SSA Conventions. Return to every year?

On Monday, February 24, 2020 at 4:19:16 PM UTC-5, S9 wrote:
There is a lot to be said for this concept. No big convention center is needed. Any big hotel can be a site.
Maybe this concept should be revisited.
FWIW
UH

A large hotel with multiple rooms for presentations would be a great venue.

+1

How about at Sun-n-Fun in Lakeland, Florida every other year in cooperation with EAA? (Just down the street from Seminole Lake Gliderport.)

We could use the help manning the SSA display...

Paul A.
Jupiter, FL

Due to the huge crowds of enthusiasts at Sun 'n Fun, hotel rooms are scarce and the demand means the hotel rates are at their highest. No thank you.

This isn't the worst idea. Hotels are probably expensive right around Lakeland Linder Airport but I'll bet we could find something reasonable just a little ways out. Fwiw, BGA has an annual Winter lecture series.

Burt, I respectfully disagree. As UH mentioned this way we have the opportunity to host regional, and local seminars on the odd years. John Derosa and the Chicago Glider Council host an excellent event for example. There was a seminar I missed this winter about ridge flying out east that I wanted to attend (that would have benefitted from an odd year date in my opinion.) By doing it this way we can support the SSA and local organizations with better attendance.
I think though that your real point was how much you enjoyed seeing old friends. Why not host an event in Marfa next winter and give us a reason to come see you?

Doug

Imagine if the Women's Worlds would've been in Europe instead of Australia. We wouldn't have gotten to listen to the amazing presentation and experience such pride in Little Rock. Instead it would be a distant 18 month memory by the time we had our next gathering.

How lucky for Mike Koerner (2019 Barringer), David McMaster (2019 Kolstad), and so many others that they earned their well deserved awards in a convention year. Unlike Jim Lee and Jacob Fairbairn, both of whom deservedly were awarded last year via US Mail I guess, or maybe a local club meeting.

In May 2016, Daniel Shazam set a still standing WORLD RECORD 1000km flight in a 1-26. But there was no convention until Feb 2018. Sorry you didn't get your standing ovation in Reno Daniel. You earned it.

Imagine how different this convention would've been if Perlan had flown to 76,000 feet in 2019 instead of 2018...

While instrument makers and glider manufacturers may not have new products to release every year, there are still pilots out there achieving, clubs evolving, new sites being explored, and plenty of information to be shared. An annual gathering is the only way in my opinion.

On Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 4:03:39 PM UTC-6, Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas wrote: snip

Important things happen every year (as noted by Tony). It was mentioned that the glider manufacturers only attend the annual AERO Friedrichshafen expo every other year (odd years), but some groups like the Vintage Glider Club still are in attendance at AERO every year. In fact this group has a sizable display every year, and it allows this group of pilots to meet and catch up every April and plan for the coming year.

If not a full annual exposition, there are certainly many other reasons to meet as a society on an annual basis.

my 2 cents,

......... Neal

On Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 5:03:39 PM UTC-5, Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas wrote:
Seeing old friends, making new friends and putting faces to names in this age of sterile social media communication is a reason why the SSA Directors might consider a return to the annual SSA Conventions of the past. Just because you might be my "friend" on Facebook doesn't necessarily mean that we know each other. (No emoji required here.)
When is the last time we spoke with mentors like Paul Schweizer, Dick Johnson, or German pioneer Peter Riedel? Was it at the annual SSA Convention? It's not all about the preferences of the vendors, it's also about the PEOPLE!
With the aging out of our members, let's consider a return the annual SSA Conventions. Perhaps a mini-convention in the "off" years may be an option, like the fantastic "Soaring Symposium" series offered in the past by Ed Byars and Bill Holbrook. Many of you may not know these names but they were important people in the history of the SSA. Yes, I'd volunteer to help make it happen.

Bob Wander here. TOTALLY agree with Burt Compton, Tony Condon. Burt and I both vigorously opposed moving to biennial SSA Conventions. We were the Minority Report, unfortunately.

The SSA is a m-e-m-b-e-r-s-h-i-p organization. The best way to keep the Tribe - SSA m-e-m-b-e-r-s - connected as a community is to SEE them once in a while. Greet 'em, meet 'em, listen to 'em, learn from 'em.

Facebook, is nice, but it ain't the same thing.

SSA Conventions without Convention floor space complications, etc, for exhibitors and such would be relatively simple to arrange. A clean hotel, meeting rooms for presentations, catering for breakfasts and lunches for Society like the 1-26ers and Vintage Sailplaners and so on, and a Banquet room for the event-capping Annual Banquet. Local sponsors would have much less to worry about than they do with full-blown conventions - no need to supervise, protect, and police the exhibit hall, for example; no need for pre-convention and post-convention exhibitor set-up and takedown, etc.

My suggestion: Select a venue that has good transportation connections. People travel by air, road, and (like me) by rail, if possible. Direct flight arrivals from distant airports are good for the air travelers who come long distances. Equi-distant for our west coast and east coast tribe members would be nice. A quick look-see at a map of the lower 48 makes St Louis, Denver, Omaha, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Chicago, St. Paul/Minneapolis, Milwaukee all look like candidates for no-exhibit-hall conventions. And while, say, Omaha in February may not be my idea of heaven on earth, if that is where the Tribe will be gathering, then that is THE place that I wanna be.

Thanks for reading, and safe soaring to all of us. BW.

wrote on 3/6/2020 6:33 AM:
On Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 5:03:39 PM UTC-5, Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas wrote:
Seeing old friends, making new friends and putting faces to names in this age of sterile social media communication is a reason why the SSA Directors might consider a return to the annual SSA
..
..
..
Bob Wander here. TOTALLY agree with Burt Compton, Tony Condon. Burt and I both vigorously opposed moving to biennial SSA Conventions. We were the Minority Report, unfortunately.

The SSA is a m-e-m-b-e-r-s-h-i-p organization. The best way to keep the Tribe - SSA m-e-m-b-e-r-s - connected as a community is to SEE them once in a while. Greet 'em, meet 'em, listen to 'em, learn from 'em.

Facebook, is nice, but it ain't the same thing.

SSA Conventions without Convention floor space complications, etc, for exhibitors and such would be relatively simple to arrange. A clean hotel, meeting rooms for presentations, catering for breakfasts and lunches for Society like the 1-26ers and Vintage Sailplaners and so on, and a Banquet room for the event-capping Annual Banquet. Local sponsors would have much less to worry about than they do with full-blown conventions - no need to supervise, protect, and police the exhibit hall, for example; no need for pre-convention and post-convention exhibitor set-up and takedown, etc.

My suggestion: Select a venue that has good transportation connections. People travel by air, road, and (like me) by rail, if possible. Direct flight arrivals from distant airports are good for the air travelers who come long distances. Equi-distant for our west coast and east coast tribe members would be nice. A quick look-see at a map of the lower 48 makes St Louis, Denver, Omaha, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Chicago, St. Paul/Minneapolis, Milwaukee all look like candidates for no-exhibit-hall conventions. And while, say, Omaha in February may not be my idea of heaven on earth, if that is where the Tribe will be gathering, then that is THE place that I wanna be.


I like Bob's idea. Occasionally, I go primarily to see the exhibits, because I'm
in the market for a sailplane or instruments, but most of the time it's for the
presentations and meet-and-greet of old friends and, usually, some new ones.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

On Friday, March 6, 2020 at 8:33:22 AM UTC-6, wrote:
On Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 5:03:39 PM UTC-5, Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas wrote:
Seeing old friends, making new friends and putting faces to names in this age of sterile social media communication is a reason why the SSA Directors might consider a return to the annual SSA Conventions of the past. Just because you might be my "friend" on Facebook doesn't necessarily mean that we know each other. (No emoji required here.)
When is the last time we spoke with mentors like Paul Schweizer, Dick Johnson, or German pioneer Peter Riedel? Was it at the annual SSA Convention? It's not all about the preferences of the vendors, it's also about the PEOPLE!
With the aging out of our members, let's consider a return the annual SSA Conventions. Perhaps a mini-convention in the "off" years may be an option, like the fantastic "Soaring Symposium" series offered in the past by Ed Byars and Bill Holbrook. Many of you may not know these names but they were important people in the history of the SSA. Yes, I'd volunteer to help make it happen.

Bob Wander here. TOTALLY agree with Burt Compton, Tony Condon. Burt and I both vigorously opposed moving to biennial SSA Conventions. We were the Minority Report, unfortunately.

The SSA is a m-e-m-b-e-r-s-h-i-p organization. The best way to keep the Tribe - SSA m-e-m-b-e-r-s - connected as a community is to SEE them once in a while. Greet 'em, meet 'em, listen to 'em, learn from 'em.

Facebook, is nice, but it ain't the same thing.

SSA Conventions without Convention floor space complications, etc, for exhibitors and such would be relatively simple to arrange. A clean hotel, meeting rooms for presentations, catering for breakfasts and lunches for Society like the 1-26ers and Vintage Sailplaners and so on, and a Banquet room for the event-capping Annual Banquet. Local sponsors would have much less to worry about than they do with full-blown conventions - no need to supervise, protect, and police the exhibit hall, for example; no need for pre-convention and post-convention exhibitor set-up and takedown, etc.

My suggestion: Select a venue that has good transportation connections. People travel by air, road, and (like me) by rail, if possible. Direct flight arrivals from distant airports are good for the air travelers who come long distances. Equi-distant for our west coast and east coast tribe members would be nice. A quick look-see at a map of the lower 48 makes St Louis, Denver, Omaha, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Chicago, St.. Paul/Minneapolis, Milwaukee all look like candidates for no-exhibit-hall conventions. And while, say, Omaha in February may not be my idea of heaven on earth, if that is where the Tribe will be gathering, then that is THE place that I wanna be.

Thanks for reading, and safe soaring to all of us. BW.

If you do this in the winter, I suggest you find a place in the south where people can go soaring before or after the mini-convention. Orlando, Phoenix, Tuscon, etc...

On Friday, March 6, 2020 at 7:33:22 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 5:03:39 PM UTC-5, Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas wrote:
Seeing old friends, making new friends and putting faces to names in this age of sterile social media communication is a reason why the SSA Directors might consider a return to the annual SSA Conventions of the past. Just because you might be my "friend" on Facebook doesn't necessarily mean that we know each other. (No emoji required here.)
When is the last time we spoke with mentors like Paul Schweizer, Dick Johnson, or German pioneer Peter Riedel? Was it at the annual SSA Convention? It's not all about the preferences of the vendors, it's also about the PEOPLE!
With the aging out of our members, let's consider a return the annual SSA Conventions. Perhaps a mini-convention in the "off" years may be an option, like the fantastic "Soaring Symposium" series offered in the past by Ed Byars and Bill Holbrook. Many of you may not know these names but they were important people in the history of the SSA. Yes, I'd volunteer to help make it happen.

Bob Wander here. TOTALLY agree with Burt Compton, Tony Condon. Burt and I both vigorously opposed moving to biennial SSA Conventions. We were the Minority Report, unfortunately.

The SSA is a m-e-m-b-e-r-s-h-i-p organization. The best way to keep the Tribe - SSA m-e-m-b-e-r-s - connected as a community is to SEE them once in a while. Greet 'em, meet 'em, listen to 'em, learn from 'em.

Facebook, is nice, but it ain't the same thing.

SSA Conventions without Convention floor space complications, etc, for exhibitors and such would be relatively simple to arrange. A clean hotel, meeting rooms for presentations, catering for breakfasts and lunches for Society like the 1-26ers and Vintage Sailplaners and so on, and a Banquet room for the event-capping Annual Banquet. Local sponsors would have much less to worry about than they do with full-blown conventions - no need to supervise, protect, and police the exhibit hall, for example; no need for pre-convention and post-convention exhibitor set-up and takedown, etc.

My suggestion: Select a venue that has good transportation connections. People travel by air, road, and (like me) by rail, if possible. Direct flight arrivals from distant airports are good for the air travelers who come long distances. Equi-distant for our west coast and east coast tribe members would be nice. A quick look-see at a map of the lower 48 makes St Louis, Denver, Omaha, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Chicago, St.. Paul/Minneapolis, Milwaukee all look like candidates for no-exhibit-hall conventions. And while, say, Omaha in February may not be my idea of heaven on earth, if that is where the Tribe will be gathering, then that is THE place that I wanna be.

Thanks for reading, and safe soaring to all of us. BW.

Bob says it well.

You SSA members are welcome to share your thoughts with your regional directors and maybe some directors at large. If there's enough interest, perhaps a member survey would be in order.

It's been the vendors who've not supported annual conventions and I understand the costs and logistics are challenging. However, a national soaring symposia or conference should be doable. After the Philadelphia Conference, SSA had a few complaints by those who showed up, only to find no gliders and a very few vendors there. I had a great time despite the two inches of freezing rain and 14 inches of snow that closed the city and kept many at bay.

Presentations are always great, but perhaps workshops or focus tracks following a specific theme would prove popular.

And please don't discount the social aspect. I had a great time putting faces to names and meeting FB friends in person. Spent so much time in meetings that it was difficult to seek out others I was hoping to encounter. Never did run into Gary Adams.

Frank Whiteley