Wakesites and Slingshot Launches the 2009 ‘Design Your Ride!’ Contest

Wakesites and Slingshot ‘Design Your Ride’ Contest involves participants in the design of a special edition Slingshot wakeboard graphic for 2009.

San Diego, CA, February 09, 2009 – Wakesites (www.wakesites.com) today announced it has teamed with Slingshot Sports (www.slingshotsports.com) and Friend2Friend (www.friend2friend.com) to launch an exciting contest that gives participants a chance to “Design Their Ride!” Wake enthusiasts and other creatives can participate directly in the  design of a Special Edition Slingshot wakeboard graphic for 2009!  Submitted designs will be featured on MySpace and Facebook via Friend2Friend’s “ProductPulse” social media application, enabling widespread visibility, voting and commenting for all brands involved.

ProductPulse is a social application that allows users to give their “quick take on things.”  Users vote on products and give their opinions, which then circulate among their friends and the crowd.  In the “Design Your Ride” contest, users will be able to select their favorite Slingshot wakeboard design, write comments and share with friends.  As a result, these creative designs will receive tens of thousands of votes, and expose Slingshot’s line of cool wakeboards to millions of Facebook and MySpace users.

Participation is easy. Get started by going to Wakesites “Design Your Ride” (www.wakesites.com/designyourride) and then download the official template.  For those not interested in submitting designs, they can vote for their favorite design at Wakesites and enter for a chance to win the Special Edition Slingshot wakeboard!  Voting is also available directly to members of social applications like Facebook and MySpace who have installed the ProductPulse (www.productpulse.com) social application.

When designs are submitted, Wakesites ensures they meet the pre-determined design guidelines and then displays them on Wakesites.com, Facebook and MySpace, providing excellent brand and product exposure for Slingshot.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” said Paul Nobles, Founder and CEO of Wakesites.  “Social networking and user generated content are two of the most important themes playing out online today.  To be able to leverage those trends in a wake-oriented social media campaign aligns perfectly with our vision of creating a dynamic, online community of wake sports enthusiasts.”  

“Slingshot is thrilled to be a part of such a unique social media program,” said Mira Kwon, Marketing Director at Slingshot. “We recognize the growing importance of engaging our customers in the communities where they hang out online—that’s increasingly on sites like Wakesites, Facebook and MySpace.  We’re looking forward to checking out some cool board art soon and selecting the 2009 Special Edition design winner. “

Slingshot Wake will review submitted designs and their respective votes and make the final decision on the winning design.   The design winner and a randomly selected voter will receive a Slingshot wakeboard with the winning Special Edition graphic.

About Wakesites
Wakesites is a community for wakeboarding and wakeskating. Riders, Media, and Industry provide wake-related information and opportunities to the community and collectively help grow wake sports. Founded by Paul Nobles and legendary rider Josh Smith, Wakesites was built for riders, by riders. Wakesites provides a place for companies involved in the sport to show their products and services and interact directly with wake enthusiasts. Wakesites partners with rider operated companies determined to expand the excitement and appeal of wake sports.

About Friend2Friend
Friend2Friend connects people and products across social media.  It’s portfolio of social applications on Facebook has engaged over 1.5M users.  Over 11 million recommendations on 50 thousand products have been shared to date on ProductPulse, Friend2Friend’s premier social application.  Friend2Friend also helps bring brands and retailers into the conversation—activating advocates, seeding products, targeting offers and building buzz—all within the largest communities online.  Friend2Friend has run social advertising campaigns for top consumer brands including:  Linksys (a Cisco company), Bacardi, Kohl’s, Sony, The North Face, Timbuk2 and Mountain Hardwear.  

About Slingshot Sports
Since 1981 Tony Logosz and his brother Jeff have dedicated themselves to the performance and design of quality water sports equipment. Years of hard work and innovation, that is spawned from their ability to think in original ways, is what fuels Slingshot today. Since then Slingshot has grown to be a global brand which caters to top kiteboarders and wakeboarders in the world. Their team of dedicated employees, loyal customers and professional athletes is what makes Slingshot a success.