Comfortable Numbness Rules The Game

And Comfortably Numb – We Watch It All

Lets Not Talk About The Elephant

Probably a sign of the times when the seaplane association that claims to work on behalf of seaplane pilots, supports and likes ALPA and thereby endorses user-fees and the destruction of GA as we know it. Maybe all part of the politics game or probably a secret advocacy tactic we little idiots are not supposed to know about.

Probably a sign of the times when seaplane pilots in several states remain unheard and battle access issues with the help of Odin, because the association which claims to represent them is too busy event clowning and cuddling up with the proper fundraisers to finance its incredible grandiosity addiction.

Probably a sign of the times when people who donate their time, money, equipment and passion to bring 2 Million Young Eagles into the air get kicked in the rear and treated like idiots, after complaining about the new background checks and mandatory sexual abuse training. EAA is incredibly successful in destroying the program and remains willing to pursue its own members legally, rather than listening to them.

Probably a sign of the times when members of non profit pilots associations begin to add little disappointments to their “long lists” of big disappointments, after realizing that they are cash cows, but have no control over anything within the association. They complain but promptly continuing to vote by proxy.

Probably a sign of the times when what we currently see with H.R. 4441 goes by completely unchallenged because the wording of the bill excludes piston and small aircraft for the time being. AOPA and EAA are toothless tigers in this fight promising the impossible, but nevertheless tell people to renew. There will be privatized ATC before too long and we’re looking at the FAA giving billions of dollars of government assets into the hands of corporate crooks, for $0.00 dollars.

Probably a sign of the times that we chose to sit and watch it, rather than acting. Its more comfortable not to talk about these issues. We have become comfortably numb, deaf, mute and blind. We have become… THEM. The good thing is that we won’t have anyone to blame when its all done and finished. All meaningless, I know. Have you renewed your association membership yet?

Why not watch a kitten video on Youtube instead? Just look. You’ll find one!

News From The Trenches

Lets Hit Like!

What better way to remain completely uninvolved, sparing oneself even the effort to click on anything, let alone type a word or two. If we type we do it to share meaningless expletives or or maybe a senseless “Wow” or “Super”. Carefully filtered for political correctness, we watch our connections and who we share what status with. We might LOL or ROFL and sometimes we OMG! or FML!!!, but sincerity and courtesy have somehow left. Nowadays we meet and our first thought is not to have a cup of coffee and catch up, instead we need a Selfie which then gets posted on Facebook. Depending on the popularity and social ranking of the people taking that picture it can collect a couple thousand likes within hours. Oh Wow! Nice. Facebook has changed the face of the earth. Despite being young, I have trouble following and staying interested.

Page Owners & Online Marketing

So, in previous years Facebook was a surefire way to attract an audience to a website. I grew my Seaplaneforum.com out of nothing – countless of my 650 Members found the site through Facebook and Google. Seaplane pilots are a funny, very political group of people with old ties, old boys club games and “Seaplane Gods” who direct the movie. Its not easy to get “Fans” on Facebook and its even harder to transfer those followers into contributing members of a website.

Seaplaneforum.com has collected 216 “Fans” of which less than 15% can be reached when a new post is shared. This is Facebook’s way of trying to force Page Owners to pay for promotions and boosting of posts. “Liking” the shared page does wonders, unfortunately people like posts before pages and very rarely share anything. It costs $5.00 to boost a post and reach an audience that wasn’t intended to be reached. The boost will bring likes, but rarely new members to a discussion board. The forum is doing well but could use more actively posting members.

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Aerobaticsforum.com has attracted some 256 “Fans” of which 2 have joined the forum. The site was heavily promoted during launch in 2013 and collected 350+ members who posted some 1000+ topics within weeks. Despite its beginning success people used it for heavy business promotion, there was a huge debacle with the International Aerobatics Club and finally I threw in the towel after a year. The site was relaunched in July of 2015 – and has since gained 9 Members. Silence has taken over – most of the 35 remaining members don’t know how to get it going.

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Gliderforum.com in turn had ~ 150 Fans for the longest time with extremely limited participation rates on the site and completely lacking any supporting members. Recruiting new members has been a struggle. The site was closed together with Aerobaticsforum.com and relaunched in July of 2015. To my surprise it is doing better than both other sites in terms of traffic and readers – something owed to a handful of dedicated members. Recent outreach to various Soaring Associations looks promising so the work will continue to bring the site back to its former glory.

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Again – Facebook has changed the world and I have my doubts that it has done anything to foster true communication amongst people. Discussion boards are information resources and depend on more than “Like” to become a melting pot for people who are passionate about what they do. My members tell me that activity depends on activity. I tell my members to take the first step. Be it by posting about a trip, an airshow or a long distance glider flight, everyone (independent of their English skills) has something to share that will help to inform someone else later. Its really not that we have nothing to talk about or are so terribly reserved in real life. Each one of us has something to contribute and everyone of us needs the feeling of being part of a community that goes beyond Mr. Zuckerberg’s financial mega coup. He became a Multi Billionaire by making personal interaction and communication an act of mindless posting, sharing, liking and forgetting about it a minute later. He milks users through advertising, advertisers through users and if that’s not enough, they manage to display only 15% of the information on display to get people to pay for communication.

Lessons Learned

Page owners who wish to see a lot of “Fans” on Facebook MUST pay for it, or like me have friends who help to spread the word by sharing my pages. Its the only “affordable” way to get traffic to a site and potentially an advertiser or new member. If this does not happen, promoting a website with Facebook seems as illogical as putting a billboard into the woods. Anything beyond the quick like and Oh Wow! or “LOL” with some emoticon which laughs tears – not too many things are funny or helpful.  Please think about this stuff. Its inconvenient and not painted in bright pink. Its reality for many of us who don’t measure their success in life or business by the amount of Facebook Fans we may be able to capture. Being connected beyond Facebook is what will matter when Zuckerberg decides to sell to the Chinese or someone else comes up with a new Rocket Science Social Media Experiment. Lets not put all our eggs into one basket…

Jason J. Baker, Publisher

Seaplaneforum.com, Gliderforum.com, Segelflugforum.de, Aerobaticsforum.com & JasonJamesBaker.com

King Answers The Peasants

The Peasants May Now Ask

Unarguably, Fantasy’s Come True! The new AOPA CEO & President, Mark Baker has granted interviews to AvWeb & ANN. One published in textual form, one as a podcast.  Astonished, this peasant read and then listened to the chosen one’s words of wisdom on resuscitating our death bed ridden general aviation world in the country of busted dreams and limited opportunity.  While China cynically smiles and ramps up to take the United States over, piece by piece, dollar by dollar, airplane by airplane, we are busy trying to find a balance between financial greed and lust for power. Make no mistake about it, our throne is shaking in the world of first class aircraft production (with many manufacturers already relying on China), but also with our last bastion, which is, or at least used to be high quality pilot training. The old days are gone, we’re being schooled, no question about it.

AOPA’s Baker has a tough job of taking the associations blunders and oopsy daisy’s out of the public spotlight and stop the ever lasting critique and challenges by the membership, which has clearly suffered under Fullers revenue driven arrogance and ignorance. Not an easy job for someone who doesn’t know how to live on less than a million dollars in salary per year and suddenly finds himself asked questions by lesser people, the general aviation pilot. Fuller had created an entourage of followers around him, shielding him from peasants and little people, his emails filtered and pre-chewed with an array of canned responses to select from.  You don’t talk to the boss. End of story.  It hurts to read the truth, I know.

So, Here We Are!

Wherever you go, there you are! Grandma taught us that and only a healthy chicken will lay a healthy egg. We know about garbage in –> garbage out, so… no need to regurgitate.  But, where do we go from here? What are the questions the members and committed non-members of any pilot advocacy association should be asking? Here’s a sample and this writer and declared association enemy is waiting on the sidelines, money bundles on hold, until those questions are answered…

1. Every single aviation business should be a strategic partner to AOPA, independent of it’s Fortune 500 Status. When will AOPA start to work hand in hand with all of us?
2. Members want fiscal and administrative transparency. When will AOPA change from its secretive Board Of Directors selection to a democratically driven system and when will members and prospective members learn what EXACTLY happens with their membership fees. Itemized, you are reporting to members and owners of the association, not to idiots who can be confused by clumping and insidious accounting practices.
3. When will AOPA stop to compete with aviation industry members?
4. Other than being a party and event clown, how will AOPA change from being an invisible force, to a grassroots based aviation association. Mr. Pelton may provide guidance on such subjects, but when exactly will AOPA become a BOOTS ON THE GROUND association? We need soldiers to go to battle, not lawyers constipated with technicalities.
5. What will AOPA do to win back disgruntled and highly annoyed former members?
6. When will the salary of the President & CEO as well as the top ten earners in the association be adjusted to actual market conditions? We’re struggling down here, you know?
7. When will AOPA (and any other advocacy group, for that matter) stop to treat advocacy issues like privileged, members only information?
8. When will the jets currently flown by AOPA be sold? (We’re struggling down here, you know?)
9. When will AOPA management and public relations fulfill its legal duty to release its financial statements in such fashion that members and non members alike can gain an insight into how all these millions of dollars are being put to use for the # 1 purpose of the association? ADVOCACY!
10. When will AOPA stop to raise funds half a year early, by pressuring early renewals and sending stupid final notices?
11. When will AOPA’s Legal & Medical Plan become what it ought to be, a member benefit, not a revenue creating option?
12. When will AOPA stop catering stupid and senseless rental car discounts and fake insurance offers to members?

I could keep on going, but who gives a flying rats ass, right? Its never going to happen, and we know it.

Good Luck, Baker! You’ll need it.

There… Take A Poll:

 

 

 

Don’t Ask Questions Pilot Member!

Cosa Nostra Style Aviation Associations

For decades, the United States Government refused to acknowledge the existence of La Cosa Nostra in the country. Its a natural desire of any government or leadership team to discredit something that has managed to circumvent law and order and has perfected its ways to such extent that proof of intentional wrongdoing is hard to obtain.

The Cosa Nostra (also called the Mafia) is a comparative honor society with access limited to very few. Principals run high, with extremely stringent rules and a certain code of conduct. In the perfectly romantic Mafia world, the code of silence and rather tough methods of rule enforcement are held high. Principals run the show and those principals are rather solid.  Almost as if they are set in stone. You ask too many questions, you will eventually end up knowing too much. A misplaced whisper will then subsequently get you killed, or whacked, to use proper terminology. A “Commission” rules on your faith and calls a hit on you. Unless someone is offering you a witness protection program against your knowledge and disclosure of it, chances are you will become a memory. The rule of Omerta prescribes absolute silence, when questioned by law enforcement.

We Americans (and Canadians, too) LOVE to ignore the obvious and we love to sit problems out, rather than acting upon them. Its our culture (or our lack of culture) to pretend that problems don’t really exist, because we don’t want them to exist. As in all “civilized” societies, if we repeat a lie often enough, the lie will become the unchallenged truth, to be preached from the rooftops. If we just say “There is no Mafia” often enough, then logically, the Mafia ceases to exist… if we close our eyes, we can’t see the obvious.

Lets Compare & Contrast The Mafia With Aviation Associations

For the sake of clarity, a non profit aviation association would rarely be subject to questioning by official government law enforcement. Other than the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Agence du revenu du Canada  questions, chances are, the activity transpiring is happening within the somewhat defined scope of the law.  Instead, bylaws regulate the code of conduct and the vision and strategy of the association is brought about by a commission of what we call a Board Of Directors. In many aviation associations those Capos set the course of the association by proxy and on behalf of the many members.

Appointments generally happen by referral from within. The commission selects and grooms its new Capos, who in turn and appoint the soldiers.  Not surprisingly, many aviation non profit associations use the same system, in other words, the vote to make someone a Board Of Directors member comes from above, generally not from the soldiers and associates. There are requirements to be met before being allowed inside the inner reigns of La Familia.  Remember, full authority can only be upheld if the selection and appointment process is build on a solid foundation and based on integrity.

For non profit aviation associations these requirements are usually unwritten, but a few have leaked through the cracks of the inner sanctum.

• Aviation Business Owner
• Aircraft Owner
• Reputation Or Known Leadership Experience
• Liked & Respected By Fellow Board Members

Board of director members generally do not apply for their “volunteer” activity. They are asked to serve, appointed from within and approved by the Commission/ Board. Great opportunity lurks for those selected to the secret chambers, ranging from prestige to increased wealth by associating their business with the group.

Associates & Soldiers

Just like in La Familia the group needs earners and money makers and people to do the actual legwork of getting the family fed and supplied with its most desired loot, which is money. In the Mafia, a part of the loots go to Capo’s the rest goes to the bosses. In aviation associations, a part of the loot goes towards “programs” and quite a large sum of the money gets put into the production and distribution of magazines, as well as salaries and benefits for the associations leadership team and administrative staff. Sometimes shady foundations are set up and amass great loads of cash, as people are pleased to give to the cause. Its an honor to donate, there are tax advantages and people LOVE to ignore and not know what will happen to the money they give. The average member is hence an associate, but certainly not part of the intricate inner sanctum of the family.

Chain Of Command In The Elite Club

We know from history, that Board Of Directors members generally live in the unlit parts of an association. They happen not to talk much, they happen not to be accessible to associates and Soldiers, there is a definite chain of command that has to be followed when trying to reach the President or Executive Director of an aviation association. In other words, Joe Schmuck cannot simply talk to the Capo’s or Boss.  There is the Underboss, generally the outside figure that takes the heat for the commission, (President/ Executive Director) and makes public statements on behalf of the Family/ Association, but that person (unlike believed) does NOT report to the soldiers and associates, he/ she reports to the Commission and translates the commissions wants and desires into the doctrine of the larger group.

Don’t Cross The Bosses!

In the most recent example of association crooks and politics, COPA, The Canadian Owners & Pilots Association comes to mind.  The association has a board of directors. Represented by otherwise legit characters, had a little conflict between one of its Board Members and Mr. Psutka as well as Mr. Hayes. Usually a member of the family isn’t given the opportunity to just resign and retire, but Doug Ronan was asked to resign from COPA’s Board Of Directors when he disagreed with the commission and substantiated his points. When he declined to resign, a wonderful little trick was played. When his membership renewal was due, he dutifully paid his fee. Shortly after, he found his membership fees refunded, and his membership expired. Result: According to the bylaws of COPA, one cannot serve on a board of directors unless being a member. This stunt is the equivalent of a farce and spits in the face of every single member of COPA. The associates and soldiers are getting a major plug up their bum, no other way to say it, really nothing but shame comes to mind. This story is captured here.  The obvious code of silence now prevents members from learning what has transpired.

Well, Mr. Psutka and Mr. Hayes..

The ball is in your court. You decided to whack a boss and that boss has revealed some of the dirty games and tactics applied by your kind, so that the associates may learn who’s salaries and benefits they’re paying for. Get your shit straight, quickly, before all your associates leave you high and dry. You know as well as anyone that your strategic silencing and sitting out of the issue will only go so far. The truth ALWAYS comes out.  La Familia isn’t happy and some of us will not be threatened by your demeanor or the threat of legal action.  Bring it on! You might have the bigger part of the press in your pocket with your slimy doctrine, but not all of the little people have enough to loose to focus on bringing you down for what you did there.

May God help me if I ever join or support one of your little non profit pilots associations again! Not in this life. I’d rather be in the Mafia. At least they have STYLE and a minimum of CLASS and RESPECT for themselves and their family left! You serve your members, they don’t serve you. In reality you report to your members, you work for them. Do your goddamn job or get the hell out of the way and let people with some integrity run the show.

About The Author:

Jason J. Baker is a 38 year old Commercial & Instrument rated pilot living in Maine. He has written extensively on association politics and the sometimes amazing ways of associations hiding the truth from paying members. He owns and operates three independent discussion boards for pilots and is a self declared Persona Non Grata in the Association Wonder World. He’s got nothing to loose, so he can be honest and blunt.

Retirement From Seaplane Advocacy

Knowing when to walk away, is wisdom. Being able to, is courage. Walking away with your head held high, is dignity. ~ Unknown

The time has come to call it quits and to pull the plug on a volunteer activity which has occupied the better part of five years in my life. By golly, it wasn’t an easy decision and I didn’t know how to do it. But, it finally clicked, the chips fell and an executive decision was made. Enough is enough, time is money and the basic need to retain a minimum amount of dignity and self respect has won. Its true, everyone around you can think you’re a clown, look down on you or laugh, but none of those people matters one bit in the grand scheme. All you have to do is look in the mirror and ask yourself: “Have I done everything in my power to help my fellow seaplane pilots?” My answer was: “Yes!”. The next question you need to ask is: “Is there anything else I owe these people?” My answer was: “No!” From there on out, the rest is the equivalent of finishing an accounting ledger. Black & White stuff. For those who think that volunteering leads to job opportunities or anything, please think again. You might be fooling yourself.

Non Revenue vs. Revenue Activity

Ask any forum and discussion board administrator as to their daily workload in running their website(s). I recently evaluated my “schedule” as a unemployed job seeker who happens to run 3 discussion boards and found that I am generally accessible to my ~ 700 members at least 12, often 16-20 hours per day. I love my members! This means that I often spend time dealing with other peoples problems from 7AM to 8PM, most of the time long beyond that, with being on the machine working on something up until 10PM. Besides a cellphone number that is shared with (only) supporting members of my site, it is absolutely normal to feel like being “ON CALL” 24/7. Recently I watched a 1 and 1/2 hour movie on my work laptop (online) and during the time of the movie, no less than 12 emails hailed into my inbox.  Upon count for several days, I determined that I received an average of 190 emails per  day on 13 email accounts. In addition I manage 3 Facebook Pages, 3 Twitter Pages, 3 Forums, 1 Personal website, monitor and read (selectively) 26 discussion boards, 5 media outlets constantly, with probably 10 more on occasional basis. Imagine this: I do not have a backlog! At any given time in space, there is not a single person out there who tries to get to me and doesn’t get a response. If that isn’t customer service, I don’t know what is. What does it pay, you ask?

$3.28 Per Day!

(This money goes to the forums, not my personal funds, mind you!)

Email Bankruptcy

I am hereby declaring Email Bankruptcy. From this point forward I will not respond to any email or message that does not meet the following criteria:

Personal & Professional Development:

• Friends & Family
• Job Offer Related

Websites & Forums

• Registration (Verifications) Related
• Founding Member Related
• Supporting Member Related
• Sponsorship & Advertising Related.

In other words, I am strategically reducing any and all non revenue activity from my life. If its not contributing to the bottom line, it isn’t there. Yes, you just read this right, I am done and finished working like a clown, jumping up and dropping anything I do just to help people who see no value in anything I do and subsequently refuse to push the donate button on my forums to donate a lousy $25.00 per year. The buck has to stop and it stops now and here, literally.

Blame the sequester if you want, but cuts have to be made and this whole show needs to be brought back to what it really is: A UNPAID HOBBY. Sounds arrogant and harsh? Sorry. The truth hurts a little before it can set you free. If you think I am an asshole, read this and tell me why I should work for free. If you don’t get the point, I am not sure what else we could possibly talk about.

How Its Done

The next step was/is to cancel all my local seaplane association memberships and newsletter subscriptions. Things have slowed down considerably since and there is more fat to be trimmed. I still have tons of email alerts about news items and things I used to post about to go through and eliminate. The goal: 5-10 emails per day, with a maximum of 1 hour per day dedicated to answering them. If the topics I am obligated to answer fail to fit into the one hour per day, additional emails go blank and will be deleted. The clock and count starts over, every day. In other words, if I didn’t get back to you on the day you wrote me, chances of a reply are limited to me feeling like I’ve got nothing else to do and that I should be responding to emails, instead.

This Gun Is For Hire & Looking For Work!

Yours Truly;

Jason Baker

Waldo Lake – Public Hearing & Rulemaking

Read Up And Write Letters – Please

Corresponding Thread On Seaplaneforum.com

Case History On Seaplaneforum.com

The Oregon State Department of Aviation (ODA) Board will be holding a Public Hearing on the proposed Final Rule for Waldo Lake on January 31, 2013. The Hearing will be held in the Ken Long Conference Room at the Willamalane Center, 250 South 32nd Street, Springfield, Oregon between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. This meeting is the culmination of the action by the ODA Board to craft rules that will allow continued use of Waldo Lake by seaplanes. If you are unfamiliar with this issue, or need a refresher, please visit the Columbia Seaplane Pilots Association (CSPA) website for the story. Read, particularly, Aron’s May 6, 2012 Bull-a-Ton article Waldo Lake:Finding Common ground.

CSPA greatly appreciates the work of the ODA Board in attempting to find common ground with the other users of the lake. The ODA effort has been met with opposition by those not wanting motorized use of the lake. Oregon Wild and the U.S. Forest Service are so opposed to this rule that they categorically refused to participate in crafting the Temporary Rules back in May. They and their constituents will not, however, refuse to participate in this hearing and will no doubt be there in force. For this reason CSPA is asking that any local pilots, seaplane and otherwise, that can take the time to support the ODA Board come to the meeting and sign up to speak. It will probably be a rather lively proceeding.

If you are out of the area and interested in preserving you rights to use the Sovereign Waters of the State of Oregon in the future you can send a brief, or lengthy, letter or email to the Oregon Department of Aviation expressing your support for the Board action to:
Oregon Dept. of Aviation Board
3040 25th St., SE
Salem ,Oregon 97302-1125
FAX (503) 373-1688
Or Email: aviation.mail@state.or.us

Thanks in advance,
CSPA Board of Directors

The Advocacy Monopoly

Aviation Associations play a vital role in defending pilots rights to fly. For almost every type or category of aircraft there is at least one available that promises to unite and further the cause of Recreational, General and Business Aviation. Each one of them comes with its own area of expertise and mission profile. Within associations, enthusiasts find fellow members, equally interested in having their interests represented, issues resolved or seeing their rights and privileges secured.

To associate or collaborate lies in the very history of mankind and it is absolutely normal for people to seek each others help and expertise in matters that are close to their hearts. Equally so in aviation, where thousands of small and midsized, even very large associations exist. Rest assured, listing just a few of the thousands of associations in the aviation industry alone, would flat-out exceed this blogs capacity.

Right at the start of this paper, we need to divide some of these associations into those who advocate for their members, and those who just host and foster mutual exchange. In other words, we need to look at the many mission statements these associations have published. You will find a couple thousand of those on the internet. Of those, lets focus on the ones who claim to advocate for their members in governmental, rule-making or legislative/ regulatory affairs.

A few questions to prop the readers grey cells into action…

• Is being a member of the Mushroomgrowers Association required to grow mushrooms?
• Are Notices Of Proposed Rule-Making  (NPRM’s) limited in who has a right to comment on them or does the word public mean everyone?
• Do you think that pilots have no right and no duty to advocate for their own cause, unless they belong to an association?

… If you answer yes to any of the questions above, please stop reading here, you are wasting your time and effort and you are insulting the intellect of quite a bunch of people, all over this planet. If you answer no, please read on.

The Oxymoron Of Association Marketing

Somehow, over the last couple of decades, associations have managed to portray themselves as the only form of passionate expression about aviation. Cheap marketing still works and emotion is a good tool to close the sale. Creating urgency and putting the pressure on sells a TON of memberships every year. Sheep always follow.

“If you love aviation/ to fly/ to work in aviation/ to land on water/ to speak with fellow pilots, you owe it to yourself to join our cause! If you don’t join/ renew/ up your membership/ sign up with our special double super program, you will surely see aviation’s demise within the next few years!”

Only a total Putz ridden by monumental idiocy would knowingly do something to hurt what they love, right? Hence – the majority of members join, rejoin, renew, renew early or sign up for lifetime memberships; and generally do as they are told to preserve their “freedom to fly”. The majority of members don’t have many questions about how membership dollars are spent, how effective their associations really are, how small or big their association is and how many of their fellow members they could actually reach if they needed help and push came to shove. How could they know much, after voting their representatives in by proxy, effectively giving them the power to manage everything behind closed doors and among their own?

What I am trying to say is that most associations have managed to portray and sell themselves as the ultimate savior. Questioning their integrity, political drama, lack of financial transparency or vision and decision making as well as salary and staff selections, is frowned upon and often censored or strafed with bitter silence. People challenging the status quo and having the atrocity to speak up about it are sued or dismissed as noise-makers, sometimes called “Anti Association Guys”. It is only a short time from angering the Kings to finding one’s business struggling, or one’s professional job outlook in aviation shrinking and shriveling to nothing. Yes, been there, done that.

Another Kahoohoo Looms

Somehow, the associations have managed to create a false picture in terms of who’s job it is to advocate for us with decision makers. Further, association have been observed intentionally keeping advocacy issues out of the public light, much aligned with the secrecy and earmark deals behind congressional doors. Commenting on a public notice of proposed rule-making suddenly becomes a privilege limited to those who paid money to belong to a special club?! Who are we kidding? Are we really trying to tell people that we don’t want their help unless they pay us membership dues? How stupidly idiotic and arrogant! Talk about turning your already sinking ship smack towards the biggest iceberg in sight.

What About The Independents?

At the end of 2011, there where 617,128 certificated, medical carrying active pilots in the United States Of America. This number is down from 800,000+ back in the 1980’s. Would you volunteer to fall for a conservative, non scientific estimate of probably 1.4- 1.8 million people who have held or still hold a certificate but are no longer able to fly for lack of medicals? Did they turn into pumpkins or are they still around? Do they all hate aviation and no longer care for advocacy? Ohhh, NOOO, dear reader… they are not gone. They read media articles, they follow facebook pages, they follow and post on forums, they visit airports and most of them probably still love aviation more than anything. They just no longer see a need (many may not have the budget) to belong to an association anymore. Many of them may have realized that one cannot buy advocacy through a membership, or magazine subscription. Some of them may even realize that all that Washington talk is really BULLSHIT, advocacy is in fact a grassroots thing……. and politics shouldn’t be a part of an association that promises to advocate as their first mission statement bullet.

How will we reach these people when disaster strikes and airports get closed or seaplane bases get shut down? Do you want to trust the associations to reach them with emailing their alerts to a constantly declining number of members?

Bring passionate and honest people into the game and stop pretending that the current superstar CEO style leadership game works. Members would come hailing in instead of leaving in droves and renewing memberships wouldn’t be such a sticky subject, requiring the association to start soliciting half a year early. Gosh, people have a better chance to forget their birthday or wedding anniversary, than loosing sight of their membership expiration date…

The Only Way Is Forward & Up!

Divided, America Will Fall Without A Single Shot Being Fired!

Many challenges lay ahead of our nation, or so it seems – with a Anti Aviation President, knee-jerk regulation and overbearing government will be rampant. But what does it all mean and how will it affect our small minority of general aviation pilots?

It seems as if we have lost a great deal of confidence in our country, not because Romney wasn’t elected (he would have been as bad if not worse for General Aviation) but because there was no middle way to be found between free money, social programs and more government vs. pure idiotic, endless and hungry capitalism, driven to an extreme America hasn’t seen before. It is moot to waste letters on writing about it, its moot to waste air talking about it, and it is an utter waste of human intelligence to complain about it.

I look at what lies ahead as a tiny business owner, seaplaneforum.com is a sole proprietorship, with no assets to lose, no significant outlook for a well-paying job and a German accent that confuses people. What do four more years of Obama mean for my forum? The answer seems simple… CLOSE THE DOORS, WRAP IT ALL UP AND LEAVE!

But wait…

Seaplaneforum.com grew and prospered during the last 2.5 years! It was started, funded and remains funded through members and sponsoring companies who see a value in having free, uncensored and honest dialog between seaplane and aviation people. All we went through, happened under President Obama!

Despite  of Obama’s victory (which I had feared), I issued a press release on November 3rd that announced that my forum was about to expand to boaters and other recreational water users. A day after the election, I announced that I was looking to add Bush & Back-Country Pilots to the mix.  Tomorrow, I am starting a new fundraiser for the forum, with the largest number of prizes we have ever had. For the first time, thanks to members CFII (Dave Krall in Seattle), Klaus Marx in AK, and John Staber in NY, I am able to offer attractive prizes in a fun contest. Would you believe that we will have a Christmas Wreath and a 1# of Local Honey, too???

Despite of Obama, seaplaneforum was significantly involved in raising hundreds of respectful and factual letters in opposition of a total seaplane ban in New Mexico. Not the first time seaplaneforum.com has shown that it is a huge resource for aviation advocacy, networking and fun.

For the first time ever, as a side note, I found my press releases INSTANTLY published… either by AVweb.com or Aero-News.net who’s Chief Editors I thank!

What am I trying to say?

We are still around, stronger than before, reaching more people than ever before. Our site spreads the love for seaplanes while having a positive impact on our pilot community. In January, I announced to my founders that I would like to have 500 members by the end of 2012. We hit 411 members yesterday, with just another 89 missing to reach the magic number. Certainly not impossible and I am proud of my founders and members to have made this a reality!

This in addition to 356 Twitter Followers and almost 100 Facebook friends! Our corporate sponsor world isn’t looking very promising, but if you could sit at my desk and see how this all started – and what it has become… you would be proud like a dog! Remember, this was all destined to fail – no more than 30, maybe 40 lost souls were destined to join this forum. We were “going to drown within the first year!” Our competitors put their own “Seaplane & Floatplane Flying” sections up, trying to prevent their members from joining and participating on a more tactful, friendlier site that has a 98% customer service approval rating with only 10% of the member body supporting it financially…

Things are definitely looking up if our pilot community stands united, fights side by side, looks out for each other and helps each other in upcoming challenges. Things would definitely look up if the three and four letter advocacy associations would start to embrace the fact that not all pilots will join their cause and money making schemes, yet they can reach the largest majority of pilots through online forums. Proactive Advocacy will require the effort from each one of us, an open-minded, non greedy aviation press, that helps us little outfits to spread the word. In terms of communications and advocacy awareness I would dare say the seaplane industry has improved from 1973 to 1984. We are still light years behind the rest of aviation, which in itself trails modern communication and open dialogue practiced in other fraternities by probably 20 years.

There you have it:

Obama can jump off a 15 story high-rise in Downtown Chicago if he wishes to, and I will wish him a good flight. I would do the same for Romney. Screw them all! Expand! Reach Out! Work Together! Fight for what you believe in! Show them what General Aviation in the U.S. means and what it can do. Don’t allow the status quo of stonewalling and silencing. Stand for the corporations that employ millions of Americans, despite a less than friendly regulatory and political environment. Stop moaning – get involved and do something to alert your fellow pilots to what is going on. If you are older and think you’re “on your way out” find someone with a 8-year-old child. Mention the word “airplane” or ask them what they want to do when they grow up. If you hear a single one answer that they want to be on food stamps, collecting social security or other government entitlements, I will rest my case. If you see a spark in their eyes upon mentioning aviation, you know what you are fighting for. Go and do it!

I am dedicated to double the size (members & revenue) of seaplaneforum.com over the next 2.5 years of Obama politics. Our group would like to grow and anybody with a passion and interest in aviation is invited. Companies interested in advertising on seaplaneforum.com at highly competitive rates are invited to inquire/ propose their ideas via email: seaplaneforum@gmail.com. New Supporting Members and Donations for the cause are always welcome.

“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance” ~ Robert Quillen

 

 

Seaplane/ Aviation Advocacy – A Wishlist for “Santa” (Part 1 of 2)

Who’s the “Seaplane Pilots Santa”?

After two and a half years of running seaplaneforum.com and  now after roughly 11 years in the “low level aviation advocacy arena”, I have come to a couple of conclusions and suggestions as to what our industry needs to do in order to succeed and prevail in an ever growing world of challenges. It is my belief that our industries ability to adapt and change course will determine how and if seaplanes will exist, a few years from now. To those getting ready to leave the industry due to age or medical concerns – these points may seem dramatic, but I have a feeling to most of the younger seaplane pilots, they do make sense.

Our industry is affected by a clearly visible generational conflict, which manifests itself in two areas. ONE: Those on the way out are generally lacking the personal motivation to reach out and share their experience and knowledge, get involved and active on advocacy related subjects or seem to believe that what they have to share won’t matter to the younger generation; and TWO: Those on the way in, find themselves spinning in a hamster wheel without proper guidance or mentoring, yet, are DESPERATELY searching for jobs and opportunities. Unknowingly, they are blind to what is required to sustain this industry which is INDIVIDUAL EFFORT IN ADVOCACY. The candle is (I will attest to this in court, if asked to) burning from both ends!

But…Seaplane flying is FUN! Seaplane flying is ADVENTURE! Seaplane flying is EXCITING!

Each one of us, old or young, experienced or greenhorn, has a horse in the race of keeping seaplanes and general aviation alive for the future. Each horse looks different and runs at its own speed. There are people with money, people with time and people who can present well, people with incredible experience and people with barely a clue about whats going on. All of us make this industry.

I have decided to share my Seaplane Advocacy Wishlist, because I believe that I am not alone with such a list. I publish it because I am deeply concerned about several shortcomings and unnecessary shortfalls, which we can fix and rectify as a group, together, today – not tomorrow. I truly believe its up to each one of us to rescue and resurrect the greatest aviation story ever told.

Let me begin with the “Advocacy Organization Wishlist”.

Dear Advocacy Organization Santa,

I have been a good boy this year and I am sending you my wishlist for consideration. You know me well, so you already know that I will hope to see all of the items I asked for, but I think if you need extra time, I will patiently wait for you to get it all done! Thank you!

Fiscal Transparency is something every member of your association may appreciate. Even those who refuse to join the happy party today, once your fiscal transparency issues are fixed and you can openly answer inquiries, you will find membership numbers rising magically.

Personal Accountability would likely turn out to be a benefit not only for the executives and presidents, but also from the board of directors that wasn’t elected by the membership – but is self appointed. We know that “success breeds success” but when you claim to be membership focused you may find a personable character better placed than the multi millionaire business executive. Consider that some of your board members are using their membership on the board in furtherance of their own business and to appear more personable, but they may be far removed and fairly out of touch with the general membership. Replace them with people who care for the backbone of your association – the sooner you do it, the sooner more money from members will come in…

ADVOCATE! None of your membership programs are of much matter to the community at large. If the number one purpose of your association is to be advocating for seaplanes, do just that. Focus on your mission and constantly work to fulfill the promise made to members. Place your members before business interests and find your membership rising naturally. Retain members who are willing to play an active role and be involved. You’re not running a magazine subscription and nobody cares for fancy programs aimed to bring press. Attend 2-3 important events, but don’t spend a lot of time and money on events. Let volunteers do this work. Advocacy isn’t funny and it has very little in common with the romance of seaplane flying. Its hard work, and you are expected to do it. While at it, overcome your personal beefs, reach out to other groups willing and able to help you with advocacy work and don’t ever look down on anyone. Retain and select a good attorney who will go to battle for (y)our community.

Reach out to those willing to help with advocacy issues, instead of trying to portray aviation advocacy as your exclusive monopoly. Remember that by ignoring and stonewalling smaller (and sometimes pretty effective) outfits, you contribute directly to the further division of (y)our industry. Many of those who have left you will return (with their much valued $$’s!!!) once you start to show your ability to collaborate effectively and work with former “enemies” to accomplish the greater good. Don’t ask for money from your membership, provide them with something that makes them WANT to be a member. Be accessible to and treat your members like what they are. (Y)our backbone! Without them, advertising revenue will ultimately be affected. Look towards the bigger outfits out there to see clearly how not to do it.

Last but not least, realize that SILENCE KILLS. More than anything else which can be considered detrimental to our cause, you will find that silence and silencing will never work when trying to accomplish anything. Good relationships break from silence (or obsessive yelling), airplanes who are not controlled by pilots who understand Crew Resource Management (CRM) are more likely to crash. Clarity, accountability and honesty still goes a long way in our world of flying.

My wishlist will continue… next up… PILOTS and ENTHUSIASTS…

Official Response New Mexico

Here is the official letterhead response from Seaplaneforum.com on New Mexico’s proposed ban of seaplanes.

EMNRD State Parks _ Comment On 19.5.2.26 Opposition Of Seaplane Ban

SEAPLANE ADVOCACY ALERT – NEW MEXICO

The State of New Mexico (State Parks Division, SPD) is proposing to close all State Lakes to Seaplanes and Floatplanes.

This comes as a surprise, after State Parks Division had previously but apparently unsuccessfully sought contact to the seaplane community and several associations to address concerns and learn about seaplane operations.

Please Read: http://seaplaneforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2139  for background information.

Text of  proposal:

19.5.2.26 SEAPLANES AND FLOATPLANES: The taxiing, landing or takeoff of seaplanes or floatplanes is prohibited in the state parks system. [19.5.2.26 NMAC – N, / /]

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND RULEMAKING

The New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, State Parks Division will hold a public hearing on proposed rule amendments at 6:30 p.m. on October 17, 2012 in Porter Hall (first floor), Wendell Chino Building, 1220 South Saint Francis Drive, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Comments will be accepted until Oct. 31 2012 at 5PM, time is of the essence.

Written comments and oral comments will be accepted at the public hearing on October 17, 2012 and written comments will be accepted until October 31, 2012 at 5:00PM by mail or e-mail. Please mail written comments to April Alvarado, EMNRD, State Parks Division, 1220 S. St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505 or submit them by e-mail to april.alvarado@state.nm.us.

Seaplane Pilots Association has issued a “Call to Action” and its Executive Director is scheduled to speak at the hearing tonight. Our success will depend on our communities ability to rally for tactful and factual letters opposing the ban of seaplanes in New Mexico. Please send this to all your fellow pilots, contact your AOPA, EAA and RAF representatives.

The State Parks Division was invited to work with WSPA’s Bruce Hinds which has been instrumental and highly effective in such matters and several members of our forum have welcomed and applauded the State Parks Division for proactively reaching out to seaplane pilots.

As was the case with C-SPA’s Waldo Lake, I will submit an official letterhead comment, rally my members to support our efforts and continue to follow and report on this issue. New Mexico is strategically important for seaplane pilots from across our nation, having access means being able to plan flights safely without having to circumnavigate a whole state.

Please feel free to submit your letters and emails (cc: or bcc:) to: moderators.seaplaneforum@gmail.com or post them directly in the forum thread, so that others can learn and paraphrase good points to raise in their letters. We will not publish your name, address or other personal information.

Tips:

• Seaplane Pilots are certificated, highly trained, naturally concerned and proactively working to keep flying safe.
• Seaplane Pilots are aware, trained and willing to work with State Agencies to prevent the spreading of invasive species.
• Seaplane Pilots are involved in environmental/ cleanup efforts, help and assist with search and rescue and seaplanes are successfully integrated in natural disaster response.
• Seaplane Pilots wish to retain equal opportunity in access to water bodies.
• Seaplane Pilots are proactive about noise, pollution and have operated alongside and hand in hand with boats for several decades.

Please help with your letters and please continue to check in on the thread on the forum.

Thank you for your prompt attention and help in this matter!

Seaplaneforum.com – 2.5 Year Review

Almost 2.5 years – and we’re still around!

Who would have thunk it? Not too many, as I seem to recall but that’s OK with this guy. All the naysayers somehow disappeared into the frivolous world of utter insignificance. Not because their opinion on our outlook didn’t matter – but really, because their lack of understanding for this endeavor had no consequence on anything, after all.

Travels to the past…

What a lesson I have learned throughout these last ~30 months. On April 16th of 2010, I stepped out of the (then sufficiently hot and embarrassing) spotlight of being the  Seaplane Pilots Association’s  Forum Administrator. I knew the circumstances under which I had decided to leave would be unlikely to ever afford me the slightest credit or acknowledgement from the association, nor would a public word of appreciation ever cross the lips of any of the groups representatives. I left, knowing that I had done everything I was able to do, to help SPA to get on the right path with their online forum, website and social media conduct. I also left, knowing that those challenged by my actions, letters and statements would look less than kindly upon me, from that point forward.  I was burned out and very tired of wasting countless hours in battle with characters who had absolutely no understanding of what I did. I certainly felt as if I could no longer try to bridge the gap between a disconnected leadership team and a enthusiastic member body wishing to see a flourishing discussion forum.

Conception and Birth

At or around the end of March, I spent several days in Massachusetts visiting with friends. During a luxury McDonalds meal before our visit to Foxwood Casino in Connecticut I discussed stepping down from my volunteer role to start an independent discussion forum for seaplane pilots. A napkin served as the paper of choice to explain my idea, concept and plan. The receipt from McDonalds and the napkin went back home to Maine with me for further thinking. To this day, I remember my friend telling me:

Look, Jason –  you can either continue to run your head in and complain, or set yourself free from all of it and start your own show! You have great passion for this cause, you understand the concept of what members want and you are an excellent communicator. If it fails, it fails, so what? At least you did something and didn’t waste your time trying to whisper to people who won’t ever hear you anyways…

The idea was firmly planted. I knew I had internally given up on SPA and that the only way to go for me was FORWARD. I didn’t know when and how, but I knew I would. The next few weeks were spend researching options and fielding interest with fellow enthusiasts, many of whom are still with us these days.

The Big Bang!

On April 13th I announced my stepping down, soliciting a new volunteer to step forward and wrote several emails to SPA operatives about my impending departure. Effective April 16th., I was done, without a single response from SPA. I purchased and registered a domain name (back then it was jasonjamesbaker.com/seaplaneforum) that very night and shortly after that, secured seaplaneforum.com as the permanent name of the site. It took me several days to decide on the best software, install and test certain features. Just a short seven days later (marathon nights!) on April 22nd., I launched the site. From this point forward, I spend several days inviting pilots and acquaintances made throughout the years to my site. And they came!!!

Here’s probably the point to thank my parents, Tim McCormack, Daryl Doherty, Glenn Guilfoile, Robert Kittine,  Mike Ski, Ford Wilson and Steve Riggins as well as John Staber for being my bounce buddies, confidants and advisers – but also for being the forums recruiters. Be that in letting me ramble, worry, or predict the sky to fall, today I feel that these guys had more confidence in this forum and me than I had. One of today’s really helpful parts of the site is our new moderator/ co administrator known by the name of S Robichaud. From posting countless news articles, helping members, to help and tactical advisory to me, nothing is out of the question and the workload relief for me has been a refreshing thing. Thank you, S!  Without each one of these people (two are missed from our group these days), I would have likely given up for the sheer frustration of having technical issues. Thank you also to all the active members and those who stuck it out, staying as patrons and supporters, posters and friends.

Today – Growth – Goals – Plans?

We have grown to 383 members with a bold goal of reaching 500 before 2012 is over. Ha! I admit, the goal seems unrealistic. We started 2012 with 282 members and have subsequently gained 101 new ones from all over the planet at the time of this writing. This excludes roughly 35 accounts that were deleted due to misuse, or lack of ever logging on to our site upon registration. Our active member ratio seems to hover (much like the supporting member ratio) at or around 10%. This means, we need to recruit and retain 10 members to gain one fairly active or supporting member. We have proven that more talking among ourselves causes others to join in and it certainly causes many more readers to follow us. 343 Twitter Followers! plus 87 Facebook Like’s. Compared to the early days, we are well visited. Do we really realize our reach?

To continue our success and reach more pilots and enthusiasts, the site will have to continue growing. Seaplaneforum.com depends on sound financial support from our industry partners, but also on the tremendous support from our membership body. This support is meaningful not only from a revenue aspect, recruiting and referring pilots to us is extremely important too. Think of this website as a networking & enthusiasts website – and while you’re at it, think of this site as a “Potential Advocacy Allie“. We successfully raised a lot of attention in support of C-SPA with its Waldo Lake Issue, when no-one else spoke a word about it, at least initially. Yet, the seaplane industry is hesitant to acknowledge discussion boards as viable for advertising and marketing. We experience extremely limited support from our industry, despite the fact that we are representing a lot of general aviation pilots. It will remain to be seen for how long expensive magazine advertising (to shrinking membership numbers) within the associations will suffice. I personally think that advertising in print magazines is on its way out the door, but I am young enough to be able to wait for others to realize it too.  Sponsoring our site isn’t a click scheme as on other sites and it is more involved. This is a deliberate choice by me, because I believe our industry needs a new approach to communication and community involvement.  In other words:  “I don’t want your banner any more than I want you to be an actively involved part of our community“. If you are in this industry and think Seaplaneforum.com is “too small” for your worthy dollars, or doesn’t deserve your support for political correctness reasons – please think again.

The site isn’t about Jason Baker, the alleged “Anti Association Guy from Maine” and it isn’t competing with any association or other message board out there. Our sites role and job, but also our opportunity is as multifaceted as our international membership. I have personally verified 95% of my members, many of whom carry tremendous experiences, expertise and know how our industry and youngsters could use. Each one of them is worth talking to! True story…

The journey continues and it isn’t over until the fat lady sings! Join us today!

~JJB

Realities – Part III

This is part III of the Realities of Association Politics & PR article…

Predictions:

Our fights of the future to secure access to small fields, lakes and airports will shift from fighting the feds and bureaucracy to small town ordinance management soon. We will see an ever increasing number of citizen and environmental movements which will attempt to shut us out and down by any means necessary to accomplish their goals. Over the next half decade or so, our industry will be affected by thousands of bills, discussed on a senate and congressional level, of which many will “sneak through” causing us great harm and damage. Associations may continue to associate (and go to bed) with anyone perceived to be enough of a superstar to somehow increase public acceptance, yet, I believe there will be no value added to the membership by doing so. They may continue to suck up to corrupt politicians and policy makers to seek this seemingly ever- lasting  one who will go “to battle” for what we do and actually represents his citizens in a balanced manner. What they will also do, is to assure that their leaders and managers never go hungry. Yet, the public perception will remain skewed and mislead by an uninformed press, seeking tomorrows headline and more affected by what some town selectman thinks about seaplanes than what we could ever factually prove. Soon, we will see advocacy battles move to the town office, where NOTHING short of our full personal participation will create an awareness within the citizenry. People have no clue about how heavily we are being discriminated against! Nothing short of huge letter writing campaigns will prevent the worst of the worst. We will see social media sites and online discussions become the major concern of trying to protect our minority interests against those who think we are rich, irresponsible, earth-polluting, greenhouse gas causing and arrogant schmucks – who just have too much money. Insulting them will make them more angry because people cannot associate and relate on anything they cannot do themselves. Instead we will have to learn how they think, act and beat them at their own game.

That’s not a threat nor is there a solid question as to “IF” this will happen, but, in my opinion “WHEN” and “HOW”. I have been saying it for years, we are desperately ill equipped to deal with it!

A possible solution

It is time for our associations to change course, not with lip service and pointing out how much fun it is and how much beauty is contained in what we do, but by actually responding to the questions raised by thousands of members leaving them. These members did/do not leave to damage the association, they left because they realized that proxy votes and insider deals on who gets which job, as well as “selective attention syndrome” to the direct NEEDS of their pilot community have made it impossible to bring about ANY positive change nor does it allow for them to take part in innovative and modern solutions to problems that will be solved in a grassroots effort. Not with superstars your general John Doe could ever relate to. (Y)our worst enemy is not concerned with which color of leather seats their new Citation or Mercedes Benz should have, I promise! While at the subject, I’d like to point out (again) that small grassroots efforts (perceived as unfitting to the current way of doing things) cannot get exposure on/ in any of the associations magazines or media channels. Assumption: The fewer people know of different ways of doing things, the better? This is the only logical conclusion I could arrive at, after asking repeatedly to share a word or two with some of the members of such groups.

For seaplane pilots this means: Get to know the other guy/ gal. Join us at seaplaneforum.com to take part in a grassroots effort that deals with (y)our fun, beauty and expertise, but also it’s resulting problems, honestly and in open, unmuzzled dialogue. It will allow you to build connections and make friendships, share advise and guidance and last but not least, develop a communication style that allows us to react to today’s challenges locally, when and where they occur.  Ignore the clowns and liars spewing false information and badmouthing our forum, describing it (or myself) as an association enemy. I am not. In fact, the next time I hear such a statement, I will publish it in it’s entirety, with full disclosure of who made it. It’s enough!

I simply believe that our current way of dealing with the preservation of rights and freedoms is not done properly and misses the mark in terms of creating enough awareness within the pilot population. Nobody seems to be aware how much individual effort is and will be required to protect and retain accessible & affordable ways to do what we do. Lets get together, across the board and invite others to the discussion. I am still waiting to see a big, huge roundtable meeting with all the associations and activists getting together to brainstorm and find better solutions to current and future issues. Until this happens, I’ll continue to refuse to support the establishment. I cannot see where they are headed, management & decision processes are not transparent enough. By telling me what I know already (flying is beautiful, amazing, oh sooo nice, blah blah blah!) I have no benefit. Member based organizations enable members to have a voice. Neither do I believe we benefit from seeing smiley faces, handshakes and public shoulder patting. I for one hope we’ll get to it soon, because we are at risk of extinction by “Europeanization”. For those who wonder what that means: Look to Europe to see what a lobby-ism only approach has done to general aviation. Neither more money nor any of the Superstars will make flying more understandable to your regular non flying citizen. WE must do that.

Disclaimer:

Even as a publisher and editor of a website, I have not relinquished my privilege to have and communicate this opinion. It’s not like I have only critiqued without providing possible solutions, either! We can fix what is wrong and come out ahead of this as a stronger and more balanced pilot community. This community won’t be limited to people who can “pay to play” and neither will it exclude anyone willing to help create it.

We are no longer able to just cut checks to our associations, expecting them to fix things for us. What will we do instead?

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it. — Tennessee Williams

Realities – Part II

This is part II of a series called “Realities of Association Politics & PR written by Jason Baker;

But fortunately, there are independents!

Independent discussion boards are generally run by people with a passion for a subject matter. Almost all of them see a specific shortfall in communication and networking opportunities and try to provide just that to the general target audience. While some discussion board owners are financially independent and secure, many subsidize their bottom line by selling privileged memberships and advertising, merchandise and some even actual products, or by accepting and soliciting support from members and industry partners. In many cases, accepting sponsorship from our industry brings “association – like” conditions in terms of what can and can’t be discussed.  While the “tone” of many of these individual forums vary greatly, all of them attract members who are not afraid to “speak their mind”, sometimes in amazingly baffling manner, including name calling and blind accusations.  Its easy to lose track of the tone and general demeanor of ones membership and sometimes this becomes apparent when you feel the need to look for pitchfork hunters and cavemen in your own backyard, after reading some of the posts on display on some discussion boards. For the respective owner & administrator the question ultimately becomes: WHERE DOES THE BUCK STOP? You have promised your members to be unbiased, independent and supporting of their needs and wants to share their thoughts, yet, you are visible to the public and your sponsors do not appreciate being critiqued publicly. Neither do associations! A natural conflict of interest ensues, and sadly, most of the time the mighty $$’s wins. This can be prevented by staying small, charging fees for adverts which can be refunded without taking out a loan and by clearly telling your sponsors, right off the bat, that you will continue to own your site while setting it’s general policy and direction. By staying small and humble as well as personal, you create an environment which encourages exchange while at the same time allowing smaller industry members to advertise through your site. My personal concept on seaplaneforum.com is 100% loyalty and trust based. My members retain the right to discuss, critique or acknowledge even our sponsor companies as long as their manner of doing so is:

• Factual & truthful…
• Honest but free of name-calling, derogatory remarks or discrimination…
• Respectful & courteous in style; and last but not least…
• Providing at least one idea or recommendation that can be used by the critiqued party to change course…

Sounds very simple, doesn’t it?    I, for one, keep my advertising rates low enough so that I can issue refunds, in case my discussion board causes offense. I depend on my members and  supporters to make the effort to communicate in such a way that I don’t have to step in and remind them of these four basic pillars which carry my small endeavor. I depend on my members and supporters ability to see and understand that creating a community and making a difference requires active participation and good will and sometimes better judgement. Grassroots things thrive by those three parameters. Each one of them has an unspoken/ unwritten promise from me that I will value and consider my own members critique and remain attentive to their requests, wants and needs. They know that I will do so independently from their “status” within the community.

To be continued…

Realities of Association Politics & PR

A not so brief look across the board

All associations depend on membership dollars to finance their programs and initiatives. These days, membership dollars are harder to get, due to the incredible impact our stricken economy in the United States has had on general-  recreational –  and business aviation. People have tightened their belts even in areas previously unexpected – such as their dreams and passions for flying. That’s normal and makes sense.  All three sectors of aviation are under combined and strong attack from all directions. Environmentalists & wilderness programs cause remote & private airstrips to be closed at alarming rates, countless small airports and flight schools are already or just about to come under attack by citizen initiatives. Lakes used by seaplanes for decades suddenly present a safety risk, or are portrayed a  a risk-factor in environmental pollution. Even invasive species are often wrongfully named as causal and closely connected to seaplane activity, even though such claims are largely unsubstantiated. Local ordinances prohibit or prevent our flying activities without much public fanfare and sometimes, fighting town-hall on such issues comes at large financial expense for litigation. The amount of trouble is truly staggering, when the pink sunglasses come off. Lets add to this another important factor, which does a lot of damage – sometimes irreparable in nature- and bare all recourse. Transport Security Administration and FAA seek to control, monitor and change how Americans perceive aviation safety and security. Feeling depressed or discouraged? That’s not the intent of this article, so please keep reading.

What do we need?

When we select which association to belong to, be it the NRA, AOPA, EAA, SPA or even our local cucumber growing club, we must have a reason for it. Many associations come with amazing magazines, online and in print, weekly newsletters, interactive websites, message boards, some even tweet, blog & facebook to share in the joys and enjoyments of our industry. You sure get 10% off your insurance policy with a monopoly insurance company, rent cars at a discount and sometimes you can even destroy your credit, while pumping 20% interest into some credit card scam, available only to members. While the selection and printing/ publication of many magazine and blog articles and news reports are driven by how well they fit into the magazines purpose and agenda, much is also dictated by advertising customers who have spent astronomical fees to have their adverts displayed. Ask yourself the following questions, when trying to evaluate something’s community value: Would your honest and factual review of Garmin’s customer service be printed in a magazine heavily subsidized by Garmin? Could you talk about Cessna or Beechcraft in a magazine that depends upon advertising revenue from just these companies? How about the discussion board? Word travels fast online, hence a single vent or rant can reach hundreds of members almost instantly. Consequently, association message boards are kept squeaky clean when it comes to discussions between members about certain practices or problems. Heavily moderated under the premise of “must be aviation related” all association MUST constantly monitor and censor things. Some say that it isn’t so, but after ~ 2 years as an association message board administrator (volunteer service, by the way!) I can attest to this fact. Message boards are intended and provided for PR purposes and positive news only. All else is perceived as a liability and risk to advertising revenue. Discussion boards can reveal a lot of things never printed and make painfully clear if your association leaders or representatives are up to par with what their members think. Sometimes there are challenges in reacting and responding to concerns and trouble, too. Communication skills and skin thickness can be tested, often with amazing results. But most of the time, management and leadership remain largely absent and non responsive to anything for fear of actually having to answer to their members. Being accessible and having to provide specific answers in a transparent/ public setting is perceived as dangerous. It is safe to assume that I could prove this statement to be true and factual in a court of law. Even in the independent discussion board arena, litigation sometimes sets the ultimate tone and direction as I have learned.

To be continued in Part II…

FAA Bill – Again…

It seems as if it was just yesterday, that the General & Business Aviation community fought against the new FAA Funding Bill. However, the issue is back and a new bill is being introduced. The process seems to start all over again. The lobbyists in favor  of having this bill introduced seem determined to nickel and dime General & Business Aviation out of the sky.I suppose we will see this introduced until it eventually slips through. If not, the issue will return like a blood thirsty mosquito determined to win.

AvWeb covers the issue here.

 

Future of Business Aviation

Visit Jetwhine on a neat article:

http://www.jetwhine.com/2011/01/the-future-of-business-aviation/

User Fees Again…

From AOPA:

Congress is awaiting the President’s budget, which will include funding proposals for the FAA for the next fiscal year.  U.S. Representatives Thomas Petri (R-WI), and Jerry Costello (D-IL), chairman and ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Aviation – both with a keen understanding of our nation’s aviation system – are currently recruiting other Members of Congress to sign on to a letter opposing user fees. We need your help to get your Representative to sign on to this letter before it is sent to the President.  The more support there is for the Petri/Costello letter, the stronger our position with the administration.

We urge you to call your congressman or woman today, identify yourself as a constituent, and politely urge them to contact Rep. Costello’s office by 5 pm on Friday, January 14, 2011  and sign on to the Costello/Petri letter to the President regarding aviation user fees; because:

• Administrative costs and burdens make user fees an inefficient way of financing our aviation system; and
• Having another debate on user fees—which have been rejected repeatedly by Congress—will only delay progress on the much needed air transportation system modernization.

In 2009, some 118 Members of Congress sent a similar letter to the President.  It worked.  User fees were not contained in the Budget.  Let’s show that we can rally for our freedom to fly and address this ASAP.

Corrected: 1/14/2011 @ 12:27AM on user comment. Thanks.