ABOUT:

How The Show Came To Be

In 2005 Clark Foam abruptly closed its doors, with no warning, essentially shuttering the surfboard industry. Clark Foam was the only surfboard foam blank supplier – a monopoly. Vanished in a day. The surfboard industry was shocked. All of these surfboard shapers I grew up with, and I had been surfing with for decades, were more or less out of work, or struggling to find foam. It was a tough time. Everyone struggling to get orders, struggling to find foam, and struggling to build surfboards — and that was industry wide.

That disruption created fallout, but from my perspective, it meant that the craftsmen that I knew, and the craftsmen up and down the coast of California and in Hawaii, and everywhere, that sourced Clark Foam to build boards, were being left behind. Especially in the retail surf shop space. They needed an outlet. They needed a place to showcase their wares.

Frankly, these guys were my heros. As a grom in Southern California the surfboard shapers and the surfboard factories was where all the magic happened. And it was sort of a hands-off place too. You didn’t just roll up to the surfboard factory and hang out like you would at a surf shop. The shapers, the builders, the sanders, laminators, the crew…they were sort of mystical … or magical. The doors were closed. They had a Wizard of Oz curtain. They had stories. They had authenticty that you weren’t going to get from Missy selling bikinis and Madras shorts. The smells were… the smells were great. I always liked the smell of resin. The stories and lore that came out of the surfboard factory crew had a lot more legitimacy. From my perspective, these guys lived the life. Moonlight Glassing for instance (Peter, Kenny, Mark, Gary, I feel like I’m missing one more?) worked at night so they could surf during the day. As a young surfer, this made a ton of sense. So I had a certain affinity. To this day, I believe that this is where authentic surf culture germinates. From the hands of those that build our craft.

So much more than a tool, the surfboard is the philosophical icon, a sacred craft, a culturally pervasive symbol of freedom, adventure and enduring youth. This is why the surfboard builder was once the primary arbiter of surfing culture, from those early Hawaiian kahunas to the first wave of board manufactures. Think back: Blake, Downing, Brewer, Hobie, Hansen, Bing, Weber, Larkin, Noll, Jacobs, Haut, et al. These surfboard builders shaped surf culture, both literally and figuratively. It was all about the ride–what you wore came second. Since 2007 THE BOARDROOM SHOW (aka Sacred Craft) has reasserted and maintained this philosophy. To put the surfboard — and the modern day kahunas who craft and design them — back at the forefront of surf culture. Today the international surfboard building community places surf culture, its influence, its importance, its responsibility, back in the hands of the artisans who shape our sacred craft – and ultimately our future.

Late 2006. It’s been about a year since Clark closed. All sorts of crazy foams were showing up in the marketplace, but perhaps more importantly, the retail surf shops had started to bring in overseas surfboards to fill out their retail space. They just simply didn’t have surfboards. It’s hard to validate a surf shop without surfboards. By the time the dust settled in 2007, it was just way easier and the terms were much softer for retail surf shops to bring in overseas surfboards — and they did. I don’t blame the surf shops for doing that, but it certainly didn’t help the local board builders and it was a catalyst for the show.

I thought, “hey, let’s put on a surfboard show for the real guys, the real deal.” These shapers, these craftsman, these builders, these laminators. No fashion. All passion.

In 2006 I had gone to Australia and spent a few days traveling with Chris Christenson. I told him what I was planning to do and I told him I wanted to honor the shapers. Chris was adamant that it can’t be an art contest. It had to be something that highlights the quality of hand shaping surfboards. He gave me his opinions on what that might look like. I threw out ideas at him and Chris either shot them down or suggested a better way.

Chris‘s insight was incredibly helpful in regards to how the shape-off competition unfolded.

Believe me, I had some horrible ideas. For example, I told Chris, “what if I get a huge block of foam, like an 8’ x 4’ block of foam.” I wanted to see who can craft a board out of a big chunk. Just like the Polynesians in the 1400s. They would identify a huge Koa tree and chop it down and build a board out of it. So I thought a huge chunk of foam was the best way to test the craftsmanship of the shapers. Chris immediately shot that down. He realized that wouldn’t be practical, and it wouldn’t test the shapers skill. He suggested other ways to test the shapers ability, like picking a blank that challenges the shaper to find rocker inside of the blank, ideas like that. I queried him about know how much time would they need to finish the board, what kind of tools should I allow them to use… all of these type of things. Chris gave me his insights and I built the shape-off around this insight. Chris is a legendary shaper and his insights we’re invaluable.

A few months go by and I’m about to pull the trigger so to speak. I’m getting ready to send the big rent check over to the fairgrounds facility people. I’m pretty nervous — my children are eight and nine years old. I’m sending over a significant amount of my money. I called two people: Rusty Preisendorfer and Matt Biolos. I wanted to get their opinion on doing something like this, and to see if I could in fact count on their participation. Luckily both Rusty and Matt enthusiastic about the idea and told me I could count on their participation. After those two phone calls I sent in the rent check — and crossed my fingers.

So those three guys Chris, Rusty and Matt were foundational exhibitors at the show. Chris was a judge in the very first Icons of Foam Tribute to the Master Shape off along with Steve Pezman and John Kies. That first year in 2007 we honored Mike Diffenderfer. Pez new Diff well, and more importantly knew Diff’s boards. John Kies had a shaping bay next to Dif for years and played golf with him. They were good friends.

That’s how the Boardroom Show started, in 2007, as Sacred Craft, in Del Mar, California.

This is just the quick history. There is much more to tell, but you’d have to be pretty bored to pull up chair and listen. We have a great friends, who turned into great staff, and my immediate family is involved.

If you’re interested in the Icons of Foam shapers whom we have honored over the years, and the contemporary shapers who have honored the icons, there is a page for that here.

The goal of the show, when it started out in 2007 – and to this day – was to highlight the surfboard: the incredible designs, ideas, and craftsmanship of the modern day kahunas who engage in this creative space.

We’ve produced shows at the San Diego Convention Center, in Del Mar, in Huntington Beach during the U.S. Open, in Ventura, in Santa Cruz, in Orlando, Florida, in Costa Mesa, California and in 2019 we went to Tokyo and did a show right before COVID. We’ve had exhibitors go to fame at Shark Tank. Each year other core authentic surfing hardgoods brands exhibit alongside the surfboard builders. – artists too! Surfers love the shows because people love surfboards. They love what the surfboard builders bring to the show, incredible, high-quality, state-of-the-art craftsmanship. Authentic builders that live this life, that live this culture, that surf, and that shape. We realize that the surfboard is a philosophical icon of enduring youth. Pick up a new surfboard, put it under your arm and you will be 15 years old again. — SB

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THE BOARDROOM SHOW

Showcasing the latest in surfboard design and surf equipment from around the globe. The Boardroom highlights the surfboard manufacturing industry. A gathering of like minded enthusiasts who are drawn by an authentic love for riding waves and the crafts that move us along those waves.

BOARDROOM SHOW – October 10 & 11, 2026