A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Frenetic three-day surf industry convention-hall trade show held twice yearly in Southern California from 1981-2011; the most widely attended event of its kind in the United States; long known by its ASR acronym. ASR gave surf companies an opportunity to display their newest wares—everything from surfboards and surf trunks to water slingshots and sparkling tanning lotion—to surf industry retailers and the surf industry at large; the show was not open to the public. Other action sports represented at ASR included skateboarding, snowboarding, climbing, BMX, wakeboarding, kiteboarding, and sailboarding. The loud, hivelike convention hall atmosphere was filled with rows of surf company booths, hundreds of TV screens showing repeat-loop DVD and video presentations, pro surfers in search of sponsors, roving bikini models in thongs and high-heels, and legions of retail buyers. Although ASR was created in part to put some business rigor into a notoriously lax industry, the social whirl surrounding the show was nonstop. 

 magazine's report on the 1997 show was titled "ASR You Hungover?"

ASR was preceded by the Los Angeles Surf Fair, held from 1962 to 1964 in Santa Monica, California; the 1976-founded Surf Expo show in Florida; and the one-off Surfing Expo '77, held in Costa Mesa, California. ASR had its origins in the 1979-founded Action Sports Retailer magazine, published by Southern California surfers Jeff Wetmore and Steve Lewis. Wetmore was inspired to create a surfing trade show after noticing that virtually all surf shops had pushed surfboards to the back of the store, and were giving over more display space to a fast-multiplying assortment of beachwear items and surfing accessories. The first Action Sports Retailer show was held at the Long Beach Convention Center in February 1981, drawing 150 companies and perhaps 500 registered buyers. The show grew in popularity as the surf industry itself took a sharp turn up in the second half of the decade; a San Diego show was added in 1989. Fashion shows, book signings, meet-and-greet celebrity appearances, surfboard auctions, and after-hours concerts all became part of ASR as the shows grew bigger and more complex. By 2002, the Long Beach ASR alone booked 500 companies and drew 17,000 attendees. Sacred Craft, a surfboard-celebrating expo, joined with ASR in 2010. While America has always been by far the biggest force in the international surf marketplace (the U.S. surf industry generated sales of $6.2 billion in 2010), overseas surf industries have also done well.

In late 2010, Nielsen Expositions, ASR's parent company, announced it was shutting down the trade show. Attendence was already sliding, and the global recession hit the sport hard; the two 2011 ASR shows combined booked only 600 companies and drew 22,000 attendees. Surf retail expositions worldwide suffered along with the ASR, with many closing their doors in the '00s, though France (Glisse Expo) and Germany (ABF) were still holding trade shows as of 2012. Surf Expo, an Orlando, Florida-based retail show has been going strong since 1976, and drew over 12,000 attendees in 2011; the organization launched Singapore's Action Sports Expo Asia in 2011.

Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo (ASR)

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Features

The Sunday Joint

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Features

The Sunday Joint