SOPWAMTOS Is Back For 2005!
Interbike, Las Vegas, NV, September 28-30, 2005 -- After a long hiatus, the
Society Of People Who Actually Make Their Own [censored] (SOPWAMTOS) will once
again be presenting the coveted Golden Toidy awards! Founded in the early
90's by Bruce Gordon of Bruce Gordon Cycles and Mark Norstad of Paragon
Machine Works, SOPWAMTOS grew out of a general dismay at the amount of
outsourcing going on in the bicycle industry.
Mark and I were driving back from Freidrechshaffen Show in Germany to Basel,
Switzerland, recalls Gordon. It seemed as though we were the last people who
went and set up a show booth, manned the booth, and also made the products.
We were grumping how everybody farms out their work to Taiwan and then claims
to do it themselves. The goal of SOP was to point this out and keep some of
these people from claiming credit for something they didn't do, adds Norstad.
Based loosely on the Oscar Awards, the Golden Toidys are given to industry
members and companies who have violated the secret SOPWAMTOS decree. Have
you been claiming to have invented the 29" wheel? You may be in line for a
Toidy. Or perhaps your company has mistreated its vendors. Please step up to
the podium!
After several years of having to bear Vegas without SOPWAMTOS, many SOP fans
were wondering if there would ever be another Golden Toidy ceremony. Enter
Sean Walling from Soulcraft Cycles. "I have been a big fan of SOP since Mark
and Bruce came up with the idea in the early 90's", says Walling. "I wanted
to see it make a comeback. The Vegas show has become stale and although I
didn't think it possible, I got tired of half naked girls making coffee and
cheerleaders holding CNC'd bike parts. It was time for SOPWAMTOS. With the
blessings of Gordon and Norstad and help from Soulcraft, Timbuk 2, Screen
Specialties, and a host of other SOP supporters, SOPWAMTOS has risen from the
ashes and true to its mission will be naming names and revealing the lies
behind the hype behind the deception.
Awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, September 29th at 3:30 in the
SOPWAMTOS booth (# 4871). Ten Golden Toidys plus one bonus award will be
given out. Also, the Dirt Rag Reader's Choice’ award will be presented
along with a bunch of cool SOPWAMTOS schwag. Don't miss it!
###