Ah Long Beach…… less than two weeks out and the heat really starts to pour on. I was telling my buddy the other day that from two-three weeks out from the season you basically except the fact that your life for the next eight months basically becomes 100% drifting. The weekends leading up are usually filled with pre-events (this weekend we have Tech Day and then some of us are going to be in down town Long Beach for the bike Festival) and the week days are long hours preparing and making sure you have every piece of production and every last autograph pen for the drivers. It’s an interesting gig to say the least, but none of us would do it if we didn’t love it. It’s hard not to get stressed and anxious when an event comes around. It seems to be a natural feeling I think many people get when you prepare to put your work out to the public. The big obvious difference is that unlike an artist that knows exactly what his piece will look like, our “canvas” is essentially only partly finished because we have that little added piece of artwork called competition. The drivers are the real art and FD is the canvas so the product isn’t truly finished until the trophy ceremony concludes. Oh and a little secret, we are building custom carbon fiber trophies this year. They look just like the original ones but are completely carbon fiber. Pretty sick actually.

Anyway, this weekend we have two events we are participating in and/or organizing. First is the Tech Day at the Rancho UTI campus. It is free to the public and will be way bigger than last year. Most every car will be there receiving their technical inspection, but it will also be a real live event. Jarod will be on hand and the Drift Zone will be broadcasting live so you can tune in to the internet to get the feed. We will put it up on this blog too later. Second event is actually on the same day down here in Long Beach. We will be exhibiting at the Long Beach bike festival. This is free too so if you are local to Long Beach and don’t head up to UTI , come chill with us. But I encourage you to go to Tech Day if you can. It’s actually a pretty cool vibe.

2009 Pre Season Sit Down: Daijiro Yoshihara

For Immediate Release

March 27, 2009

Formula DRIFT and CKMedia Announce Ground Breaking LIVE Radio and News-text Coverage to Join The Driftzone

Long Beach, Calif. – March 27, 2009 – With the opening of the Formula DRIFT professional drift championship just weeks away, CKMedia Associates, LLC, producers of The DriftZone, the official video podcast of Formula DRIFT since 2006 and The Live Blog, the most authoritative live coverage of Formula DRIFT events, introduced in 2007, announces its 2009 drift programming line-up, and this year, it’s all about being LIVE!

At the season opener on The Streets of Long Beach, April 10-11, Formula DRIFT will join the likes of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup, The IndyCar World Series, and the Formula One World Championship when Live Blog Radio, ground-breaking, LIVE radio coverage of the Formula DRIFT pro drift championship series is flashed to a global Internet audience by CKMedia. The exclusive Internet radio coverage will open with a recap of Friday’s qualifying and the opening Round of 32 competition, followed by continuous coverage of the final four rounds of tandem bracket competition, culminating with the podium ceremonies. Live Blog Radio will go on the air from Long Beach at 2:00pm (PDT) and remain on the air until conclusion of the event, estimated to be 5:00pm (PDT).

The radio crew will consist of three voices, led by the executive producer of CKMedia sports, Gary Keith, a motorsports broadcast journalist with over 30 years experience covering every major form of racing from World of Outlaws to Formula 1. Keith will be joined by a color commentator at the anchor location on the Formula DRIFT scoring tower, and by an interviewer stationed at the start line area to conduct live interviews between rounds, and during downtimes in the event program. Listeners are encouraged to call into the show and participate in the live coverage. The names of the remaining on-air talent will be released at Formula DRIFT’s pre-season technical inspections, April 4.

“CKMedia introduced two ground breaking media platforms to Formula DRIFT in 2006 and 2007. This year, it’s all about being live and interactive with a global audience, extending Formula DRIFT’s international profile and influence via these new and exciting programming initiatives,” said Gary Keith. “Live Blog Radio is the logical evolution of the textual The Live Blog update service we introduced in 2006, and a perfect compliment to The DriftZone video podcast”.

Listeners can access a chat room that will run concurrent to the coverage, and even participate in the program by calling in. A few lucky callers may even get to talk briefly, on the air, with drivers as they prepare for their next round of competition.

But Live Blog Radio is just one of three new media products produced by CKMedia in support of Formula DRIFT for 2009. In January, CKMedia debuted The Inside Drift, the first call-in Internet talk radio program dedicated entirely to the professional drift scene. The two hour program, distributed via www.blogtalkradio.com, the world’s leading aggregator of Internet talk radio programming.

The Inside Drift airs Saturdays from 10:00am to 12:00pm PDT (1:00 to 3:00pm EDT) features the top drivers and personalities in pro drifting from Formula DRIFT and drift sanctioning bodies world-wide, as well as callers from the show’s global audience to question and converse. live, with the show’s guests.

The Inside Drift will originate from every Formula DRIFT Championship event in 2009, for a one hour program featuring guests from the event talking with Keith and listeners who call the show. The start time of the program will vary, based on the event schedule and time zone. From Long Beach, The Inside Drift will begin at 10:00am PDT (1:00pm EDT). CKMedia will also air a special one hour edition of The Inside Drift Monday, April 13, beginning at 7:00pm PDT (10:00pm EDT). The program will feature live interviews by the show’s host ,with the top three drivers. Listeners are encouraged to call in and participate in the conversation. Listeners can call The Inside Drift from any land line or cell phone, or by using Skype or any other VOIP client, by dialing 646.716-4717 (regular long distance rates apply).

Archived versions of The Inside Drift and the Live Blog Radio event coverage are available at Apple’s iTunes music store, keywords: “inside drift” and “live blog radio”.

CKMedia is also partnering with the world’s fastest growing social network, www.twitter.com, to deliver live news updates throughout each Formula DRIFT competition weekend via it’s new SMS (short messages service) news service, Track Tweets. Listeners, world-wide can sign up to follow Track Tweets and receive the 140 character, or less news updates, called “tweets” to their computer, cell phone, or PDA. The service is free. Those interested in receiving Track Tweets, should go to www.twitter.com/tracktweets. Once there, those who are not already registered users of twitter can sign up for a twitter account (free), and begin following the Track Tweets service.

As the year progresses, CKMedia will introduce exciting “talk back” features to Track Tweets which will allow followers to comment on what they have read, pose questions to the Live Blog Radio broadcast crew, Formula DRIFT officials, even some of the drivers. Interactive contests are also planned for Track Tweets.

The DriftZone will return for its fourth year as the official video podcast of Formula DRIFT. “When we introduced The DriftZone to the Formula DRIFTcommunity in 2006, few knew what a podcast was, or exactly what we did, but they learned fast,” said Keith.

By the end of the 2008 Formula DRIFT season, there were four video podcasts following Formula DRIFT, though CKMedia remained the leader in delivering the most authoritative in coverage of the series. Nearly 1.5 million streams and downloads of The DriftZone had been logged and over 1.9 million views of The Live Blog had been recorded by the conclusion of he 2008 season.

“CKMedia has been a staunch supporter of the Formula DRIFT for many years now and again they continue to add new and creative ways to get Formula DRIFT out to the community and the masses, says Ryan Sage VP of Marketing for Formula DRIFT. “With CKMedia’s additions to series in form of radio, Live Blog, podcast, track tweets and all the event coverage, just CK alone brings a huge audience into this great sport.”

The DriftZone video podcast will air weekly, on Wednesdays throughout the season. As was the case in 2008, The DriftZone will be distributed in a streaming Flash player available from its website at www.thedriftzone.com, and in formats intended for portable devices, iPhones and iPods, and in a full high definition form intended for viewing on digital enabled and high definition televisions by broadband delivery via Apple TV.

For more information visit www.formuladrift.com.
For more information contact:
John Pangilinan
The ID Agency
562.491.7503
[email protected]

ABOUT FORMULA DRIFT

Entering its sixth season, Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship. Established on the streets of Japan, drifting has evolved into a worldwide competitive sport that challenges each driver’s driving ability and vehicle control. Formula DRIFT provides a forum for professional drifters to compete in 7 events nationwide for the coveted Formula DRIFT Championship crown. As the first official series in North America, Formula DRIFT has taken competitive motorsports to the extreme attracting fans and car enthusiasts from all walks of life and establishes itself as the global focal point for the Sport. For a race schedule and ticket information, visit: www.formuladrift.com.

ABOUT IMG SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Operating in 30 countries, IMG Sports & Entertainment’s diverse businesses include: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; and client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, speakers, European football, rugby, cricket, motor sports, coaching, Olympic and action sports. IMG Academies are the world’s largest, multi-sport training and educational facilities, delivering world-class training experiences to more than 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult, and professional athletes each year. More information is available at: www.imgworld.com.

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