KITE ASSOCIATION PRO & CONS @MNADVENTURE/MEETING POSTPONED!

[dave12341234]

Yah, Omg, Idk what Inhop stands for either lol!

[JRN]

international house of pancakes? I meant to say IMHO: In MY Humble Opinion. I'm going to try to get there on Wed. I assume it is at Caribou Coffee in WBL, but still haven't heard "BOO" from Nate. C'mon give us more info!!

[BBAddict]

JRN, What does BOO stand for?!

Nate, I'm in for Wednesday if you decide to go ahead with that. Just let us know when and where.

[BBAddict]

If we agree we do, then what would we, as riders, want this association to do for us (start with a wish list and narrow down to reasonable)?

Maybe a few people that can't make the meeting can post their wish lists for us to use as talking points.

[MK]

Happy to see some humor being spared at others expense

I suppose that means PASA (if that is the road we go down) will begin a new party of acronyms for us.

I too have prior commitments and regrettably won't be able to make it (where ever it is - hope you laugh at this Nathan, we all understand; to add dificulty to it the mnkiting peeps are interested too and are looking for some 1/2 way point if possible - we may need to consider a bus or a 3 day conference; can't someone donate a family resort with daycare and internet access? We could preface it to our respective responsibilities in an interest in minimizing H1N1 we're ducking out for a few days to reduce its spread...).

If you end up setting a schedule of meetings and that is all that gets accomplished I'll be content. The speed at which reality moves isn't always the speed we want to move and most likely will take longer. That thought was probably motivated by this I recently saw- Louis CK: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOtEQB-9tvk[/youtube]

There simply won't be enough time in a night or allocated resources (people) to follow through with it all after one meeting. Who ever had the idea of setting a recurring date I'll vote for that.

As with any meeting you'll need a Scribe and Moderator to help maintain some structure. I'm not sure you will want to house the "minutes" on this site or create another section to put them under?? Maybe that can be part of what Nathan is proposing. Another vote of mine will go to ensuring it is accessible via the internet. Maybe a Google collaborative site? That would allow any and all to comment and stay up to date. It sounds like a good idea as I write it but let me know.

Looking forward to what becomes of this and interested in helping. I'll work on getting a list of items together and submit them.

Go Vikes.

Mike

[bmr]

Yikes Dudes and Dudettes...I remember when we just had a "respect where you kite and the others who share the same locale" unsaid rule. Sad to see kiting go the way of snowboarding in the mid/late 90's.

Tuning out and dropping in,

bmr

[UnkleKrusty]

Aloha Everyone,

A few from the MN kiting community asked me to clarify a few things about PASA.

Looking through the posts I thought it is important that PASA is looked at as a resource, we have only stepped in to help with access issues when asked to. Our experience across the US and Canada dealing with access issues has been helpful in many situations.

As Chair of PASA's Kiteboard & Snowkite Division you have an ally who was born and raised in Minnesota, owned a windsurfing retail shop near Harriet in the early 80's and is very aware of the history of access issues for windsports in the Midwest.

PASA is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization founded in 1997 by John Harris of Kitty Hawk Kites on The Outer Banks of North Carolina with one part-time paid employee; our administrator.

Most of the other work done in the organization, including much of my work is volunteer. I started working w/ PASA in 2002.

The money we take in from membership fees, certification classes and industry contributions are used to pay for operating expenses.

Our examiners are paid a portion of the instructor certification class fees they teach and are responsible for their own travel expenses.

We have partnered with First Flight Insurance Group to provide Commerical Liability Insurance for PASA certified schools and instructors so they can operate legitimately when required to show proof of insurance by governing bodies they must do business with as well as help them to protect their assets in case they are involved in an incident while teaching.

Our Recreational Kiter Insurance program was created in response to requirements of goverment entities requiring kiters in some areas to posses personal liability insurance in order to gain access to certain kiting sites in the US.

The insurance is personal liability only, the accidental medical refers to medical costs incurred by the person the bodily injury was inflicted on.

We are working on offering emergency medical insurance for our schools, instructors and recreational kiters through First Flight.

I have been also asked about my opinion pertaining to forming an assocation.

My suggestion is to look at forming an independent assocation that uses PASA as a resource, whether that be for assistance with access issues, certification of instructors & riders and or a source for commercial and personal liability insurance.
Don't forget the resources you have in MN who have a history of dealing with windsport issues and have long standing positive relationships with governing entities statewide. People like Mike Fox and Tighe Belden can be of great help and someday you may need to call on them.

Whether I like it or not, what I have seen since getting involved in kiting in 1999 in The Gorge, as the gentleman from Ontario said; it is not if but when someone will try to limit your access. A well organized assocation has a much stronger voice than individuals do.

Here is a link to an excellent article in the latest SBC KiteBoard Magazine:

http://www.sbckiteboard.com/blogs/post/ ... ing-Access

All my best to the MN Kiting Ohana.

If you need my or PASA's assistance let me know.

Mahalo,

Christopher Nygard
PASA's Kiteboarding & Snowkiting Chair

[steveb]

I'm sorry to be blunt about this but when did PASA start to be a part of our discussions?.

[JRN]

IT IS ALREADY TUESDAY & STIIL NO SITE FOR THE MEETING: DROP BACK, PUNT & TRY AGAIN NEXT WEEK. ANY IDEAS? PRINCETON, MAYBE? I think PASA was 1st mentioned on the MNkiting site as a possibility. I have had no dealings with them, but it looked like a viable alternative; quick, easy, available, and no need to re-invent the wheel. Right now, we can't even seem to come up with a time & place to meet, much less anyone making the effort to come up with our own plan, group insurance plan, or anything else. Fleet 8 has also been mentioned and already exists, but who will step up to fill the breach? Volunteers?

[seamonkey]

I've been off line for awhile. Is this meeting about how to build or where we can place kickers? I'm all for kicker police, esp. if I go thruough the effort of providing killer graphics. I am laid off now, so I would need at least 2 months notice to attend any such meeting unless strippers are part of the deal. I would show up to a meeting like that like Batman to the Batpole.