News, Views, and Boo-Boos from Mike Gillard

Question: Have you registered an event for National Kite Month yet?

Well, why not? RIGHT NOW, go to http://www.kitetrade.org/NationalKiteMonth/ and register an event, even if it is a normal club fly. We'll wait right here for you.

Good. Now, don't you feel better about yourself? 

Salted Peanuts, Or Chocolate Torte?

I am happy to report to you that starting April 1, we will be presenting a new Internet magazine for your enjoyment, "Kite Lines Online". Kite Lines is an outstanding print magazine that has been published for 23 years, and is considered a definitive source of kiting information.

We will be publishing the best of Kite Lines on a bi-monthly basis, from their huge archives. I think it is wonderful that this information will no longer lay dormant, and will be available to all.

While both publications (Kitelife.com and Kite Lines Online) should have appeal to all kiters, you will find them somewhat different in flavor. Kite Lines is a highly-polished publication, tightly edited, with an emphasis on traditional kites, events, and plans. Kitelife.com, on the other hand, is more of a lifestyle publication, focusing on personalities and current events; with a looser, edgier editorial style. We think that they will be an excellent combination to keep you abreast of all aspects of our great sport.

We are also pleased to host the Kite Lines Bookstore, the largest source of kiting literature in the world. I have been a customer of the store for years, and have accumulated a great bookshelf full of kite books that have helped pass many a rainy day.

On a sadder note, kiting is losing a great publication. Kite Passion is reportedly ceasing publication of their English edition with the March issue. I have been a huge fan since their first issue, and regret the news of their passing.

We recognized KP's contribution in our "Best Of '98" issue, with the following award:

Category: Special Recognition

Have you ever tried to explain your involvement in kiting to your boss or mother-in-law? Try this trick. Hand them a recent issue of Kite Passion. Unless they are thick as a brick, they will spend at least a few minutes leafing through it, and be struck by the color and flavor of our pastime.

KP's first issue (two years ago) raised the bar for kite publications. Over the following months, they have broadened the scope of content, and improved the overall package from the level of great to that of outstanding. Kite Passion is the first and only publication that we can proclaim indispensable. You gotta get this magazine!

Kitelife CD-ROM

The Kitelife CD-ROM is almost ready for sale. The CD contains every issue of Kitelife.com from April '98 through January 2000 (13 in all), great video clips from the "Power Trip" video from Flexifoil, a large assortment of clips from Dodd's new "Flight School" video, and animations of all of the STACK compulsories.

Limited quantities of the CD will be for sale on April 1, from selected kite retailers, or directly from Kitelife.com. E-mail us if you would like to be notified when we are ready to accept orders.

Awards and Plaudits

At the recent Kite Trade Association International show in New Orleans, Kitelife.com was awarded the "Best Website 1999" award, as voted by the membership. We are very proud of this award, but feel that some other fine people were slighted in the process.

We have never termed Kitelife.com to be a website, since day one it has been positioned as a kiting publication. We feature the structure of a print magazine, with the advantages that the Internet offers in immediacy, space, and economies. We are not printed on dead plant materials; but feel that we are a "publication" nonetheless.

Kitelife.com was also nominated for the "Chris Batdorff Award", granted annually to the top kiting publication. Chris was the publisher of "Stunt Kite Quarterly", a groundbreaking magazine that ended upon his death, and one of the best friends this sport has ever had.

When the award ballots were mailed to the KTAI membership, Kitelife.com had been deleted from the "Best Publication" category. It seems that the committee in charge of awards couldn't get past the "paper thing", and elected to eliminate us from the membership's consideration. It can't be a publication if it's not on paper, right?

Wrong. Printing with 100% post-consumer recycled electrons is every bit as damned relevant as printing on paper. Not as easy to take into the bathroom, perhaps.....

We have been assured that this bias has been eliminated for future award selections, and I am proud that I didn't use the terms "Technophobes" or "Luddites" in this piece.

Thanks for joining us for this edition of Kitelife.com. I hope to see you in the sky somewhere, please feel free to write to me anytime.