I’ve been doing some early spring cleaning on http://www.kitestop.com. As some of you may have known, I recently moved back home to Titusville, FL, and have slowly been trying to update all the information on our website and on the Internet to reflect my new location. Kite Stop is still online-only, but if you are in Central Florida (Orlando/Cocoa Beach) I’m able to deliver.

I do want to tell you about some of the changes I’ve been working on for awhile now.

First off, we’ve been bringing in a few more skill-toys. You may have noticed (and if you haven’t, then get to the shop and check it out) that we’ve brought in some Yo-Yos from YoYoFactory. These are really top-of-the-line yo-yos and we’ve picked out a fairly large range of yo-yos for all skill levels.

Second, we’ve cleared out the Kite Forum. This is one area that I’ve let languish for far too long. This is a great resource for people to come in and ask questions (or just shoot the breeze.) If you have any questions, or are in a position to offer advice, please get in there and do so.

Third, we’re starting to beef up our Kite School section. While we already had some great tutorials written by Eric Allen and Iain Drummond, we are working to get more tutorials up.

And Finally, I’m asking people to please (pretty please with sugar on top) tell your friends about Kite Stop.

I’ve been toying (heh.. toying) with the idea of stocking some throwing toys, like boomerangs, Aerobie rings, and X-zylo products. Well, today is the day. I just got a batch of throwing toys in, and they are ready for purchase. Check out our New Arrivals section for the items we just got.

Our friend Jim Martin from the WACKOS, shared some pictures from the recent Carolina Kite Fest sponsored by Kites Unlimited. Enjoy!

http://public.fotki.com/JMartJr/kite_fests/carolina-kite-fest-2009/

Well another AKA National Convention is in the books (ok, it was over a couple of weeks ago, but I just got around to posting about it). This time the convention was held in Rochester, MN… I wasn’t able to attend this year’s convention, but from the reports, I probably would have been miserable. I’m a thin-blooded Florida boy, so any weather that is colder than 75 just isn’t fun for me. Other’s who are used to cold weather seemed to have a great time. The flying fields were nice and big, and wind was better than expected.

This convention was the smallest to date. Nobody knows for sure the reason, but it could be anything from the economy to the location. Next year’s convention will be held in Ocean Shores Oregon, which is a much better site for kiteflying. I would encourage everyone that can to consider making plans to attend.

Without further ado, here is the new AKA board:

President – Barbara Meyer
1st VP – Gayle Woodul (Region 8 Director)
2nd VP – Linda Sanders (Region 13 Director)
Treasurer – Cliff Quinn
Secretary – James Patten
Director at Large – Russ Faulk (Sport Kite Committee Chair)
Director at Large – Sharon Champie (Fighter Kite Committee Chair)
Director at Large – Marla Miller (Annual Meeting Chair)
Director at Large – Andy Selzer (National Kite Month Chair)
Director at Large – Pete Ross (Kite Makers Committee Chair)

Take advantage of our 10% off discount just by taking our customer survey. Its only 10 questions, and will definately help us improve our site.

You can take the survey by clicking here.

I’ve just launched our very own Twitter page. If you are a member of Twitter, you will be able to follow our status updates. This is a fun and easy way to keep track of what’s happening here at KiteStop.com. 

Not sure about Twitter? 

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

You can even setup the Twitter service to send you status updates through your cellphone. Its free and easy.

My little experiment with starting a stand-alone kiteblogger site didn’t work out quite like I envisioned. So I’ve moved it back to the KiteStop.com branding and I think I’ve transfered all the little things that go into moving a blog.. If you find anything strange or out of the ordinary, please send me an email : john@kitestop.com and I’ll look into it.

I will be trying to post a lot more in the coming days, especially when new inventory comes in. So please check back early and often. Or better yet, subscribe to my feed by clicking the link to the right. You will get updates on your favorite newsfeed reader whenever I post something new.

I just produced my first kite video. This one was from footage of the Treasure Island Kite Festival held in Treasure Island FL on January 17-18, 2009. I hope you like it: