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The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:15 pm
by OliverG
Hello Everyone,

I wanted to post some information about the future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.

It's been almost ten years ago that I created this site to help the local kiteboarding community by fulfilling a need for something that did not yet exist and providing a means of sharing information, promoting safety, building community and discussing local access issues. It's been successful at doing that, has become one of the top forums and has likely been the single biggest resource here in the SF Bay Area to benefit and help the entire local kiteboarding community.

To create and maintain this site and see it through its various changes has been quite a bit of work through the years but it's also provided me with much reward and connected me to a huge community of people of whom many have become good friends. I still enjoy kiting and make time to do so, albeit less often, but an increasing work schedule and a personal desire to find more balance in my life has led me to think about the website here and my ownership and involvement in it over the course of the last year or so. When I first started the site I suppose I never considered the time when I may want to simplify my life or find more balance in the things I do, thus never thought about any kind of exit strategy.

So, it seems and feels that after thinking about it for some time, perhaps that time has come or will in the not-too-distant future. There are a few options, but the one that makes the most sense to me and will continue to benefit the community most is to keep the site available for all and remain the resource that it is. It's too valuable a resource and forum; the sport is still growing, maybe more in the last two years than the previous three, four or five. My feeling is that it should stay, but perhaps under the ownership, stewardship, or function, of new individual(s), a group or entity.

There are many options, but among them are that it can continue by becoming a 501(c)(3) non-profit, or an official SF Bay Area kiteboarding organization, or group, or be run by private individuals, group, or entity. If anything, I'd like to see it continue on the steady path it has had or become something even better. I'm not sure we've seen much of it to date, but this could be an opportunity for kiteboarding philanthropy or patronage to make that happen. There may be folks in the SF Bay or Silicon Valley kiting community who would be interested, are tech-savvy and have the means to do so. If a return on their investment can justify it, it could be a great way to give back to the community.

We're not going anywhere soon, but I wanted to post this information to give you all a heads-up. The site has been successful, I've accomplished all and more than I originally set out to do by creating it, we've had years and great info-sharing and interaction on it, some drama (haha), have had greats events - swap meets, beach clean-ups, many memorable parties, and on and on, but things run their course too, so we will see what develops.

Many thanks,
Oliver Govers
Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:38 pm
by CdoG
May you find all the balance you want ,thanks for all the years of service
love you bro
charlie

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:11 pm
by ianwallace14
As a relative newcomer to kiting, this was the place I came to learn. Thanks, totally hooked!

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:21 pm
by Loscocco
Thanks Ollie for all your hard work and i look forward to seeing BAKB grow and evolve further along with the sport. Its great being part of this community.

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:04 pm
by peta
Thanks Oli for all the work you put in. The site has become a staple of daily digest for me and even if I travel I live / kite vicariously through the site
Cheers,

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:40 pm
by MehYam
I love this forum, it's been helpful, entertaining, and more civil than most online hangouts imo.

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:47 pm
by amir
BAK has giving me so much insight to not only kiting but the bay area. It's a resource our community will continue in your vision, for sure. All CEO's, have a backup...

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 1:49 am
by jwest21
Thanks for all your contributions, Ollie. I'm sure that I'm not alone amongst all the kiting nerds on this site in saying that any one of us would be happy to help step up and take over any and all aspects of this great site.

Who knows what kind of trouble I would have gotten myself into if it weren't for this forum to help guide me toward a safe and smart way to learn kitesurfing. For the next few years, we'll need all the help we can to keep this sport focused on being safe yet stoked, as the flood gates open out upon our precious launch sites.

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:07 am
by Greg
Ollie-
Many THANKS for your endless work on building this community platform, hopefully some young blood will take over where you began..
Much RESPECT for a job well done!
Gregory Burton Boyington

Re: The Future of Bay Area Kiteboarding.com

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:14 am
by Greg
Hopefully this will be MUCH easier to give away then an old kicker....
One thing I've learned about MOST KITERS is they RUN from work and HATE to take responsibility for their actions/inactions....

Anyway, it 'been FUN!!!
L.M.G.