.  

Group Y does some pretty cool things on their Web site too, such as “Twitter Thursdays,” interviews with top action sports execs via Twitter. Are you following Westbound Boarder on Twitter? If not, you should be! Hey, no harm in a little shameless self promotion.  For example, last week’s Twitter Thursday interview featured Nikki Scoggins, New Media/Online Consumer Communications for Vans.  

Group Y’s mot recent success was hosting the first annual Action Sports Conference, held in tandem with the ESPN X Games.  Hosted at the Home Depot Center in LA on Day One of the Games, the day-long industry conference featured keynote speakers and panel sessions focusing on action sports and youth marketing topics.  Though this was an industry first and Liz was initially unsure if ESPN would even accept their proposal, ESPN loved the idea from the start, and from there the Action Sports Conference was born.  Later, the conference proved to be a smashing success, completely selling out with more than 250 people in attendance.  Liz said the coolest part was being right in the center of the action - the conference was held on site during the 2009 X-games, BMX pros practicing their tricks right across the way.      

With the first annual Action Sports Conference behind them, what’s next for Group Y?  Well, if you’re reading this and you’re interested in finding out, you’re in luck!  The next Group Y networking mixer is coming up this Wednesday, August 26, from 6:30 to 10:30 at Split Studio in Hermosa Beach (details here).  I think I may just have to go check this one out, so be sure to find me and say ‘What’s Up’!  Don’t live in SoCal?  No problem!  Group Y posts recaps to their Web site and sends out frequent Twitter updates so people who aren’t able to make it to the meetings can still know what’s going on.

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