Keith Curtain
Keith Curtain is Publisher of ASB magazine and has worked in the surf industry all of his professional life. Prior to launching ASB in August 2004, Keith worked as national marketing manager of Reef (Brazil) Australia Pty Ltd (1998-2004) and previous to that as national development officer for Surfing Australia (1992-1998). Keith holds a BA in Management Communications, majoring in journalism, market research and communications. Keith has worked in the surf industry for almost twenty-five years and in 2008 he received the Pioneer Award at the Australian Surfing Awards incorporating the Hall of Fame. Keith is also the Director of ActionWatch Oz Pty Ltd, a POS market intelligence company servicing the entire Action Sports industry. In his spare time Keith runs a surf and stand-up paddleboard school, together with his wife Fiona in South West, Victoria.
Caz Ridings
Caz Ridings Emge is one of Australia’s most prolific surf journalists. She has spent the past decade spreading the love from Chick to Waves Surfgirl, Tracks to Surfing Life, and countless surf rags in-between, oblivious to the term “rival publications”. Caz has a penchant for delivering great detail in her stories and always delivers highly technical features in a concise, user-friendly manner. However Caz is in a league of her own when it comes to interpreting new media, social platforms and the digital space. Caz runs Soul Arch Media & Marketing with her surf videographer husband, Dave Emge, and lives in Tugun on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Mark Eymes
From aspiring 1980’s pro surfer, to Rip Curl Promotions Officer, surf agent and surf shop owner and co-owner of Surfing World magazine, Mark Eymes has done it all. Eymesy has unbridled access just about every venue and every individual at every layer of the industry and manages to land the interviews others just cant get. After exiting his Billabong Manly store it was time for a gap year and to focus on a new venture in retail consultancy. Eymesy is one of the most affable blokes you’ll ever meet and arguably one of the country’s finest surf retailers. His regular series ‘Retailer to Retailer’ is a popular addition to ASB and resonates with our core readers.
Phil Jarratt
Born in Wollongong, NSW in 1951, Phil Jarratt wouldn’t like to admit it but he’s the godfather of modern surf journalism. Phil Jarratt has been involved in the surf industry and media for nearly 40 years and has won the Australian Surfing Awards surf culture gong three times. His ‘Salts & Suits’ (2010) offered a guts and all insider’s take on the $10 billion global surf industry, and was shortlisted for the 2010 Blake Dawson Prize for business literature. A former editor of Tracks and The Australian Surfers Journal, and contributing editor to The Surfers Journal, Surfer, Surfing and Pacific Longboarder, Jarratt is also the author of several surfing bestsellers, including Kelly Slater: For The Love (Chronicle, 2008), The Mountain & the Wave (Quiksilver, 2006) and Mr. Sunset (GPG, 1997) and Australia’s Hottest 100 Surfing Legends (2011). Phil was scriptwriter and consultant to producers Jeremy Grolsch and Shaun Tomson on Bustin’ Down The Door. Phil was a former executive at Quiksilver Europe and current event director for the Noosa Festival of Surfing. Phil also works as a consultant to the investment industry on Billabong and other surf brands. ASB is incredibly stoked to have an author, statesman and wordsmith such as Phil Jarratt on our editorial team.
Tim Baker
Tim Baker is a former editor of Tracks and Surfing Life magazines and current Editor at Slow magazine. Described by peers as possibly the most brilliant and incisive surf writer working today, Tim is the author of four books, including Bustin’ Down The Door, High Surf and The Rise and Fall and Rise of Mark Occhilupo. Surf or Life, as well as Australia’s Century of Surf (Random House, 2013) celebrates 100 years of surfing history. ‘Surfari’ (Random House, 2011) He has twice received the Surfing Hall of Fame Media/Culture Award and been nominated for the CUB Australian Sports Writing Award. Tim lives in Currumbin on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Bryan Dickerson
Bryan Dickerson is a veteran journalist who has spent the better part of the last decade filing news reports 24/7 for Surfersvillage.com. While his focus is all things surfing and the fantastic culture we all share, he has contributed extensively to mainstream publications. Bryan currently lives in the Basque Country of France.
Bryan’s says of his first feature ‘THE STATE OF WAVE POOL RACE‘ that the sport of surfing will change dramatically with the coming wave pool boom. Along with old salts scheduling after work tube time, pools will draw land-locked groms away from ball sports and into the tribe. The surf industry will blossom beyond the beach. There are several companies in Australia fuelling this emerging market, each with a very different wave making system. Discover the different technologies, how much it costs to open a wave pool and whether it’s a good investment. And while it’s been termed a “Space Race,” the general consensus is that due to the variety of systems popping up, there is enough room at the table for everyone.
ASBMAG will draw on Bryan’s extensive experience and industry connections to help navigate our digital future.
Jock Serong
Jock Serong is a senior writer for Surfing World and regular contributor to other titles including The Guardian, Surfer, Tracks and Slow magazine. His debut novel, Quota, won the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel. His most recent novel is The Rules of Backyard Cricket is Shortlisted, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction, 2017 and longlisted for various other literary awards. His third novel ‘On Java Ridge’ is set for release in August 2017. Jock is married with four children and lives in South West, Victoria.
Brian Walker
Brian Walker is Founder and Managing Director of Australasia’s leading retail consultancy, Retail Doctor Group. Specialising in the implementation of insights driven strategy and building of business fitness, Retail Doctor Group are the ‘how to’ experts in the retail, franchise, service and shopping centre management sectors. They have built successful projects for companies such as Denim Enterprises (G-Star), Saltwater Wine, Herringbone, General Pants Group, National Australia Bank and Westfield.
Brian is a great supporter of the surf retail industry, as well as authoring articles for us; he has also recently presented keynotes for Surf Retailer Federation and Quiksilver conferences. Having grown up on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, he enjoys being a part of the surf community and can often be found on his board at Manly Beach.