Gang,
SouthEastern Regional Fly-In volunteers will meet in the near future
to organize and plan for the 2006 event. The dates are October 6th,
7th, and 8th.

SERFI is fly-in, not an airshow. In other words, we try to make it
an event focused on the enjoyment of aircraft owners, not the ground
bound.

Would anyone care to offer serious suggestions about how to better
meet that goal? Please keep in mind that SERFI may be the smallest of
all the EAA-affiliated regional fly-ins. It is certainly the least
commercial, which means we don't have many dollars. We depend heavily
on support from participants, ie, a small registration fee when you
land.

Always lots of complaints about the big shows. How can we give you
one you like?

Website at: http://www.serfi.org

I may have a few questions later, something along the lines of an
informal poll.

Dan

"Dan Horton" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Gang,
> SouthEastern Regional Fly-In volunteers will meet in the near future
> to organize and plan for the 2006 event. The dates are October 6th,
> 7th, and 8th.
>
> SERFI is fly-in, not an airshow. In other words, we try to make it
> an event focused on the enjoyment of aircraft owners, not the ground
> bound.
>
> Would anyone care to offer serious suggestions about how to better
> meet that goal? Please keep in mind that SERFI may be the smallest of
> all the EAA-affiliated regional fly-ins. It is certainly the least
> commercial, which means we don't have many dollars. We depend heavily
> on support from participants, ie, a small registration fee when you
> land.
>
> Always lots of complaints about the big shows. How can we give you
> one you like?
>
> Website at: http://www.serfi.org
>
> I may have a few questions later, something along the lines of an
> informal poll.
>

You might want to google the discussion I started here, labeled "Arlington
lays some eggs".

The first thing you need to decide is whether it is an "aviation outreach"
event to the general public, or just a fly-in, and it appears you have done
that. Since I'm not a pilot (yet), I'm not really qualified to offer
opinions (but that hasn't stopped me yet!), but the "Wings Over Republic"
event held in Republic, Washington (on Aug 25-27 this year) is a lot smaller
than you, and here is their press release from last year:

"It's Wings Over Republic's 6th Annual Fly-In time again, so set your sights
on the sky over Republic's Merritt Field Airport. Early arriving pilots will
share a closed barbeque Friday night, August 26 with Wings Over Republic
Members preparing for a weekend of public-invited activities. On Saturday
morning, August 27, over 100 airplanes are expected to grace the field,
including antiques, biplanes and ultralights.

The public is invited to come see them all and chat with pilots of various
levels of experience. Parking and Admission is free all day Saturday and
Sunday. The public is also invited to all meals Saturday and Sunday. A $5
pancake breakfast from 7-10 am starts off Saturday. From noon-2pm a $6 lunch
will be available. Schwan's will offer on-site cool treats for sale when the
afternoon heats up. Classic cars will be there to show off as well. Free
tours at 10am and 1pm will be given to the towns of Republic and Curlew,
Sherman Pass Indian Art Gallery, Stonerose Fossil Center, Ansorge Hotel,
Kettle River, Ronald McDonald Gravesite and the historical 100-year-old
Ferry County Merry-Go-Round. Free Curlew Lake excursions are also offered
and other booths and activities will add to the fun. Raffle tickets will be
sold again for the annual airplane-motif quilt made and donated by Wings
Over Republic member Cheri Nansen. Tee shirts will be available for purchase
and this year ball caps will also be up for sale.

Saturday evening will offer a $9 cook-your-own-steak dinner from 5-7pm. Live
music, sky jumpers and entertainment, including young fiddlers will add to
Saturday night festivities. Pilots will then camp under their wings or enjoy
a free shuttle to local motels of their choice. Sunday starts off again with
a $5 pancake breakfast open to the public from 7am -10am and enjoying the
planes before they depart for their hometown cities and states.

Thanks to the generosity of local merchants and out-of-area aviation
merchants, door prizes will be awarded constantly throughout the event, all
weekend. This has become one of Ferry County's largest and most-anticipated
annual family outings. Don't miss a chance for fun in the sun for the whole
family!"

They had vans shuttling the pilots everywhere they wanted to go, but with
the "pilots only" BBQ on Friday night, the food all day on Saturday, and the
breakfast on Sunday, who wanted to leave? ;^)

Dan,
The year I could make it, I enjoyed SERFI. I even volunteered to help
with the RV campground while there.

However, I will no longer volunteer if I come 3 days before the show to
help setup, spend many hours per day with people camping, cleanup, post
cleanup, and STILL be required to pay the entrance fee too. One or the
other, but not both.

David M.



Dan Horton wrote:

> Gang,
> SouthEastern Regional Fly-In volunteers will meet in the near future
> to organize and plan for the 2006 event. The dates are October 6th,
> 7th, and 8th.
>
> SERFI is fly-in, not an airshow. In other words, we try to make it
> an event focused on the enjoyment of aircraft owners, not the ground
> bound.
>
> Would anyone care to offer serious suggestions about how to better
> meet that goal? Please keep in mind that SERFI may be the smallest of
> all the EAA-affiliated regional fly-ins. It is certainly the least
> commercial, which means we don't have many dollars. We depend heavily
> on support from participants, ie, a small registration fee when you
> land.
>
> Always lots of complaints about the big shows. How can we give you
> one you like?
>
> Website at: http://www.serfi.org
>
> I may have a few questions later, something along the lines of an
> informal poll.
>
> Dan
>

<< The year I could make it, I enjoyed SERFI.....However, I will no
longer volunteer....and STILL be required to pay the entrance fee
too.>>

I hear you. That was a subject at the last planning meeting and
probably will be again. Right now everybody pays the entry fee,
Chairman and pukes like me included.

The practical issues are (1) how to deal with the guy who
"volunteers" and then hides out all weekend and (2) how to be fair to
someone like yourself who works all weekend (BTW, thank you) vs a guy
who works 2 hours (example: aircraft parking). We have kicked around a
system that refunds gate money when you show a chit signed by the
volunteer chairman in your area, perhaps at a buck for each hour
worked.

Sheer bad luck has handed us several years of poor weather weekends
(sometimes just the all-important Saturday morning arrival time slot),
so the budget is REALLY tight. In a perfect world everyone would
consider their $6 entry to be a donation, but hey, I understand.

Dan

I was there nearly 7 days. I remember the fees totaling nearly $100.

David M.


Dan Horton wrote:

> << The year I could make it, I enjoyed SERFI.....However, I will no
> longer volunteer....and STILL be required to pay the entrance fee
> too.>>
>
> I hear you. That was a subject at the last planning meeting and
> probably will be again. Right now everybody pays the entry fee,
> Chairman and pukes like me included.
>
> The practical issues are (1) how to deal with the guy who
> "volunteers" and then hides out all weekend and (2) how to be fair to
> someone like yourself who works all weekend (BTW, thank you) vs a guy
> who works 2 hours (example: aircraft parking). We have kicked around a
> system that refunds gate money when you show a chit signed by the
> volunteer chairman in your area, perhaps at a buck for each hour
> worked.
>
> Sheer bad luck has handed us several years of poor weather weekends
> (sometimes just the all-important Saturday morning arrival time slot),
> so the budget is REALLY tight. In a perfect world everyone would
> consider their $6 entry to be a donation, but hey, I understand.
>
> Dan
>

<<I was there nearly 7 days. I remember the fees totaling nearly
$100.>>

Ahhh, campground fees?

Dan