10000000%
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The idea behind the “Demo” track was for anyone who wanted to get used to a new board’s acceleration and braking then graduate to REALLY demoing on the track.
Figured it was best to have a little warm up area so we could reduce the number of awkward riding on the track for others.
But next year we’ll definitely make it as big as we can 
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Announcing a formal schedule was on my to do list, unfortunately 1 of many items that just didn’t get done in time.
Will definitely get that finalized and posted WAY sooner (or at all in this case) next year.
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Just please don’t ban the water bourne surf adapter before I get a chance to race. 
I couldn’t justify the insane vegas hotel prices this time around but I’m hoping next year will be better. It would be awesome if you guys could somehow get a hotel on board in the future to get us better room rates, but I understand that it might not be plausible given the focus of the event and the fear of liability a hotel might have.
plus for my health I’d need to stay a day or two longer which would have made the trip expensive AF. Trying to fly in and out on the days of the event would have made the event miserable for me which is why it was never an option
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Thank you sir!
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Interesting. I want to see what kinda guideslines you can draft up. 4+ wheels no handlebars?
3SK8 boards surly must count as esk8, I fail to see how TLTboard and 2swift/speedboard are much different.
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We do really want to find a hotel to be our “preferred” hotel partner. The issue we had this year was that the venue wasn’t finalized as soon as we hoped (who knew renting out an entire block on fremont street would be super freakin difficult 
).
Our fear is that we’ll find a hotel and then our venue will change or something and the hotel won’t be in a super great location compared to where the event will be.
Sounds like we’ll be graduating from the Fremont Street location and go to something larger next year. Either way we’ll make an attempt at a hotel partnership again!
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That is understandable but also good to know!
I do think it is worth mentioning that I could afford it but just it is hard to justify spending two weeks pay on the hotel and flights alone. regardless of how much I actually have saved up. 
So part of it is an issue with me and less so an issue caused purely by the cost.
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It shouldn’t have to be said again but esk8 is already a super niche part of non-park skateboarding which is already super niche. Ebikes (cyclists) and drift trikes (not a sport) aren’t nearly as niche as esk8, and making any esk8 event attractive to activities less niche than esk8 will inevitably take away from our niche sport.
100%. and it was a helluva year two. I’m still tingling from the awesomeness. The vibe was so chill I was even able to walk through Evolve’s tent without anything terrible happening. And I rode the gremlin.
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I’m not sure what is available and within the budget for this graduation you speak of without increasing admission price. I felt like this location was good for such an event unless there’s substantial increase in attendance next year. It’s gated off but still exposed enough to entertain the passer-bys and vagrants, there were outlets for charging and it was an easy ride to Fremont for food on non busy streets.
Really cool to look at, but they were painful to watch “racing”
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not to mention seriously convenient with hotels and bars within walking distance. and I didn’t feel like we were competing too hard for electrical hookups. I thought it was a great location.
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WTF is that? We don’t do that kinda thing around here.
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I’m old. I have to do a lot of it or my hip doesn’t stay lubricated. Generally I lubricate with beer and walking. Often walking to get beer will suffice.
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I think that the 2 swift and that build you linked are counted as esk8. Anything with a handlebar or anything of that matter shouldn’t be allowed. His controls were on the bar and he used the bar to control the board which I think is unfair. If you have a wired remote… not ideal but better than a bar that you can use to leverage the board. The only contact should be through your feet like snowboarding. The second you start bringing in any other leverage point, you have skis, snow bikes and snow scooters.
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Perfectly said IMO
This situation is no different to toboggans and snow bikes showing up to a snowboard event.
It’s cool, but don’t let it take away from the event at all
I think in general that would be a good idea so long as exceptions could be made on a case by case basis. As in someone who physically can’t control it with normal movements alone and the bar just put them at the same level as everyone else.
I think it would be easy to tell based on how it is implemented and why it was needed so it wouldn’t be too hard to determine whether to allow it or not. Granted, I’ve not seen any cases of someone doing that before but I can see it being an accessibility feature for someone to make up for a severe physical impairment.
Even if it never exists, I think having the ability for the exception is needed to help keep esk8 accessible to everyone. Also I volunteer to vet people and help determine if it is needed if that ever comes up.
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I think keeping 10% other PEVs would be cool going forward and having that limit would allow you to really curate what cool stuff would make up that 10%.
What I and I imagine others worry about is other more popular PEVs eventually crowding out skate.
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It was a great event. Loved racing and meeting so many other riders from around the world. Not everyone posts online, so it was cool to see new boards and riding styles. Got a real feel for the vendors and people who represent them. The ones with passion for the hobby really showed.
A few reccomendations for next year -
A racer baggage check-in area or lockers.
Scheduled track time for racers/non racers/different pevs.
Signs for charging stations.
Signs reminding people to turn off their remote.
A few random ideas for next year if price and feasibility allow -
Increase the price of racer entry, but make it include regular admission. Overall cheaper than buying both.
Try a full 3 day event.
After hours con activities besides the group rides. I.e dinner, swim, drag race, vendor & rider presentations, etc.
“Fun” competitions such as tricks, dancing, and board designs.
Extra -
As for the non-esk8 pevs, I didn’t have an issue with them being there. In fact, being able to try them is also a huge plus for us who don’t have the ability to try them outside of the con. That said, having all those different things on the track at the same time was a little nerve racking.
The euc race felt like it outshined the esk8 races, but I think just because of how popular eucs are vs esk8s.
Overall looking forward to esk8con 2024, and will be practicing until then.
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This stuff here would make me seriously consider the international travel and hotel cost of going to this event.
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