7thAnnualAdrenalin

Adrenalin Awards 2009, Bigger, Better and more Defined is the message Style Skaters were given for the 7th Annual Adrenalin Awards & Style Skaters Weekend.

Bigger: Delaware being the 1st State of the United States is also the smallest State, that's why the move from Delaware to the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, as well as the Style Skaters from DC, MD, VA, PA, DE, NY, NJ, MI, OH, MO, KS, IN, TN, and KY made the 7th Annual Adrenalin Awards Bigger.



Skaters came with great expectation to experience one of the most Glamorous weekends in the Style Skate community.

Better: During the course of the 2008, skaters who experienced the 6th Annual Adrenalin Awards, went back and told their local skate community, that Adrenalin was great in 2008 and they should not miss another year of Adrenalin. And they listened. The Skaters told the committee what they wanted to see and experience for the 7th Annual Adrenalin and we sought out to offer the Style Skate community the most elegant and glamorous weekend.

Lets rewind to the weekend itinerary:

May 1, 2009
Friday Afternoon: "Rolling on the Anacostia":   In SE DC, skaters who enjoy roller skating outdoors, the water, basketball, tennis or nature had the wonderful opportunity to experience one of DC's best kept treasured secrets, "Anacostia Park".   Safely nestled under a pavilion, skaters came down and rolled on the Anacostia. The Legendary JRocc (MD), RCLaRock (NY) and DJ Paul Morales rocked the wheels of steels. Despite the threat of rain and thunderstorms, PRAYERS were answered and the Sunshine came through.

Friday Night - Black Carpet Adrenalin Premier Party:   This night was to chat, chew and cut up the dance floor with the 2008 Adrenalin Award recipients. It was HOT!!! There was hand dancing, salsa, bopping, Go-Go, stepping, Hustling, and even a little Slow dancing....and let me tell, even I got a chance to cut a step. OMG "The Man Behind the Music" DJ Stormin Norman, showed us why he was a three time Adrenalin Award nominee for Favorite DJ as well as two time nominee for Favorite Adult Session (Thursday nights -DLight Skate N Palace, Temple Hills, MD) . They don't call call him "Stormin" for nothing. He brought the elements out of those in attendance.

May 2, 2009
Saturday started out with opportunities of success. Business owner and Style Skater Temica Hunt (DC), along with Platinum Emerald Director Theresa Roulhac (MD) of Traci Lynn Fashion Jewelry held a business opportunity meeting with skaters which proved to be very successful. Moving skaters to financial freedom and Entrepreneurship were key points discussed in the meeting and those in attendance were ready to sign on the dotted line after hearing how they too can fire their bosses.

Style Skaters Vendors Expo: This was a great success. Style Skate vendors aligned the pool-side with a little something new and something old for everyone. On hand were vendors from the northeast and south: Busted Caterpillar (NC), JVisions Dance Skate Company (NJ/Y), Rekindled Energy (DC/MD), Custom Gifts by Krissy, TraciLynn Fashion Jewelry (DC/MD Chapters), Sk8 Inc. Productions (NC), Skate Wear by Najah (NJ), Kappa Chris Productions (MD byo NY) and Holla if you "Hear Me, No More Blind Dates", book signing by Author and Style Skater, Shawne "Spice" White (NC).

Adrenalin Awards Banquet: Lights, Camera, Action. Style Skaters, gorgeous and dapper filed in one by one, two by two for an evening of elegance. Dinner, tributes, acceptance speeches and tears of joy. The Adrenalin Awards was full of surprise and to be perfectly honest some disappointment for some people. Nevertheless as Skaters Choice, the Skates chose their favorites for the 2008 Adrenalin year.

The Adrenalin Royal Court Inductees for the year:
                               Ms. Rose Bean (MD)
                               Ms. Audrey Davis (NJ)
                               Mr. Lateef Gordon-Jackson (NJ)
                               Mr. Tony Cabbell (IN)
                               Mr. Jerry (Dawg) Allen (IN)

The evening went very well. Shawne Hines (NY) and Cassandra "MilkShake" Clarke (KY) were the Master and Mistress of ceremony. The comedic duo, dazzled and entertained the audience as they introduce each presenter.

And the winners are:

Defined: In previous years the Adrenalin Awards Ballot did not reflect a true ballot from the Skate Community. Despite many request for voters to cast only one vote. We asked the skaters to please use the utmost integrity when casting your ballot that did not seem to stop those dead set on skewing the ballot. In previous years the Adrenalin tabulations exceeded votes by the thousands, two and three thousands to be exact.

We were determined to set the ballot straight. So this year, our official ballot required voter registration. As in many valid voting modules, there must be some form of accountability and the voter registration served it's purpose. Oh yes, there were a few who tried their hand, but of course that vote was not accepted.

The Adrenalin Ballot needed to be more defined and because of the hard work and dedication of UrbanSkateLinks.com the official voter registry, we were able to maintain the integrity of the Adrenalin Awards Ballot and obtain a more accurate and defined vote. True and actual numbers which made better sense.

Style Skaters which were nominated also helped to define the Adrenalin Award, but campaigning for themselves.   While they campaigned, they helped to educate others on what the Adrenalin Awards are and what this meant to them as a candidate.

Thank you to those who did campaign, educate as well as advocate for the Adrenalin Award. There is still much work to do and together we can make Adrenalin a household name for the Skate Community.

Hold up, rewind!!!! Like most weekends, coordinators will agree there are always things that may have not worked out like you think, last minute things you forgot, situations beyond your control. Well Adrenalin had its share of mishaps.

Starting with the Rink: On Thursday, April 30th we received phone calls from other skaters, "hey Nikki, did you hear the news? What? Shake and Bake is closed! What?"

Well my faith kicked into overtime. "Dear Lord, what shall I do? Well, look to the hills, Temple Hills because there's a Ram in the Bush". DLight Skate N Palace Rink owner Tim Taylor graciously opened his doors to Adrenalin which worked out like a perfect fit.

The moment the word got out about the switch, skaters were texting, emailing, twittering, facebooking, Grooving, Jiving, networking and then some. The word reached the skate community in a timely manner and the switch did not seem to offend the Skate community at all.

"Where's the red carpet? Did anyone pick up the red carpet? Oh boy, no red carpet. Well, open the doors, the Adrenalin must go on". For the most part and for many reasons through the challenges, words of encourage, disappointments and joyous celebration we came together as one unit making

                             The Adrenalin Bigger, Better and more Defined.