SSA Growth

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

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

On Thursday, July 12, 2012 11:32:38 AM UTC-6, 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, et al,

I think the report requires some detailing.

First, it spanned May 1 thru Jun 30, two months. Including Intro members, the total is 392.

Returning members, with breaks of one to over five years, 50
New full members, 187
Intro members, 79, (good on Pittsburgh Soaring Club for a sizable chunk, now make those you've attracted full members)
Business members, 2
Youth members, 67, 66 new, 1 returning, (grow these please)
Family members, 7, 5 new, 2 returning

That's five months of positive growth. Take good care of your new members.

Best regards,

Frank Whiteley

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.

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

On Saturday, July 14, 2012 8:31:10 PM UTC-6, Frank Whiteley wrote:
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.

On Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:31:10 PM UTC-4, Frank Whiteley wrote:
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.

What we do is to give people regular membership privileges for one month. They can come back, fly at member prices and get hooked.

At $100, we really can't give people more than one tow (we're paying the instructor as well), and at, say, $200 for three flights, we wouldn't get those who just want to try it out.

Oh, and we give people some credit if they turn their temporary into a full membership. This seems to work.

The other change we've made recently is to not ask for a large capital investment up front, but to stagger it over the first two years. Writing a $500 check seems like much more of a commitment than to hand over a $200 installment (minus $50 credit from that FAST ride).

I know at least one club with a mandatory $2,000 capital investment, and it's heartbreaking to see the lack of members and flying activity, given their awesome site.

On Sunday, July 15, 2012 3:46:51 PM UTC-6, David Reitter wrote:
On Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:31:10 PM UTC-4, Frank Whiteley wrote:
> 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.

What we do is to give people regular membership privileges for one month. They can come back, fly at member prices and get hooked.

At $100, we really can't give people more than one tow (we're paying the instructor as well), and at, say, $200 for three flights, we wouldn't get those who just want to try it out.

Oh, and we give people some credit if they turn their temporary into a full membership. This seems to work.

The other change we've made recently is to not ask for a large capital investment up front, but to stagger it over the first two years. Writing a $500 check seems like much more of a commitment than to hand over a $200 installment (minus $50 credit from that FAST ride).

I know at least one club with a mandatory $2,000 capital investment, and it's heartbreaking to see the lack of members and flying activity, given their awesome site.

This needs updating and some re-writing as the SSA Intro Membership now includes three issues of Soaring magazine.

http://www.ssa.org/files/member/SSA%...20and%20IM.ppt

On Sunday, July 15, 2012 3:46:51 PM UTC-6, David Reitter wrote:
On Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:31:10 PM UTC-4, Frank Whiteley wrote:
> 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.

What we do is to give people regular membership privileges for one month. They can come back, fly at member prices and get hooked.

At $100, we really can't give people more than one tow (we're paying the instructor as well), and at, say, $200 for three flights, we wouldn't get those who just want to try it out.

Oh, and we give people some credit if they turn their temporary into a full membership. This seems to work.

The other change we've made recently is to not ask for a large capital investment up front, but to stagger it over the first two years. Writing a $500 check seems like much more of a commitment than to hand over a $200 installment (minus $50 credit from that FAST ride).

I know at least one club with a mandatory $2,000 capital investment, and it's heartbreaking to see the lack of members and flying activity, given their awesome site.

I think the three lesson option sets a price point that filters out the drive-by shooter. Next week or month that person may be ballooning, taking a tandem paraglider flight, or something else. If you are going to make the effort to take prospective member an SSA Intro member and club/chapter Intro member make a best effort at recruitment. There are arguments about giving rides or not giving rides in a club. A single flight lesson and 1/2 hour ground school is little more than that unless handled with finesse. At the same time we are entertaining prospective members or giving rides, we are denying our bread and butter members access to club assets. At one time, my club was able to convert 80% of those completing our three-lesson mini-course to full members.

We currently have 25 or 26 chapters that are 501(c)(3) charitable organizations. Joining fees and dues may be partially or wholly tax deductible among other tax exemptions.

Frank