Every webmaster must love action sports

Ok, its been a little while now and the trend seems pretty clear. Radical small businesses in the web industry broke away from stuffy corporate cultures and turned it all on its head, in a stand-up comedy kind of way.

We started to expect that these boutique web shops were full of 20-something google-ites, lounging around in ripped jeans and no shoes, bean bags everywhere, pod chairs and a disproportionate amount of floor space dedicated to helping employees rediscover the meaning of life, and top up their caffeine levels.

But it appears this bohemian existence is not quite enough. Now these people are expected to spending their time dangling from cliff faces and clearing entire forests on their mountain bikes – while still delivering your fully functional web 2.0 product on time and bereft of bugs.

To support this startling theory, an inside look into popular web house 1-day (ok, i know they dont build websites but in my opinion they belong to the same geeky culture). Their company photo album shows them lounging around, but more importantly blazing through the forests on mountain bikes (no doubt bought from their sister company Torpedo 7). So that proves it! If you are in the business of building websites, be warned – your membership to this exclusive club may be in jeopardy when they find out your bike has been in storage for the last two months and you have no knee scrapes!

Taking my own advice I have been busy in the last few days powering through Bottle Lake forest in Burwood, Christchurch. Sure I got lost a few times but it was intentional (note to self, never ever follow the forestry roads!) and lost a cleat, which I went back to look for (good luck with that). But I cleared a pit, got some air, watch my mate do the head over handlebars thing, so Ive paid my dues to the web industry.

As a parting shot, I’m going to give props to the guys at Torpedo7. I have had nothing but helpful service from them and they put things right, if they ever get it wrong. Their prices are damn sharp too – so if you feel the need to flex your action sport muscles go see them now! I’m hoping they’ll read this, feel sorry for me and send me a new pair of M7A cleats – nudge nudge.