We recently created a new video as a way of introducing KEEN, HybridLife and the new Spring/Summer 2010 products to individuals who work at retailer stores where our shoes, bags and socks are sold. The video captures the many faces of KEEN, including our CEO James Curleigh, product developers and several others around the organization.
Archive for the ‘Create’ Category
Glimpse Inside KEEN and New Products for 2010
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010Popular Science Magazine: Robo-Lance Bikes 30mph in KEEN Newport Sandals
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010Sometimes we discover our sandals in unexpected places, such as KEEN Newport H2 on Bainbridge Island, Washington with a robot.
A Bicycle Built for Two: One Rider and One Robot To Do All The Work
The project began as a challenge. Carl Morgan’s son Justin, recalling how he used to have to crank up a nasty hill outside their Bainbridge Island, Washington, home every day, asked his dad, a retired electrical engineer, if he could build something that would take care of the pedaling for a lazy biker. The “yes” arrived about a year later- an electric-motor-powered tandem bicycle featuring a gleaming robot named Joules.
Morgan spent months modeling how to transform a motor’s spin into pedalpushing legs. The motor inside Joules s torso turns a series of linked belts and chains that transfer power from one area of the robot to the next. Each upper leg pivots at the hip, raising and lowering its knee and forcing the lower legs to turn the pedals. He also added “bones” (rods on the outside) for needed stiffness.
Morgan was nervous when he climbed in front for the final test, but Joules easily cruised to the top of the hill. The bike could probably do more, even hit 30 mph, but Morgan says he doesn’t plan to find out: “Abject cowardice on my part means we’ll never know for sure.”
-GREGORY MONE
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KEEN Ambassador Alison Gannett Voted “Green All-Star Pro-Skier for 2010″ by Skiing Magazine
Monday, January 18th, 2010
KEEN HybridLife Ambassador Alison Gannett was voted “Green All-Star Pro-Skier for 2010″ by Skiing Magazine!
What an incredible honor to be selected yesterday as the “Green All-Star Pro-Skier for 2010″ by Skiing Magazine!
I couldn’t have done it without my wonderful sponsors support and dedication to my skiing, my camps, my expeditions, and my work to save our snow and our planet.
Help spread the word by sharing this link.
Full story is available here.
THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
- Alison Gannett
“My Invention is the Stick Sock.” 6th Grader from Nebraska Sends Idea to KEEN Sox Designer
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Letter From KEEN Sock Designer
Dear Cory,
Thank you so much for sharing your Sticky Sock design with me. My name is Emily Berchier and I do product development and marketing for our sock line here at KEEN. I appreciate meeting someone else who is as enthusiast about socks as me. At KEEN, we strive to take practical everyday problems and find solutions that are good for people and the planet.
Socks falling down or “quitting” as we refer to it, is huge challenge. The Stick Sock you came up with is a great solution. I have personally never seen a solution like this on the market to date. Velcro could be a great solution. You could offer the sock in different heights depending on the activity which would require a different placement of the Velcro to fit shoes.
I would recommend making a proto-type or sample of the sticky sock and test it out. With any design, there are always adjustments to make. When I design a sock I have over 20 people wear the sock for months at a time. I have them take a survey and ask them questions about the fit.
I encourage you to keep working on your idea and I am happy to help you if you have any questions.
Enclosed are some KEEN socks for you and your family. Keep in touch.
Warmly,
Emily Berchier
Bringing Hybridlife to Life with Artist/Musican Dominique Garcia
Friday, January 8th, 2010During the most recent KEEN sales meeting, our President and CEO James Curleigh invited Dominique Garcia to Portland Center Stage’s The Armory to talk about her Hybridlife - family, music and art. Dominique’s music can be heard on MySpace here. You can also check out her artwork here.
Operation Toys for SOX: 200 Toys Collected with Retailer Partner Boulder Running Company
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
It all started with a phone call from my Finacee Tiffany. Each year she purchases several toys to be donated to the local Toys for Tots program and this year was no exception. She’d braved the holiday crowds at Toys R Us the night before and had just gone into work to place the presents under the tree at her work which serves as a collection point. However, as I discovered through her call, this year the space under the tree wasn’t filling up quite fast enough and a lot of children’s hopes for a happy holiday season hung in the balance. Inspired by her kindness and caring towards others, I called one of our local dealers – Boulder Running Company – to see if we could devise a way to make a difference. Within a few minutes we’d come up with the outline for Operation Toys for Socks whereby any customer who brought in a new toy to be donated would receive a free pair of KEEN SOX for their random act of KEENness.
The calls – and emails – went out and for three days people filled the store to the brim with donated items. When I returned the following Monday I felt as if I’d entered Santa’s workshop as the call for help had been answered by the great staff and customers of Boulder Running Company. They’d collected over 200 individual gift items to be donated to the local Toys for Tots chapter – enough to fill my truck to the brim and then some. The ultimate reward was having the opportunity to deliver the truck full of gifts to the Toys for Tots operation center where I met several families who would be on the receiving end of gifts like these. Their sincere gratitude and the happiness on their children’s faces reinforces how far a simple random act of KEENness can go.
I was so touched I even wrote a poem about it:
Twas a few days before Christmas so we collected some toys, to hook up some of the less fortunate families with little girls and boys…
We had Barbies and Starships and building blocks galore, it seemed like we had enough to open our own little store.
And when I dropped them off to be sorted and seen, sure enough the guy helping me out happened to be wearing KEEN.
With a pallet and large box’s worth we hope that no child gets missed, as we tried to help with this week’s random act of KEENness.
Special thank you to the team at Boulder Running Company, without whom I couldn’t have made this happen.
Pictures, Objects and Words: HybridLife Challenge at KEEN Sales Meeting
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009Last week KEEN hosted the Fall/Winter 2010 sales meeting. More than 200 sales reps from around the world were here at our office for 4 days. During the opening session, our President and CEO James Curlegih put out a HybridLife Challenge to the group with 4 easy steps to play. 1) Take a picture. 2) Find a way to Care. 3) Describe HybridLife in 1 word. And 4) put it on the KEEN bulletin board.
Here’s how it turned out. . .
What Does It Mean to Be New to Rivers? American Whitewater Looking for Your Stories
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Less than two week (December 21) it’ll be the submission deadline for the March/April edition of American Whitewater. For this issue, AW is looking for stories about what it means to be new to whitewater rivers.
If you’ve been paddling for many years, consider looking back to your first season in a boat and reminiscing about the good old days. For those who are currently novices, what do you like about the sport? Why do you want to get more involved in it? How have you been learning the ropes? Who got you into rivers? What challenges do you face as a beginning paddler? What would you like experienced paddlers to remember about their own humble beginning?
Pretty much anything goes. Just write it up, collect some photos (please don’t forget to include captions and credits!), and send it off to: editor@americanwhitewater.org.
My KEEN Story on Robinson Crusoe Island
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
From: Stefan Springman
Subject: My Keen StoryDear KEEN,
I’ve been having some foot issues that have recently forced me to give up running and bought a pair of KEENs [called the Alyeska] to wear around the house while my foot heels. I’m a documentary producer/director and was a bit worried about how my foot would fair while working on a project I’m producing for The History Channel on a remote island in the Pacific called Robinson Crusoe Island (Really!). My crew is young and tough and we would be spending long days humping heavy gear over rugged mountains and I was worried about whether I could keep up. I threw my KEENs in my backpack at the last minute thinking I could use ‘em to give my ol’ dogs a rest around the campfire at night. But after a few days of climbing around El Yunque — my expensive Italian climbing boots became a pair of torture devices and I was forced to switch to my KEEN slippers even for some quite hairy rock climbing. I just wanted to write to you and say the KEENs were great! My foot pain went away and I didn’t fall off the mountain (or even come close).
Stefan Springman
NFGTV
KEEN 101: History, Biochemistry and English
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
From Left, Brenda VanDevelder, Jeff Jimerson, Jonathan Curry, and Kristina Ender listen to keynote speaker James Curleigh, of Portland during the Willamette Innovators Night Thursday evening at the CH2M Hill Alumni center. (Jesse Skoubo/Gazette Times)
Our President and CEO James Curleigh was the keynote speaker at the Willamette Innovators Night, which took place at Oregon State University on November 5th. Willamette Innovators Night (formerly High Tech After Hours) brings together the Willamette Valleys most innovative companies and organizations to share, learn, and connect.