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i quit IKO to start kite safe asia KSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:10 am
by kiwimike
i would like to tell everyone of a situation that happened at my kiteboarding school in thailand. i will not name names or call anyone a liar so that i do not offend anyone. this is what happened at my school last month.

* iko examiner 1 comes to my club to run his third ITC in my school

*he does such a sub standard job i inform him he can no longer be the examiner of itcs at my school

*i have a feeling he is going to cause problems so i warned iko and asked them to send me another examiner for the course starting the next week, they say they will.

*iko cancels all my itcs the next day without telling me why. ironically i get emailed a request to renew my iko membership on the same day

*i email and phone iko for 3 weeks without response.

*i find out examiner 1 who ran the course has started a company called
tac-team funky fresh and wants to host all the itcs in asia at 2 of his friends schools. one in thailand and another in vietnam. this way he can pocket all the profits from each course as well as his own examiner fee. he has gone on a mission to stop anyone else from running itcs in asia. (he does not seem to care if he ruins ikos name in the process)

*i manage to contact another examiner (examiner 2) in australia and fly him over to run an excellent itc in hua hin at my friends school as i am banned from running the courses myself

*i bring that examiner 2 to my club to to check it out. iko refuses to let him audit my school. i still have no idea why

*after 3 weeks of emails and phone calls i finally get a list of what the examiner 1 has said about my club and what he thinks i did wrong hosting the itc

*i refute every point as incorrect or a problem i have commit to solve. i back up this with photos of my training area and statements from the candidates who did the course who are angry and want a regund in their course fees.

*iko has a meeting. i am still suspended from running itcs (even though i am not sure why) and iko find the examiner 1 guilty of serious breaches of conduct. his punishment is that he can not run itcs in thailand for one year.

hardly what you would call justice. i voice my concerns and iko suspend my instructors licence for using a swear word in an email i sent them. now i would like to tell them what you can do with my level 2 certificate but it seems iko are easily offended by bad language so i will refrain.

now i am going to tell iko how this is going to play out. i am going to form a new non profit organization called kite safe asia or KSA. this i believe will displace IKO. i am going to pledge my time and financial support to the KSA . my profitable board kite board company magnumboards.com will donate any funds required to assist the KSA. magnum boards is going to pay all schools first years membership fees and will subsadise crossover courses for all iko instructors so they have a licence to work at the KSA affiliated schools in the asia and australia . this will be the end of iko in asia the same way it will finish iko in australia and i am sure it is just a matter of time before iko is finished globally.

now i will spend my time supporting this new organization, rather than wasting my time supporting and trying to contact iko.

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:55 am
by danie178
always did wonder about the IKO, only thing they have going for them is possible work opps over seas.

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:32 am
by KiteboardingTampaBay
:wink:

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:45 am
by alexrider
Not surprised the least.
IKO is a scam.
Enough was said in kiteforum on their shady practices.
Someone asked in a recent thread "what's the alternative?".
Well, Mike is coming up with a sound suggestion. The Brits can't be worse at running an kite organisation than IKO is.
Cheers,
Alex

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:19 am
by Feng
kiwimike wrote: now i will spend my time supporting BKSAs expansion, rather than wasting my time supporting and trying to contact iko.
I am going to apply for an inspector position at the BKSA. Even if it is not paid, I will get free plane ticket free accomodation is exotic ressorts and free meal. :rollgrin:

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 12:37 pm
by concerned_kiter
Don't be fooling yourselves. Each of these organisations have their big weaknesses. BKSA for its part really hasn't had much negative exposure on these forums. You may (or may not) be surprised to learn that it too is a FOR-profit association- even though it CLAIMS it is not. BKSA is a PRIVATE limited company drawing salaries. People like to believe what they read, but it is NOT a non-profit association- it was never granted that name, because it doesn't operate as one.

So to those thinking they are doing the world a favour and doing things for free for the BKSA, investigate things a bit more- demand to see their accounting and their legal structures. If they are in it for the sport and the people, they should provide this.

Every organisation has their weaknesses and their strengths-.

When you decide to pledge your alliance to one of them, do it for the right reasons. Don't join and support the BKSA because you think it's an association...they are in it for the money as much as everyone else. Make your own informed decision.

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:03 pm
by gazxtreme
Reflecting on the last post, this is correct, the BKSA is no longer a non profit organisation but hopefully offers a better support structure for its instructors and schools. It does pay when you act as a national trainer, examiner or in any other duties although expecting to be flown around the world may be stretching the expectations. I am sure the BKSA will be glad to support more schools outside the UK adding to many who already do see the benefit of being under the BKSA flag. One thing I can say is that when you do pay your money for training, school approval inspections ect you will recieve training in person rather than downloading and completing an online exam. From personal experience I can vouch that schools abroad are inspected as often as possible, I personally inspected Nyali kiteschool in Kenya whilst on honeymoon about 50 miles away couple of years ago, the effort does go back in for any money you have to pay.
The BKSA teaching structure although similar in most ways to other orgs is very current and reviewed every year by the training committee, in the UK we have lots of legal and health and safety issues tom overcome so the whole structure is quite "watertight".

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 4:33 pm
by bri
Just prey it doesn't ever snow, then you'll find out how well the Brit's run things. :wink: :wink:

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 5:01 pm
by pilookite
Indeed, England only work between 4c and 16c.
Before that the tracks are frozen and after that they are melting!

Concerend kiter, are you actually based in the UK?

The BKSA does a great job with local councils around the country just go on the main beaches and in many cases you will find information board wioth the local council loo alongside the Bksa logo...

Fly safe.

Piloo

Re: i pledge my assistance to the BKSA

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:49 pm
by Neil T
You may (or may not) be surprised to learn that it too is a FOR-profit association- even though it CLAIMS it is not.
Wrong. BKSA is an association limited by guarantee in the UK. This means it has no share holders, but rather has members. It can not distribute profits to any shareholders (or to its members). Any revenues must be used for its stated purposes. In short - its a not for profit organization. It is not a charity or a trust - these are different types of org.

As a professional organisation I understand it has some professional paid staff - perfectly normal - and indeed in the interest of its members.

I suggest you clarify facts and make sure you understand them before publicly misrepresenting others.