By Jess Ponting
It has been a busy summer at Surf Park Central! We have been dialing in Surf Park Summit 2024 and we listened to all your feedback and as a result, it is shaping up to be the best Summit ever. This year, outside of keynote presentations and awards there will be three rooms running in parallel, so there will always be something of interest to you going on. We are running fewer, smaller panels, and more case studies, and we are sharpening our focus on surf park financing.
There are so many new components and innovations coming in this year that it’s hard to communicate them effectively over short social media posts. So, I thought I’d go semi-longform here and spell some of it out for you.
Last Hurrah at Scripps Seaside Forum
It is very likely that this will be the last Surf Park Summit to be held at the Scripps Seaside Forum. It will be our fourth, largest, and final iteration of Summit in La Jolla so be sure to make the most of the oceanfront setting.
Surf Park Summit 2023, Scripps Seaside Forum
VIP Event
We have an epic VIP planned this year with a focus on finance. We will be including a handout of key data points from our 2024 consumer trends survey for VIPs (more on that soon). Our opening speaker for the event is Craig Stoddart, former CEO of The Wave and one of the few people to have traveled the lonely road from the conception of a surf park all the way through to a successful exit, only to jump back into the fray with six new projects in a consulting capacity. Craig will be focused on his learnings across all the projects he’s worked on with regard to unlocking financing.
Craig’s presentation and Q&A will be followed by a workshop led by an amenitized activity-driven lifestyle real estate design and development group that we will announce in the coming weeks. The group will lead us through several hypothetical surf park destination pro formas and VIPs will work in small cross-sectoral groups to strategize and game plan approaches to positioning projects for funding success. Several surf park debt and equity investors will be in the room to contribute to discussions.
Finally, we will transport our VIPs to the beautiful Tower Beach Club for an evening of networking, drinks, world-famous San Diego-Mexican cuisine, and music.
Tower Beach Club, site of the 2024 VIP Networking Dinner
2024 Consumer Trends Data
Summit will kick off with the presentation of 2024 surf park consumer trends data. We are collecting this data right now and would love your help to distribute the survey as far and wide as possible so we can provide you with the best possible data.
The survey is now live and available to be taken in English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. It takes around 5 minutes to complete and participants may opt in to have their name drawn to win one of four US$150 gift cards. The survey can be shared by using this link https://bit.ly/SurfParkSurvey and/or the QR code in the graphic below. Please feel free to grab this graphic and use it in social media posts to promote the survey.
Surf Park Sharks: The Ultimate Pitch Contest for Surf Park Entrepreneurs
A new addition to Surf Park Summit in 2024, this Shark Tank-style pitch event is designed for five selected surf park developers to present their projects to the Surf Park Summit audience and a panel of real surf park investors. The contest will be held on October 1st at Surf Park Summit, and the winner will be announced and awarded prizes valued at $15,000 during the Surf Park Awards Ceremony on October 2nd.
Judges include: Jeff Berg, Executive Chairman of Surfline and CIO at Matador Capital; Orion Corcilius, Managing Partner at Vendever Capital; Craig Stoddart former CEO of The Wave and Managing Director at Stodcap Advisory Services; and Sebastian Smith, Managing Director of Acquisitions at STORE capital. More judges will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information visit: https://www.thesurfparksummit.com/
To APPLY NOW: https://share.hsforms.com/1z_QI6eKFTfmcUlqWGm2w9Abuiyf
Surf Park Awards
Surf Park Awards are back! Applications are open to any companies and individuals representing existing surf park developments, owners, operators, designers, technology manufacturers, and industry suppliers across the categories of
Sustainability
- Environmental Impact
- Sociocultural Responsibility
- Education and Awareness
Innovation
- Originality
- Implementation
- Measurable Impact
Democratization & Accessibility
- Inclusivity
- Affordability
- Reach and Engagement
We are also accepting nominations for the Surf Park Summit Leadership Award which was won last year by the father of surf parks, Tom Lochtefeld of Surfloch. In addition, this year the winner of the Surf Park Sharks pitch competition will be announced at the Surf Park Awards ceremony. Click here for more information and to apply.
Tom Lochtefeld and the Surfloch team taking out the 2024 Leadership Award
We are getting really excited to bring this year’s Summit to the industry and bring the growing, global surf park family together again. Make sure you get your tickets secured before they sell out. Prices increase after August 15th so get in early, and become a Surf Park Central member to save an additional 20%.
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