For most, this is the time of year where you have to dive back in to the mundanity of the daily school routine. However for us lucky few, we hop into a routine of change and creativity.
This time around I have a lot in mind in terms of projects and high expectations when it comes to results. One of the ideas I have is to create Issue Three of the magazine, which I hope not only to be an iconic issue for Vision, but one of the best single issue of a kiteboarding magazine ever made. We recently watched a Ted Talk about embracing your limitations and I certainly have a couple, one of those being money. I need to somehow convince the best riders in the world to share their best stories and world class photos with me, for free. A task not to be taken lightly as the stories you share determine the rise or fall of a magazine. Speaking of rise or fall, I have adapted this new mentality when it comes to business. If you're not going up, your going down. The industry is always pushing forward and this year it seems like everyone has upped their speed. In order to stay ahead of the curve I not only need to be innovating, but I always need to stay relevant as well as maintain a strong relationship with world class athletes all around the world in order to get the content that I need. Putting together Issue Three will be quite the journey and is sure to create some interesting stories. Make sure to check back every week for more tales of the trade.
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Starting a magazine is actually quite easy. Starting really anything is easy. It is seeing something through to the end that makes it hard.
The past few months I have come to a realization that starting and creating a magazine is not a one man job. At least not the quality of magazine I'm trying to create. Ideally, I'd like to have a three man team helping me out. The roles of those three people would be, Journalist, Online Media Manager, and a Graphic Designer. My role would be a combination of Editor and Creative Director. The reason I would like a team is not only to help with the work load, but to also help with the creative process. Having a team would allow Vision to get more work done at a higher quality in a shorter period of time allowing us to focus on other things such as films and events. Essentially, bringing a team on board would make the job a lot more fun and would allow for a better product. Another issue I ran into was; people always are keen to say yes to write an article, but very rarely follow through. If every person who had said yes, would have actually turned in an article or a piece of any kind, I would have to make some serious cuts to the amount of content rather than scavenging for quality work less then a month before release. Lastly, the hardest thing about starting a magazine would be to stay focused throughout the process. Last night I came up with my first idea/theory/quote that is worthy of writing down. That is, "Ideas are like explosions. Without structure, they burn bright, then fizzle out, but with structure, you can PROPEL the energy in the direction you wish to go". Until next time, Cody
From www.visionkitemag.com
As 2015 comes to a halt, it is time to appreciate some of the impressive films that have been made this past year and announce the '2015 Vision Film of the Year' award. We based our decisions on three key elements. Those being, level of riding, production value, and creativity. This wasn't exactly an easy decision as loads of outstanding Kiteboarding films have been produced this past year. Here are the Runner-ups. SECOND RUNNER-UP"Westward" by Vincent Bergeron featuring Brandon Scheid With the synergy of these two legends in the making, this film was destined to make an appearance somewhere upon this list. Shot on location in Squamish, British Columbia and Hood River, Oregon, the film showcases Brandon Scheids Wakestyle talent as well as breathtaking scenery. Westward from Vincent Bergeron on Vimeo.
FIRST RUNNER-UP
"Aqua" by Patrick Wieland featuring Alex Fox and Sam Light Nothing compares to the British Virgin Islands when it comes to a tropical paradise and it looks like these guys did it right. This film has everything from boats and bikinis to Back Mobes and is sure to inspire you for your next session.
2015 Vision Film of the Year
"As Free As The Wind" by Sam Van Olmen featuring Noe Font and Jerome Cloetens This Film is simply a level above the rest. It doesn't only have a high level of riding and an abundance of creativity, and not to mention the production value is through the roof. It has a meaning and a message, which is something that isn't exactly common among other Kiteboarding Films. We are proud to announce the first annual 'Vision Film of the Year' award to "As Free As The Wind". Noè - “I hope that more kids like us get the chance we had to follow our dreams and maybe be a little different than others” Jerome - “ It's all about not growing up, about considering yourself a kid, so that you never stop playing.” As Free As The Wind from Sam Van Olmen on Vimeo.
Honorable Mentions
"Cruise Mode" by Jake Kelsick featuring Jake Kelsick and Andre Phillip "Without a Jersey' by TheBank featuring Stefan Spiessberger
Last week I talked about one of the ways the magazine could go and today I would like to expand on that.
I have a general idea on where I would like to go with the van and there are a few problems I have run into. For example, driving across oceans. So the journey will undoubtedly start in the glorious town of Winnipeg. From there I plan on heading west, all the way to the coast around august to compete and cover the Canadian Nationals as well as surf the beautiful B.C. Coast. From B.C. I plan on traveling down the coastline through Oregon, where the HQ of the brand I ride for is, and California. All the way into Mexico. In mexico I will obviously be going down the Baja peninsula. Then somehow continue on my journey into South America, more specifically Brazil. I hope to stay in Brazil until mid November and from there, hop on my magical carpet and venture of to South Africa. I would stay in Africa for a few months and cover the Red Bull King of the Air event. Then hop back on my magic carpet and go to the land of Oz (Australia), where I will 'throw some shrimp on the Barbe", surf and kite my hearts content and wither away until I turn into and old (Late 20's) wise man. Here's is a little clip on how I see an average day playing out in my future. (I will hire an intern for Vision that will specialize in narration) Enjoy! The Golden Years from SterlingSpencer on Vimeo. Getting away from society, traveling across the world, discovering untouched beaches and new cultures, Kiteboarding and Surfing world class locations. These are just a few of the things we wish to accomplish with the Vision Van, as well as documenting our journey through mediums such as photography and short films and sharing them with you through our magazine and website. Our goal is to turn our passion for Kiteboarding and adventure into something that will inspire Kiteboarders for generations. We hope to make this journey a reality by the year 2020. The vision of Vision isn't exactly a clear one. I want the magazine to go in so many directions it's hard to focus on one. I want the magazine to diversify and get into surfing and more into traveling but that is very unrealistic because I'm the furthest thing from an expert in those fields.
What I can see in the future for the magazine is, there will be clothing and there will be a minimum of one issue. I don't want to draft up a business because then I'll feel if I stray off path I'm failing. Lately I've gotten more and more interested in getting further into filmmaking and traveling. The magazine might just become a hobby that has one issue a year. I was recently offered a gig in the world of video. On tuesday I am meeting with the founder and owner of Upperstream to discuss a promo video. Upperstream is the new kid on the block when it comes to Winnipeg clothing brands and they have already taken over the city and are expanding into Los Angeles. This could kickstart my career as filmmaker. Until next time, Cody This past Monday we had the opportunity to attend We Day. We Day is all about youth empowerment and motivating the next next generation. They also have performances from singers like Tyler Shaw and Francesco Yates.
My favourite part of the day was either Henry Winklers speech or Tyler Shaws performance. I liked Henry Winklers or "Arther Fonzarellis" speech for three reasons. First, he got the crowd involved which was great and change the game from just listening to participating. Second, he went completely off script. From what I noticed, he was the only speaker to not read of the teleprompter. Last but not least, it's Arthur Fonzarelli. I liked Tyler Shaws performance because he is a Canadian and quite talented. He isn't usually the type of artist I listen to but i did enjoy it. Overall it was a great experience and it did it's job to inspire me to contribute to Society. So today I got some pretty great news. The rider that I have looked up to and found inspiration in, for the better part of my life has decided to work with me on the magazine. This spring, I joined Liquid Force, which whom just recently won "Brand of the Year" and there star rider, Brandon Scheid, won "Kiteboarder of the Year". When I decided to ride for Liquid Force, I thought that would be as close as I would get to working with him but it turns out I was wrong.
Working with him will bring alot of credibility to the Magazine and will also bring in alot of readers. I can now say with certainty, that this magazine has one of the most packed line ups for a first issue in Kiteboarding Magazine history. So much for this magazine being a ripple in the water or just another wave in the ocean. It's more like the swell of the year hitting the North Shore of Oahu. My long term hope for the magazine is that it will allow me to travel the world, Kiteboarding and Surfing some world class spots while continuing my passion for Filmmaking and Graphic Design. Alot of people don't take me seriously because to them it sounds more like a vacation then a job. To me, living the life of your dreams is simply just making the right choices. I simply will not settle for a desk job or a nine to five. A few weeks ago I happened to stumble across a program called "World Class Kiteboarding Academy", also known as "WCKA". They are a University prep school located in Hood River, Oregon which is like the Banff of the United States. Their motto is "Re-Think Education" which immediately caught my eye and reminded me of Propel. I started to read a little about the program and it sounds like my dream school. You wake up bright and early for your fitness class then go back to your residence and cook breakfast. Everybody lives in what looks like one big house so you take turns cooking meals for eachother. During the day you have your classes which is with 6-12 people and often only a couple of people are taking the same course. After classes, everybody throws their gear in the van and heads on down to the beach to go Kiteboarding. Often until dusk. Another stellar thing about this program is that they travel. This spring they are going to Cape Town for 2 Months, South Padre Island for a month, which is where I was a month ago, and lastly, Hatteras, North Carolina for roughly a month. So as soon as I finished reading about the program I went to the Apply page. I didn't expect anything other than a kindly written rejection letter. To my surprise, they liked me and what I stood for so we continued on to the next step. Here I am today with a generous scholarship and looking at flight prices to South Africa. Now all I have to do is convince my parents.
Until next time, Cody This past week I made quite a bit of progress on the magazine. I found three more people to submit content but I am unsure of what they are submitting. I also started building the website and it will hopefully be up and running by the end of next week. The werbsite will have four main pages. Those being a Home page, a Magazine page, a Videos page, and a Blog/News page. The website will serve as a place to embed my magazine, as well being a source for the latest news and video since I won't be publishing an issue every month.
Next week I plan to start writing the article I am contributing to the magazine. The idea I am going with at the moment is Kiteboarding in the winter in Canada. If I do decide to go with this idea the title will be "The White Sea" which I think is pretty clever. I also plan to shoot another Kiteboarder Video this winter and it could quite possibly carry the same title. The reasoning behind this title is that in the winter, when my lake is frozen over and covered in snow, it looks like the barren artic. It also feels like it too. I have a few shot ideas for the video which include me jumping over ice fishing shacks and me momentarely stopping in order to reel in a fish while Kiteboarding, and then continue on my way. The Ice Fishing while Kiteboarding idea isn't actually an original idea, I stole it from my Dad, who stole from my Uncle that did it a few times last winter. Filming that should be entertaining Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to until late December. Until next time, Cody |
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