Legacy

As we look back over the 37-year history of The SURFER Poll trophy, it becomes clear that this memento is a veritable timeline of our sport's modern era. The names inscribed on its façade—Phil Edwards, Nat Young, Mark Richards, Tom Curren, Andy Irons, and, of course, Andy Irons among others—are emblematic of the larger themes present during each of their respective reigns. Like powerful ground swells, each name on that trophy signifies the culmination of a new movement, and a turning point in the sport. To win the SURFER Poll, one must first capture the hearts and minds of the entire surfing world—not just ratings points. Many a world champion has never been close to winning that trophy. The title of SURFER Poll Champion is the most prestigious in all of surfing, specifically because it is the hardest to win.

Beginning in 1963, SURFER Magazine asked its readers to take part in this process, the ordeal of selecting names of the world's best. For decades, those readers have continually answered that call, and the SURFER Poll continues to be a yearly celebration driven by your voice. Back then, the winners were announced at a semiformal banquet at a small restaurant in Capistrano Beach. Today, the party may be much bigger, and a bit more lavish, but the awards retain the essence of the Poll, and the party is to connect the readers to the surfers.

In 1996, the SURFER Poll party took on added significance, as SURFER augmented the evening's festivities with the SURFER Video Awards. By celebrating the achievements of directors, cinematographers, and the world's best surfers, the SURFER Poll and Video Awards night represents the pinnacle of surf culture. Today, with added awards like the Breakthrough Performer of the Year and Best Female Performance, the SURFER Poll and Video Awards Show is unquestionably the surf world's biggest night out.

This year, as we celebrate the 37th Annual SURFER Poll and Video Awards, please keep in mind that while much has changed over the years, the spirit of the event remains the same. You, the reader, are the driving force behind it all, and as we prepare for another round, we'd again like to ask for your guiding hand. Please click below to vote. If you need some inspiration before choosing, visit the Past Winners page for a reminder of who and what you and your fellow readers have found most influential in the past. Thanks for joining the Collective Voice of SURFER's readers; we're looking forward to seeing where you decide to guide us in 2009.

Media

The 37th Annual SURFER Poll And Video Awards Presented By Suzuki Auto And Ultimate Wave Tahiti will be Tuesday September 15, 2009 at the Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA. We will be supplying full media services for TV, print, radio, and webcast purposes during the event. For further information during the event, or leading up to it, please contact the media team for individual media requests. Press releases and digital images will be available via e-mail.

For media requests, accreditation, etc., contact:

• Dawn Boeckermann-Hamilton
• KHPR
• dhamilton@khpublicrelations.com
• (310) 295-1189

SURFER Contacts:

• Elishia Matta
• Elishia.Matta@sorc.com
• (949) 661-5149

• Janna Irons
• Janna@surfermag.com
• (949) 661-5162

Voting Options

Online and Ballot Card Voting and Tallying

There are two ways to vote your favorite surfers into the 2009 SURFER Poll. First, there's the time-honored tradition of buying the magazine, ripping out a ballot, filling it out, and mailing it into the SURFER office. Or you can simply cast your vote online by filling out an online ballot. It's one click away. No matter which way you choose to participate, the point is to join the collective voice of SURFER's valued and respected readers.

Show Production

The Show: It's not easy to keep raising the bar for the SURFER Poll and Video Awards, but somehow every year we manage. General planning starts almost a year before the show itself, and by mid-winter a theme and direction for the show have been discussed and decided upon. Come summer, things really start falling into place as guest presenters, entertainers, and hosts are all decided upon. Keeping the show running smoothly and on time is critical, and by the end of the summer a script has been written, the invitations have been sent, and everybody on the SURFER staff braces themselves for the big night. Of course, there's always going to be a hiccup or two, but when the curtain goes up it's time to enjoy the evening, have a laugh with friends, rub elbows with the world's most influential surfers, and have a enjoy the occasion.

The Videos: It's been said that winning the SURFER Poll and Video Awards is as much of an accomplishment as winning a world title, and for surf cinematographers, it's the only chance all year to be rewarded for their tireless effort both under the hot sun and in the darkest depths of the editing bay. The winner for each Video Poll category is chosen through a variety of steps. It starts with the filmmakers themselves submitting and nominating what they feel are the key moments in their latest body of work. From their each nominee is closely scrutinized by a panel of impartial experts, who, beginning this year, will choose the winners in the categories of Movie of the Year, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Filmmaker, and Best Cinematography, as well as the male and female performances of the year. The SURFER Magazine staff will choose the rest of the winners, including Breakthrough Performer, Best Maneuver, Best Tube Ride, Agent of Change, Worst Wipeout, and the Coors Heavy Water Award for an outstanding big-wave performance. Some winners are obvious, others require debate that can do on for weeks at a time, but every year it is with much care and deliberation that the SURFER Video Award winners are selected.

Surfermag.com Web Clip Of The Year: This year, we're pleased to announce a new category for the SURFER Video Awards—Web Clip of the Year. Great video doesn't only take the form of the feature-length film. With the proliferation of the popularity of websites like YouTube, Web shorts have become a category in themselves, and the Web Clip of the Year award is designed bring more attention and praise to the fantastic viral medium of the Web. The collective voice SURFER readers will be heard yet again as it's you who will nominate and vote for your favorite clips.

Guest Presenters and Celebrities

Surfing is a tight-knit community, though you'll be surprised by some of the unexpected guests at the SURFER Poll and Video Awards. Everybody from Prison Break star Dominic Purcell to superstar major league pitcher David Wells to gold medal snowboarder Shawn White were in attendance last year. Of course, there're always all the surfers, but when you bump into a Hollywood starlet on your way to the bathroom, it brings an entirely different community of surfers and surf enthusiasts to light. Who will show this year? Guess you'll just have to wait and find out.

Sponsors

The The 37th Annual SURFER Poll And Video Awards Presented By Suzuki Auto And Ultimate Wave Tahiti is only possible by the support from the following sponsors:

About SURFER

In 1960, SURFER Magazine began as the original. After a long history of delivering provocative and insightful editorial features, revealing interviews and award winning state-of-the-art photography, SURFER remains the authoritative voice of the surfing world and thus earned the moniker “the bible of the sport.” The SURFER brand has also grown to include Surfermag.com, Fantasy Surfer, The Hot 100, Wavewatch, My SURFER Cover and a myriad of SURFER Message boards. All of these assets combine to make the SURFER network the most current and reliable channel of information to the surf community. The magazine is published by Source Interlink's Action Sports Group (ASG), which reaches more than 2 million active sports enthusiasts through an integrated network of magazines, online properties, events, and television programming.

About American Suzuki Motor Corporation

The Brea, Calif.-based Operations of American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) was founded in 1963 by parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) and currently markets its vehicles in the United States through a network of approximately 400 automotive dealerships and numerous other motorcycle, ATV and marine dealerships in 49 states. With global headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan, SMC is a diversified worldwide automobile, motorcycle, and outboard motor manufacturer. In 2008, SMC sold more than two and a half million new cars and trucks and more than three and a half million motorcycles and ATVs. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has operations in 196 countries and regions. For more information, visit media.suzuki.com.

About Ultimate Wave Tahiti

Ultimate Wave Tahiti, featuring Kelly Slater, will premiere next February. It is the first 3D film produced and distributed for IMAX® and other Giant Screen Theaters to focus on surfing and the unique waves that travel thousands of miles, eventually making it all the way to Teahupoo. Together with Tahitian Raimana Van Bastolaer, Slater will treat movie-goers to a blend of sport, ocean science, and cultural history that will both enthrall and fascinate. Award-winning director, Stephen Low, brings a never-before-seen filming technique to the giant screen, opening eyes to the beauty and intensity of some of the world's most powerful of waves. Ultimate Wave Tahiti, which will be released worldwide to IMAX and other giant screen and digital theaters in 3D and 2D, is executive produced by K2 Communications, Inc. and presented by Suzuki, with supporting partnerships from Tahiti Tourism North America and Quiksilver. (IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation.)

About Red Bull

About FUEL TV

FUEL TV is the action sports lifestyle network for skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX, freestyle motocross, and wakeboarding. A unit of Fox Cable Networks, FUEL TV was launched July 1, 2003 and is seen in 30 million U.S. homes. To subscribe to FUEL TV, call 877-4-FUEL-TV. For program times and other information, visit www.fuel.tv.

About Coors

Coors Banquet is the great American beer for beer lovers who know what they like. Since 1873, Banquet has been brewed in Golden, CO with Rocky Mountain water and high country barley, so it has the full flavored taste with a smooth finish that it's always had. Coors Banquet is not about compromising on what really matters. Like its key consumers, Coors Banquet is masculine, principled, and proudly independent. Visit www.coors.com for more.

About New Era Cap Company

New Era Cap Company Inc.™, the largest and fastest growing headwear manufacturer in the United States, has an 88-year-old tradition of creating quality products that transcend time, culture, sport and fashion. Although New Era® is rooted in sports heritage as the official on-field cap of Major League Baseball, they have evolved into a brand that can be seen on the runways of Paris during Fashion Week and in hundreds of music videos on MTV. New Era is seen as an iconic brand that celebrities, entertainers, musicians and athletes are seen wearing today.

Video Submissions

Attention Filmmakers:

At this time, SURFER Magazine is making its last call for this year's nominee hopefuls. SURFER Magazine is requesting your materials for this year's SURFER Poll & Video Awards show. Below are the specifications that you must follow if you want your video to be included, along with the affidavit that you must sign and return to SURFER to release your video for use in the 37th Annual SURFER Poll And Video Awards Presented By Suzuki Auto And Ultimate Wave Tahiti. Please be advised that the deadline date, August 1, 2009, is approaching quickly, and we want everyone to be able to submit their work.

* Read the following guidelines carefully before submitting.

The Categories:

• HEAVY WATER (big-wave award)
• WORST WIPEOUT
• BEST MANEUVER
• BEST TUBE RIDE
• BEST DOCUMENTARY
• BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
• BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
• BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR
• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
• MOVIE OF THE YEAR

What We Need:

• A time-coded Mini DV master (no Beta or VHS) of your movie recorded on NTSC format, Standard Play (SP) mode. Note: Time-Codes must not appear onscreen. If your movie is more than 60 minutes long, please submit a second Mini DV with the remaining footage.
• A list of time code information showing us where to find your nominated clips on the Mini DV master. Be sure to provide in and out times for each clip. And second check to make sure your time codes are correct before submitting.
• A completed, retail-version of your movie on DVD.
• Your complete contact information.
• Your signed affidavit releasing your footage for SURFER Magazine's Poll & Video Awards DVD, which will be poly-bagged with thousands of issues shortly after the show. (No music from your project will be used on this DVD.)

Qualifications/Deadlines:

• In order to qualify for this year's show, your movie must be for sale in stores by August 1, 2009.
• All your materials must arrive at the SURFER Office by August 1, 2009.

What You Get From Us:

• Yourself and anyone who worked on your movie are welcome to attend the show. Whether your project makes the final cut or not, we always do our best to include clips from all the videos during the opening montages, category intros, and Poll walk-up shots.
• The show will be held on September 15, 2009 at the Grove of Anaheim. More details to follow.

Our Info:

• SURFER Magazine
• 33046 Calle Aviador
• San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
• Phone: (949) 661-5100
• Fax: (949) 496-7849

REMEMBER: the deadline for all your materials is August 1, 2009.

You may contact Janna Irons at SURFER Magazine with any questions/concerns via e-mail: janna@surfermag.com.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you at the show!

—SURFER Magazine