TBKA Update

TBKA · #1 09-10-2008, 09:55 AM

Our main site is down right now, but the TBKA forum is still operational. The website is getting a makeover and lots of new info will be posted soon. Here's a direct link to the forum so you can stay up to date on what's happening in our area:

http://www.tbka.org/forum/index.php

here's a calendar of upcoming events:
Sept. 12-14 Surf Expo Orlando
Sept. 15th- Product demo day- Cocoa Beach Hilton
Sept.20th- Int'l. Beach Cleanup Day- Picnic Island-Tampa
Sept. 20-21 2-day Strapless clinic with "Top Hat" of Freak Dog Kites.
Oct. 6th- Beach Cleanup with Suncoast Surfrider on Treasure Island

Many more events in the works- volunteers needed!

Get full details of these events on the TBKA forum.
It going to be a great season!

TBKA · #2 09-17-2008, 06:22 PM

The rider's clinic on Sept. 20-21 is postponed until we have some decent wind.

The Ocean Conservancy International Cleanup day at Picnic Island in Tampa is on for this Saturday at 8:30 AM.

See you there.

Here's the direct link to the forum, please bookmark it.
http://www.tbka.org/forum/index.php

amber · #3 09-18-2008, 10:29 PM

scott- what happened to the website? It was looking really nice. How soon do you expect it to be back up? With season right around the corner, that is going to be a powerful asset for our community. Hope to see it back up soon!

TBKA · #4 09-19-2008, 07:36 AM

Scott is "self-banned" from this forum so will not be posting.
Best I can tell is that the lack of interest and participation has got him bummed out on the whole thing. I disagree, because we have 85+ members with about 600 people a month viewing the site every month, with 550 saved to favorites.
Not bad for 6 months in our off season!

My entire time at the Expo and demo was spent discussing the good deeds of our locals, including the youth programs. I got overwhelming response from everyone and many pledges of support, so it is a shame that they can not go to the site and view our accomplishments.

This is just a small speedbump in our progress.
We are meeting at my house Saturday (after the PI cleanup!) to work on rebuilding the site and discussing all the exciting news and support we got at the Expo.
I also got a new phone and lost many of the numbers in there, so please call me at (813) 389-3683
See you all Saturday morning at 8:30 at Picnic Island for the beach cleanup.
~Steve

#5 09-19-2008, 09:13 AM

The website did not seem very useful. I think some people just liked having their pictures on there and thats about it.

The forum is nice but nobody is using it except for the people who I noticed aren't posting on here anymore.

amber · #6 09-19-2008, 09:42 AM

it was our off season, so its hard to make it "useful". It is a tool that we put together to strengthen our community of kiters who want to preserve access and kite safe. The pictures/bios were a chance for kiters to learn more about each other than what brand of kite we prefer. It is actually a huge networking opportunity if people take the 5 min to write one.

TBKA hopes to participate in local charity events like the one Mike Hall ran this summer and the one Bayflight is planning for the Hospital. TBKA will also be hosting some fun events that won't cost you an arm and a leg as well as provide free rider clinics in different areas.

I hope to see it back up soon.

#7 09-19-2008, 03:19 PM

I haven't met Scott yet but I saw hist post on TBKA while registering today. I also noticed that it only had two views, one from Scott and one from me?? Does nobody ever use it?

Quote:

I was trying to install a new gallery component on the TBKA web site about a week ago and I crashed it.
The new gallery is more tightly integrated with a Joomla site and just looks cool. I did this right after I put a new video component on there.
Unfortunately, something screwed up. I am currently running a fairly tight deadline on 2 other projects and will attempt to fix the TBKA website when I get done with them. One is a for a kiting site in the UK and it's a pretty large undertaking. It means a lot to me that it get done on schedule.

No additional information has been on the TBKA site in a while and nothing is coming up, so I don't view the site currently being down as a big deal. It's the off season and it's pretty slow.

The true irony to me (in terms of lack of use of the TBKA site) is that Amber would post a question to me about the site on a forum I left and not post it on the TBKA forum. I know she did not do anything purposefully and I am not mad. But let's examine that just a tad.
The truth is that the local site is getting next to zero use. So little use that a question regarding it is not even directed on the site itself. The site is an afterthought guys.
No biggie, I don't take it personally at all. It's to be expected, imo.
But I obviously won't give it much priority either given it's lack of use, given my other deadlines.

Once I am out of cram mode, I will look into what crashed the site and fix it.
I somehow think we can make it two weeks not looking at a site with no updates.

Sorry I didn't know that you were part of making the website because I didn't see any posts or your name on it anywhere?

But it doesn't looks like it is being used much. I am not sure why.

amber · #8 09-19-2008, 08:23 PM

I was just reiterating some of the goals of TBKA to some of the newer members of the kiting community that may not be aware. No, I didn't make site but I do support the efforts of the association. I know that the majority of the riders in the area that use a forum are on here so that's why i asked. I didn't know Scott was no longer on here. I wasn't on here much all summer either cuz I wasn't kiting at all. I did however periodically check the TBKA site (not forum) to see if anything new had been added. I tried the other day and it was shut down.

The reason there hasn't been much activity on the other site is because not much is going on in kiting right now since this is our low season. Hopefully scott will realize that regardless of his other commitments, that website is a tool for our entire community with links to local riding areas, etc. That info can also be found at a lot of other sites, but the association was going to be a group effort, so its unfortunate that the one person who had undertaken the website portion of the association has put it into the backseat behind personal endeavors. A lot of the behind the scenes work that kiters do is not as apparent as a website, so it makes it tough.

k. I'll stop rambling. Hopefully Scott can get a skeletal version of the site back up. I know personally that if i go to a website that is no longer active that I will not visit it again. So if anyone does try it out now and its down, that's one more person we're losing when we get it back up.

Thanks for posting scott's post Kris. Once we all get back on the water you'll see a lot more action on all the area sites.

TBKA · #9 09-20-2008, 06:35 AM

Scott is going to work on it when he finishes the other deadlines he has. I can respect that since his time and efforts are 100% donated.
If we were paying customers of his then it would be a different story. All we have to bribe him with is a couple of Wendy's combo meals, and a pair of T-Dubbs board shorts....

Smile, its International Beach Cleanup Day!
Later

toby wilson · #10 09-20-2008, 08:35 AM

Well I am offering up my board shorts if that is what it takes to get the site up! I have refrained from posting on this until now but I will start by stating that I do agree with Amber though, every day that the site is down is a day that TBKA loses more and more viewers/supporters. Hopefully the site will be up later today and those that committed to helping out with the site will follow through with their promises and get it up ASAP. When you make a pledge to do anything, paid or unpaid, it just comes down to integrity in the end when keeping your word.