Episode 38 - Meet the Crew & Surf City's Summer Events

This week Mel and Don pull back the curtain on HB Unplugged itself, spotlighting the people who make the show happen. First up is videographer Alejandro Martinez, who has been producing and editing the show alongside Mel and Revivify for about a year and a half—the one-man crew who sets up the two cameras, the studio lights, the mics, and the all-important SD card, then stitches it all together into the video podcast you are watching. Then they welcome aboard Michelle Kim, Mel's new right hand at Revivify and Recon Pros, who describes herself as a "walking checklist" and is taking over guest scheduling, production logistics, and a brand-new sponsorship program as the show looks to grow beyond its Revivify roots.

They also reveal that HB Unplugged is hitting the road, bringing the full setup to Surf City's biggest events. Don—who sits on what feels like every board in town—runs down a packed calendar, starting with Surf City Buses on the Pier on May 31st, the VW bus show he guerrilla-marketed into existence that now draws roughly 130 buses and what one veteran lifeguard called the most people he had ever seen on the pier in a single day. From there it is Surfscape on May 16 and 17 and a Fourth of July like no other: the city's 122nd Independence Day parade, the biggest west of the Mississippi, supercharged this year for America's 250th birthday with a hot rod car show, a block party, a fair and Ferris wheel, and Don's band opening for Redneck Rodeo.

The run does not stop there. Don previews Ed Ramos's 20,000-rider bike parade on July 5th, a Surfing Walk of Fame on July 30th dedicated to Pete Townend—now the parade's first-ever surfing Grand Marshal in his 50th year as world champion—the Surfers Hall of Fame, the surf museum's Hackfest fundraiser during the US Open, Rock and Fig's Surf Festival, the downtown chili cookoff, and the Pacific Airshow in October, where he ferries the pilots in by VW bus. Along the way he shares the story of parachuting over the pier with the Navy SEAL jump team, and the crew lands on the show's bigger mission: more sponsors, more reach, and more Surf City stories. A must-watch episode.