Safety When Launching and Landing - The Kiteboarder Magazine

The Soul Factor
Sometimes the journey doesn’t make sense until you land firmly on
your feet. As I sat here putting the finishing touches on our 12th issue
and began to write this piece, this ‘journey’ I’ve been on with The
Kiteboarder suddenly made perfect sense.
If I can backtrack for a minute, this actually started the other day
when I was walking around my living room. I picked up a recent
issue of Kiteboarding Magazine and read with interest the editorial
that threw a few props my way for being the longest standing editor
and for going on to make a new kiteboarding magazine. I guess I
sometimes forget that I have been doing this for eight years and how
quickly the time seems to slip away.
Nonetheless, there
was a bitter sweet
taste in my mouth
considering this
journey has been far
from easy. Coming full
circle, it dawned on
me this morning why
this team has continued
on the journey
despite a mountain of
Taking the long way home. Lens: Kim Kern
opposition and criticism
for creating The Kiteboarder.
For years I sat on the beach, absorbed in the world of kiting and the
riders that make up our sport, while working as a magazine editor.
As time went on, I realized that more and more I wanted to make a
magazine about the people and the soul of our sport - about ‘the
kiteboarder.’ I was just a little man with big dreams and no money.
We started this magazine out of my bedroom with no more than a
laptop, and here we are two years later with a following that extends
around the world. The team that delivers The Kiteboarder (The Ring
Media) has grown to five, fulltime staff and over 50 volunteer contributors.
Many of the top shooters in the action sports industry donate
photos to our magazine, because they too support our vision.
I do not want to paint The Kiteboarder as a charity case magazine,
because we are far from that. I want to exemplify the spirit and community
support that drives the SOUL in our magazine. We are a lean
and mean navy seal team of kiteboarders on a mission to produce
a magazine with unbiased, journalistic kiteboarding content. We will
not sell out our journalistic integrity to be just another status quo
publication. The advertisers who support us believe in our passion,
focus and new school electronic content (FREE electronic download
and ASNews.net podcasts). Most importantly, you, the kiteboarding
community have helped our voice be heard around the world.
With 12 independent issues behind us, our team stands firmly committed
to the support and growth of our sport through people like you
- ‘The Kiteboarder.’ The stories, people and places we go, and the
wind, waves, sunsets and bonfires over epic sessions and the true
passion that drives us all to ride. So as I sit here reflecting back over
the 30 kiteboarding magazines I have made in my career, in the back
of my mind I always knew if you put your heart and soul into something
people would notice. You can’t fake passion and depth. I am
very honored and proud to feel the support of the global kiteboarding
community--to have your respect and support has made the journey
worthwhile.
Enjoy!
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