On Thursday, July 12, 2012 1:32:38 PM UTC-4, Bill D wrote:
The latest numbers show a net gain of more than 350 new full members
in the last month for which statistics exist. The cause is not yet
known but, if it's offered, the LGG campaign won't turn down the
credit.

Does this mean we've turned a corner? Waaay too early to say but if
growth were to continue at that rate for a year, the SSA would be in a
far healthier state.

Want to help? Put a bumper sticker on your car and the big graphic on
your glider trailer. It seems to be working.

Bill Daniels
SSA Growth and Development Chairman

Bill,

This is good news, indeed and I hope your projections are correct.

Reg. the LGG banners on trailers: as I mentioned before, my rinky-dinky trailer was the only one sporting the full-scale LGG decals at Parowan, which was a bit disappointing. I didn't poke around as to why nobody else installed them but I know they do the job.

- At one gas station, a young father and his maybe 5 year old son
came over and told us that he had about 5 solo hours from when he was
in the Air Force Academy. He was trying to explain to his son what a
glider is so I opened the trailer. He continued to tell me that he
would like to return but wife, kid(s) and career = hardly any time!
Haven't we heard that before? Maybe this encounter sparked new
interest

- Pulling into the parking lot at a sports bar in Grand Junction, CO and occupying 10 or 15 parking spots raised some interest with those sitting outside (had no idea why they were sitting outside since it felt like 200°F walking on the black-top). Anyhow, one women came over to us while we were eating (inside) and we started a lively conversation. She called her 21 year old son over and he was all enthused about it when I told him that he could have been flying solo for the last 7 years. He was going to spend his summer in Alamogordo, NM and I urged him to look up the local operation on the SSA web-site.

- At a gas station just inside of UT, an RV pulled up to the next pump and the couple asked me where I was going to fly at. Turns out they were tourists from Germany on their way to Vegas and they knew what was in the box even without the hint provided by the decals.

- A small car passed us on I-70 and the two young occupants rolled down their windows, stuck out an arm each and executed a well-coordinated banked turn from the left into the right lane - cute, broke up the monotony.

Although the stickers greatly reduce the opportunity to have some fun
with the un-washed masses by telling them that this is the grand
finale for a fireworks show or that we breed special safety horses for
multiple riders (long backs and short legs), etc., I think we should
encourage the contest crowd that is trailering across the country to
install the decals a bit more. Maybe we change the contest rules and
add 5 points to the score if they have it on their trailer ;-) (Wait - let me get into my Nomex-Coverall!)

GM