May 6, 2010
Time off
You may have noticed that Sled Talk has been dormant since my return from Japan. I have been wrestling with the reality of what maintaining my blog entails. On one side, many of you indicated in the survey I posted that you actually enjoy my rants and information always looking forward to the next post and for that I am greatly appreciative. On the other side, I am no longer involved in the direct marketing of our snowmobiles and have responsibilities within planning and research on a scale which I have never had to deal with before as a product manager. Simply put, Sled Talk is a tempting distraction for me. One I enjoy and strongly believe in but not one that falls under the direct responsibilities of my position.
I stopped writing about a month ago. This did not come about as a result of anyone asking me to, it wasn’t even a conscious decision. I returned from Japan to face several new challenges that are important to my company.
As mentioned, Sled Talk does distract me regardless of how I rationalize my participation level. I invest significant time to research and write articles and then find myself returning time and again to see if anyone has offered any feedback or comments on stuff that I generally have a lot of passion for and ownership attached to.
Right now I intend to keep my head down and ‘nose to the grindstone’ as summer approaches. I have every intention to fire the blog up with new content before the next season begins but for now I really need a break to focus on my departments productivity and job at hand. I will still check in periodically to monitor any new comments and may even toss in a post or two if time and circumstance align.
Again, I want to thank those of you that have shown me support for Sled Talk.
I will be back in the near future… I do hope you will be also!
cheers cr
Silence is golden CR, especially if it results in new yamaha products.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:07 pmHave a good summer…maybe get your daughter on a wake board…
May 6th, 2010 at 5:43 pmChris,
I can’t count how many times in the last month I have been checking for a new post. Your enthusiasm and openness make for a very entertaining and addictive read.
For selfish reasons I hope you can find time in your schedule for this “distraction”. Maybe we need to find a way to correlate the impact of sled talk on sales so this morphs from distraction to core business? (I know its a long shot, but hey im addicted).
Enjoy your summer, get ahead of the game and come back strong in the fall.
Cheers
Hal
May 6th, 2010 at 5:56 pmHello Chris,
I’ll go with the comment of Hall.
I’m also addicted to Sledtalk.
Have a great summer
Alain Vmax
May 7th, 2010 at 5:54 amHeh Chris, I know how you feel. Sometimes we stretch ourselves too thin creating a vehicle that is important to us but when we get minimal feedback you wonder if anyone is reading what we write.
May 7th, 2010 at 6:09 amShucks.
May 7th, 2010 at 8:12 amWell this time of year does get most of us out side more often. Weather is warmer and days are longer. Talk of sleds, simmers all across the board.
So it is chin up and onward to the summer time allowed in our schedules.
How can you miss bench racing and sled talk ….if it don’t go away.
Days get shorter June 21 / ’010
Hi Chris,
Fully understand. I have been told that I get too involved in my passions of the powersport industry instead of focusing on just business. Although without the passion it just wouldn’t be any fun and I may as well sell cars or something
.
Cheers,
May 7th, 2010 at 9:28 amRick Bradshaw
Completely understandable. I will miss the wonderful distraction to my work day. I can see that I am not alone. Sometimes the word passion gets over used. Thats not the case here. Sled Talk is all about passion. Thats why we keep reading! Good Luck!
PS It will snow again——–and you wil write again. We will all be waiting.
May 7th, 2010 at 4:09 pmGood decision Chris.
I can tell you that your maitenance of the Sled Talk Blog definately does translate directly into sales.
If you had not done the “questions for CR” segment here and on TY, I would not have ordered a 2011 Apex SE from my YMCA dealer.
I probably would have looked for a slightly used Apex in the States instead.
Your blog Chris sets YMCA apart from the competition. The blog and your participation on TY make your customers realize that the mothership has their ears on and are willing to communicate directly with their customers.
Good communication leads to happy customers that tend to remain as customers.
See you in September as they say.
Dave
May 8th, 2010 at 10:31 pmive been checking daily on the blog,thought you had retired there for a while,i guess its true that we do think less of snowmobiles in the summer and its demanding for you to keep us entertained,maybe a winter only blog would make it easier on you,have a good summer and see you in the fall
May 9th, 2010 at 7:07 pmpat
Have a great summer Chris! Hope it’s better weather this Summer than last.
Cheers Yamforlife.
May 10th, 2010 at 6:12 amI always enjoyed reading your updates and perspective on the snowmobile business. Hopefully, the person taking over your previous functions will pick-up where you left off.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:29 amTaking the summer off is ok but please come back in the fall. I ran into one of your fello employees recently. Kevin Bott is our new Contintental sales rep.
May 12th, 2010 at 10:07 amYou made the past season my most unique yet! Here’s to more great adventures and stories in the coming season!
Cheers,
May 15th, 2010 at 1:03 amYK
I look forward to reading the blog and appreciate all the effort you put into it! I like that the blog allows us consumers a means to communicate directly with the manufacturer of our sleds.
I wonder if you can get the factory to use your blog posts on the history of some of the sleds models? They could create a new webpage and post the articles with pics of the sled. I always liked how Ski-doo has all their older models available for viewing. Yamaha does this to some extent but I think it would prove to be popular if expanded upon. I’m sure most guys are like me who got their start on a used motorcycle or sled or ATV. Now with the internet, a guy doesn’t have to find old magazine articles to find info on their machine.
Cheers,
May 27th, 2010 at 3:40 pmScott
Chris i’ve had the sledding bug for at least a month now. When are you coming back????
August 26th, 2010 at 8:54 am