Since the start of the Dew Tour this past summer, ANC Sports continued its partnership with the Tour at various other stops culminating with the finals in Las Vegas. ANC operators and technicians were present for stops at the Portland Invitational in Portland, Oregon; the Toyota Challenge in Salt Lake City, Utah; and the Dew Tour Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the month of August, ANC’s Bob Snavely was on site in Portland, Oregon alongside operations manager Joe Matrone to set-up the signage for the various Dew Tour stops. Each event is unique and provides its own set of challenges. In Portland there were three different sites. The first was the Rose Garden arena, outside on the bowl and riverside for BMX Dirt. The one challenge in Portland was with the three distinct locations, planning became difficult. However, ANC allocated the appropriate resources to ensure that the set-ups at each site were done in a timely manner. Rotational signage was moved daily with work concluding between 3-4 AM each day.
The following month, ANCS’s Mike Magaletta was on site for the Dew Tour stop in Salt Lake City for the Toyota Challenge. Every Dew Tour stop has different courses and presents different challenges for ANC. In Salt Lake City, the operators were working with three different venues. The Vert Ramp and Skate Park were set up inside Energy Solutions Arena in addition to a Dirt course outside in the parking lot two blocks away. Much of the most challenging work goes on behind the scenes and never gets seen by the public. The rotational signage is the last piece to be placed because work on the courses must be completed beforehand.
The Vert Ramp always proves very difficult because the technicians need to get 12 250-pound rotational display units up a 15 foot ramp onto a 5 to 7 foot wide deck. In this case, the ANC techs were able to maneuver a fork lift into a very tight spot using K-turns to get our crates to the top. In the past various techniques were used from walking them up staircases to lifting them using ratchet straps. The dirt course was interesting because the ANC representatives got to work alongside TJ Lavin who designed the course. There was limited space between jumps so attempts were made to place signs got the most television exposure. Minutes before the event, TJ decided the signs should be moved and all four technicians were actually on the course running a sign between jumps and riders.
Skate Park presented similar problems space wise. As soon as the signs were placed, NBC cameramen had issues with a few so minutes prior to the event techs were scrambling to find room just before start and found spots that were mutually convenient. Another common challenge is dealing with riders resting bikes and sitting on top of signs during the event. The technicians often stand with the riders on the course with a roll of tape because of the expectation that eventually a bike or skateboard will go through a sign and this is exactly what happened during the skate park event. During intermissions any necessary repairs are made without television cameras catching any mishaps. Overall Salt Lake City was a success and all sponsors were very happy with the presentation.
Following the Toyota Challenge, ANC’s operators headed to Las Vegas for the finals in October. Joe, Mike and Bob arrived on Monday October 10th and immediately began surveying the vacant property near the Hard Rock Hotel. They also took inventory of all the equipment that had arrived from ANC’s Atlanta warehouse. The offsite location would host the BMX, Dirt and BMX Park events. Adding to the unique nature of each event, the Vert Ramp was actually suspended above the hotel swimming pool. Over the next two days, the ANC’s team set-up the Skate and BMX courses across two parks. Also, banners were placed featuring title sponsor Go Daddy and rotational units were tested. After the layout was complete, on Thursday the ANC team operated BMX Park and the preliminaries. Over the course of the weekend, a concert, BMX Park Final and Skate Street Final took place. After those events concluded, the team broke-down each park while the Dirt Final was taking place. The following day, there was one last Dirt event after which was broken-down and all equipment was ready for shipment. Adding to the unique layout of the Hard Rock Hotel, all equipment by the pool area had to be hoisted by hand as the location could not support a forklift. Everything was staged by hand and carried off by hand. Sunday evening, the truck arrived and all equipment was loaded to be shipped back to the Atlanta warehouse.
ANC was intimately involved with the Dew Tour and ensured that all equipment was properly placed ensuring all sponsors received appropriate television exposure while ensuring that the equipment would not interfere with the performance of the riders. Check back next year for updates on the 2012 edition.
