Nomination letter:
We are writing to nominate Chuck Sigal for AKA’s highest honor, the Steve Edeiken Award.
Chuck’s efforts to support kiting touch virtually every member of the Association.
The pun is intended.
For many years, he has been the AKA’s webmaster and has created and maintained an on-line kite resource easily worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if we were paying for the service.
- Chuck has provided the programming to maintain the AKA calendar – the most through and used of its kind.
- Chuck has created the AKA E-Directory which allows kiters to find each other on their home computers.
- Chuck has formatted the data process to rank all North American sport kite competitors.
- Chuck has programmed the on-line AKA raffles which are largely responsible for the Associations financial rebound.
- Chuck added reams of material and an on-line registration process to support National Kite Month.
In short, the AKA web site is an astounding resource and it exists because Chuck Sigal maintains it. If we need something, he programs it. If the system goes down — or someone sabotages a critical element — Chuck drops everything and fixes it.
Our site is some complex now that we have negotiated additional resources and “functions” to keep all the programs running.
Web design and support is not Chuck Sigal’s only contribution to kiting. He also spent many years as chair of the AKA sport kite committee and now serves as one of our two international representative assigned the arduous task of negotiating global rules with our partners in STACK and AJSKA. He brings a programmer’s exactitude to the process and his attention to detail is legendary.
But he is also a fierce advocate for fliers, judges, organizers, and above all, fair process.
He developed the scoring program used by nearly all AKA sport kite competitions and now is in the process of updating this essential tool to reflect international rule changes.
He worked as the KTAI webmaster, building a trade webpage to match that offered by we hobbyists.
Chuck was a founding member of the Bay Area Sport Kite League and watched that effort blossom into a program for recruiting, teaching, and rewarding fliers.
He has served on the AKA Board through good and more challenging years. And he serves as a contributing member of the AKA bylaws committee, knowing more about Robert’s Rules than any kiter should.
In short, Chuck Sigal is a geek. He is the AKA geek. He is kiting’s geek. He is *our* geek. He does the jobs that aren’t glamorous, or exciting, or usually even fun. But without someone to do them, the rest of us might not be here.
We thank Chuck Sigal for his countless hours and commitment to kiting.
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