PDA

View Full Version : Interesting read about ***boat....



PaknAir
12-18-2007, 07:52 PM
This was taken from performanceboats.com.....
My name is Chris Davidson. I live in Las Vegas. Since 1986, I have been in charge of Hot Boat Magazine with one job title or another. One of the pivotal moments in Hot Boat's existence came in 1989, when it was purchased by LFP Inc., the company spearheaded by Hustler Magazine founder Larry Flynt. Hot Boat's new association with LFP would have profound ramifications, especially from a financial perspective. For example, no longer would I have to deal with U.S. Marshalls drilling door locks and demanding that I send our employees home until Chuck Pierce, the previous owner, paid our back payroll taxes. Longtime Hot Boat executive editor Kevin Spaise and I would no longer have to pay our own expenses to attend the L.A. Boat Show. We now had the funds to blossom from a regional based magazine, both for content and distribution.
At Flynt's Beverly Hills offices, Kevin and I would often read the message board with wide eyes: numerous letters and phone messages threatening everything from bombing the building to gunfire and random mayhem were posted every day. Many issues and memories were created during the following 18 years.
Even given these and other drawbacks, working for Flynt and in particular company president Jim Kohls, turned out to be an incredible experience. Kevin and I made many friends while testing some of the finest performance boats in the world. Over the years, I built up a team of core players who were instrumental in producing the best performance boating magazine: award winning writer Kevin Spaise, senior tech editor Jim Wilkes, Jet Tech columnist Greg Shoemaker, photographer extraordinaire Fernando Escovar, my go-to guy editor Brett Bayne, and my girl Friday, Cindy Bergstrom. The work we did together was rewarding both personally and professionally.
And then everything changed.
In August, LFP sold the magazine to new owners. To my astonishment, the sale was initiated in a very secretive manner by my brother, Darrin, whom I had hired years before to help me out at Hot Boat. Unbeknownst to me, he had assembled financial backing, approached LFP's corporate vice president and negotiated a deal that would make him the new editor-in-chief.
The reverberations from the betrayal were enormous.
Several people who depended on the income from Hot Boat were suddenly at the unemployment office. Most disturbing of all was the fact that my brother had attempted to destroy my reputation with people that I had worked with for almost 20 years for his own personal gain. The incident was nothing short of Shakespearian in scope.
All of this transpired while I was in Memphis, paying respects to my hero, Elvis Presley. There was a certain symbolism in being fired from the only job I had held as an adult on August 16th, the 30th anniversary of Elvis's death, standing outside Graceland. To add to the air of chaos, back in Vegas, my brother and several associates made attempts to enter my offices while I was confirmed out of town to seize various assets, while LFP attempted to turn off our phone lines and more. This was definitely my saddest trip to Memphis, and one of my darkest days ever.
After the dust settled, I regrouped with a new mission: to create an even better magazine for performance boaters, with an online version that would include a heavy emphasis on video. Our exciting web presence would include an online version of the magazine, breaking news, swimsuit model archives, manufacturer interviews and tech tips.
Joining me at Performance Boats is the core team of players I mentioned before, plus Joker's Wild owner Todd Taylor, TPI owner Gary Taylor, art director Richie Solomon, ace videographers Earl Crowe and Gary Meeker, and web designer Craig Lathrop.
Although I called the shots at Hot Boat, I never personally wrote any articles and my inner thoughts were shared only with a select few. All of that changes as of now. As I venture into this world of cybserpace, you'll get to watch what it's like to deal with Reggie Fountain, you'll get a front-row seat at the Offshore World Finals, and you'll get my first-hand account of life in the driver's seat at Performance Boats magazine. I've got a lot to say; hope you have time to listen.

Focker
12-18-2007, 07:56 PM
wow

MRS FLYIN VEE
12-18-2007, 07:58 PM
I am all ears.;)

Jordy
12-18-2007, 07:59 PM
Sounds like it's going to be an exciting Christmas at the ol' Davidson house. :idea:

wsuwrhr
12-18-2007, 08:00 PM
wow

squirt'nmyload
12-18-2007, 08:01 PM
somebody please tell me why i can't get on the new site!!!!! :mad: :mad:

MRS FLYIN VEE
12-18-2007, 08:01 PM
somebody please tell me why i can't get on the new site!!!!! :mad: :mad:
overloaded with new members. :D

maxwedge
12-18-2007, 08:02 PM
Hmmm:idea:

riverroyal
12-18-2007, 08:02 PM
im glad I got to read this before it gets deleted!!

squirt'nmyload
12-18-2007, 08:02 PM
overloaded with new members. :D
when the page loads, the screen is blank :confused:

Jbb
12-18-2007, 08:03 PM
Sounds like it's going to be an exciting Christmas at the ol' Davidson house. :idea:
:D

MRS FLYIN VEE
12-18-2007, 08:10 PM
when the page loads, the screen is blank :confused:
I got the same thing. Maybe we were banned from there. :jawdrop: :D :D

squirt'nmyload
12-18-2007, 08:14 PM
I got the same thing. Maybe we were banned from there. :jawdrop: :D :D
:D :D ....somehow i feel dirty for posting on HB after reading the first post. what a scumbag and whats worse is that it was a family member :mad:

MRS FLYIN VEE
12-18-2007, 08:15 PM
:D :D ....somehow i feel dirty for posting on HB after reading the first post. what a scumbag and whats worse is that it was a family member :mad:
It is greed.. It is making the world a shiat place to be.

riverroyal
12-18-2007, 08:16 PM
or close it and open it again,it happened to me also

MRS FLYIN VEE
12-18-2007, 08:17 PM
or close it and open it again,it happened to me also
Now you tell us. LOL!!:D

squirt'nmyload
12-18-2007, 08:20 PM
i've tried everything :mad:

bunny 166
12-18-2007, 08:22 PM
:jawdrop:

Throttle
12-18-2007, 08:26 PM
for months!

Wicky
12-18-2007, 08:27 PM
Here's to the new owners of ***boat!!!! You SUCK!!! Sober Up!!!
You greedy focks!!! Yah I've been drinkin' but you have no excuse for what you did!!!

riverroyal
12-18-2007, 08:29 PM
we miss you.(waiting for the lightning strike)

Havasu_Dreamin
12-18-2007, 08:32 PM
for months!
Ding ding ding ding..... we have a winner.....:D

BIGRRNU
12-18-2007, 08:49 PM
sign us up

Throttle
12-18-2007, 08:51 PM
Ding ding ding ding..... we have a winner.....:D
gonna have to just lay low and hopefully by summer the dust will settle a bit...

Phat Matt
12-18-2007, 08:54 PM
Dramaboat has never been so true. :eek:

CBadDad
12-18-2007, 08:55 PM
Brings a whole new meaning to the term Drauma Boat.... I was buying it right up until the part about being at the Kings gravesite when it all unfolded. Sounds too much like a soap opera and creative writing 101.... I never believe everything on HB.
I'll be signing up over there as soon as I can. :D

Old Man Havasu
12-18-2007, 09:31 PM
Brings a whole new meaning to the term Drauma Boat.... I was buying it right up until the part about being at the Kings gravesite when it all unfolded. Sounds too much like a soap opera and creative writing 101.... I never believe everything on HB.
I'll be signing up over there as soon as I can. :D
Geez! Merry Christmas to ***boat. And lets not forget how Elvis croaked!

grads2112
12-18-2007, 11:32 PM
:idea: :idea: :idea:

Sleeper CP
12-19-2007, 12:05 AM
Wow if that first post is true , what a "tool" and POS all in one:mad:
Sleeper CP
Big Inch Ford Lover:D

02HoWaRd26
12-19-2007, 12:53 AM
SO what is the new web site???

snake321
12-19-2007, 05:39 AM
That explains everything.
This is not Hot Boat anymore, the Hot Boat that we know has moved and been renamed.
This will be known as the place where everybody got screwed.

Jbb
12-19-2007, 05:47 AM
The Irony is just rich.:D .....I have been here from the very beginning....I have watched as ***boat did everything it could to distance itself from the board's drama....saying its not what they were about..:p Seems like the behind the scenes drama was jucier than anything the Sandbar could produce....lol..straight out of the trailer park...
Whats the lowest form of scum on earth?......a Hypocrite!............time to look in the mirror ***boat....we have met the enemy.....and It is us....:p

tntperformance
12-19-2007, 06:51 AM
Sounds like it's going to be an exciting Christmas at the ol' Davidson house. :idea:
:eek:
You ain't lyin !

ratso
12-19-2007, 06:56 AM
Sounds like it's going to be an exciting Christmas at the ol' Davidson house. :idea:
If that is the true story, I'd have done knocked somebody the fukk out.:idea:

maxwedge
12-19-2007, 07:01 AM
If that is the true story, I'd have done knocked somebody the fukk out.:idea:
...And slept with the sister-in-law too, in all likelyhood:D

Baja Big Dog
12-19-2007, 09:05 AM
The Irony is just rich.:D .....I have been here from the very beginning....I have watched as ***boat did everything it could to distance itself from the board's drama....saying its not what they were about..:p Seems like the behind the scenes drama was jucier than anything the Sandbar could produce....lol..straight out of the trailer park...
Whats the lowest form of scum on earth?......a Hypocrite!............time to look in the mirror ***boat....we have met the enemy.....and It is us....:p
I had to :D read between the lines, but very well put!!:D

Goad
12-19-2007, 09:26 AM
fukk this place...that story just made me sick. :(

brad22
12-19-2007, 10:28 AM
test