The 125 Helmet House sales representatives, managers and executives who gathered in Agoura Hills, CA, in January came to talk shop and take stock of the year gone by. By all accounts it was a good year for the firm, distributing 450,000 helmets, plus boots and in-house manufactured apparel and luggage to a motorcycling audience with a lot of choices and, as became crystal clear, a lot of well-placed faith in Helmet House.

“It's going terrific,” Helmet House co-founder and President Bob Miller said of the weekend. “Everyone's excited and enthused and looking forward to '07. We have lots of new products and new opportunities.”

The sentiment was echoed by National Marketing Manager Richard Kimes, who said, “It's gone very well. We've added substantially to our sales force and we've had a successful introduction of several new products.”

Helmet House, Kimes related, is the exclusive distributor of Shoei helmets and Oxtar boots, a leading distributor of HJC helmets and manufacturer of both Cortech performance apparel and luggage, plus Tour Master traditional apparel and luggage. The Agoura Hills event was what Kimes called the “final prep” for going into the warm-weather selling season and featured the introduction of new products to be unveiled at the Indianapolis Dealer Expo, plus the previously mentioned assessment of 2006. It was also a terrific time where accents from around the country raised their glasses in a unified chorus of hard-won success.

The evening banquet witnessed a parade of top salespeople stepping forward to receive the praise of their peers and to accept some good-natured ribbing from Bob Miller, who dished one-liners of the sort that prove you don't have to be nasty or condescending to be funny. Big applause and broad smiles were the order of the night. The gourmet buffet and open bar were icing on the cake.

Miller handed out achievement awards along with National Sales Manager Scott Bain and company co-founder and Vice President Phil Bellomy. The three were joined at times by George Hong, President of HJC-America and Hiro Mizushima, President of Shoei-USA.

The event's entertainment was of the category best called “levity with a purpose,” as race champions Rich Oliver, Broc Hepler, Josh Herrin and the “Boz Brothers” Ben and Eric Bostrom took the dais with Ken Vreeke, who runs Helmet House's advertising through Ken Vreeke and Associates. Vreeke demonstrated the skills of a gifted “natural,” as he traipsed effortlessly from prepared questions to spontaneous give-and-take with the racers. The telegenic Boz Brothers showed with wit (at times a bit bawdy) and undeniable charm why they have become media darlings. Hepler cracked up the crowd by acknowledging the “suit guys” in the audience could likely beat him at golf. Josh Herrin, at 16 and the youngest in attendance, said his motivation to succeed on the track was driven by “not ever having to work in an office.” The crowd ate it up.

But there was information to be had from the racers and Vreeke drew them out on matters of performance, with Hepler praising his HJC carbon-fiber helmets and Oliver conceding, “I started with Shoei a long time ago. They've protected me. They've saved my life a number of times.” The racers and Vreeke were so endearing that Helmet House General Manager Dennis Yohman drew his own laughs when he took the stage after them by saying, “How do you follow that?”

Bob Miller might have summed up the weekend best when he said to the crowd, “Because of your efforts, Helmet House has had another banner year, breaking all previous records. From the day Phil and I started Helmet House, it's been about superior products and the way we offer them.”

Salesman of the Year Greg Haserot and the others agreed. They applauded like it was a football game and their team was winning. Then they applauded some more as their co-workers, or sometimes entire departments like warehouse, I.T. and advertising, were singled out for praise. It seemed there was enough good cheer packed into the banquet for a dozen such events. Perhaps the equation for Helmet House's success is not so difficult: good people, good service and good products were triumphing in a world where all three seem too often to be in short supply.

Helmet House General Manager Dennis Yohman.

(l to r): Champion Rider Rich Oliver, National Marketing Manager Richard Kimes and Shoei-USA President Hiro Mizushima.

(l to r): West Coast Warehouse Manager Oscar Pabon and Memphis Operations Manager Joe Hampton.

Salesman of the Year, Greg Haserot.