GOOD NEWS FROM FIRST BIG AIR SHOW WEEKEND
The weekend of March 21 and 22 was the industry’s first three-show weekend of the 2009 season. Luke AFB (Arizona) Open House, the Florida International Air Show in Punta Gorda, Florida, and the Thunder in the Valley Air Show in Columbus, Georgia all reported record breaking crowds.
In Columbus, organizers sent free tickets home with school-age children, obligating their parents to pay for their own tickets to take advantage of the free children’s tickets. The result? Record breaking attendance of more than 30,000 for the two-day show. In Punta Gorda, organizers worked tirelessly to sign all of their 2008 sponsors back on for 2009, and then welcomed a record crowd that was 18 percent larger than any show in the event’s 29-year history. And at Luke Air Force Base, event organizers were forced to find new places to park cars as they also welcomed record-breaking crowds.
“The entire industry had been anticipating big crowds this year as families look for economical entertaining options, but getting these kinds of reports so early in the air show season is very encouraging,” said ICAS President John Cudahy. “And it makes us all the more certain that air show organizers should highlight this aspect of their events in all of their marketing materials.”
ICAS INITIATES NATIONWIDE PR CAMPAIGN
Seeking to take advantage of and encourage the likely spike in air show attendance throughout the 2009 air show season, ICAS will soon launch an extensive public relations campaign designed to alert the media to the cost-effective entertainment option that air shows represent during difficult economic times. The multi-faceted program is built around a multi-media news release that will be sent to nearly 6,000 media outlets throughout North America on Monday, March 30. Individual air shows will then make contact with their own local media to promote the story.
“There is precious little good news these days,” said ICAS President John Cudahy. “The media is starving for another angle to the endless, negative stories about the economic downturn. We think that air shows offer that kind of positive story, so we want to make it accessible to as many journalists as possible.”
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DEADLINE APPROACHES
All ICAS members are due to renew their annual ICAS memberships not later than Tuesday, March 31. In early April, ICAS will pull lists of members in good standing and will use those lists to publish the annual ICAS Industry Guide. If your dues are current, your organization will be listed in the Industry Guide.
To renew your membership on-line, visit http://www.airshows.aero/. Go to “Find a Member” to locate your membership. On your Organization Profile page, scroll down a bit and click on the “renew your membership today!” link and follow the prompts.
The primary contact for each member organization should have received multiple notifications. If you have not or, if you have misplaced your dues invoice, please don’t hesitate to call (703-779-8510) or write (icas@airshows.aero). We are eager to do everything we can to help ensure that all of our members are listed in the 2009-2010 ICAS Industry Guide.
NEW ICAS WEBSITE: A UNIQUE AIR SHOW MANAGEMENT TOOL
Until you spend some time on it, you may not realize just how powerful a tool the new ICAS website is.
“We’re finding that members don’t know just how much information has been added to the new website until they have spent some time roaming around the site’s various nooks and crannies,” says ICAS President John Cudahy.
In this issue of Fast Facts, we’d like to call your attention to one particular feature of the new site. Every feature article from Air Shows Magazine going all the way back to 1997 has been archived on the new ICAS website. To access any one of the hundreds of articles, go http://www.airshows.aero/ and click on the small headline on the far right column that says, “Air Shows Magazine.” This will present you with an index organized by subject matter. Click on the title of an article and you’ll get a short description on that article. Click again and you’ll get a PDF with the full text of the article. As always, you’ll need to be logged in with your user name and password to access any of these articles.
Early next month, ICAS will be offering a series of web-based tutorials to help you make better use of the new ICAS website and to solicit your feedback on how to improve this important new information resource. Details will be provided in a future issue of Fast Facts.
NAVY LAUNCHES BLUE ANGELS LICENSING PROGRAM
The U.S. Navy has taken steps to trademark the Blue Angels crest, logo, script design, aircraft paint scheme, and uniform design.
According to a letter from Joel Bouve, assistant legal counsel to the Chief of Naval Air Training, “Recent legislation permits the military service to retain licensing fees from trademark licenses to support Morale, Welfare and Recreation for the benefit of Navy service members. The license program also assists the services in preventing confusing or inappropriate use of its trademarks. The Chief of Naval Aviation Training may grant permission to use the marks provided the circumstances under which the mark is used do not reflect unfavorably on the U.S. Navy or its personnel.”
If you’re interested in applying for a license or permission to use the mark, contact Joel Bouve, phone 361-961-3510 or by e-mail at joel.bouve@navy.mil.
TRINKWALDER RECOVERING
Caroline Trinkwalder, immediate past chairman of the ICAS Foundation and a long-time ICAS member, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Following surgery to remove a tumor, Caroline is undergoing chemotherapy, to be followed by radiation treatment later this year. Caroline’s physicians have given her a very positive prognosis for a full recovery following this aggressive treatment schedule. Caroline can be reached at 31200 Birchwood, Westland, Michigan 48186, e-mail: tntphoto@comcast.net.
CHANGES AT THE TOP AT EAA
(From AVWeb) For the last 50-plus years, two Pobereznys have been at the helm at EAA -- first Paul, the founder, now 87, and then his son, Tom. But that is about to change, at least partly. Earlier this month, EAA said Tom Poberezny will take over as chairman of the board, a position that Paul stepped down from recently, and also announced that Tom is ready to step down as president as soon as EAA finds the right replacement. Tom Poberezny said he will begin working with the board to initiate and lead a search for a new president, who will assume responsibility for day-to-day operations. As chairman, Tom Poberezny will provide ongoing counsel to the organization while focusing specifically on building EAA's endowment. "It is my goal to responsibly secure the future of this organization and provide continuity of leadership," Poberezny said. "I'm very proud of EAA's accomplishments over the past half century. The organization is financially strong and ready to invest in its long-term future. I look forward to dedicating my experience and energies toward ensuring EAA's ongoing success."
CONGRATULATIONS…
…to Serge Dorion of the Quebec Air Show, Wanda Martin of Ladies for Liberty, and Jill Schumacher of EAA. Their names were selected in a random drawing of the participants in a recent survey. Each winner received an 8GB iPod nano. Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey. We will be implementing the ideas, suggestions and constructive critiques from the survey to ensure that Air Shows Magazine remains both the finest business publication in the air show industry and the ideal vehicle for our advertisers’ marketing messages.
© International Council of Air Shows, Inc.
750 Miller Drive, Suite F-3
Leesburg, Virginia 20175
Phone: 703-779-8510
Website: http://www.airshows.aero/
E-mail: icas@airshows.aero
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