If you had $20,000 to make yo-yo more popular in the future, how would you spend it?

[WickerWraith]

Buy as many cheap yoyos as you can, then go to schools, do demos with ball bearing ones, and give away the yoyos to the small impressionable children.

[Glenacius_K (Spinworthy Glen)]

I’d buy a sports car and yell to anyone I drive past ‘OI!!! BUY SOME YOYOS AND PLAY THEM!!’

[smileypants707]

A sports car for 20,000? What, like a Dodge Viper 888 [DV888]?

[Glenacius_K (Spinworthy Glen)]

Like a second hand something. A Nissan Skyline.

[codinghorror]

@smileypants707

Dodge Viper 888 [DV888]?

A+++ for effort would read again

[codinghorror]

@YoYoExpertGarrett

$1200 for a school show?? That just sounds ridiculous, how would that even work? I know @Eric_Koloski does school shows in our area and he just brings a sound system and a box of yo-yos.

I dunno man. This works. I see examples every month. Here’s another

What other hobbies/activities do you guys do?

No actually I got into it when my dad gave me a wooden yoyo when I was only 5. But I only used it one or two times, because it was a bit hard. Then 4 years later this thing came to my school which was called the Ned show it was about never giving up etc. The person was using a yoyo and I thought it was cool. They were selling them and I got mine for really cheap, and that is how I got into yoyoing.

[Theycallmecotton (Team Few & Far Between)]

I think they need to make yoyo places like skating rinks. A place yoyoers can go to hang out. Should include full snack bar, yoyo shop, good music, and a nice space where everyone can yoyo and hangout and learn together. Also should include really nice lighting

[MediocreThrower]

I’d either spend it on school programs or getting some form of social media personality to promote them. Back when I was in elementary school there was a program that came to our school where they had a performer doing tricks on the yo-yos they were selling, and that worked wonders. Obviously most people just bought the equivalent of a Duncan Imperial and never touched it again, but for some people it was their gateway to more serious unresponsive play.

Edit: Unresponsive yo-yos weren’t really around, I mean a while after. The program mostly sold fixed axles and I think one that could sleep for a few seconds.

The social media angle can certainly work as well. I’m not sure if anyone mentioned the video Rhett and Link did on yo-yos, but that’s what first got me interested. The tricks they made up were intended to be funny and light-hearted, but they showed a clip of Zach Gormley and that’s how I learned that the kind of yo-yoing he did even existed. It’s true that most celebrities would charge more than 20K, but YouTubers can have a more involved and sometimes larger following and quite a few would be happy to promote throwing for that sum.

Sorry for the essay, I just thought that this was a really interesting question and I wanted to include some of my own experiences.

All New Yo-Yo Tricks 2014