Hot Products World Finals Web Pages To Go Live On September 3

      The IJSBA is pleased to announce that the 2013 Hot Products World Finals Web Pages will go live on September 3rd.  Online entry, downloadable entry forms, news, rules, and other information will be available from section on the IJSBA.com homepage.IJSBA-World-Finals-2013-Logo (1)In the meantime, here is some news:
      1.  IJSBA will be closed on September 2nd for Labor Day (it is unlikely your Executive Director will have the day off, but Ria will so the phones will likely be set to voicemail).
      2.  For those persons who want premium pit space, sponsorship opportunities, or vendor space: we are about sold out of all of it.  Please contact us now so we can lock down the site plan.  We have an unprecedented amount of early attention for the event.  We appreciate all of you who made your plans early this year, it helps a lot.
      3. There will be a prepaid line at check in.  Save money and time by sending in your completed entry form, with valid payment, before registration is cut off.  Please note that the prepaid line means pre-PAID not registration with “pay on site” checked.  Furthermore, persons who register on site will not be provided any wrist bands or parking credentials until the participant’s eligibility has been verified and the credit card payment has been processed (if not paying by cash).
      4. We want to give serious acknowledgment to Jeff Hager and Patrick Goldsworthy whose efforts to rally Vintage Ski competitors into getting organized enough for us to return Vintage Ski to the program for 2013.  Jettrim returning with the Vintage Museum also played a significant role in the coming to fruition.  If you compete in Vintage Ski, you might want to thank these people personally for their effort in getting everybody talking to make this happen.
      5. Chris and Bridget Hagest have really pulled out the stops and put a lot of planning into making the 2013 Jr. Stars program something special.  Junior Stars will have a booth at World Finals which will be adjacent to the Pro Watercraft booth, please be sure to drop in during the event and see what is happening with the group that is going to carry this sport into the next generation.
      6. Did you buy a watercraft part from a Hot Products dealer this week?  Hot Products funded some of your racing this week (as they have all season long).  How about making sure that your next purchase is coming from an authorized Hot Products dealer.  Invest in the people investing in you.
      7. Contrary to the beliefs of some people without a sense of humor, IJSBA is all for you going to the Hydro Turf Saturday Night party at Kokomos.  We are not quite sure how we feel about the boxing part of it (yeah, yeah its inflatable gloves or something).  IJSBA staff are prohibited from participating in the boxing part.  Any IJSBA staff found participating in the inflatable fight club will be fired promptly on Monday right after the truck is loaded and site is cleared.
      8. In just about three weeks, Race Director, Blake Corning, will be on site in Lake Havasu City, setting up the event.  It iss getting darker sooner, he will be packing a lot of work into increasingly shorter days.  If you see him out there, be sure to let him know how much you appreciate him giving up time from his home and family to make the event happen for you.  This time of the year is awfully stressful on the staff and it is nice to know the people you work for have your support especially when things aren’t exactly going as planned.  This time, last year, because of the stressful environment, I didn’t yell at Blake when he burned a hole in the seat of the Jeep he borrowed from me.  He said he didn’t do it, but I know he did.  We all have to do our part to keep the peace.
      9. We are going to announce everything from race fuel to new supporting sponsors next week, please stay tuned to IJSBA regularly.
      10. Extra thanks this week to: Scott Saito, Kelly at Jettrim, 3D Motorsports in Havasu, Trendsetterz, Gibbs, Dave Bamdas, Rad Dudes, Ross Wallach, and a very very good friend Hiro for helping to make things move smoothly with World Finals business.
      11. Great Lakes Watercross will wrap up their 2013 series this weekend.  They will have a memorial for Ed Bohat.  Ed loved PWC Racing and was a very cool cat.  He will be deeply missed at this year’s World Finals.
      12. We will also be solemn in our thoughts of Pete Bothwell.  The PWC world is wonderful because of Pete Bothwell’s efforts and those of us lucky to have worked alongside of him in some capacity are richer persons for the experience.
      13. Did you know that IJSBA operates a functioning email and telephone line?  We can be reached atinfo@ijsba.com or at +1-714-751-8695.  We cannot be reached by posting obscure threads on internet forums or by circulating questions around social media sites like Facebook.  Sending your questions to IJSBA strongly increases the likelihood that you will get correct information.
      Thanks for taking the time to listen to this rambling bit of “news.”  Especially thank you to all of you who have done a lot this year to make communication smoother and things run a lot better.  I especially thank Hot Products for giving the event a backbone and another year of lifeblood to make sure we all gather at World Finals again.  The attitudes of just about everyone in the sport have been so great lately.  I enjoy working for all of you in the sport and hope that we can continue to improve things together for as long as I have the privilege of representing you.[fblike]