The Cooper sale ends tonight at midnight.
Aw… just get it.
Month: September 2009
Protecting The Water
Clean water… sounds like an excellent good idea. Not only does it make paddling Folbots more pleasurable, it pretty much makes everything better.
I had a chance to meet the Charleston Waterkeeper last week. It was pretty cool.
Cyrus Buffum is a passionate guy. He started the Charleston branch of the Waterkeeper Alliance about a year ago, becoming one of the close to 200 members around the world. Tasked with preserving and protecting the integrity of Charleston’s waterways against pollution and contamination, the Charleston Waterkeeper has a big vision and goal. Working to encourage citizens to “take pride, take responsibility and to take action,” Charleston Waterkeeper strives to empower the public while protecting its rights to clean water.
You can learn more about the Charleston Waterkeeper, the Waterkeeper Alliance and see Cyrus in action in this video:
Folbot is proud to support the Charleston Waterkeeper in its quest to protect our home waters.
David A.
Twitter Strikes Again
At the beginning of the current Cooper sale (20% off until the end of the month!), I was in touch with a Twitter pal named @kayakgal. @kayakgal, or Lisa as she is sometimes known, had been thinking about getting a Folbot for a while. When the sale was announced, she struck… ” One Cooper please, in purple.”
Along with the order came a request — would I please send her some photos as the kayak (now named “Prince” — purple Cooper… get it?) was being made. Soon the Twitter world was seeing shots ranging from:
Cutting Hypalon for the Hull
to:
Sewing the Deck
to:
Finishing the Skin
to:
Checking Out the Frame
Finally, as part of our weekly Quality Control Meeting, we assembled the entire kayak and everyone wished Prince and @kayakgal many happy adventures together.
Hi @kayakgal from the Whole Crew!
And shortly thereafter, Lisa tweeted her own photo:
It’s our pleasure,@kayakgal. Happy paddling.
David A.
The Magic of Folbot
From The Inbox
It’s always fun to read email from Folbot paddlers.
I recently got a great one from from Joel W., who as you can tell is in the Army.
We actually had a chance to take [our Greenland II] out on Chesapeake Bay, VA on Sunday and loved it! We had a blast and did not die either! I bought it to sail and it was our first time out. An Army guy has no business trying to sail though. LOL I plan to take it out in the bay here in Hampton Roads, VA more and over to VA Beach also. It seemed to handle some pretty large swells and waves on the bay. I was not sure the out riggers would take that kind of stress, but they held up fine…
Anyway, like I said we had a blast and did not die! Anytime a customer does not die is probably a good thing in your book, yes?
… All in all, David, you and your team make a great product. I would recommend it to my friends in a second. The best thing of all is that it fits in my Toyota Prius with ease!
A 17″ kayak with a sail rig inside a Prius. Love it.
Score one for Army. Any Navy sailors or Marines want to comment?
David A.
Cooper Sale!
To celebrate Tony’s and my 2nd anniversary at Folbot, we are having a real deal on the Cooper:
Imagine yourself doing this:
Let the parties begin!
David A.
And Now A Word From Our Sponsor
Citibōt 10', 24 lbs.
Aleut 12', 39 lbs.
Edisto 13', 39 lbs.
Yukon 13', 42 lbs.
Kiawah 13'3", 32 lbs.
Kodiak 15", 52 lbs
Cooper 16'6", 39 lbs.
Greenland II 17', 62 lbs.
Every Folbot is made with the same expedition quality materials. And they all fit inside a Mini Cooper!
Click on the kayak for more details.
Oh, just get it.
David A.
140 Characters
I had an interesting experience yesterday. I was interviewed by someone in Brisbane, Australia (known as @ireckon on Twitter) using a new technology called “Tweeterview.”
What happens during a Tweeterview is that an interview is conducted on the Tweeterview website and the questions and answers are simultaneously sent out on Twitter. The catch is that, since they are going out on Twitter, all the questions and answers have to be limited to 140 characters! Tweeterview then consolidates it all and presents it in a more traditional Q & A form on their website. You can see the whole interview here.
Any interview is at least somewhat stressful, as you want to make sure your answers are thoughtful, engaging and making the point you want to make in a timely manner. Throw in the 140 character limit and it makes it all that much more challenging. It was a bit like playing a game of soccer or basketball with chains around your ankles.
The genesis of the interview itself is also interesting, in that it came about as a result of Jackie Siddall’s blog posting about her experience with Folbot when buying her Cooper. Jackie’s blog prompted me to write a posting on The Front, which @ireckon saw — triggering the Tweeterview. Now the Tweeterview has resulted in a blog posting by @ireckon (which is a pretty cool take on the interview).
All of this is enough to make your head spin. But it is fascinating at the speed in which it all occurs, what can be communicated and how. Wow.
Now try saying all of that in just 140 characters.
David A.
Folbot Through The Eyes Of A Customer
The following is reproduced by permission of Jackie Siddall, of Toronto, Canada — the author. Jackie bought a yellow Cooper a few months ago.
You can also see some of her other photos here.
TWITTER MADE ME BUY A BOAT
With social media relatively new there are a lot of companies trying a lot of different ways to integrate it into their marketing efforts, with differing degrees of success. In my Twitter feed alone, which admittedly isn’t extensive, I have examples of sole proprietors musing philosophically about the nature of their industries, employees being told by mass email that they must start tweeting on their employer’s behalf (and wondering in a bewildered state how that’s even going to work), blatant hashtag marketing blasts, and the odd company representative who seems to really get it.
I recently bought a kayak from one of these last types.
It started during a Twitter exchange between myself and a friend in which I mentioned I wanted a kayak. Kayak ownership always struck me as far-fetched since I live in downtown Toronto and I don’t have a car, nor do I have a cottage.
I gained a follower that day, @davrutick, the president of a company called Folbot that makes folding kayaks. Until that moment I never knew such a thing existed. I followed him back and explored his website. Not only was it attractive and informative, it included a blog and a customer forum, the former frequently and thoughtfully updated by David AvRutick and the latter a surprising resource for all sorts of in-depth discussion on the company’s boats, their strengths and shortcomings, other kayaks, comparisons between Folbot models, comparisons to traditional hard-shell kayaks, and general chatter from customers new and old. Though hosted at folbot.com, they maintained a hands-off approach to the forum. Conversations inside it seemed refreshingly honest.
Between these two sources and the president’s enthusiastic tweets about everything from the kayaks, to Tabasco sauce, to his daughter’s softball practices, it wasn’t long before I felt I had a grasp on the Folbot vibe and culture even though they’re located in South Carolina. Since they only sell online and the product isn’t cheap, it takes a pretty high level of open communication to successfully sell these things. Each boat is made to order and comes with a lifetime guarantee, which several forum posters attested to the company honouring. Ongoing Twitter updates show the stages of handcrafting and testing as different models are constructed and assembled at weekly QC meetings. One blog post detailed how one of the kayak models was recently improved based on feedback a user had posted in the forum. It was as interesting as it was reassuring.
When I purchased, I tweeted the president that I’d done so and asked if he might take a couple of photos of my boat being made, since he’d asked in the past for requests for factory photos. He sent me 20 shots including most if not all the steps in the build, right up to the point where it was packed in the box waiting for shipping.
After it arrived, he tweeted at me to check that I’d been able to assemble it without any problems, and he has since commented on photos I’ve taken of it and in it.
Aside from it being a fantastic craft on the water and the fact it conveniently breaks down into a duffel I can haul on public transit or on a trailer behind my bike, it’s the best customer service I’ve ever received, and an example of one way to seamlessly integrate social media into business culture.
You can see the original post and accompanying photos here.
Thanks a lot , Jackie!
David A.
Outdoor Leadership — Folbot Style
A few months back I was contacted by the Chugach School District in Alaska about them acquiring some Folbots for an interesting leadership program they were creating.
The School District had obtained a grant to create the Voyage to Excellence Outdoor Leadership School (VEOLS). The goal of VEOLS is “to foster leadership skills and team building among students through experiential educational opportunities in unique environments.” What a great use of Folbots!
We really wanted to work with them and ended up creating a small fleet of Greenland IIs and Yukons for the program.
Ready To Go
The students kicked off the leadership experience by learning the kayaking basics (parts of boat, safety, and paddle skills). As they became comfortable in the kayaks, the VEOLS instructors gave the students specific tasks (like paddling through a dock system with one crew member blindfolded) to emphasize the teamwork, communication and leadership elements of the VEOLS program.
Paddling Blindfolded
At the beginning and end of each task, students would discuss the challenges, outcomes, and observations they had noticed or made during their experience. “What worked, what didn’t, and why?” These discussions led into how to apply their new knowledge to other leadership situations and their own life experiences.
So, What Did We Learn Today?
Oh yeah, they had fun too!
Woooo Hooooo!
Check out all the pictures, as it doesn’t get much prettier than this:
Heading Home
We wish the Chugach School District all the best with VEOLS… what a way to learn!
If you know of any other school districts would would like to emulate this exciting program, please let me know.
David A.
Folbot - In the Fold 