[stormatzio]

Upon reading all of the posts I will offer my sage wisdom. Why should I have credibility in this.... well read on and see if it makes sense. First of all the Great Stormatzio just isn't an internet lurker and kiteboarder, but has a PhD in sociology specifically in the study of group dynamics and this is what our subject is all about. The basic problem is that are launches are getting crowded and people are infringing on other peoples rights (ie. safety, area to fly, jump, etc.). This is happening on both sides of the argument. A newbie would argue that the Vets are concerned that new kiters are getting in their way and don't know the rules. The newbies just want to fly and not get hassled. Using the social theory of X/Y one could surmise that no one person wants to upset the group and everyone in reality just wants to get along. Problems occur when communication fails and people are not aware of the "rules of the group".

I think at this point in our evolution the sign idea is an awesome idea. First of all what it actually tells people is that there is a group of people on this beach that care about our sport and if you act like a punk we are going to call you out. I read the sign and didn't remember if there was anything saying that this was posted by local kiters. That will bring the message home that the guys who put the sign up are probably hanging out on the beach. That gets into another theory of self appointed mindguards.

The bottom line to this discussion is that the sign will make everyone responsible for enforcement of the rules and everyone on notice that we care about our beach.

Tags...... Not so good of an idea. First of all, I get to ride all over. I ride in Florida, Texas, Cali, etc. Everywhere I go that they try the PASA, blah, blah, card system sucks. It's too hard to control and those who are responsible for the tags begin self selecting like in the Stanford Prison Experiment (another awesome social order experiment) and the next thing you know you have a beach full of kite police running around. We would be setting up an unenforceable system with no authority. Think of the classroom hall monitor. Example: Alpha Male Dude shows up at the beach. Maybe two or three people riding, early morning so the "authority has no backup". Kite Cop walks up, hey where is your tag? Dude: What tag? Kite Cop: You need a tag to ride here. Dude: Where do I get a tag? Kite Cop: Well you need to have a local instructor and pay some cash, who for instance isn't here or go drive 30 minutes north. Dude: F___ Off. You can see how the rest of the story goes, but if you ever rode in Miami when the first started the card thing, bouys in and out, that is exactly what happened.

So in conclusion, Tags = bad idea, can't enforce, someone is going to try and make a buck off of it which will only tick people off more, kite police will only get beat up by bigger guys because the rage gets focused on one person.

Sign - Great idea. Easy to enforce, uses the group presence as the enforcing factor, anyone can call you out for being dumb, plus if you ride there you should back up your buddy.

So I hope everyone enjoyed the psychology lecture. I hope it didn't bore anyone, it's just the way I think.