Just Kite It.

by Jessica Valenzuela

I am marking my first anniversary as a wind chaser in July. I’ve been blessed to experience and share fellow kiters’ stories on how kite and board sparked the never ending pursuit of wind in exotic and the most unexpected places around the world. A pursuit that could bring you to the doorstep of connections you otherwise would have missed or not have access to. The Personal Best Forbes.com video coverage on MaiTai was pivotal in my decision to invest the time, money and energy in kiteboarding. Besides the fact that I needed distraction from a personal life change and a year of part heckling, part encouragement from a friend Jackson Adams. Without these sources of energy properly aligned at the right moment and the right time and my personal will and curiosity, I probably would not have such an amazing first year of learning the sport and discover avenues to help nurture it.

Moreover, I would not be writing about this fabulous event, MaiTai Sports 2010. Where else? Maui.

MaiTaiers on Kite Beach Maui, photo by Erin Loscocco

Kiteboarding and Social Media

Jesse Richman, pro-kiteboarder known for his 22 second high jump, photo by Pierre R. Wolf

Without social media, sharing ideas, information, valuable and memorable experiences — my first year of kiteboarding would not be the same. Why? I’d probably still be flailing around figuring out the sport. Thanks to social destinations like Facebook and Twitter it made it so much simpler to connect with fellow kiters. Once connected, reaching out for a few tips on where to go for wind, where to learn the sport, the different challenges it comes with and learning from personal kitemare scenarios that one should be mentally prepared to tackle once out in the open water or snow filled valleys for snowkiting.

Social Media in the very simplest form is all about connecting with like-minded people. MaiTai Sports brings the experience to Maui among over 100 technologists, media, venture capitalist and pro-kiteboarding attendees. A mix of old-timer MaiTaiers and new ones with three-common passions: the love for kiteboarding, technology and startups.  Majority of the MaiTai Sports attendees exodus from the Silicon Valley area to Maui almost consistently in the month of May with one common intent: to kite. Besides the commonality of technology, creation and funding of startups, venture fund raising each attendee is eager to get on the water and kite!

This Year’s Highlights

Susi Mai, pro-kiteboarder and the "Mai" in MaiTai Sports, photo by Erin Loscocco

Majority of the MaiTai Sports crew stayed in Wailea, located in the south of Maui, a planned resort community. Opposite, Paia in the Northshore, the more pedestrian community of Maui known for its pristine beaches, big Hawaii surf, lush scenic drives and kite beaches.  In recent years, Paia was the main staging area for the event, due to its increased popularity a need for a larger venue was needed. Since it is my first time in Maui, I wanted to be centric to where most of the kiteboarding activities would be and chose to stay in Paia, peppered with lovely small town charms. It was a pain in my behind to get to the events at Wailea, yet it was wonderful for simply getting to the kite beaches and other adventures!

Opening night on May 26, marked the arrival of guests from different parts of the country, with a majority flying in from San Francisco. A special evening was planned to welcome the attendees and mark Susi Mai’s birthday, the “Mai” in the MaiTai Sports. She was gifted with a very special custom tee, which unfortunately was misplaced during the beach activities (I hope it was returned Susi!). Opening day, May 27 was the knowledge sharing section of the program with special guest, George Bailey, Sony’s Chief Transformation Officer who shared how the organization is breaking the corporate mold while effectively revamping their products and services for more innovative uses. A number of startup presentations including TrakDat, a site that can log your kiting sessions, an open forum with Zynga and a number of demos from kiteboarding product manufacturers. Thereafter, the crew gathered from May 28 – 31 on Kite Beach, meals at a number of notable establishments in Paia, including Flatbread and Mama’s Fish House, a frat style gathering at Ben Holz where the cops showed up at 1AM to shut it down, stand-up paddle-boarding, bootcamp exercises,  bikini shopping and a Gowalla treasure hunt, which were all optional activities. A nice finish, Luau at Scott Painter’s sprawling property on closing night.

Bill Tai, the "Tai" in MaiTai Sports, photo by Pierre R. Wolf

It was inspiring to see many levels of kiteboarders gathered in one beach sharing their experiences about the sport and their day jobs. Much as I preferred to kite Kanaha Beach for safety purposes, you can feel the revved up spirits of the MaiTai wind chasers in Kite Beach! Wind blew daily during the event  and went down  a few notches from when it was blowing in the 30s upon my arrival on the 20th of May in Maui. Besides Bill Tai’s little mishap on his shin, a few lost bars, pumps, flipflops and stolen kites everyone left the the event filled with great kiting memories, new friends and fresh ideas.

MaiTai Sports 2010 Vignettes

John Bildenback, professional surf photographer for 20 years and is now a kiteboarding photographer, “The MaiTai event was unreal, except Bill getting hurt of course… Nice group of interesting people! Good kiting too!”

David Hassell, technology founder and Kite Adventures founder, noted how “It all comes around” referring to his friend, Kym Nicholas’ MaiTai Sports video on Forbes.com and how that piece influenced my diving into the sport. It brought me all the way to Maui and my “home away from home” Nalu Kai lodge where I met our Kite Buzz feature, Greg Mebel who happens to be someone that David was meaning to meet on this trip.

Finally met Young Sohn and Konstantin Othmer, technologists and venture capital sources who frequent Third Avenue and Chrissy Field after a year of DM messages on Facebook. How rad is that?!

Meeting and greeting the people we feature including Susi Mai, Tom Court, Dan Larsen and Tammy Camp who I’ve only known digitally! Not to mention, bumping into Aaron Sales, Editor of Kiteboarding Magazine  on Lanes beach. And a big bear hug from Imeem founder, Steve Jang! We’ve emailed in the past through a common connection in New York, Michael Brown who is now heading up AOL Ventures.

Am sure there are a million more memorable quotes and experiences from everyone on the trip! Kiteboarding and kite surfing  is a blessing and a life altering activity. Definitely a lifestyle sport and the sport of champions. Thank you very much Bill Tai and Susi Mai for hosting such a fabulous gathering of fabulous people!

A Remarkable Guest List

More MaiTaiers on Kite Beach with host Bill Tai and his bella Michelle Beauchamp, photo by Erin Loscocco

MaiTai Sports 2010 is growing. It is my first time to attend and it is my first time on Maui. Lots of firsts which made it quite an exhilarating experience. Approximately over 100 techologists, media, entrepreneurs and venture capitalist attendees including Aaron Gershenberg of SVB Capital; Aaron Henningsgaard of IDEO; Aaron Sales, Kiteboarding Magazine; Adam Beguelin, Sensr Net LLC; Amitt Mahajan, Zynga; Andreas Shuster, Prinz von Hohenzollern Capital; Andrew Chatham, Google; Andy Belk, Apple; Anna Campbell, Get Involved; Ariel Poler, Textmarks; Austin Stewart, Armadealo; Ben Esplin,  Pillsbury Winthrop; Ben Holz, Peekeez.com; Bence Oliver,  eBay; Brian Beveridge, Greenridge; Brian Thomas, Wealth Manager; Carlos Carapito, Nokia; Casey Hauser, Shadow Box, Inc.; Cheyenne Ehrlich, LTS and SRS; Chris Barton, Google, Chris Cowart, IDEO and Naish; Chris Moore as himself; Christal Candon, Entrepreneur; Cimeron Morrissey, Freelance Writer for Kiteboarding Magazine; Courtney Lischke, Google; Dan Larsen, Qualcomm; Daniel Martell, Flowtown; David Hassell, Kiteadventures, LLC; David King in the in-between; David Rohrsheim, Draper, Fisher Jurvetson; David Supan, Supan Consulting; Ed Baker, Friend.ly; Erin Loscocco, technologist, travel and kiteboading photographer; Fabrice Grinda, OLX; Garrett Lisi, Physicist; George Bailey, Sony; George Mueller, Mueller Ventures; Greg Annable, Accenture; Irina Sini, Agilent Technologies; James Gatto, Pillsbury Winthrop; James Lindenbaum, Heroku; James Siminoff, Phone Tag; Jason Fass, TrakDat; Jean Sini, Mint; Jenny Chen, Stanford; Johann Schleier-Smith, Tagged, Inc.; John Bilderback, Bilderback Productions; John Otterson, SVB Capital; Jonathan Port, Permacity Solar; Jose Brotons, Product Madness; Josh Williams, Gowalla; Julie Supan, Supan Consulting; Katie McMahon Sound Hound, Inc.; Kaya Moore, CMCA; Ken Howery, Founders Fund; Kim Tran, Fluid Inc.; Konstantin Othmer, Speechink; Kurt Davis, Boku; Kym Nicholas, Forbes.com; Ladd Christensen, Whitehall Ventures Inc.; Laurence Girard, Trulia; Lee Linden, Tapjoy; Lee Underwood, Constellation Associates; Lior Nuchi, Pillsbury Winthrop; Maria Serafica-Stermer, Hoffman, Stermer and Associates; Mark Kinsey, Facebook; Mark Tsen, OTOY; Matt Brezina, Xobni; Michael Copeland, Fortune; Michelle Beauchamp, Performing Artist; Mike Lopyrev, Google, Inc.; Misha Zatsman, Google; Othman Laraki, Twitter; P-Air Wolff E-co Search Inc. and Epic Kites; Pablo Fuentes, WorkerExpress; Pascale Diane, Orange; Patrick Buckley, DoDoCase; Paul Twohey, Trumpet Technologies; Peter Grendler as himself; Philip Inghelbrecht is working on it;  Reichart Von Wolfshield, Qtask; Richard Baker, MLC Limited; Ron Torten, Inphi; Saar Gur, Charles River Ventures; Sarah Reed, Charles River Ventures; Scott Painter, Zag; Sebastian Thrun, Stanford University and Google; Shadi Mehraein, Focus Ventures; Shai Goldan, Silicon Valley Bank; Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer, Shasta Ventures; Shawn Simpson, Boutique Air; Sizhao Yang, Zynga; Steve Gibson, Multi-Ventures International; Steve Yang, Schematic Labs; Susan Coelius Keplinger, Triggit; Tammy Camp, Entrepreneur; Tikhon Bernstam, Scribd; Tim Hickman, Hard Candy Cases; Trip Adler, Scribd; Vikas Gupta, Social Gold; Warren Hogarth, Sequoia; Wesley Chan, Google Ventures; Yoky Matsuoka, Google and Young Sohn, Inphi

The event was also graced by kiteboarding pioneers, pro-kiteboarders and team riders including Pete Cabrinha, Tom Court, Jesse Richman, Shawn Richman, Cameron Dietrich, Erika Lindberg, Ben Meyer, Claire Lutz, May Yam, Jeff Kafka, Rouven Brauers and Steve Gunn,

About MaiTai Sports

MaiTai Sports is not your typical kiteboarding or kitesurfing event. In fact, it is unique in many facets one could imagine for a gathering of kiters and techies. There are no contests, there are no fees to attend, but you do have to pay for your way in lodging, airfare and some food expense. It is an invite only event were pro-kiteboarding and technologists gather to have fun, kite, network and exchange ideas. Besides the paying your way to get to Maui and back to where you need to be, you must love to kite or must want to learn to kite so you can play in the wind like the rest of the participants.

MaiTai Sports is hosted by Bill Tai, Principal at Charles River Ventures and popular pro-kiteboarder, Susi Mai for over five years. When MaiTai Sports descend on this beautiful and gorgeous tropical gem the ground does not shake, rattle and roll. Well, really it should specially when the geek gods from Silicon Valley, venture capitalists, media and technologists from all the world gather to play in the wind or learn how to.

Amazing Photos

Check out the MaiTai Sports 2010 sets from professional travel photographer Erin Loscocco and Pierre R. Wolf.