On Saturday, July 14, 2012 3:13:53 PM UTC-6, David Reitter wrote:
On Friday, July 13, 2012 12:12:14 PM UTC-4, Frank Whiteley wrote:

> Intro members, 79, (good on Pittsburgh Soaring Club for a sizable chunk, now make those you've attracted full members)

So far, Pittsburgh converted 6 out of 21 temporary members to permanent memberships this year, with one or two candidates expected to join later.

In my other club (not in the SSA), we always had many intro memberships, but a very low conversion rate. At that time, I changed the advertising from "experience of a lifetime" to "learn to fly!". I believe it was this changed advertising that attracted a different crop of people, and that was very good for the club. I believe the SSA is doing something similar with FAST, and it has been a boon to our club.

We benefited from some publicity in the past year: exhibiting three gliders at an "open house" day at a nearby airport (it was fun and no big deal to organize - we did them a favor!), having a title-page feature article with video in the Sunday edition of the regional newspaper, a presentation at the local Rotary club, and even a sale ad for one of our gliders on Barmstormers, which gained us an enthusiastic new power pilot member transitioning to gliders.

What are other clubs doing? I'm always looking for inspiration.

FAST was a compromise initially as I long argued for a three flight option for the package. Several commercial operators balked at the price range. So, the recommendation is to locally augment FAST as FAST Plus, offering two additional flight lessons for an additional charge. That gives the opportunity to generate at least one soaring flight, plus the Intro member returns a time or two to complete the package. When they've completed three lessons, they hold in their hands a log book showing some real progress toward becoming a glider pilot. Some clubs have varied this theme, allowing 4 or a few more lessons as an Intro member. They also have to wish to grow and be welcoming of these potential full members.

Yes, we have to wave the flag and locally this means taking a couple of 'public' opportunities each year to show gliders and talk with those showing an interest. It often means getting away from the port. The Let's Go Gliding campaign is continuing to evolve.

Frank Whiteley