What brings you back to blading now?

I think I answered that above, but no matter… I will say what my goals are. To me, the USD legacy has faded. I will be upfront about that. Our image has been neglected, and although hearts were in the right place, my personal feeling is that the “machine” left when I left. But let me clarify. Without Matthias Knoll and the big heart he has for Aggressive, USD and the Conference brands may have fallen by the wayside long ago. Powerslide has developed into a worldwide company, and there are many, many pieces to the pie. Luckily I can remember the glory days when USD was the lead horse pulling the Powerslide cart, but times changed, and now everything else is just as important. I also want to say on record that Matthias has always been like a mentor to me — to this day I am stunned how he keeps it all together, and still has time to come up with innovations and new ideas — truly a great guy, but still also one person. Although we have a huge team of employees now, that has a huge workload and does an outstanding job, I think that the passion and drive I had invested in USD was simply missing. And Bauer, who is also an amazing guy, could also not really handle the load alone even with Oli Benet’s help. That being said, coming back into the Dream Team, as I call it — as far as Aggressive at Powerslide goes, which was always me, Matthias and Bauer — will strengthen the synergy and make for a solid foundation again. You can expect great things to happen for the future.

The news just started going public that Conference brand distribution will no longer be handled by Integrated but will instead be handled direct from Germany. What can skaters and retailers expect from that change?

Yes, you are right. I will also take the opportunity to big up Mark Vanderbough. We had a long talk on the phone the other day that was pretty inspiring. I’ve known Mark since back in the Monarchy days, and this is a solid great guy with a big heart. But due to circumstances beyond his or our control, the room for advancement ran out and Powerslide made the call to take their destiny into thier own hands. And the decision was made. Mark has to be commended for two major things: filling some of the biggest shoes after taking over the reigns when Scott Walker withdrew himself from the industry, and being an absolute professional during this transition. I was very happy to hear that Mark also felt that this was the right step and I felt especially flattered when he told me he was happy that I was the one who would be taking over. I will not dissappoint him. I would like to answer the second question by first explaining the difference between then and now. Both Scott Walker and Mark Vanderbough were distributors, and this brings many advantages as well as disadvantages. There are good points on each side of the fence, but right now, dealers and skaters a like will enjoy opportunities which have never been available to them. For example, access to the full Conference line. In addition, dealers have added potential because they can also access other brands that Powerslide offers beyond the aggressive brands. Hopefully this will strengthen the possibilities and support the dealers in a very hard period of economic strife. Simply put, pretty much any local dealer will now be able to buy from Powerslide and in turn sell to skaters throughout the states just as if Powerslide were based in the US. In addition, as our sales structure grows and develops, we will be able to do much more in the US (as traditionally, distibutors were limited by budget and sometimes even manpower) as far as marketing, promotion and industry support. My vision is to contribute to the scene while keeping the entire Conference line available to whoever needs it, with a focus on quality and customer service. Being American, I am a very big advocate of these things, and I take it quite serious.

Can you explain the chain of command for The Conference? Who does what and who makes the call on what gets done?

This is a very good question! I dont think anyone ever took the time, or had the insight to ask this and I am very obliged to answer. (This also makes me chuckle a bit as for years, and even to this day, kids have thought that “Mark Korte owns USD”) I have been condemned, applauded, and credited for everything from creating the Psirus to firing Brian Shima (all false of course), so thanks Justin for giving me a platform for setting the record straight! Powerslide, I like to call the mother, as it owns everything. Matthias and Stefan (who have been partners for like 15 years now) own Powerslide. From there (referring to the Conference only) Matthias, Bauer and myself pretty much handle the Conference. Bauer and I answer to Matthias, then there is a somewhat confusing group of other poeple who contribute in-house and out-of-house on many different levels which include (last names have been spared to protect the innocent! ha,ha) Oli, Kenneth, Matty, Marian, Demetrios, and of course Shane. And to round it all off you have the USD/Conference team input. This brings me to an important point — since being brought back on board, I have received clear instructions to bring USD and The Conference back to strength, a job which I plan to do thoroughly. From now until 2010, changes will mostly be behind closed doors, and somewhat subtle. This is a transition period where almost everyone who has anything to do with The Conference will have an opportunity to shine… or not. Come 2010, changes may become more visual and apparent, some maybe even shocking, but I will say one thing: the USD/Conference of 2010 wil be a loyal bunch of Killas, ready to motivate and innovate, ready to represent as a unit and ready to uphold the Legacy it stands for, or my name is not Mark Korte.