Hi guys,

I have been thinking about this more and more since KS when chatting to other retailers and kiters, and I thought I'd share my idea for general concensus.

Kitestock has been a great weekend away and is the jewel in the crown of kiting events for the average Joe and Josie for a while now. Faster than the growth of KS has been the growth of the commercial side of it with Demo and giveaways doubling each year. This is kinda at opposition to the original concept of KS.

Kitestock was the brainchild of Gavin Hirschausen of Gero who dreamed of an event where people of all levels could come along and have a great time in a non competitive, relaxed and fun atmosphere. Kitestock ticks those boxes well and has grown and matured into quite a sensational event.

The very large side of Kitestock has become the demo and commercial side which is attended well by many brands, but is really at the wrong time of the year for people looking to buy gear and shops selling gear. It costs retailers a lot of money and resources to go to KS for little gain and none of us have much fun. As kiters we'd like to enjoy KS too .

How would people feel about removing demo and commercial aspects of KS and just focusing more on fun events for attendees? As a commercial operator, I'd be happy to help Kitestock organisers run events like racing and clinics etc which I don't have time to do as we are so busy tied up on our demo stands. This would give KS volunteers some relief and offer more fun events to punters.

An event in Lano which is purely a commercial thing for retailers/importers to demo new season gear over a Saturday and Sunday. No fun events, just demo riding. It doesn't need bands, and free food etc so organising is easy on behalf of WAKSA. All we need is permits and the rest is organised by retailers.

Pluses:

Lano is very windy in November
Close to Perth
Back Beach is huge and can be driven on by cars.
Lano Pub would love it and is a great venue for nocturnal activities.
You could try all manner of kites in great conditions at the beginning of the season.
Don't need to take annual leave or can attend for one day to test kites you want.
Keeps everyone's costs down.

Minuses?

I open the floor for discussion.

Cheers,

KH

yep 4 sure, cant see any negatives. all in favour say I!

Sounds good KH, and once Wedge is open, that would be even better.

I was also thinking of running the KiteX thingy again, but at the beginning of the season for all the locals. You know, we judge landing, launching and all the basics.......much the same as last time, all kite schools and shops involved. Great op. to sign up WAKSA members and give them sort of a lesson and give them the spiel on how to behave and protect our beaches before we get invaded.

Have a good weekend.

Great idea for kiters, Retailers & manufacturers; hopefully the local shire will enthusiastic too.

Nice.

november's a great time for demo
gives everyone the rest of the season to play with any new toys they buy

did you mention free beer from the endeavor tavern afterwards?

wicked idea, bring it on