Welcome to a kinder, gentler, more user friendly AKA. This year we have worked very hard to make sure that every idea was given a hearing, every gripe given a discussion. We are about making this Association responsive to its Members.

Why do I want a second term as AKA President? Because I spent the first year just learning the job. I am still not a politician, but I have learned to pick up the phone and find out what Board Members are thinking between meetings. That sounds pretty obvious, but I like e-mail. I use a phone as a last resort. I'm learning to change that.

This year we sent a Survey to all of our members and tabulated the 859 responses we got back. I am determined that the AKA understands and responds to the needs and expectations of its Members.

Dave Butler proposed using Ventrilo (VOIP - Voice Over Internet Protocol) as a less expensive means of doing teleconferenced Board meetings. The downside to Ventrilo is it is only accessible by computer, and not every Board Member's computer, or cyber skills, are up to the task. Instead of giving up, we opted for HiDef Conferencing. It allows people to join the meeting for free if they have a computer with high speed access, or for just the cost of the phone call if they don't. I came in to this job determined to open up the process. We have opened it up, at considerable savings to the AKA.

Up until this year, when a Board meeting was held, Minutes were made, but weren't available to the Members until 90 days later when they were approved at the next meeting. Only then were they posted to the Club House for Members to see what was going on. The availability and quality of the recording of each meeting is much better with the HiDef Conferencing system we are now using. I have been writing transcripts and posting Meeting Summaries in the Kite Talk Forum within a week or two of the meeting.

I have tried hard to be a very visible AKA presence on any kite field. I have made banners, fabric signs and canopy sides that promote the AKA on every kite field I go to. To see them, check for my posts on the AKA Kite Talk Forum, click here.