Industry Pro-Forms

I haven't kept on top of the whole debate, and I'm fairly certain I don't know enough of the details to make a solid opinion. But it seems one of the better deals for being an instructor, the Pro-Form, is going away or at least being drastically re-designed.

I had heard from the Volkl rep (owned currently by K2) towards the end of the season that K2 was going to discontinue it's Pro-Form deals. Rumors abound that Elan/Dalbello will be following with some unspecified changes (most likely similar) too. The NSSRA Message posted on the PSIA website confirms some of these statements:

At the membership meeting, Tim Petrick of K2 Action Sports announced that K2 is eliminating all proforms and shop employee forms. Petrick said that, in the future, K2 prostock dealers will be listed on the K2 website. PSIA and other pros will be directed to that list. An official announcement and policy statement will be forthcoming.

As I have always understood the issue, it's not so much the Pro-Form itself that is an issue, it's the "Bro-Form" deal. Some have suggested it's not so much the Bro-Form as it's the local shops complaining about being undersold. Maybe things aren't as dire as they initially sound either way some clarification really needs to happen with this.

[ UPDATE:
There seem to be a large amount of Internet debates regarding this already. Check out Epic Ski or Teton Gravity Research's community boards for some nibbles of information. ]