kiting mad Posted June 20, 2004 Report Posted June 20, 2004 thats k dude man i wish i could do that sorta stuff i can just about 360 let alone boardoff Quote
lewis Posted June 20, 2004 Report Posted June 20, 2004 that werent so long ago that 360 were my best tricks , you have to start some where Quote
mickjones Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 i know a guy sponsered by a (big) company that makes ATB's, he got his deal after he sent them a shot of himself doing an inverted board off or whatever its called. he landed a few of them too. Quote
Lofty Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 comon guys this is stupid. How can so many ppl be sponsered??? The pole suggests that almost 1/2 of ppl flying are sponsered. i think you will find it is largely Bull$h!t ! Anyway it depends what you mean by sponsored there are hundreds of people who live near shops or who know the retailers who get their gear at trade price , that is not sponsored ! and is no reflection of skill at all , its hust a good deal! There are also loads of guys who are in "shop Teams" who get their gear at less than cost , but still have to pay the better half of the prices ! again as far as i am concerned , Not Sponsored ! just a better deal than above ! then there are "pro's" these guys ride for a living , they get all their gear supplied , travel and booze supplied , groovy new prototypes to play with ! you become the face of your sponsor (ie Chasta) that in my opinion is the only true Sponsored Rider . of course these guys are good all they do is ride , all day every day (save travelling drinking getting trophies , schmoozing fine ladies etc) any idiot can make a website with pictures of himself and his mates doing tricks and claim to be pro riders /sponsored riders it is not a question of what tricks can you do ? that is a very simple way of looking at things ! it is simple marketing ! if you want to be sponsored , YOU have to be a marketable package just like the kite you will be promoting ! you have to offer more than anyone else (again like the product supposedly ), you have to do more and with more style than anyone else , you have to show potential to grow with the product . you have to clearly stand miles above anyone else , in terms of both skill and charisma . if the product is going to be noticed you will have to be able to make hardened kiters and retailers jaws hit the floor everywhere you go, and be prepared to do this every day ! Quote
bushflyer Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 very well put. you gottta be a ho' to the sponsors;) p.s. id like to make it clear that i am currently NOT sponsored Quote
Lofty Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 not really just a bit sick of attention seekers who got a £30 discount on their first kite claiming to be sponsored ! Personally i only know of 2 sponsored ATBers namely Gabe Shortman and Laurent Brennemon . any other TRUE pros out there ??? PS i would also like to point out i am not sponsored , nor do i recieve discount at kite stores , nor am i likely to be (well helmet manufacturers might be interested ) my bank balance can verify this Quote
Lofty Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 not really just a bit sick of attention seekers who got a £30 discount on their first kite claiming to be sponsored ! Personally i only know of 2 sponsored ATBers namely Gabe Shortman and Laurent Brennemon . any other TRUE pros out there ??? PS i would also like to make it clear i am not never have been and am not likely to be sponsored/bribed/whored by any kite manufacturer ! (my bank balance can verify this ! ) Quote
srod Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 you're talking professionals - people who ride for a living - as opposed to people who just get cheap kites? (i am neither...) Quote
Lofty Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 A professional as the name suggests rides as a job someone who is sponsored , means his kit (from the sponsor) is supplied free of charge ! someone who is subsidised (again as the name suggests) gets their gear at a reduced rate someone who gets a good deal on kites is nothing , they just get a good deal on kites ! Quote
srod Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 what about if I got a free copy of Kiteworld with a set of lines I bought yesterday? Quote
bushflyer Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 what about if I got a free copy of Kiteworld with a set of lines I bought yesterday? i got a free bag with a groundstake i bought the other day. does that make me sponsored too? Quote
Lofty Posted June 21, 2004 Report Posted June 21, 2004 i dunno heres one for the 12-16 year olds if your use a parents credit card to buy kites , does that make you sponsored by "Team Mummy ":eek: Quote
srod Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 I don't think I'll ever make the grade kiting-wise, although I wonder if I practiced loads and became really good at drinking then I could become sponsored by my local pub, them maybe work my way up to brewery team status? Quote
Lofty Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 Im with you on that one Too much time spent enjoying drunken revelry usually results in hungover kiting sessions gaining nothing new other than some elaborate grass burns perhaps sponsorship from Carling and Elastoplast ! i would be a sterling ambassador for both Quote
kite chaser Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 "if your use a parents credit card to buy kites , does that make you sponsored by "Team Mummy ":eek:" Just cos us yongsters have kites dont mean we get bought them by our pearents:mad: (or mumeys and daddeys in lofty`s case) i recentley worked for a year to buy my £520 flysurfer titain. I bought it with MY own money. and just cos we are young and ambitious dont mean were sponsered!! !! Neb p.s i am not sponsered! Quote
AliB Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 ive bought everything with my own money by doing a paper round for a year. even the top top riders dont get kites free!!!!! Quote
Alex Brown Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 i kind of dont get what your asking? im sponsored by a few companies, provide pictures, video etc for them, and in return they sort me out with kit. i dont do this for my living (im 15!) just for fun. i like the idea that i can promote companies, help to advertise the sport as a whole and so on. if your after sponsors, you have to give them somthing they dont have. try getting some cool shots and sending them to a board company or something. if you need any ideas or a bit of help, chat to me on messenger or take a look at some of my content. alex_j_brown88@hotmail.com http://www.kiteatb.co.uk/_gallery/alexbrown good luck, alex brown Quote
pokerfacedmonk Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 Alex is correct about advertising the company, but who are you advertising it to alex? As everyone else has pictures on here they are advertising the companies as well. Anyway besides sponsorship, alex what tricks are you doing at the moment?? Also you have to be good to be sponsored as if people see you they think, ' oh man he looks really good etc, i want to fly the kites he is etc' i assume this is how it works, as this is what Airush told me. But also you have to prove to the company that you are putting in a good word for them, like tell all of your local flyers that x, y and z kites are really good etc. You carn't do this by being false, as you have to love the items you fly (from sponsorship) in order to be enthusiastic about telling people that 'these kites' are the best, so you carnt be sponsored by a company that you dont like the kites or boards of but still give good information about them to others, in my way this doesnt seem right. Hope this makes sense. Pete Quote
AliB Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 so are you sponsored pokerface dude? or did you try and get sponsored Quote
pokerfacedmonk Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 I got sponsored by airush about 2 months ago. First of all i love the kites they are great!! I am mainly sponsored for kitesurfing, but still do it on land as there are no airush team riders that landboard making me in the minority. Where i fly the 3 other men i kitesurf with started flying airush, then they let me have a go on a couple and i was hooked. One of them was sponsored by airush of where i contacted Mike Brit as he was looking for sponsorship, then out of the blue i recieved an email from mike saying that Colin McCulloch recommended me, so as from them i am buying my kites and boards from a nearby dealer andy biggs who is great. I advertise the company by letting fellow kiters demo on my kites and when the new airush kites come into stock i can demo some prototypes to some locals. These are the best kites that i have flown and i am not looking to change in a long long time. Pete Quote
AliB Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 how much discount do you get on the airushes? Quote
pokerfacedmonk Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 Up to 40% on most items plus freebee's like promotional items and prototypes Quote
AliB Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 yer.that seems about right. everybody thinks that if youre sponsored u get any kite you want free:eek: ure sooooo rong.we still have to pay!!!!! Quote
Alex Brown Posted June 22, 2004 Report Posted June 22, 2004 hello. yea i understand what your saying. im sponsored by MBS, and SixSixOne padding, Extreme kiteshop and there is another.....but its not official yet. i have a post somewhere from a few months ago prooving my love to the kit i boast about, like the MBS boards. i do generally love the kit i am advertising. i am sponsored for landboarding, and moving into the kitesurf scene this summer. im pulling all sorts of grabs, tweaked etc, spins, grabbed spins (just got the 720grab on video) foot outs, board offs and so on. all my stuff that isnt going to be used for films, magazines adverts etc is at the kiteatb site. hope that clears any problems out. alex brown Quote
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