Alliance Wake and Brooke Geery

So, im not gonna say much, ill let you guys start the debate. But all I wanna say is after doing a little bit of research on this "extreme sports reporter", I would love nothing more than for her to get fired from Alliance Wake. She started yobeat.com if you didnt already know. Type in "wakeboarding" in the search bar on that site and search it, see what she says. Now theres big discussion right now about snowboarders and wakeboarders and respect and blah blah blah blah. But thats not what im raising this issue about, im raising this topic because when i buy an Alliance mag, i dont wanna be funding her paycheck. What do you guys think? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I dont care if a snowboarder works for a wake company or a wake supporting company, but shes kinda over the top. I personally would love to get Alliance to fire her. But thats just my $.02. Opinions? Feelings? thoughts? Im sure most of you know more about her than i do, but what little I have gathered, she doesnt deserve to have the privilage of traveling around documenting our sport. Please try and keep the bashing on each other at a low, were all fellow wakeboarders. The purpose of this thread is pretty much to help enlighten the community about this and be aware of what articles theyre reading by who.

Totally Agree with you Codi. Now There is a person who totally loves to wear a mask.

"May 1st marked the finals of the first stop of the Pro Wakeboard Tour, and I was there! Now I know what you’re thinking: Why the hell was I at a wakeboard event and better yet, why would I admit to it. But the answer is simple. I was feeling a little too soulful after finding myself in Europe during April and I needed to have some of the soul sucked out of me. The pro wakeboard tour is good for that (take my word for it.)"
http://www.yobeat.com/2005/06/02/best-month-ever-may/

especially love how she rips into wakeboarding and sesitec and anyone trying to snowboard without a mountain in general it seems. nice way to kill other options. there are not mountains everywhere. its not going to absolutely kill any sport to borrow from another jeez! that's precisely how many of them were born into existence anyway. OK so she does say a few nice things about the system FOR wakeboarding, but not beyond that
http://www.yobeat.com/2010/02/03/snow-wakeboarding/

"YoBeat: Making Fun of Snowboarding Since 1997" --- Say Wha'? "making fun of SNOWboarding"?... whatever

wow.. I forgot people like that existed, the comments on that site.. are snowboarders really that insecure?

You pay for your Alliance?

@ A-dub... hahahaha

Originally Posted by bogartsomeday

I would love nothing more than for her to get fired from Alliance Wake.

Would you say that there's a slight possibility that this might be a little harsh? Judging by the given examples, Brooke doesn't like the tour and she thinks that wakeboarding and wakeskating are fun. Sounds like the majority of wakeboarders to me!

She has been hated on wakeskating.com for a while now. Its sad that she is the wakeskate editor for alliance. She is holding back the sport in terms of media coverage. She destroyed the only thing wakeskating had, Alliance Wakeskate Online Magazine.

Originally Posted by wakemitch

She is holding back the sport in terms of media coverage.

How so? It seems to me like Alliance covers wakeskating better than anyone else.

They do. I love the physical Alliance Magazine. Its the web stuff. Alliance Wakeskate was an online magazine with pages and all, then it got bumped down to a blog that stretched for content, and then it was merged with alliancewake.com. I know advertising money is slim, but i dont think that the full reason.

wow! I cant believe some of the crap she is saying.

Well I guess Alliance has done exactly what they wanted you to do, go to their site and read their content. Good or bad feelings about the content you are still there reading it, driving traffic and ad dollars to their site. She is similar to Howard Stern, getting people to listen/read for shock value.

I don't agree with her at all....off with her head well not really.

www.alliancewake.com click it read it love it

Yeah, and don't forget to click on those YoBeat links so you can see what she said!

I'd suggest everyone go to yobeat.com or alliancewake.com and post something on their message boards. Do it over and over. Visit a hundred times a day if you have the time. I'm sure that will really piss them off.

I would completely agree with you guys that the crap she spews does not help the sport. I know whenever I see her name on Alliance (covering Expo or whatever) it instantly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Making this sport look good is about the passion you have for it, whether it be a rider or a filmmaker, the feeling you get translates into what you display. Unfortunately for Alliance, the person that handles their web content does so for a pay check and has no interest in putting their soul into it.

That being said, it's pretty whack to talk about someone's employment and wishing for their termination. I guarantee Brooke is not a wealthy individual, she is simply the right person with the right skills to do what Alliance needs. Yeah it may be nice to have someone completely into the sport they cover, but it comes down to the simple fact that this is a business. In a perfect world yes, in a small niche industry, unfortunately no.

A-Dub - Yes I actually choose to BUY the magazine rather than bum a free one from my buddies local boardshop cause I try and put as much money I can into the sport as possible. People need money to keep producing and if I wanna keep seeing wake magazines on the shelf and gear on the racks, I need to keep buying it. Idk what ur comment was implying but there's my reason why I buy my sh@t.

Teleprompted Anthems - I honestly dont think its harsh at all for two reasons: 1) She has gotten a couple people fired in the extreme sports industry and admitted it in the interview she did with danny kass (danny kass actually interviewed her). 2) She has the whole snowboard industry she can fall back on and she runs yobeat which is doing quite well now. The fact that she doesnt need or care about the job. Why she holds onto it, idk.

Adam Levitt - Thats what I was thinking but unfortunately, and I already assumed this, there are wakeboarders and wakeskaters who just dont care about someone like this beeing in our industry. I dont care what people say, we dont share industries with skating or snowboarding or even surfing. We have our own industry and I think its rly up to us if we wanna give our industry the respect it deserve and stop questioning each other and the sport about if its getting respect from outsources or not. It doesnt matter if we arent getting respect from other sports. If we cant respect it ourseves then everything is kinda a moot point. I think the criticism and disrespect is pretty much all coming from within the sport. I think if we just let people like brooke have a job like she does which is a privilage, and let her screw us around like were wakeboarders without a spine, then she obviously sees that and continues to put us down within the scene. Right now she thinks she can say whatever she wants and do whatever she wants in our sport because she doesnt hear anything from the core riders (ourselves) about how we dont endorse her. Ya business is business and everyone just wants money and I understand that, trust me I do, but action sports are more than just business, especially boardsports like wakeboarding. So I completely agree with you Adam and im glad there are fellow wakeboarders out there who will go the extra mile to eliminate a "mole" to keep the true wakeboarders supporting each other. Cause i think its safe to assume shes never strapped into a wakeboard.

Big Heavy - Alliance Wake isnt her only job. If it was her only job, then maybe she shouldnt bash our sport like she does. People "reap what they sow". I dont think its whack at all for me to wish that upon her. If she doesnt want people wanting her job stripped from her then maybe she shouldnt bash the sport that she works in. She may not be that wealthy after having the jobs she does have, but again, people get what they deserve. If she lost the job at Alliance i would not only be stoked, but it would be her fault cause shes the one who caused the problems. But again I think she has plenty of money after the new endorsment with Nike and her site yobeat. I bet theres a ton of people including myself who'd kill to have her job at Alliance. I dont think itd be tough to replace her lol. But your first paragraph I agree with and how making a sport look good is about the passion you have for it. It helps grow our sport.

It wasn't a knock or shot towards you. I used to feel the same way, then I realized they don't give a hoot what you care or think about the mag, which is their style, and are perfectly content with the revenue ad space brings in, plus, that's the way Alliance started, it was free. That's what made them so cool.

No worries man I wasnt upset or anything, just stating my case. But ya ive been noticing alliances "style" a lot lately....

I just finished typing out a huge long response, only to read Big Heavy's last paragraph. I agree with him. Dont like her work? Dont read her articles. Or do better work than her and take her job.

Originally Posted by bogartsomeday

Adam Levitt - So I completely agree with you Adam and im glad there are fellow wakeboarders out there who will go the extra mile to eliminate a "mole" to keep the true wakeboarders supporting each other. Cause i think its safe to assume shes never strapped into a wakeboard.

Codi - Unfortunately, you completely missed the point of my post. Not your fault really, sarcasm rarely goes over well on the Intraweb unless you follow it by one of those gay emocons, which I've sworn never to do unless texting my wife.
News flash: controversy sells. Why do you think the National Enquirer and all those other tabloids rake in millions every year? Or look at some of the longest threads on here, they're always about some stupid argument or disagreement. I'm not sure why none of you see this, but Brooke is probably the most media savy person in our industry. If you're being talked about, you're relevant.
Why do you really care about what she writes? It seems a lot of people on here are WAY too sensitive about wakeboarding; kind of an inferiority complex if you will.
This is seriously one of the funniest threads I've read in a long time, along with the snowboarding one. Thanks for the entertainment fellas.

i say good for alliance and two thumbs up for brooke. yes controversy sells and hopefully it makes her readers realize how lame some parts of wakeboarding/ wakeskating and the industry is. i personally love to be out on the lake in the summer..... but i never hold back on how i feel about certain parts of the wake industry.

let's face it..... some of the pros, the advertising, the ****ty trick names, building mini lakes around street features, the wakeskate hipster ****ing image, horrible rip off graphics and so much more only make anyone that actually knows whats happening in this industry look like a collective of dorks.

because 3/4 of the industry is owned by one corporation..... it's created a bunch of pussies. no editor wants to piss off an advertiser, no rider will speak the truth because they are afraid of his/her washed bro team manager cutting his/ her ass and every rider/ photog wants thier **** in a mag sooo bad they will allow the ****tiest of pics to be run in the lamest of ads.

don't mean to rant and there are some taleneted editors, photogs, riders and industry vets out there......... but the other 90% need to **** off. it's happened in surfing, skating, snowboarding........wakeboarding/ wakeskating just cant seem to shake the roller blade image. no matter what you think...... the wake industry is not respected among boardsports. transworld business and other media outlets even claim that moto is now part of the fold......

adam... stoked you posted... made me give this some thought.

as for brooke and alliance...... hell yea.

sure controversy sells or at least gets attention.

but the controversy in the wake mag vs what is on YoBeat are different things. It works good for YoBeat apparently and i bet it is one of the ingredients that made it take off. But i doubt half the readers of alliance wake even know there is a connection and if they would find it at all unpleasant

adam's right. if you have some appreciation for other board sports it is a lot clearer. regardless of what board sport you do, i think it's better to separate yourself from the industry bs and ride, a lot. the 'industry' isn't there to help riding, it's there to sell crap and make $. wakeboarding is just smaller so it's super hard to separate riding wakeboards from the wakeboard industry. if anything, other sports (snowboard, surf) have more people that call it like it is.

I just find it funny that a magazine editor actually asked why someone cares what she writes...

Wakeboarding, only thing I know where if the customer complains/states opinions, they are told they are wrong and they will like it, for they do not know what's cool

Originally Posted by behindtheboat

I just find it funny that a magazine editor actually asked why someone cares what she writes...

Ok, maybe that wasn't phrased right. Brooke is one voice in our entire sport. If you don't like what she says, ignore it or don't read it. But to create a thread entirely about her and wanting to get her fired only makes her voice stronger. I still I'm not sure why this bothers everyone so much; it you can't laugh at yourself once in a while, who can you laugh at?
And, of course you know that Brooke and Alliance are loving every minute of this.

wakeworld has probably benefitted from this "controversy" because of the multiple re-tweets of this thread. (web hits = yes!) this circle of "social savyness" continues, and everyone's a part of it!

seriously though, what's the point of writing an article or having a magazine if you're going to tell people not to read something in it?

Adam- Making a thread about her and wanting her fired does not make her voice stronger. Ya it may make her voice more pronounced or noticed, but not stronger. A strong voice is a voice that is heard and actually respected more. But thats not what this thread is gonna do. If someone sees her history in reporting regarding wakeboarding, im pretty sure if that person is a core wakeboarder then they wont listen to ***** about what she says. People are bothered by this kinda stuff, those few of you that are, because some people actually have a fiber of passion about this sport. Ya there's the wake crowd who come on here, post opinions, advice, experiences, and whatever, and they dont give a rat's a$$ about whats going on in the media of the sport and the "industry". But I also dont believe there's a whole lot of weight in those people's word/opinion who are ignorant about the industry of the sport. Dont talk down or make it sound like a bad thing that people actually dont want a person like brooke involved in our sport because its not a bad thing. Thats your own opinion that people shouldnt give a *****. Well if no one gave a *****, then we wouldnt have an industry. Accept the fact that there are going to be some people out there that will be bothered by someone like her and dont put those people down. There are fellow wakeboarders who will take stuff to heart that you dont. For you to call someone sensitive cause they are bothered by something that you arent is dumb on your part. But hey this is wakeworld, a place where you can disrespect your fellow wakeboarders and own sport unlike anywhere else. haha

Adam Balon- I wonder why I havent seen your name anywhere in the wake scene cause you seem to have everything figured out! hahaha. Posts like yours is the apidemy of why this forum is a joke.

Dave does an amazing job maintaining this site, its brilliant of him to create a place where local wakeboarders can go to get info they need. Its unfortunate that its the people who post on here that give this forum a bad rep. Im sure dave worked hard to get this thing going and keepin it goin but majority of the posts on here are killing the "wakeworld" image. Its bad that people on here are actually calling our own sport lame, ****ty, pu$$y, fake, etc. If someone thinks so badly about this sport, go be the weekend warrior and get the f*** off this forum and get your voice away from a community that use to be decently strong. It makes sense why I have had quite a few friends who use to post on here, stop coming on here and just laugh at it. Do matter how you try and twist it, wakeboarding is a legit sport, with a legit industry, and a legit history. The biggest thing that constricts the growth of wakeboarding is cause majority of the people out there cant afford a boat. Now that cable is out, wake is growing so much faster. So stop making wakeboarding sound like a false advertisement (balon). *****, you cant post a single thread on this forum thse days without the majority of comments being nothing but criticizing shut downs. Its nothin but stupid bs comin from people who need a place to attack people and their opinions. Those of you who actually stick up for your fn hobbies/sports, my hats off to you and your optimism. People on here claim so much of "what its like at the professional level/scene", literally all the people I see claim that *****, ive never heard their names anywhere in our industry. Its typical, people think they have everything figured out and they are errogent enough to touch on subjects they have absolutely no real knowledge about. All this bs is filtering out the core riders out of this forum. I know no one cares but im over this forum. Ill find a way to get news somewhere else from people who know what theyre talking about rather than their opinion they thought of on the boat the other day or what their friends think hahaha. Such a joke.

Originally Posted by alevitt

Brooke and Alliance are loving every minute of this.

I Imagine that is a strong possibility. I get the impression from some articles i have read from alliance that the forums are looked at from time to time (but not participated in)... can't think of any specific quotes/ at the moment though to prove this thought... or maybe they were all jokes and now they are missing out on this little debate. Either way i can only imagine that the other parties at alliance are well aware of Brookes's other works and don't seem to mind... if they are not aware,... well...

I said once before that I bet there are a good number of peeps who have no idea that there are two voices out there from the same face... I didn't until someone pointed it out to me in regards to those first videos that popped up last year of the snowboarders using the 2.0 system. Maybe i would have known if my snow knowledge was up to par (or not), but frankly, it is hard enough to afford wake, and conditions hardly exist for snowboarding in my parts anyway *I digress*.
Maybe some people will feel that she is cheapening her wake voice and others' may not care. Even IF a significant number of readers were feeling let-down, a replacement for Brooke would still need to be found (how easy or difficult that task would be i know not) OR she would be compelled to drop one of her voices.

I work with brooke... She has been in this industry for over 6 years building the only actual online wakeskate magazine for 2 years then building up a wakeskate website then now working behind the scenes at alliancewake to make it the best possible website on the internet.

Brooke poking fun at certain things does not mean she hates wakeboarding or wakeskating. Its just sad that these certain incidents are the only things people consider when they think of brooke geery not the countless hours,days and months brooke has spent working and creating content for viewers to read.

I am sorry that she has offended you in anyway. Reading someones voice on the internet a lot of time mistrudes their actual sound of voice if they are just playing or they are serious.

Wakemitch, the new alliancewake.com site brings more traffic to the wakeskate side of things then ever. Wakeskate videos are getting triple the amount of views then before it was only alliancwakeskate.com. Brooke loves wakeskating just as much as you give her some actual credit for all the things she has done in the past 6 yearss...

Originally Posted by ghettofab

I work with brooke... She has been in this industry for over 6 years building the only actual online wakeskate magazine for 2 years then building up a wakeskate website then now working behind the scenes at alliancewake to make it the best possible website on the internet.

Brooke poking fun at certain things does not mean she hates wakeboarding or wakeskating. Its just sad that these certain incidents are the only things people consider when they think of brooke geery not the countless hours,days and months brooke has spent working and creating content for viewers to read.

I am sorry that she has offended you in anyway. Reading someones voice on the internet a lot of time mistrudes their actual sound of voice if they are just playing or they are serious.

Wakemitch, the new alliancewake.com site brings more traffic to the wakeskate side of things then ever. Wakeskate videos are getting triple the amount of views then before it was only alliancwakeskate.com. Brooke loves wakeskating just as much as you give her some actual credit for all the things she has done in the past 6 yearss...

That might be, but why negate all of that hard work with the consistently negative comments?

Ill be honest, I am new to wakeboarding, the "scene", and had no clue about the snowboarding-wakeboarding issues. I spent some time reading this thread, and looking at Brookes work. It is completely confusing to me that she would make the comments she does if she is truly busting her butt to provide pro-wakeboard and pro-wakeskate content. Typically, I dont spend my day working, only to undermine it by talking trash about the things I design or the software I help sell.

Just my thoughts...

I will be the first to admit I hadn't heard of this girl until the past couple days with the snowboarding thread and this one. I did a little digging and found her blog which is http://brookegeery.com/ So I start reading through it and see this on wakeskating.

Summer Fun idea #2: Wakeskating

After more or less retiring because I was too lazy to ever drive to Salem, I discovered a friend with a boat 15 minutes away. Yes, the water is downstream from downtown Portland, and it’s sort of cold, but man is it fun. With enough evening sessions, after the kooks have gone home, I might even get good at it. But probably not.

I really think this chick likes wakeboarding/wakeskating but her place in the online journalism world is to stir up some controversy and get her name out there and her hits up on various sites.

Originally Posted by bruizza

I really think this chick likes wakeboarding/wakeskating but her place in the online journalism world is to stir up some controversy and get her name out there and her hits up on various sites.

Ding, ding ding.... Bruizza wins the thread!

for the record dirtycracker, two riders from atlanta started a short lived, online wakeskate magazine in 2004. A lot happened in wakeskating before 2005 or whatever...

cody relax. i never mentioned david at all in the post above. i like wake world... thats why i post from time to time on this site. yes some of my posts have been negative..... but remember this is a forum and i can say what ever i like or dislike about what people post.

i have never seen your name or heard of you either..... why does that even matter? i used to be really involved in wakeboarding up here in canada... now i am a recreational rider... i'm more than fine with that. looking at your profile... i have even been riding longer than you have been alive.

i still have a ton of riders who are really involved in the wake scene and i only want the best for them. in other words... in harsh terms ...keep the kooks out. i respect the few pros, editors, photogs and company owners who are on this form trying to make wake better for everyone. but let's face it... change needs to happen. a good way to do that is with some discussion.

brooke creates discussion...... people are obviouly interested or this topic would not exist.

Codi- I think you make a good point, its just that some of your posts are really long.

It sucks seeing someone in a position they seem to take for granted when others would love to have it and might be more qualified for it (my vote goes toward electricsnow). It's always good to stir up controversy but if thats all you have to offer, it gets old quickly and you lose credibility. Best thing to do is not read what she writes or stop buying Alliance.

is she still employed?