2007 NATS -- Give the Board your input here

This is the big one ladies and gents, the AMA Nats

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RCCombatGuy
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Post by RCCombatGuy »

Invitations to our European buddies would also be great!
I've enjoyed flying at their sites it would be nice to have them fly at ours!
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Serg, do you know who we should send the invitation to? Can we post it here and have people and governments reference it for confirmation or do we need to send letters to consulates here in the U.S. or each country?
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cshepherd
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Post by cshepherd »

Just for everyone's knowledge, the RCCA's coffers are closer to $11k now. Of that we have a recurring yearly budget outlay of the following:

$215.76 for web hosting and domain name renewals
$120 (roughly) for postage for mailing out membership cards and renewal packages.

We also have a budget outlay that varies from year to year for the Nats. This year the board is discussing an outlay of approx $1500. More details later after the proposal has been discussed and voted upon.

We are still soliciting ideas on how to make the Nats a more enjoyable event and gain further participation.
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Chris, is the outlay you projected in excess of entry fees or will entry fees decrease the net outlay?
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Post by cshepherd »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by boiler</i>
<br />Chris, is the outlay you projected in excess of entry fees or will entry fees decrease the net outlay?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Entry fees will definitely decrease the net outlay. I have no idea what that will be as it is anyones guess as to how many people will attend. Do you know the percentages that the AMA gives to the Sigs for the entry fees?
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Chris, the AMA gets $45 for rule book entry one or two events. We get 25 for the first rule book event and 20 for the second. If provisional classes are flown by someone that flew a rule book event, the AMA gets no more but we get $10 per event. If the person didn't enter a rule book event then the AMA gets $10 total as well. All money is to be collected by the AMA this year and they will write a check to the SIGs. Rick Fraley an I decided we needed about $10 per event to cover simple plaques and streamers. Of course how much they or we get will be determined by the number of entrants. I need to talk to AMA to see what kind of deal we can work out for any foreign entrants. I know they recognize Canadians memberships in their organizations so they don't need AMA membership. They may do the same for Europeans. If not we might negotiate a one week membership fee. I don't envision more than a few foreign entrants and that should generate additional U.S. entrants for the gala event who's entry fees would cover our cost. I want to promote the NATS as you do and hope to improve attendance by next year. I would also like the general membership to come up with ideas of other promotional events that we might be able to fund.
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Post by Lee Liddle »

Foreign pilots fly with a stamp from the FAI. I think that the FAI stamp is recognized by the AMA, but you`d have to check.
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Post by Alex Treneff »

Wouldn't it be much easier to attend domestic participation? For every foreigner that might even consider coming there are 10 times as many Americans. Many of them are even RCCA members already, and are of course AMA members. And those that aren't already RCCA members could be convinced to join after flying at the NATs.

I would think 20 new contestants from anywhere would be more beneficial and fun to fly with than 2 or 3 from Europe.

Are there any foreigners interesting in attending?
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Alex,besides Chris's efforts to grow the NATS domestic participation, do you have any other ideas you would like to try? We are open to suggestions. That's what this thread is all about.
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Post by Alex Treneff »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by boiler</i>
<br />Alex,besides Chris's efforts to grow the NATS domestic participation, do you have any other ideas you would like to try? We are open to suggestions. That's what this thread is all about.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Bob,

I really liked the pizza party. Something like a free T-shirt for flying would be a nice bonus (especially for the $60 open classes!) but it probably wouldn't increase the number of contestants.

Could the RCCA sponsor an advertisement in the AMA Magazine targeted toward spectators as well? Even spectators are valuable because watching and meeting pilots at the NATs is the best recruiting tool we have.
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Post by RH »

Alex, what you say is true, BUT, if we could get some Europeans to come to the NATS that would add an international flavor to the event that might entice some of the current non-NATS flyers to come and compete against pilots from around the world IMO. Plus if we could get some Europeans coming maybe some S. Americans or ??? might take notice and come as well. We have to keep exploring new ideas and avenues.

That's a good point about the spectators. At the Salt Lake City meets there are more spectators than any event I have ever attended. It adds a whole new dimesion to the competition. You hear and feel them back there. The cheers when you get a cut spurs you on even harder for the next one and they all want to chat between rounds. Spectators are good.
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Post by cshepherd »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Could the RCCA sponsor an advertisement in the AMA Magazine targeted toward spectators as well? Even spectators are valuable because watching and meeting pilots at the NATs is the best recruiting tool we have.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The AMA magazine is a captive audience. If we want spectators, we need to advertise in the local Muncie newspapers and contact their news outlets. I will research the newspaper and news outlet angle and see if there is any interest in covering the event.
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Lou had Monster Nation cover the NATS one year and that was a hit. If Lou isn't flying this year, maybe he could contribute by working on some more coverage from several sources. It might take a little off Chris's shoulders. If there could be some early coverage at a smaller meet with the look ahead to the NATS, it could perhaps draw more spectators. I'm not sure how far away the nearest TV station is but a documentary about the NATS might draw spectators.
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Post by Hat Trick »

When we attended the contest in Russia I think they were very interested to see us and compete with us. I suspect it increased participation at the contest but it is tough to say for sure! Just from the wonderful response we got I think they enjoyed it as much as we did. I think it would be great to have participants from around the world come! It makes it a whole lot more interesting. As far as I know there isn't anyone who is interested in coming from Europe. If someone decides they want to come then they may need a formal invitation to get a visa. Other than that it is just a matter of putting the word out that we would like to have them come and see what response we get. The Russians would like to come but I don't think it is in the cards for a while. We'll talk to them about it more when we get there.
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Post by montague »

Some thoughts, in no particular order:

- Pizza at the field was ok, but it was a bit on the cold side. cooked-on-the-spot food has better odds of being hot, but like others, I agree that the scount troop was a bomb (well intentioned, but...). Anyway, better food is a good thing.

- Don't do something every evening. Some of like jumping in a swiming pool after spending all day in the sun. (which is where I disappear to generally).

- I think bonus NPS points for Nats is unfair to the guys out west or anyone who can't make it.

- The RCCA getting room blocks at 2-3 hotels would help group more of us together in the evenings, which is a good thing. Find where most combat pilots have been staying and try to help people find groups. (I'm already registered at the Signature Inn. I think I wound up in some control-line group's block or something, I'm not sure. I just BS on the phone until I get the AMA rate in a room for the dates I want).

- I really think the biggest factors about guys attending are out of the RCCA's control. Where we fall in the week compared to weekends is a factor. Gas prices are a factor. And so on. Prizes, raffles, etc are really cool, but I don't think make a difference in attendance.
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