Promote your glider operation

On Nov 24, 1:30 pm, HoUdino wrote:
Frank-
Sometimes I think that many SSA members don't know the tools developed
and thus already have in hand!

Yes, mentoring WRT the web site is needed as the member and committee
level (in my draft). The SSA web site is more member resource than
recruit the new person. Much material is in there, but not up front
and in their face.

"Sales" is a hurtle race requiring a sequence of activities to flow
adequately well...Awareness (GMA, Disney, all activities NOT at the
airport), trial Interest (FAST, positve experience via a rides,
convienence, fun website, airshow booths), Qualifiying (safety/
finances/rank against alternatives), Closing ("the ask" to join,
friendly faces, SSA Intro program), and maintaining involvement (SSA
badges, club activities, secondary benefits, clean WC facilities).
Stumble on one of these hurtles or misdiagnois the problem and the
whole process is certainly less efficent. Every organization is
different and thus has different areas to focus on, often fixing one
problem in the waterfall creates a pooling in the next level (aka "The
problem I want to have"). That is why we have so many solutions
because at the field level we who run soaring organizations actually
have many different marketing problems. That's why the solutions can
seem so complicated...it is a complex problem.

Good points.

Frank W, Dave N, Val P have created many great tools to grow soaring.
The improved SSA Growbook is online...when was the last time you
looked at that? It's all there. It's hard to be "viral" without a
compelling club website, being "social" takes a team of individuals
working in concert..OK make it happen, the whole SSA website is a
media section. Quit wishing and start moving. You have everyones
permission you need. Ask yourself if you could change just one or two
things to grow soaring at your local soaring site, what would they
be? We don't lack solutions, IMHO many lack initiative.

Absolutely, there are many ad hoc opportunities.

Now ducking behind the soapbox to avoid the tomatoes....

LT

PS- A big congrats to Tucson Soaring for doing something "the first
time"! THAT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE READ IN THIS THREAD. We need
everyone to do something more, different, or "the first time". The
answers are all around us, each local organization just needs to (re)
assemble them. This should be the primary subject for discussion
around the grog bowl at every end of year soaring gathering. Have an
"improved club marketing membership plan" for 2010.

On that topic, I sent the AZ SSA governor (and TSC member) the Intro
member concept. I've been in a club that did 130 'rides' during a one
day open house. It did not generate a single member, but the
underlying intent was really fund-raising. Since 1995 in my current
club, I don't recall a single new member resulting from a scenic
ride. However, on the three lesson min-courses we sold, 80% of those
that got a soaring flight or two joined. We stopped doing those for
insurance reasons for a period, but the SSA Introductory Membership
has opened the door again, so we've added a three-month club Intro
membership into the by-laws. So TSC could offer a ride, or the full
monty. The Intro allows a prospective pilot to see if they are a good
fit and gives the club an opportunity to prove what they've said is
true. The price point filters out the drive-bys from the seekers.

Chapters operate under some different constraints than commercial
operators. Some are restricted from giving rides due to IRS rules.
Other clubs have gross receipts limitations and exist where there are
no commercial operations. Under the SSA Group Plan, membership is
required for trial/introductory lessons. This concept solves that
issue.

NOTE: OCSA used to have a growing soaring club...now OCSA's problem is
completely different. I'm learning again, see:http://groups.google.com/group/save-...et-today?hl=en

You are quite right to defend access to that public airport.

Frank Whiteley

On Nov 24, 10:33*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Nov 24, 1:30 pm, HoUdino wrote: Frank-
Sometimes I think that many SSA members don't know the tools developed
and thus already have in hand!

Yes, mentoring WRT the web site is needed as the member and committee
level (in my draft). *The SSA web site is more member resource than
recruit the new person. *Much material is in there, but not up front
and in their face.





"Sales" is a hurtle race requiring a sequence of activities to flow
adequately well...Awareness (GMA, Disney, all activities NOT at the
airport), trial Interest (FAST, positve experience via a rides,
convienence, fun website, airshow booths), Qualifiying (safety/
finances/rank against alternatives), Closing ("the ask" to join,
friendly faces, SSA Intro program), and maintaining involvement (SSA
badges, club activities, secondary benefits, clean WC facilities).
Stumble on one of these hurtles or misdiagnois the problem and the
whole process is certainly less efficent. *Every organization is
different and thus has different areas to focus on, often fixing one
problem in the waterfall creates a pooling in the next level (aka "The
problem I want to have"). *That is why we have so many solutions
because at the field level we who run soaring organizations actually
have many different marketing problems. That's why the solutions can
seem so complicated...it is a complex problem.

Good points.

Frank W, Dave N, Val P have created many great tools to grow soaring.
The improved SSA Growbook is online...when was the last time you
looked at that? *It's all there. *It's hard to be "viral" without a
compelling club website, being "social" takes a team of individuals
working in concert..OK make it happen, the whole SSA website is a
media section. *Quit wishing and start moving. You have everyones
permission you need. Ask yourself if you could change just one or two
things to grow soaring at your local soaring site, what would they
be? *We don't lack solutions, IMHO many lack initiative.

Absolutely, there are many ad hoc opportunities.

Now ducking behind the soapbox to avoid the tomatoes....

LT

PS- A big congrats to Tucson Soaring for doing something "the first
time"! *THAT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE READ IN THIS THREAD. We need
everyone to do something more, different, or "the first time". The
answers are all around us, each local organization just needs to (re)
assemble them. This should be the primary subject for discussion
around the grog bowl at every end of year soaring gathering. *Have an
"improved club marketing membership plan" for 2010.

On that topic, I sent the AZ SSA governor (and TSC member) the Intro
member concept. *I've been in a club that did 130 'rides' during a one
day open house. *It did not generate a single member, but the
underlying intent was really fund-raising. *Since 1995 in my current
club, I don't recall a single new member resulting from a scenic
ride. *However, on the three lesson min-courses we sold, 80% of those
that got a soaring flight or two joined. *We stopped doing those for
insurance reasons for a period, but the SSA Introductory Membership
has opened the door again, so we've added a three-month club Intro
membership into the by-laws. *So TSC could offer a ride, or the full
monty. *The Intro allows a prospective pilot to see if they are a good
fit and gives the club an opportunity to prove what they've said is
true. *The price point filters out the drive-bys from the seekers.

Chapters operate under some different constraints than commercial
operators. *Some are restricted from giving rides due to IRS rules.
Other clubs have gross receipts limitations and exist where there are
no commercial operations. *Under the SSA Group Plan, membership is
required for trial/introductory lessons. *This concept solves that
issue.

NOTE: OCSA used to have a growing soaring club...now OCSA's problem is
completely different. *I'm learning again, see:http://groups.google.com/group/save-...et-today?hl=en

You are quite right to defend access to that public airport.

Frank Whiteley- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Experience my club has had(see VSC above) is that the multiple flight
intro package is very effective in giving the prospect a chance to
really see what it is all about. It also gets them out a couple of
times so they can meet other members and decide if they like the
group. This turns out to be a big selling point.
Interestingly, when we had the big ride activity after the NY Times
article, only a very small number, maybe 10 out of the 350 or so, went
on to become members. We handled them the same way, so out conclusion
was that htis was the "I'm bored what do we do Sunday" crowd.
One other thing we do is pair up the young people immediately with one
of our juniors to show them around. This way, they don't feel like
they are the only kid there. We have lots of juniors so this is easy
to do.
It's quite important, as noted above, to have the right mentality
about intro flights. Our folks see it as a way to sell our sport and
not just a revenue stream.
FWIW
UH

On Nov 25, 6:58*am, wrote:
On Nov 24, 10:33*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:



On Nov 24, 1:30 pm, HoUdino wrote: Frank-
Sometimes I think that many SSA members don't know the tools developed
and thus already have in hand!

Yes, mentoring WRT the web site is needed as the member and committee
level (in my draft). *The SSA web site is more member resource than
recruit the new person. *Much material is in there, but not up front
and in their face.

"Sales" is a hurtle race requiring a sequence of activities to flow
adequately well...Awareness (GMA, Disney, all activities NOT at the
airport), trial Interest (FAST, positve experience via a rides,
convienence, fun website, airshow booths), Qualifiying (safety/
finances/rank against alternatives), Closing ("the ask" to join,
friendly faces, SSA Intro program), and maintaining involvement (SSA
badges, club activities, secondary benefits, clean WC facilities).
Stumble on one of these hurtles or misdiagnois the problem and the
whole process is certainly less efficent. *Every organization is
different and thus has different areas to focus on, often fixing one
problem in the waterfall creates a pooling in the next level (aka "The
problem I want to have"). *That is why we have so many solutions
because at the field level we who run soaring organizations actually
have many different marketing problems. That's why the solutions can
seem so complicated...it is a complex problem.

Good points.

Frank W, Dave N, Val P have created many great tools to grow soaring.
The improved SSA Growbook is online...when was the last time you
looked at that? *It's all there. *It's hard to be "viral" without a
compelling club website, being "social" takes a team of individuals
working in concert..OK make it happen, the whole SSA website is a
media section. *Quit wishing and start moving. You have everyones
permission you need. Ask yourself if you could change just one or two
things to grow soaring at your local soaring site, what would they
be? *We don't lack solutions, IMHO many lack initiative.

Absolutely, there are many ad hoc opportunities.

Now ducking behind the soapbox to avoid the tomatoes....

LT

PS- A big congrats to Tucson Soaring for doing something "the first
time"! *THAT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE READ IN THIS THREAD. We need
everyone to do something more, different, or "the first time". The
answers are all around us, each local organization just needs to (re)
assemble them. This should be the primary subject for discussion
around the grog bowl at every end of year soaring gathering. *Have an
"improved club marketing membership plan" for 2010.

On that topic, I sent the AZ SSA governor (and TSC member) the Intro
member concept. *I've been in a club that did 130 'rides' during a one
day open house. *It did not generate a single member, but the
underlying intent was really fund-raising. *Since 1995 in my current
club, I don't recall a single new member resulting from a scenic
ride. *However, on the three lesson min-courses we sold, 80% of those
that got a soaring flight or two joined. *We stopped doing those for
insurance reasons for a period, but the SSA Introductory Membership
has opened the door again, so we've added a three-month club Intro
membership into the by-laws. *So TSC could offer a ride, or the full
monty. *The Intro allows a prospective pilot to see if they are a good
fit and gives the club an opportunity to prove what they've said is
true. *The price point filters out the drive-bys from the seekers.

Chapters operate under some different constraints than commercial
operators. *Some are restricted from giving rides due to IRS rules.
Other clubs have gross receipts limitations and exist where there are
no commercial operations. *Under the SSA Group Plan, membership is
required for trial/introductory lessons. *This concept solves that
issue.

NOTE: OCSA used to have a growing soaring club...now OCSA's problem is
completely different. *I'm learning again, see:http://groups.google..com/group/save...et-today?hl=en

You are quite right to defend access to that public airport.

Frank Whiteley- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Experience my club has had(see VSC above) is that the multiple flight
intro package is very effective in giving the prospect a chance to
really see what it is all about. It also gets them out a couple of
times so they can meet other members and decide if they like the
group. This turns out to be a big selling point.
Interestingly, when we had the big ride activity after the NY Times
article, only a very small number, maybe 10 out of the 350 or so, went
on to become members. We handled them the same way, so out conclusion
was that htis was the "I'm bored what do we do Sunday" crowd.
One other thing we do is pair up the young people immediately with one
of our juniors to show them around. This way, they don't feel like
they are the only kid there. We have lots of juniors so this is easy
to do.
It's quite important, as noted above, to have the right mentality
about intro flights. Our folks see it as a way to sell our sport and
not just a revenue stream.
FWIW
UH

Ten out of 350 sounds like a good conversion rate.

The main benefit of an open house is to publicize the club and its
amenities. A whole bunch of prospective members have never heard of
our clubs. TUSC also has a three-ride program and it is very
successful.

Mike

On Nov 25, 12:05*pm, Mike the Strike wrote:
On Nov 25, 6:58*am, wrote:





On Nov 24, 10:33*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:

On Nov 24, 1:30 pm, HoUdino wrote: Frank-
Sometimes I think that many SSA members don't know the tools developed
and thus already have in hand!

Yes, mentoring WRT the web site is needed as the member and committee
level (in my draft). *The SSA web site is more member resource than
recruit the new person. *Much material is in there, but not up front
and in their face.

"Sales" is a hurtle race requiring a sequence of activities to flow
adequately well...Awareness (GMA, Disney, all activities NOT at the
airport), trial Interest (FAST, positve experience via a rides,
convienence, fun website, airshow booths), Qualifiying (safety/
finances/rank against alternatives), Closing ("the ask" to join,
friendly faces, SSA Intro program), and maintaining involvement (SSA
badges, club activities, secondary benefits, clean WC facilities).
Stumble on one of these hurtles or misdiagnois the problem and the
whole process is certainly less efficent. *Every organization is
different and thus has different areas to focus on, often fixing one
problem in the waterfall creates a pooling in the next level (aka "The
problem I want to have"). *That is why we have so many solutions
because at the field level we who run soaring organizations actually
have many different marketing problems. That's why the solutions can
seem so complicated...it is a complex problem.

Good points.

Frank W, Dave N, Val P have created many great tools to grow soaring.
The improved SSA Growbook is online...when was the last time you
looked at that? *It's all there. *It's hard to be "viral" without a
compelling club website, being "social" takes a team of individuals
working in concert..OK make it happen, the whole SSA website is a
media section. *Quit wishing and start moving. You have everyones
permission you need. Ask yourself if you could change just one or two
things to grow soaring at your local soaring site, what would they
be? *We don't lack solutions, IMHO many lack initiative.

Absolutely, there are many ad hoc opportunities.

Now ducking behind the soapbox to avoid the tomatoes....

LT

PS- A big congrats to Tucson Soaring for doing something "the first
time"! *THAT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE READ IN THIS THREAD. We need
everyone to do something more, different, or "the first time". The
answers are all around us, each local organization just needs to (re)
assemble them. This should be the primary subject for discussion
around the grog bowl at every end of year soaring gathering. *Have an
"improved club marketing membership plan" for 2010.

On that topic, I sent the AZ SSA governor (and TSC member) the Intro
member concept. *I've been in a club that did 130 'rides' during a one
day open house. *It did not generate a single member, but the
underlying intent was really fund-raising. *Since 1995 in my current
club, I don't recall a single new member resulting from a scenic
ride. *However, on the three lesson min-courses we sold, 80% of those
that got a soaring flight or two joined. *We stopped doing those for
insurance reasons for a period, but the SSA Introductory Membership
has opened the door again, so we've added a three-month club Intro
membership into the by-laws. *So TSC could offer a ride, or the full
monty. *The Intro allows a prospective pilot to see if they are a good
fit and gives the club an opportunity to prove what they've said is
true. *The price point filters out the drive-bys from the seekers.

Chapters operate under some different constraints than commercial
operators. *Some are restricted from giving rides due to IRS rules.
Other clubs have gross receipts limitations and exist where there are
no commercial operations. *Under the SSA Group Plan, membership is
required for trial/introductory lessons. *This concept solves that
issue.

NOTE: OCSA used to have a growing soaring club...now OCSA's problem is
completely different. *I'm learning again, see:http://groups.google.com/group/save-...et-today?hl=en

You are quite right to defend access to that public airport.

Frank Whiteley- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Experience my club has had(see VSC above) is that the multiple flight
intro package is very effective in giving the prospect a chance to
really see what it is all about. It also gets them out a couple of
times so they can meet other members and decide if they like the
group. This turns out to be a big selling point.
Interestingly, when we had the big ride activity after the NY Times
article, only a very small number, maybe 10 out of the 350 or so, went
on to become members. We handled them the same way, so out conclusion
was that htis was the "I'm bored what do we do Sunday" crowd.
One other thing we do is pair up the young people immediately with one
of our juniors to show them around. This way, they don't feel like
they are the only kid there. We have lots of juniors so this is easy
to do.
It's quite important, as noted above, to have the right mentality
about intro flights. Our folks see it as a way to sell our sport and
not just a revenue stream.
FWIW
UH

Ten out of 350 sounds like a good conversion rate.

The main benefit of an open house is to publicize the club and its
amenities. *A whole bunch of prospective members have never heard of
our clubs. *TUSC also has a three-ride program and it is very
successful.

Mike- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Our "normal" conversion rate is about 1 out of 15.
UH

On Nov 24, 12:26*pm, "Matt Herron Jr." wrote:
So how to we turn these good ideas into tangible action at a national
level? *What is the mechanism by which new initiatives are taken up by
the SSA? *Who ya gonna call? *As a start, I will pledge $100 to any
fund earmarked for gathering some of these statistics and creating an
action plan. *I want to save my sport from extinction. *Anyone else?

Mat, get with Frank W. We don't need the $100 as much as we need
someone to call and collect information. There's only about 200
glider operations in the US but it's amazingly difficult to contact
them and get current information. Last winter were never able to
contact about 15% of them.

The "contact difficulty" problem goes a long way to explain our loss
of members. There may be lots of people out there who want to fly
gliders but who can't contact a club near them. We gotta make that
easier.

Bill D

On Nov 25, 10:05*am, Mike the Strike wrote:
On Nov 25, 6:58*am, wrote:



On Nov 24, 10:33*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:

On Nov 24, 1:30 pm, HoUdino wrote: Frank-
Sometimes I think that many SSA members don't know the tools developed
and thus already have in hand!

Yes, mentoring WRT the web site is needed as the member and committee
level (in my draft). *The SSA web site is more member resource than
recruit the new person. *Much material is in there, but not up front
and in their face.

"Sales" is a hurtle race requiring a sequence of activities to flow
adequately well...Awareness (GMA, Disney, all activities NOT at the
airport), trial Interest (FAST, positve experience via a rides,
convienence, fun website, airshow booths), Qualifiying (safety/
finances/rank against alternatives), Closing ("the ask" to join,
friendly faces, SSA Intro program), and maintaining involvement (SSA
badges, club activities, secondary benefits, clean WC facilities).
Stumble on one of these hurtles or misdiagnois the problem and the
whole process is certainly less efficent. *Every organization is
different and thus has different areas to focus on, often fixing one
problem in the waterfall creates a pooling in the next level (aka "The
problem I want to have"). *That is why we have so many solutions
because at the field level we who run soaring organizations actually
have many different marketing problems. That's why the solutions can
seem so complicated...it is a complex problem.

Good points.

Frank W, Dave N, Val P have created many great tools to grow soaring.
The improved SSA Growbook is online...when was the last time you
looked at that? *It's all there. *It's hard to be "viral" without a
compelling club website, being "social" takes a team of individuals
working in concert..OK make it happen, the whole SSA website is a
media section. *Quit wishing and start moving. You have everyones
permission you need. Ask yourself if you could change just one or two
things to grow soaring at your local soaring site, what would they
be? *We don't lack solutions, IMHO many lack initiative.

Absolutely, there are many ad hoc opportunities.

Now ducking behind the soapbox to avoid the tomatoes....

LT

PS- A big congrats to Tucson Soaring for doing something "the first
time"! *THAT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE READ IN THIS THREAD. We need
everyone to do something more, different, or "the first time". The
answers are all around us, each local organization just needs to (re)
assemble them. This should be the primary subject for discussion
around the grog bowl at every end of year soaring gathering. *Have an
"improved club marketing membership plan" for 2010.

On that topic, I sent the AZ SSA governor (and TSC member) the Intro
member concept. *I've been in a club that did 130 'rides' during a one
day open house. *It did not generate a single member, but the
underlying intent was really fund-raising. *Since 1995 in my current
club, I don't recall a single new member resulting from a scenic
ride. *However, on the three lesson min-courses we sold, 80% of those
that got a soaring flight or two joined. *We stopped doing those for
insurance reasons for a period, but the SSA Introductory Membership
has opened the door again, so we've added a three-month club Intro
membership into the by-laws. *So TSC could offer a ride, or the full
monty. *The Intro allows a prospective pilot to see if they are a good
fit and gives the club an opportunity to prove what they've said is
true. *The price point filters out the drive-bys from the seekers.

Chapters operate under some different constraints than commercial
operators. *Some are restricted from giving rides due to IRS rules.
Other clubs have gross receipts limitations and exist where there are
no commercial operations. *Under the SSA Group Plan, membership is
required for trial/introductory lessons. *This concept solves that
issue.

NOTE: OCSA used to have a growing soaring club...now OCSA's problem is
completely different. *I'm learning again, see:http://groups.google.com/group/save-...et-today?hl=en

You are quite right to defend access to that public airport.

Frank Whiteley- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Experience my club has had(see VSC above) is that the multiple flight
intro package is very effective in giving the prospect a chance to
really see what it is all about. It also gets them out a couple of
times so they can meet other members and decide if they like the
group. This turns out to be a big selling point.
Interestingly, when we had the big ride activity after the NY Times
article, only a very small number, maybe 10 out of the 350 or so, went
on to become members. We handled them the same way, so out conclusion
was that htis was the "I'm bored what do we do Sunday" crowd.
One other thing we do is pair up the young people immediately with one
of our juniors to show them around. This way, they don't feel like
they are the only kid there. We have lots of juniors so this is easy
to do.
It's quite important, as noted above, to have the right mentality
about intro flights. Our folks see it as a way to sell our sport and
not just a revenue stream.
FWIW
UH

Ten out of 350 sounds like a good conversion rate.

The main benefit of an open house is to publicize the club and its
amenities. *A whole bunch of prospective members have never heard of
our clubs. *TUSC also has a three-ride program and it is very
successful.

Mike

Your three ride program is not described on your chapter web site. If
your chapter is insured through the SSA Group Plan, I believe you will
find it contains verbage to the effect that a ride is to be given by a
commercial or higher rated pilot as the sole manipulator of the
controls and that instruction if to be given to members only, who must
also be SSA members. Could be other insurance is in force.

It's interesting to read some reporters online descriptions of taking
a flight with a club and having the controls turned over to them and a
little digging finds that club to be a chapter and group insured.

One chapter, during re-organization, submitted their business plan for
consideration and was rejected for the group plan due to their
description of giving trial lessons. I believe they dropped that
option.

If a prospective full member holds 3-4 lessons logged in a logbook as
real flight training, it's much more substantial than having taken
some rides. It's a vested interested. Clubs (or persons within the
club) that game the system are creating a lot of exposure and the club
leadership has a responsibility to make sure that the membership
understands that. The Intro membership idea was in response to
discovery that chapters needed a way to promote the sport and their
chapter and that several were doing this outside of their insurance
agreement.

Frank Whiteley

On Nov 25, 12:11*pm, bildan wrote:
On Nov 24, 12:26*pm, "Matt Herron Jr." wrote:

So how to we turn these good ideas into tangible action at a national
level? *What is the mechanism by which new initiatives are taken up by
the SSA? *Who ya gonna call? *As a start, I will pledge $100 to any
fund earmarked for gathering some of these statistics and creating an
action plan. *I want to save my sport from extinction. *Anyone else?

Mat, get with Frank W. *We don't need the $100 as much as we need
someone to call and collect information. *There's only about 200
glider operations in the US but it's amazingly difficult to contact
them and get current information. *Last winter were never able to
contact about 15% of them.

The "contact difficulty" problem goes a long way to explain our loss
of members. *There may be lots of people out there who want to fly
gliders but who can't contact a club near them. *We gotta make that
easier.

Bill D


I am in the process of creating a SSA Media Press Kit. It will be a
business card size jewel-case CD that members can send out to media
they have contacted about a story. It will have a variety of
materials. I've attached the tentative Table of Contests:

Welcome Letter from the Chairman

Discover Soaring- The SSA’s brief introduction to the sport

Background on Soaring
A US Team background pieces that provides a concise fact filled
resource on soaring.

• Sailplanes & Gliders - What is a sailplane?

• Soaring Competitions
An insider’s look at soaring competitions (From the US Team's web
site)


• History of Soaring
A concise historical look at the critical role of gliders and soaring.

• Soaring FAQ
Glider or Sailplane? Find the answers to the most Frequently Asked
Questions about soaring.

• Is It Magic?
Some of the most amazing current soaring records

The People Who Soar
• Military academies
• Youth
• Adventurers of any age

The Best Bargain in Aviation
“Cheap thrills”

Press Clips

Photo Gallery
Photographs that they are free to use

THE SSA MEDIA KIT and a Business card size CD of THE SOARING PUBLICITY
HANDBOOK will be available at the convention.

Right now I need people to send me PDFs of great media coverage of
their clubs. I would also appreciate any prepared materials you have
that would fit into an "idea" section of the HANDBOOK. Publicity is an
organization wide commitment. Even a Texan can't do this all by
herself!

Additionally, I need a member of the racing community to up-date the
Contest section of the US Team's Contest booklet that is on the SSA
web site. We will use this document. It would be a pity to not
include information about Uvalde.

Soaring has received some fantastic local coverage. All of us who love
soaring need to make a commitment to continue to build interest in our
sport. Contact me at and send me materials for these
CDs. Production will begin in Dec.

Responding to a web group posting is fun, but it doesn't make anything
happen. Let's make your great ideas a reality. Email me to get it
started.

On Nov 25, 4:43*pm, Vsoars wrote:
On Nov 25, 12:11*pm, bildan wrote:



On Nov 24, 12:26*pm, "Matt Herron Jr." wrote:

So how to we turn these good ideas into tangible action at a national
level? *What is the mechanism by which new initiatives are taken up by
the SSA? *Who ya gonna call? *As a start, I will pledge $100 to any
fund earmarked for gathering some of these statistics and creating an
action plan. *I want to save my sport from extinction. *Anyone else?

Mat, get with Frank W. *We don't need the $100 as much as we need
someone to call and collect information. *There's only about 200
glider operations in the US but it's amazingly difficult to contact
them and get current information. *Last winter were never able to
contact about 15% of them.

The "contact difficulty" problem goes a long way to explain our loss
of members. *There may be lots of people out there who want to fly
gliders but who can't contact a club near them. *We gotta make that
easier.

Bill D

I am in the process of creating a SSA Media Press Kit. *It will be a
business card size jewel-case CD that members can send out to media
they have contacted about a story. *It will have a variety of
materials. I've attached the tentative Table of Contests:

Welcome Letter from the Chairman

Discover Soaring- The SSA’s brief introduction to the sport

Background on Soaring
A US Team background pieces that provides a concise fact filled
resource on soaring.

• * * Sailplanes & Gliders - What is a sailplane?

• * * Soaring Competitions
An insider’s look at soaring competitions (From the US Team's web
site)

• * * History of Soaring
A concise historical look at the critical role of gliders and soaring.

• * * Soaring FAQ
Glider or Sailplane? Find the answers to the most Frequently Asked
Questions about soaring.

• * * Is It Magic?
*Some of the most amazing current soaring records

The People Who Soar
• * * Military academies
• * * Youth
• * * Adventurers of any age

The Best Bargain in Aviation
“Cheap thrills”

Press Clips

Photo Gallery
Photographs that they are free to use

THE SSA MEDIA KIT and a Business card size CD of THE SOARING PUBLICITY
HANDBOOK will be available at the convention.

Right now I need people to send me PDFs of great media coverage of
their clubs. *I would also appreciate any prepared materials you have
that would fit into an "idea" section of the HANDBOOK. Publicity is an
organization wide commitment. Even a Texan can't do this all by
herself!

Additionally, I need a member of the racing community to up-date the
Contest section of the US Team's Contest booklet that is on the SSA
web site. We will use this document. *It would be a pity to not
include information about Uvalde.

Soaring has received some fantastic local coverage. All of us who love
soaring need to make a commitment to continue to build interest in our
sport. Contact me at and send me materials for these
CDs. Production will begin in Dec.

Responding to a web group posting is fun, but it doesn't make anything
happen. Let's make your great ideas a reality. Email me to get it
started.

That all sounds great but this content belongs on a media section of
the web site. Encourage the media to go to a media section on the
site, and it can be kept up to date with the latest information. Sorry
but physical press kits are pretty dead in this day and age.

Reporters carrying around laptops may not have a CD-ROM drive and in
many situations won't want to wait for snail mail or face to face
meetings to hand over physical media.

In those media links, providing links to interesting YouTube videos
etc. online can encourage those links to be used in online stories.

Darryl

Great idea. Could this be placed on one inexpensive disc we could give
to people who take a glider ride?

Tom

On Nov 26, 6:50*am, Tom wrote:
Great idea. Could this be placed on one inexpensive disc we could give
to people who take a glider ride?

Tom

I think a giveaway CD or DVD has great potential for promoting
soaring.
The SSA promotion committee has been thinking of something like this.
I don't think it would take much 'demand' to get it done.

How about one of those business card sized, "hockey rink" shaped CD's
that can be carried in a wallet? There's about 50MB of space on
them. In volume they cost around $.50. The digital media content
could be universal with local contact information printed on the disk
label.

However, realistically, no piece of hard plastic is going to sell
soaring as effectively as a warm, friendly person talking about their
enthusiasm for the sport. We still have to talk to people when they
visit our operations.

Bill D