Retailers and others party at DC's Gold Standard event Saturday

I stopped by DC's closing Monster party Saturday night, held as part of their Gold Standard event in connection with the X Games. For the second year in a row, DC took over The Standard, Downtown LA to host a myriad of industry movers and shakers, including DC executives, retailers, vendors, sales reps, buyers and athletes.

Fifty to 75 industry partners, including ones from international arenas in the Asian-Pacific and Australian markets, were flown out for the four-day event on July 30-August 2. The evening I attended, featured an open bar and special guest DJ Tina T. Some guests headed up to The Standard‘s rooftop party, while others checked out the Dirt 2 gaming consoles in the room.

I talked with some of DC's execs and reps who showed up throughout the night to party at the DC Mezzanine Gold Bar, sponsored by Monster Energy, Codemasters' DIRT 2 and New Era.

(Above: Brian Garofalow, marketing manager at DC and skateboard street athlete Nick Dompierre, who placed fifth at the X Games on Saturday.)

"It's exciting to see the passion at an event like this," said Jim Glik, vice president of Glik's. "As a Midwestern retailer, it's nice to get the opportunity to connect with the DC family out here. These are the sports we can all relate to."

"It's been a very exciting weekend," said Jim Copeland, skate buyer for Zappos in Las Vegas. "We showed up and got to see DC roll out the red carpet for everyone. They flew out three of us from Vegas."

Other guests included Moto X Super X-Men athlete Jeremy McGrath and DC skateboard street athlete Nick Dompierre who placed fifth in competition that day. Also present was veteran DC photographer Mike Blabac, right, who showcased his book "Blabac Photo: The Art of Skateboarding" in the nearby hospitality suite.

While many retailers appeared supportive of DC continuing to host large-scale events like the Gold Standard in the future, I asked a few DC folks if given the economy, they had expected DC to cancel the Gold Standard 2008 event this year.

"X Games is DC's home turf, it's like the Super Bowl for us," said Dave Kozak, in-house sales manager. "I think it's the last thing we'd cancel."

"We haven't really lost any momentum," said Brian Cassaro, category director for motorsports, adding that Gold Standard is an opportunity to show retailers and athletes their appreciation, as well as a good time. "Bottom line is this is a great event that everyone gets excited about. And [DC] definitely goes all out."

(Right: Brian Cassaro, category director for motorsports, Dave Kozak, in-house sales manager and Kelly Green, DC sales rep - LA.)