KIC NEWSLETTER
April – June 2002I must start this newsletter by apologizing for an OOPS! I made in the last newsletter.

At the 2002 Kart Expo, Norm DeBoever (Target Distributing) and Dan Craze (Craze Motor Sports - CMS) Donated bodywork for a speedway sprint chassis to the Karting Industry Council booth to be raffled off with all proceeds going to KIC. This bodywork was a piece of art being designed as the American Flag and painted with metallic and clear coated. 

“THANKS NORM and DAN”
 

KIC NEWS BRIEFS

Newly Elected Directors
April 28, 2002

To All KIC Members

I am pleased to inform you that, by a vote of the general membership, the following members have been elected as directors for the Karting Industry Council (KIC):

 Dave Larson
 Tom Johnson
 Angelo Sodano

As directors, they will participate in discussions, decisions and other activities designed to promote the growth of the karting industry. Please feel free to contact these or any other board members to share your ideas or concerns for the benefit of the karting industry.

Charles Pistorio,
President
 

National Tech Committee
The National Tech Committee (NTC) has been formed; all candidates accepted their nomination with a positive and enthusiastic outlook, each stating “this will be beneficial to all Associations, Manufacturers, Dealers, Engine Builders and especially the Competitors.”

The KIC and NTC want to thank each Association (IKF, IRA, KART, NAKA, SKUSA and WKA) for getting each committee member a copy of their current technical manual.  

The committee has already went to work, there has been a problem detected with cc’ing the combustion chamber of the IC engine with the CIK cc plug compared to the LAD cc plug.  The LAD plug was designed from the CIK plug with modifications to work with the 100cc engines such as Yamaha KT-100, HPV-100 ECT. with this there is a difference in length of the tools and with the LAD plug being shorter in length it leaves a void at the bottom of the spark plug hole of .4 tenths of a cc, therefore the correct cc measurement for IC engines to the top of the LAD cc plug is 13.4. Committee recommends all associations use the LAD cc plug.

NTC has also been made aware there is concern from track owners which entertain National / Divisional / Regional events from different Associations. The combustion chamber volume for the K-50 Comer (Kids Kart Class) is listed as being 6.5cc with some associations and 7.5cc with others. This not only affects the competitor who wants to participate with different associations on the national level, it affects the local competitor who doesn’t travel and wants to participate with the big guys when they are in town.
Committee recommends all associations standardize the cc measurement at 7.5cc. 

The ultimate goal of this committee is to develop a set of standard specifications for engines and chassis so the competitors will be scrutinized the same regardless where they race. All NTC members recognize the complexity and time that will be involved to put this together. The committee is always open to suggestions and ideas.

Following are the names, fax number and e-mail addresses of the NTC: 

   Name                 Fax #                     E-mail: �
Jack Hoegerl - 309-793-0111       jackh18@aol.com
�
Syd White-       831-484-6123      white801@yahoo.com

Scott G Evans-847-678-7829    scottgevans@prodigy.net

Jim Stroud -      918-835-1338

Dennis Scott-    913-724-1691      sre@aol.com

J. R. Clasen-    760-736-4008       psr-rt@pacbell.net

Steve Jacobsen - 630-871-1840    brmusa@aol.com 

Robin Bradshaw -336-731-3750    rmb@dialpoint.net
�
Bob White-           859-363-1796    bwkic@msn.com
 

Secretary Post Vacated
Henry Mills has submitted is resignation as Secretary of KIC due to business commitments. The post will be filled at the next meeting which is scheduled to be held in Indianapolis. KIC would like to thank Henry for his hard work and commitment to the association. �
THANKS HENRY!
                            �
                           �
Website update
The KIC website (www.kartindustrycouncil.com) is in the process of being revamped and updated.  Our new web-master Steve Owenby is working on the redesign along with board member Darrell Sitarz. The web site will now include a complete list of KIC board members and contact information, a list of National Tech Committee members and corresponding contact information, minutes of KIC board meetings, a calendar of events, feedback section, member list and membership information, business articles and a whole lot more. The site should be back up and running in the next 30-60 days. If members have suggestions for website content, please feel free to contact Darrell Sitarz at karting@msn.com.�
 

Credit Report�
The credit report with current information was e-mailed and faxed to members that we don’t have e-mail addresses for on April 8th along with a request for e-mail addresses to be returned to the office. I want to thank those who responded with their e-mail address or made a request for it to be faxed or postal mailed. In the future Credit reports will only be e-mailed, unless otherwise instructed by a member to fax or postal mail. I am still missing over fifty percent of our membership e-mail addresses.

A current membership list is included in this newsletter. If your e-mail address is not on the list then I don’t have it.  Please take a minute and e-mail your address to bwkic@msn.com or if you prefer report by fax or postal mail let me know that also, otherwise a report will not be sent out.

Next posting of the Credit Report will be June 7th. Credit report information that you want posted needs to be faxed to the office no later than June 3rd.�
Credit Report Information sheet included with this newsletter.
 

10 Tips for Writing Press Releases�
By Bob Cycon
Always remember that the purpose of a press release is to convey NEWS

Use a special letterhead that states “PRESS RELEASE” or “NEWS RELEASE” so an�
Editor can quickly distinguish your news from ordinary correspondence.
Always date your press release and include a release date (in most cases, “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE”).

Include a contact name and phone number for editor follow-up questions.

Include a short heading or “slugline” to identify the subject of a release.

As a general rule of thumb, press releases should be typed double-spaced.  However, if you can fit a release on one page single spaced, do it.

The opening paragraph must answer who, what, when, where, why, how.
Write press releases in inverted pyramid style,
i.e., put the most important information at the top and arrange facts in descending order of importance. 

After writing a release, ask yourself: “If an editor only prints the first two paragraphs, is the most important information there?”  Use the same criteria for all succeeding paragraphs.

If possible, include one or two quotes from an organization representative. This makes it appear that an editor “interviewed” the person and increases the chances for publication.

Avoid “puffery” and “fluff”. Stick to the point and don’t ramble on.
Proofread every release before it goes out. Avoid typos.

Write your press releases with the goal of having editors do as little editing as possible and you’ll increase your chances of gaining that coveted “ink”.