Hi-Tec Clean Up Coalition Teams Up for the Tuolumne River

In celebration of today's National Day of Service, the Hi-Tec Clean Up Coalition partnered with the Tuolumne River Trust for the 2nd annual Teaming Up for the Tuolumne River & Shore Clean-Up event. Together with the hard work of nearly 250 neighbors, community leaders, school students and local businesses, we cleaned up hundreds of pounds of trash found in the river and along the shoreline of Legion Park. We witnessed first-hand that the Central Valley’s hard work and community spirit are clearly thriving.

Efforts were not only at Legion Park but also under 9th Street Bridge — thanks to the incredible partners of South Modesto Business United. This group of 16 volunteers tore into the overgrowth under the bridge with a bulldozer to clear homeless encampments and easy access to the river.

The day of activities began with an inspiring rally for the Tuolumne River. After a brief welcome, two local spoken word poets performed a hip-hop “Tuolumne Rap,” giving life to the love of the river. This led to the unveiling of the “Heal La Raza” mural created by local artist, Emilio, who had the help of some families in the area. The mural expressed their passion for their neighborhood and the river at their back door.

After four productive hours of clean-up, volunteers gathered for a little refreshment, fun and tunes on the turntable by DJ Vikda. As everyone enjoyed the exhibits of local businesses, winners of the raffle were hand picked by Modesto City Council member Joe Muratore. Our deepest gratitude goes out to the local companies who donated generous prizes for the raffle in benefit of Tuolumne River Trust!

Modesto Irrigation District's mascot, Splasher, joined us in thanking volunteers for their help. He took photos with families, danced to the beats and spent a little time showing kids how to fish with the help of the Bass Brigade crew.

Join us in a round applause for all of the volunteers, local businesses and neighbors who participated in making their mark on the community. Volunteers do not get paid, not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless!

To check out all of our photos from the event, visit our Facebook page.

Operation Backpack!

For those of us who have been out of school for awhile, we tend to forget how important the basic school essentials are for kids these days. So when we were approached recently by Volunteers of America for Operation Backpack, we had some learning to do of our own. Operation Backpack is an annual back-to-school community drive that provides much-needed new backpacks and school supplies to help homeless boys and girls reach their full academic potential.

Today we headed down to Operation Backpack's local drop-off location, where our Hi-Tec crew generously donated 40 backpacks to the cause. Prior to the delivery, our employees heard the news of this opportunity to help. We're proud to note that our own employees purchased an additional 23 backpacks from the retail store, bringing our Hi-Tec donation for Operation Backpack to 63 backpacks!

This great charity helps out our youth all across the nation. To learn how you can contribute, visit Volunteers of America today.

Racing to Checkpoint Tracker's Adventure Racing National Championship

We’re stoked to announce our foray back into something that has been near and dear to our hearts for a long time, Adventure Racing. How, you ask? We’ve recently partnered with Checkpoint Zero in support of the inaugural Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing National Championship. The highly anticipated race is set for the October 29th weekend at the Red Cliffs Lodge in Moab, Utah, better known as the host venue for the 2006 Primal Quest Expedition Race.

After providing prizes at select Checkpoint Tracker events all season, Hi-Tec will now also play a pivotal role in helping make Checkpoint Tracker’s first ever National Championship the marquee adventure racing event of the year.

In case you've been living under a rock, Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing is the largest national competitive adventure racing series in the United States. It is comprised of 45 promoters offering 91 events ranging from sprint length races lasting just a few hours, to expeditions that run non-stop for several days.

Hi-Tec will be doing more than hanging banners and handing out brochures at the race. We’ve arranged a pre-production run of an entirely new, 2011 adventure-racing shoe for all staff and volunteers and to be awarded to as prizes to top finishers. The new shoe, the V-Lite Infinity HPi, has all the key ingredients to make it an instant hit among adventure racers. Some featuring include our custom Infinity running platform with exclusive Vibram outsole, one piece engineered upper and ion-mask hydrophobic technology. The V-Lite Infinity is specifically developed with a disciplined focus on off-road performance. And we’ll also be sending some of our own staff to the race to chat with competitors, answer questions about our shoes, and of course, celebrate our re-entry into the world of adventure racing.

We’ve been gradually expanding our support of adventure racing over the past year, and thrilled to check out what Checkpoint Tracker has planned for their first ever adventure racing national championship in Moab. There are a lot of very talented people working very hard to take this sport to the next level, and Hi-Tec couldn’t be launching this exciting new 2011 product at a better time, or at a better event!

Hi-Tec Helps The Salvation Army Send Local Kids to Camp

Here at Hi-Tec, we take our passion for the outdoors seriously. So when our local chapter of The Salvation Army approached us about an opportunity to help send some very deserving kids and teens to camp, we were all in.

With the help of The Salvation Army each summer, Project Camp Redwood Glen sends hundreds of children to enjoy fresh air, get some exercise, and develop an appreciation for the beautiful outdoors. Unfortunately, many of these kids didn’t have the proper footwear for outdoor adventures (and for many, every day life), which is where Hi-Tec gladly stepped in. After chatting with the good people at The Salvation Army, we decided to donate a pair of shoes to every child and teen going to camp in our local area.

Today, our Marketing Director, Brett, gave an eager group of 25 kids an inside look at our headquarters where each also received their new pair of kicks on the spot. All in all, nearly 50 kids from Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Merced Counties got new footwear for the camping trip next week, and approximately 20 additional pairs were provided to the camp directors to distribute to needy children on-site.

We're so excited for the kids heading to Camp Redwood Glen next week, and are proud to provide shoes to such an amazing (and deserving) group of youngsters. We hope that by having appropriate footwear for camp, these deserving kids will surely enjoy their camp experience and thrive from their outdoor adventure!

Take a look at more photos from the HQ visit here. For more information about how you can donate to The Salvation Army, visit http://www.salvationarmymodesto.org.

Congrats to Our Artist Winners & Finalists!

As you may have read earlier, we've searched high and low to find some of the most talents artists across the United States for our live sketch project at the Hi-Tec booth this Summer's Outdoor Retailer.

Over the past two weeks, we received nearly 85 submissions for this contest. There was an incredible amount of talent that came through our site, but we were able to narrow it down to 10 incredibly inspiring artists.

On Thursday, a few of us on the marketing team sat down to interview our Top 10 artists. Because of the nature of the project, we asked each artist to take 10-15 minutes to sketch out a topic that we threw out at random. And random it was—the topics ranged from puppies, clocks and chili peppers, to waterfalls, bonfires and theme parks. We were blown away at what these talented individuals could sketch in 15 short minutes (some even less than that!). Drum roll please...

Heather Ravenscroft

Road Signs

Dave Bloomfield

Bicycles

Davis Vu

Waterfalls

Jim Christiansen

Chili

Jessica Dalva

Theme Parks

J.R. Register

Earthquakes

James Walsh

Beach Bonfire

Norm Quiros

Puppies

Riki Takaoka

Clock

Robyn Cook *Unfortunately, there was a scheduling conflict and Robyn Cook was unable to compete for the final selection. We wish her all the best!

After consulting with our whole marketing team Friday morning, we had narrowed it down even further to three personable, versatile and ridiculously creative artists: Davis Vu, Norm Quiros, and Riki Takaoka.

The original plan was to only take two artists. After yet another round of interviews, and another 15-minute sketch challenge, we knew what we had to do—take all three artists!

So this August, Riki, Davis, and Norm will be joining the Hi-Tec team at OR, where you can see them bust out sketches like no one's business. In addition to hanging with our crew, we're hooking them up with the latest and greatest Hi-Tec gear, as well as $600 each for their time and talent. Congrats, guys!

Hi-Tec's Sales Meeting: Inspired by Life!

Every six months or so, the Hi-Tec team gathers for our sales meeting, where we launch new products to our sales force, enjoy each others company and set some new goals for our company. This meeting, set in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, proved to be a good time. As we stepped off the plane, we were greeted by the best host imaginable -- nature. With an expansive blue sky and majestic mountains bordering the horizon, we knew this was going to be an amazing way to kick off our new brand manifesto and company culture, Inspired by Life.

Every last detail of this sales launch truly aligned itself with each of our core values: Proud, Honest, Fun and Hungry! From the beautiful location and perfect outdoor adventure setting at Hotel Terra, to forming new friendships and rekindling old ones, we were all PROUD to be a part of this new era of Hi-Tec. The first day lent itself well to core value No. 2, Honest. We heard from our marketing department, who launched the Inspired by Life mantra and thought process behind the new branding. Marketing was followed by a comprehensive overview of the new Spring/Summer 2011 apparel and footwear lines, which certainly embodied the HONEST integrity of the brand as supported by the comfortable, well thought-out collections. We're so excited about the new things Hi-Tec has to offer and welcome the work ahead of us over this next season!

However, our team was not all work and no play. On the afternoon of day two, we all piled into an old school bus, wondering where the sunshine had gone as the skies turned an ominous gray and the rain pounded the pavement. Regardless, we were in it to have some fun and enjoy whatever Wyoming had to offer. Once we got to the Snake River unloading area, we hopped into rafts -- just as the sun came out to say hi. But of course, the sun rays were shortlived and pretty soon everyone was scrambling for a poncho. Through the rain, hail and cold wind, we all agreed that we never had so much FUN team-building with our colleagues and friends. Whatever the weather, sometimes all you can do is smile and enjoy the ride!

Although we were sad to leave such a great meeting, we were all HUNGRY to get out and tell the world about Hi-Tec's new direction and the exciting collections that lead the charge of some great core brand values. After a wonderful trip and sales launch, we are all truly "Inspired by Life!"

Calling All Outdoor-Loving Artists!

Are you passionate about the outdoors? We're looking for two talented artists to join us in Salt Lake City, Utah for Outdoor Retailer's Summer Market. Each chosen artist will be a part of our live OR art project—an exciting, fast-paced session of inspiration and sketching. All proceeds from the event will go to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). All you need to do is send us a link to your portfolio or a sample of your work (original compositions only please) by July 2, 2010!

We're setting up two lucky artists with an all-expenses paid trip to Outdoor Retailer's Summer Market, where outdoor equipment retailers, manufacturers, and industry professionals come together to showcase and discover the latest in outdoor apparel and gear. We'll fly you out to Salt Lake City for two days between August 2 and August 4, 2010, where we'll put your talents to the test.

Not only will you get to hang with the Hi-Tec USA team, but we'll outfit you in the latest and greatest Hi-Tec gear, and hook you up with $300 each day for your time and talent.

Interested artists should submit a link to their portfolio or two artwork samples, and tell us how they are inspired by the outdoors. There are three easy ways to enter:

• Send a tweet to @HiTecUSA – be sure to use the hashtag #ArtforParks
• Post an artwork sample on our Facebook page, facebook.com/HiTecUSA
• Fill out the form on the Art for Parks web page.
  

The Hi-Tec team will select the top 10 entries based on not only creativity and originality, but also whether the artist emulates a passion for the outdoors. The top 10 artists will be chosen on July 6, 2010, and contacted for a Skype interview to be held on July 7, 2010. The top two artists will be finalized and announced by 4 p.m. PST on July 7, 2010.

(View Art for Parks Entry Guidelines here.)

Good luck!