President’s Message - September 2006
Welcome to all the new SEG America members.
As President of SEG America, I wanted to say hello, and let the members
know of some of the upcoming events and services that you can look to SEG
America for.
First off, you can and should offer a hearty thank you to the outgoing
board members, Joanne Krogman, and Alex Ko, for their fine service to the
club. I would also offer a welcome to Jonathan Gleich, as a new member of
the board as Vice President. Rounding out the board is Fred Kaplan,
Treasurer, Stan Dobrowski, Secretary, and Will Hopper, Immediate Past
President. We have an opening in the position of Local Group Coordinator.
If you are interested, or want to draft someone, contact me at
President@SEGamerica.org
I want to emphasize that this year, we are going to have a real push for
better communication amongst the members, and we would like to help
support more local groups getting together and going on group glides. It
has been my experience that when you get several segs together for a
glide, it generates smiles all around.
Some of the support network that you will see coming from the national
organization toward the local SEGs will include, but not be limited to, a
member locator to find local seg owners to start a group, a calendar to
check in to see activities from the local SEGs, a photo depository so that
you will have no problem posting snapshots of your outings, and many other
services that will be upcoming in the next few months.
Of course, we cannot go another paragraph without mentioning SegwayFest in
Long Beach (Los Angeles, CA) this October. It will be the place to be for
all Segdom. I believe that Fred is arranging the very best fest yet, and
this is the event that will be spoken of for years to come. Check out our
site for more info. www.SEGamerica.org. We have a great list of
speakers, including Dean Kamen, Doug Field and others. Come and join us,
and check out the new i2 model as well. I guarantee that we will all be
having a great time.
This brings up the topic of SegwayFest ‘07. Where do you want to hold it?
We are looking now, and want your input. We must look at the availability
of facilities; locals who want to host it, local dealers for rentals, and
many other factors. If you have a favorite place, be sure to use the link
above to let us know. You can also contact us at Info@SEGamerica.org with
suggestions.
We also are starting up a Business membership, where seg-friendly
businesses can join and get themselves listed on our endorsed listing of
friendly businesses. This membership has a hook. No business can join
for dues alone, they have to offer a special consideration to SEG America
members. If it is a Segway dealer, that may be a discount. If it is a
seg friendly restaurant, it may be free desert with an entree’ or any
number of other options. Look for this listing soon. If you own a
business that may want on this listing, or know of one, contact me at
President@SEGamerica.org.
We at SEG America would like to take this opportunity to encourage all
Segway owners to contact their local Segway dealer or contact
www.segway.com and register to have their machine upgraded as part of
complying with the current recall. This software upgrade only takes a few
moments. I personally would like to say that I believe this is a great
example of how safety oriented Segway, Inc is, and what a real class act
they are. It is a mark of a very good and upstanding company, in my
opinion, to take this effort to support their patrons.
In conclusion, I wanted to say that this year looks to be a great one,
inside SEG America and in the segging community at large. This is going
to be a big year, with the new generation of PTs, and all the positive new
happenings in SEG America. I hope to have the opportunity to go gliding
with you and your friends soon!
Karl Sagal, President, SEG America, Inc.
