ICAS Today Made Possible by Our Newsletter Sponsors
This year's newsletters – both printed and digital -- are made possible through the generous sponsorship support of Team Rocket, the Commemorative Air Force, Tora Tora Tora, Rob Holland Ultimate Airshows, and Shannon & Luchs Insurance Agency, Inc.
Start the Publicity for Your 2011 Air Show NOW while in Las Vegas (press release template at bottom of this newsletter)
Yesterday, ICAS honored those air shows and performers who took their marketing to new heights in 2010. Taking a page out of the playbook of publicity-savvy air shows, ICAS encourages event organizers to send a press release to media in your geographic area today – from Las Vegas – to announce your event's lineup and dates for 2011.
To assist in the effort, ICAS has distributed a press release template with the electronic version of this newsletter that all delegates should have received by e-mail this morning. Certainly a December press release is an early start to the publicity effort. However – as shows that have seen the greatest success in their publicity efforts know – an early release gets the ball rolling with media and puts your air show in the heads of new constituent groups.
It's a simple exercise. First, take the ICAS-supplied template and fill in the particulars about your show. Second, assemble a media list if you don't already have one (visit the websites of your local newspapers, magazines, television stations, and radio stations and locate e-mail addresses of writers, editors, and producers). Third, send the release by e-mail with the text of the release pasted at the bottom of this e-mail as well as an attached document (if you have a photo from your show, think about attaching that or at least let the recipients know you have photos available upon request).
ICAS Recognizes Top Ideas, Execution in Annual Marketing Competition
Sponsored by Air National Guard and John Klatt Airshows
The winners of the 2010 ICAS Marketing Competition were announced yesterday during the traditional awards luncheon here at Paris Las Vegas Hotel.
The judges for the competition spread the accolades around this year, with more than 30 different organizatios winning first, second or third place ribbons in a competition that included fewer categories this year.
The MCAS Miramar Air Show took home top honors in the only new category this year, Best Overall Marketing Plan. Judges singled out Miramar for a comprehensive and balanced program that made extensive use of many different types of marketing tools to achieve the show's larger marketing goals. Judges also commented on the overall strength of the entries in this new category.
"Great marketing ideas are not limited to our industry's largest or most well-funded air shows," said ICAS President John Cudahy. "And we saw that very clearly in the entries for this new category."
All of the first place winners in each of the competition categories were showcased and recognized. The winning entries will also be featured in a future issue of Air Shows Magazine.
Today's Schedule Highlights
8:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. ICAS Foundation General Membership Meeting (Champagne 2)
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Annual Membership Meeting (Champagne 2)
10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Exhibit Session D (Open to Guests of ICAS Convention Delegates)(Paris Ballroom)
Sponsored by Tim Weber Airshows, Inc.
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Concurrent Education Session #8
Air Show Finance Lightning Round (Versailles 1/2)
Smoke, Noise and Fire: Using Pyro and Special Effects (Champagne 1)
U.S. Army Golden Knights (Versailles 3/4)
12:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Exhibitor Move-Out (Paris Ballroom)
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Concurrent Education Session #9
Air Show Policy Lightning Round (Versailles 1/2)
Ground Operations: Safety on the Flight Line (Versailles 3/4)
Ultimate Idea Swap: Event Organizers Share Best Ideas (Champagne 1)
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Chairman's Banquet Reception (Hall of Mirrors)
6:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Chairman's Banquet (Concorde Ballroom)
Sponsored by AirShowBuzz.Com
Tonight's Banquet Concludes Convention, Air Show Season
The Chairman's Banquet tonight is the traditional grand finale to the annual ICAS Convention. It is the air show industry's equivalent to the Academy Awards, and includes presentation of our industry's highest honors: the ICAS Sword of Excellence, the Art Scholl Showmanship Awards, and the Dick Schram Award. And this year, air show legends Harold Johnson, Joe Hughes, and Jim LeRoy will be inducted into the ICAS Foundation Air Show Hall of Fame.
The banquet represents both the end of one air show season and the beginning of the next. It is an opportunity for ICAS members and air show professionals to celebrate our business and their role in it. And it presents all of our members with a chance to cut loose and have some fun with their air show colleagues before they head home to begin making preparations for the 2011 air show season.
Whether this is your first ICAS Convention or your twenty-first, we hope that you'll join us for this end-of-year celebration.
NOTE ABOUT CHAIRMAN'S BANQUET SEATING
If you have reserved seating for tonight's Chairman's Banquet, please be in your eats no later than 6:10pm. Doors will open promptly at 5:45pm. After 6:30pm seat availability cannot be guaranteed.
Annual Membership Meeting Today
Get dressed and get down to the Champagne 2 meeting room right away. One of the most important meetings at this year's ICAS Convention begins at 9:00 a.m. this morning and you don't want to miss it.
"This year, in addition to allowing the ICAS Board and staff to report on the just concluded year, we will use the annual membership meeting as an opportunity to explain plans for the future and solicit member feedback on what they think should be the priorities of ICAS in 2011 and beyond," said ICAS President John Cudahy. "It's our hope that members will be on hand to take part in this important discussion."
Topics on the agenda include the annual ICAS Goals and Objectives, a possible ICAS sponsorship endorsement program, future Board of Director elections, and an announcement on the results of the 2010 ICAS Board of Directors election.
The annual membership meeting starts in Champagne 2 at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
ICAS Still Needs Your Show Dates
Even as this year's ICAS Convention draws to a close, the ICAS staff and your fellow ICAS members are still eager to get your show dates. Much of the detail of the 2011 air show schedule has been developed here this week in Las Vegas, but we know from past experience that some of you have still not shared your 2011 plans with us. We want to make sure that we leave the convention with as thorough and complete a schedule as possible. So, if you know your dates for this upcoming season and have not yet reported them, stop by the registration area and provide them to us.
Have you met Matt Rausch?
Air show organizers have a lot on their plate when they're putting together their show.
"We're frequently on the bottom of the list of things to consider," said Matt Rausch, Managing Partner of Carolina ATM. Recently, the company has begun using its fleet of 60 automated teller machines (ATMs) at air shows.
"It's a segment of our business we're looking to expand," said Rausch. Carolina ATMs has provided machines at shows like Andrews AFB and MCAS Cherry Point, as well as the state fairs in Ohio, Georgia, and North Carolina. "Larger events are where we shine. We normally do large festivals."
The company only uses a portion of its machines at air shows, but always has a point person on-location to troubleshoot and to make sure the machines are stocked with cash to dispense.
"A lot of vendors don't accept credit cards because they're so small," said Matt Rausch of Carolina ATM. "It's an all-cash business."
Rausch says air shows and their vendors can benefit greatly from using more ATMs at their show.
"People don't realize that at air shows if you don't have ATMs, it's very limiting to how much money people are going to spend on food and beverage," said Rausch. "Providing people more money ultimately benefits the vendors and the parties that are putting on the events."
The company mainly focuses on shows in the eastern half of the country, but "we would definitely entertain any opportunity," said Rausch. "We're looking forward to adding more air shows in 2011."
Visit Carolina ATM at ICAS booth 629.
Have you met Roger Crawford?
Roger Crawford may be a soft-spoken Coloradan, but, when he's at an air show, everybody knows he's there.
"When the fire goes off, you can feel the heat," said Crawford, president of Airshow Special Effects (ICAS booth 808). "It adds such an element of excitement for the spectator to the whole air show experience."
But Crawford, who bought The Mad Bomber franchise in 2005 and has since changed the name, actually got his start disarming explosives as a member of police bomb squad. Now, he's filling up bag-lined boxes of gasoline and blowing them up in front of crowds to simulate anti-aircraft fire, strafing runs, and walls of fire for warbirds and military jet demonstrations.
"It's quite labor intensive," said Crawford, who adds that he and his crew usually arrive on a field at dawn and typically finish well into the afternoon. "It reminds me of thanksgiving dinner," he says. "It takes a long time to put together, but only a few seconds for it to go off."
And boy, does it go off.
"One of the coolest things for us is when you see the ground start moving before you hear the explosion," says Crawford. "And then there's the crowd reaction."
Crawford recalls a show at Madris, Oregon, where he worked in close coordination with the show's announcer and air boss to create a faux stealth bomber bomb run. "They had this banter going back and forth saying, 'We've got the target lased,'" said Crawford, chuckling. "Then we set off the wall of fire and the crowd just went wild."
The crowd started chanting "do it again," over and over, said Crawford. "It's those kind of things that we take pleasure from."
Many Thanks to our Convention Sponsors
During the last twenty years, the ICAS Convention has expanded and improved significantly. ICAS has been able to introduce these additional benefits and programming with no significant increase in convention fees because of the generous and reliable support of our convention sponsors. As we conclude the 2008 ICAS Convention, we'd like to express our heartfelt thanks one more time to…
AirShowBuzz.Com
Air Boss & Consulting International, Inc.
American Aerobatics, Inc.
ExtremeTix Inc./ClicknPrint Tickets
Greg Poe Airshows
Team Chaos Extreme Airshows
FedEx Express
Mike Goulian Airshows
John Klatt Airshows, Inc.
Insurance Technologies & Programs
AirSupport, LLC
Commemorative Air Force and Tora Tora Tora
Shannon & Luchs Insurance Agency, Inc.
Air Boss, Inc. - George Cline
Jim Peitz Aerosports, Inc.
Jacquie B Airshows
Nalls Aviation, Inc.
Mohr Barnstorming
Mach 1 Productions
Team Rocket
Gordon Bowman-Jones
Geico Skytypers
Tim Weber Airshows, Inc.
Rob Holland Ultimate Airshows, LLC
Aerostars Formation Aerobatic Team
Stallion 51 Corp.
Air Show Network
Patriots Jet Team
Rob Reider, Air Show Announcer
and OnBoard Images.
Press Release Template (personalize with your show's information)
MEDIA CONTACT
(Media Contact Name at Your Air Show)
(Media Contact Title)
(Phone number)
(e-mail address)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Name of Air Show) to bring (name of 1 or 2 performers) to (city or area) from (dates)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA; December 8, 2010 – (Name of Air Show) announced today that (name of 1st performer), (name of 2nd performer), and (name of 3rd performer) have agreed to perform at the (city or region) area event, which will be held (Month & dates), 2011.
In no uncertain terms, air shows provide the greatest entertainment available to families within their communities. When compared to other entertainment options, air shows are a small fraction of the cost while delivering an experience that no child, nor adult for that matter, is soon to forget. Air shows deliver a multi-faceted experience that touch all of the senses – military jets traveling at near-supersonic speed and aerobatic performances that defy gravity and challenge the imagination; a collection of modern and vintage aircraft for spectators to explore; inflatable climbing structures and all virtual-type "rides" for the young and young at heart; and a delicious assortment of cuisine.
"There's something for everyone at an air show, and each member of the family will go home with their own personal favorite aspect of the show," said John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows. "And, in the process, the family will spend maybe a quarter of what they'd pay to go to an amusement park or a baseball or football game. The admission, the parking, the food, and the souvenirs…you'd be hard-pressed to spend even $100 at an air show." Of course, air shows held at military bases have free admission.
Tickets for the (Name of Air Show) will go on sale (date). More information can be found at (website URL).
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Note: Be sure to send us a copy too! Our email address is IndyTransponder@gmail.com.
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