PSA: Switch Rewards to Replace the Team Rider System

And now for a Public Service Announcement. Switch Kites is moving away from the current system of having Team Riders to a new Rewards-based system under which ALL Switch customers can benefit! I hope I get some of these details correct for the new system that is imminent and due to be unleashed: SWITCH REWARDS!

The old Team Rider system has its good points and its flaws. I can't say I'm completely sold on a Rewards-based system that I have yet to participate in, but I give huge points to Switch just for the amount of thought and hard work that has gone into this new approach. It looks complex, to say the least, and it must have a massive IT architecture behind it, to be able to track all the reward points that would be accruing to each and every Switch customer account.

Rewards points can be accumulated through purchases, referrals, submitting online reviews, creating video reviews, having been born, and for various social media activities such as Liking, Tweeting, Pinning, or Instagramming. If I wish to personally participate fully, I have a huge learning curve ahead of me (BTW, I am now known as @stevennorrie). Figuring out what a hashtag is will come at a later date...

In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, I will still be advertising locally through old-school Kijiji, equipment Demos "on demand." I have found a lot of joy in showing off Switch's various products and letting them out to the community to "give a go" on.

So go ahead and check out the full details on the coming Switch Rewards system at: switchkites.com/rewards_welcome

Hope to see you at the beach,

Steve

Not the Best Wind Season So Far...in Ontario

So it's approaching mid-July and this past weekend myself and about a dozen other kiters hung out at our local beach waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the wind to pick up. This has been a regular occurrence this season. Getting skunked. It's a terrible feeling, made only worse by the wind sitting at the cusp of ridable - about 11-12 knots.

Another 1 or 2 knots or so and I would have jumped into action with my 15m Element.

In my afternoon on the beach soaking up the rays, I watched three kiters launch, veer downwind, and get rescued by the local authorities. I'm glad I held back or I could have been one of those statistics and the source of many laughs and lamentations back on the beach. I've never had the experience of being rescued, and I don't wish to add that to my repertoire.

And life goes on, and the worst year of wind I've experienced in the last five years rolls on, and as I keep busy at my martial arts school, I think about the windy days of past and those to come.

Maybe it's time for a serious lightwind kite...