Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1993 09:32:08 -1000 From: Darrin.Skinner@ebay.sun.com (Darrin Skinner) Message-Id: <9308171932.AA10716@stuntkite.EBay.Sun.COM> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: AKA Conferences Changes Implemented ----------------------------------------------------------------- DLS: The following is an article that will appear in the next issue of Kiting (the offical AKA periodical). This was forwarded to me by David Gomberg with a request for ideas and suggestions about the information contained within. ----------------------------------------------------------------- AKA Conferences Changes Implemented Members Asked for Ideas and Suggestions In early 1993, AKA implemented a series of sport kite competition conferences. According to the Board of Directors, the conferences were designed to accomplish several broad goals: 1) Recognize and reward fliers at the local level. 2) Evaluate "cumulative" performance while limiting travel expenses required to compete on a national basis. 3) Qualify fliers for National Convention Competition. It should also be stressed that the Conferences are intended to enhance opportunities for fliers and not to discourage participation in other leagues, circuits or individual events. AKA deliberately chose not to compete with existing national rankings. Similarly, there are many important reasons for attending events outside one particular conference. The AKA Season was determined to be from August 1 to July 31 each year in order to provide timely invitations to the Fall convention. A trial process was announced for the first year with the intention of "fine tuning" conference policies for the 1993-94 competition season. Now that the first year has concluded, the Board has announced some of those adjustments and is encouraging members to comment on other questions and proposals. Conference Boundaries: The original conference boundaries divided the country into three large sections: East, Central, and West. As the first season evolved, it became clear that travel from Houston to the Great Lakes or from Miami to Boston was still difficult or prohibitively expensive for contestants who lacked sponsors or with limited vacation time or travel budgets. The AKA Festivals and Competition Committee recommended that the three conferences be expanded to six in order to further reduce travel distances and better focus on local competition. This recommendation was adopted by the Board for the new season. (See map below.) The Committee also decided to allow individuals to "declare" the conference of their choice rather than be limited to the one they reside in. Convention Competition: During the 1992 Annual Membership Meeting, there was a great deal of discussion regarding competition at the convention. Sport kite events were clearly popular and many members wanted to participate. However, the events require nearly one staff person for every two contestants. Conventions could not recruit enough volunteers - particularly since those volunteers all paid to attend the event and resisted the long, uncompensated work hours. The volume of sport kite contests also tended to dominate many other convention activities. A "straw vote" at the Membership Meeting supported reducing competition to one day for Sport Kites and one day for kitemaking with other days dedicated to demonstrations, games, and workshops. The Sport Kites Committee then determined that this could best be accomplished by eliminating qualifying heats at the convention and inviting the top five fliers in each conference category to advance directly to a "best-of-the-best" convention finale. With the expansion of the three conferences to six, several options are available for the 1994 convention competition. The top three fliers from each of six conferences can be invited so that the system remains similar to what is presently in place with 18 qualifiers rather than the present 15. Since some conferences have many more contestants than others, the number of invitations can be weighted toward the more active conferences. The Western Conference might have eight positions while the South Central only received three. Competition could be increased to two days. More fliers could be invited and heats expanded to over 20 contestants. To satisfy volunteer demands, each contestant could be required to work one hour for each event they entered. Another suggestion involves designating one large event in each Conference as "open". Points earned at these events would count for every local Conference. (e.g. fliers from San Francisico could earn Western Conference points at Wildwood or Great Lakes.) The purpose of this change would be to support and encourage participation on a national level. Members at the Annual Meeting will be invited to vote on these options. Those who cannot attend the convention are invited to send comments to the AKA President so that they can be included in the discussion. International Contestants: Since the conference system does not rank international contestants, a system was needed to consider international guests who desired to compete in convention events. The AKA International Committee and International Liaisons were polled on this questions and special meetings were scheduled with Canadian fliers in particular. Based on recommendations >From these groups, the Board has agreed that Liaisons from Europe, Asia, Canada, and the South Pacific will each be encouraged to "certify" one flier for every competition category. This could potentially add a maximum of four fliers to each category. Certification will be based on the contestants performance at international events during the course of the year. AKA Ranking Points: The Conference point system developed by the Sport Kite Committee was intended to balance both larger and smaller events. The Committee wanted a system which objectively considered the number of fliers in a heat, rather than subjectively weighting different events. The Committee also wanted every flier who competed to earn points rather than only the "winners". The result was a formula which awarded points for each flier "beaten" but which limited the number of events which could be counted. The formula also rewarded contestants who competed regularly with "event points". +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | sum of top 3 + average of rest + 1 event point per contest | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ While the Festivals and Competition Committee feels that frequent, major changes in the scoring and qualification process are not necessarily constructive, they also recognize flaws in the current formula. Because of scratches at an event, some heats may contain more fliers than others. Winners advancing to the finals may not earn the same number of points. Large contests may produce so many points that they overwhelm other events in the conference. On the other hand, a flier might be reasonably expected to attend these bigger competitions if they wish to become a conference finalist. An examination of this issue may result in a ceiling being placed on the number of points one event can produce. Members with specific concerns or suggestions regarding the scoring formula are encouraged to write the Festivals and Competition Committee. These specific issues will probably not be covered at the annual meeting since discussion there is intended to focus on broader policy issues rather than more focused details. Conclusion: The AKA Conferences are still new and are far from perfect. They are a sincere effort to offer fair rewards and balance a number of concerns for contestants, officials, organizers, and non-contestants. The process of governing the Conferences and developing Association policy is an open one. If you have questions, suggestions, or concerns, we urge you to contact your Regional Director or the appropriate AKA Committee. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =