New ideas for Chapter meetings?

I have been a member of my local EAA Chapter for several years. We do the typical monthly meetings, presentations, Young Eagle flights, pancake breakfasts etc. Recently I was talking to someone who had stopped in to our chapter for a breakfast meeting and was disappointed to find out how little activity there was in our chapter outside of the two hours the Saturday meetings lasts. He winters in Florida and felt that the local chapter there was much more active in the flying aspect of EAA as opposed to being simply a "breakfast club." EAA is indeed about flying and should be much more than simply a monthly opportunity to eat a cheap pancake breakfast. There must be many activities that we could do to energize our chapter and somehow (re)invigorate members with the excitement of aviation - both for our good as well as for the larger aviation (and non-aviation) community in our area.

I'll start with a few ideas I came up with.

1. Start an "Open Hangar Saturday" for both members and non-members and take a tour of the airport. There sure are a lot of hangars that I have no idea what lurks behind that closed door!
2. Start a contest. Several years ago we had a three month contest to see who could land at the most airports in the state. (it was actually written up in Sport Aviation).
3. Have a chili or soup and sandwich brunch instead of a pancake breakfast.
4. Poker flights. Fly to five different local airports where you draw a card from a deck and see who can make the best poker hand.
5. Hundred Dollar Hamburger flights where you take along a member who doesn't or can't fly.
6. Have a "garage sale" for all those aviation items you had to have and then never used.

I would love to hear from other members on how they have moved beyond the routine of the pancake breakfast. I intend to join the Chapter Board and see if I might be able to implement some of the suggestions.

Thanks!
Steve Houghton

One thing our chapter started last year, and which was really popular was a "building techniques" meeting. Four different stations, each teaching different techniques - stitching, riveting etc, etc. The members - builders & non-builders alike really enjoyed the evening - sociable & constructive.

I like Janet's idea.

I'm actually considering having "critique my build" days once I get to that point. Provide beer and food for people to come and go over my work with a fine toothed comb to make sure I haven't overlooked something.

I don't know, Steve, "fine toothed comb" & "beer" in the same sentence.... :rollseyes:

Great ideas everyone... keep em coming, and thanks for sharing!

I may have already posted this somewhere, but I'll add it here too...

Gadget Night - Share flying or building gizmos, gadgets or techniques. We normally do this a couple of times a year at our meeting.
Pie Auction - Held in November to help pay for our Christmas Party. We bring in baked goods and then sell them to each other at rediculous prices.
Christmas Party - Held in December in lieu of our regular meeting. We cater in food, exchange gifts and have a good time.
Sponsor B-17 and Tri-Motor stops.
Support a local fly in (not sponsor... just provide manpower).

We really don't do much more as a chapter outside of the items listed... last year we did Learn to Fly Day and Young Eagles Day activities, but I really wish that we had more building going on, more younger people interested and more events sponsored by the chapter.

Great ideas already. Keep 'em coming!

One you might consider is inviting a CFI to a late winter meeting to talk about how to knock the rust off of your flying skills. You could also have them talk about some maneuvers you can do to keep your skills sharp anytime you go out boring holes in the sky.

Steve

Host a WINGS presentation. Attendees get FAA WINGS credit and it draws in new pilots.Bring in a speaker that flys a category / class not flown in your chapter like gyros, lighter than air, trikes or PPC.I can give both types of presentations if anyone wants me as a speaker around southern Ohio, IN, or n. KY.

The beer comes afterwards. Consider it incentive to do a good job. ;)

Steve, I'm infamous for dragging a part into a meeting!

At the holidays we change up the meetings:

Thanksgiving was a hamburger meet at the restaurant overlooking BHM.
Valentine's day is "ladies' night" where we do the same, but try and show the wives how sorry we are they married a pilot.

Sometimes the best meetings we have are very loose in agenda. Somebody will take the opportunity of an "open mike" to say something like "what's the best way to...." and an hour flies by as the conversation flows (often tangentially).

We judge at the SRFI event down in Central Alabama (but due to work, I haven't been able to attend).

I'm a newly elected president of our Chapter so I'm looking seriously at all these ideas. One of the problems I encountered when I first moved here was a lack of activities. Membership was declining and there was real friction between the Airport Authority and some of the remaining members. We got a kick start with a fly-out for lunch and combined with EAA's trial membership our Chapter began offering the same discount to new Chapter members. For 2012, I've taken the calendar and broken it down by quarters and now that I'm also a FAASTeam Representative, we are combining a WINGS seminar and Young Eagles Event once each quarter. I liked the suggestion of the Chili Brunch/Lunch so we're going to do that in February. Also we've selected three fly-outs to locations where there are not only good eats but shopping opportunities for our ladies. Seems that many of them are not as interested in looking at airplanes as we guys are. Wonder why??
Young Eagles is a key ingredient to our growth. We've changed our organization to include an active Board of Directors and are submitting our paperwork to become a Charitable Organization 501(c)(3). Very soon, donations will be tax deductible. We formed a team of our directors to visit the schools and local community leaders to talk aviation careers and have revised our First Flight Plan to include a short cross country giving each youngster a chance to actually fly the airplane. Then we mentor these kids as they progress through their studies, in essence making them members of our Chapter. We also involve their parents and now have two father/son members learning to fly together.
It takes a lot of work to do these things and volunteers are a critical commodity, but we found that there are over 300 EAA members in our area, most without a Chapter membership. As we continue to grow, we have to solicit these folks to join us.
Now we're starting to grow and the relationship between our Airport Authority is improving. The community is starting to look at us in a different light. and our economic impact is a little more noticeable. Thanks for some positive ideas.

Dave Miller
EAA Chapter 1358
President Elect

Dave, It sound like you are on a roll! Keep up the good work.

I was wondering if any chapter has used something like Skype for the meeting? There are quite a few people with great topics registered with the Speakers Bureau, but of course almost all are in the GU category (Geographically unable.)
Perhaps the presenter could send presentation material in advance, and the meeting could have 2 screens with the person, and visual aids shown.

Or am I thinking a bit too "corporate" for an EAA chapter meeting?

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Originally Posted by PaulDow

I was wondering if any chapter has used something like Skype for the meeting? There are quite a few people with great topics registered with the Speakers Bureau, but of course almost all are in the GU category (Geographically unable.)
Perhaps the presenter could send presentation material in advance, and the meeting could have 2 screens with the person, and visual aids shown.

Or am I thinking a bit too "corporate" for an EAA chapter meeting?

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I'm with ya Paul. I would like to see a little more technology involved in in the chapter meetings and events. There are a ton of things to share on the web, but without the tools to present or display these things, well, it's just not the same. Our chapter does have a projector and a PA, so at least we can share a pre-prepared presentation, sometimes... but with most people being use to web gadgets, Ipads, smart phones and the like, it would be neat to provide some of that technology and connectivity at our clubhouse in order to better share ideas. After all, that is the purpose of these meetings, right? It's kind of a bummer to the younger crowd when they show up and find out that the most technological advanced piece of equipment we have is a coffee pot. I think we've gained (and lost) several prospective members over the past couple of years because our method is somewhat outdated. One could also argue that it's about the camaraderie, which for many is certainly true, but for people looking for or wanting to share ideas, we are lacking a bit.

As for acquiring these new pieces of equipment necessary to bring us into the 21st century, well, that's where there is a rub. As it stands, our chapter has some working capital, but the older crowd has worked hard for those funds and probably wouldn't appreciate seeing a bunch of young whipper snappers squandering their efforts on WiFi or satellite subscriptions. While some things that have been discussed are a one time deal (plasma screen, PC or peripheral devices), others require maintenance, such as an Internet or satellite package, and many frown at the thought.

I've tried to bring the subject up a time or two, but I get an uncomfortable feeling when it seems that I am the only one trying to make the case. Kind of like it might all fall on me if a decision is made to execute on some purchases, as in to say, "ok Mark, there are the toys, now what?" I'm not sure I willing to take that leap alone and have everyone mad at me if the stuff doesn't get used as much as we might like.

I mention these thoughts in order to get others to help us think through our situation. I'm sure that it's similar to what others are facing or considering. What are other chapters doing in this department? Again, I hate to upset our group by pressing an issue unnecessarily, especially if the thoughts aren't mutual, but I'd like to find a way to improve on our appearance and ability in order to capture the interest of the younger (and not so younger) crowd.

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Originally Posted by rosiejerryrosie

Dave, It sound like you are on a roll! Keep up the good work.

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I agree...keep up the good work!

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Originally Posted by rosiejerryrosie

Dave, It sound like you are on a roll! Keep up the good work.

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Originally Posted by adiposestem

I agree...keep up the good work!

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Had to go back and read that, but yeah... good work indeed, Dave!

I have a couple of things.

1. We had someone who flew choppers in Vietnam give a presentation about his adventures and close calls when flying troups in and out of the warzones. It attracted a lot ex-military people to our meeting. We asked that anyone who had served in the military to stand. Over half of the entire group stoud up. We then gave them a round of applause. As a result, several of these people joined our chapter. It also gave these guys a chance to talk about their personal experiences with one another during the break and after the meeting. We had 47 people at the meeting.

2. We have been experimenting with "First Saturday Coffee and Donuts" for over a year now and it keeps getting bigger and bigger crowds. It's held at a members hangar the first saturday of every month from 9 am until noon. Very simple to do and hardly any setup. Just get a couple of monster coffee makers and have someone go get donuts. We usually go through around 7 dozen donuts at each affair. If we have any donuts left, we take them over to the FBO for the tower and line guys, which makes for great PR. Since this event is on a saturday, members usually bring their wives, husbands and their kids. The kids just love running around looking at the airplanes.
http://www.eaa1246.org/coffeeanddonuts.asp

We have turned a couple "hangar stories" into presentations.

One of our members was talking about the hazards of uncontrolled airfields he encountered and a few meetings later went over operations within them. Since most of us work out of them, one might think it was singing to the choir - but it wasn't, as it was a good refresher all the way around and more than one eyebrow raised.

I'm waiting to get tapped for a presenation on tube and gusset construction, as it's just a matter of time.

If anyone is interested, I'm willing to do presentations on crash survivability (ways to make aircraft, maintenance issues that affect safety in the event of a crash, etc) or put something together for a newsletter.

One of our members is a balloon enthusiast that volunteered to do a presentation. We offered a local balloon pilot/owner some money for fuel and started our meeting with teathered balloon rides for members, friends and family. It was well received and brought quite a bit of attention to the chapter when the motorist saw the balloon going up and down on the ramp.

Our Chapter (407) includes several CFIs as well as several instructors from an Aviation Maintenance associates degree program. The CFIs do regular workshops (cross-country planning, Class B operations,...) while the A&Ps do hands-on skills building (wiring, rivetting, ...) This gives us at least two lively informative meetings each year.

These meetings are guy things, no women allowed, right. So we only want to do guy things, like getting dirty and tearing things apart and stuff like that. The other seat is for another guy not some wifee type. I mean, when we go some place, it's to look at other airplanes or meet with other guys and look at their planes and talk about planes. It's probably a waste of my time, but I've scheduled our Chapter for a "Fly-Out" to a place that has a unique historic downtown area with lots of shops, great restaurants, and is having an art fair going on. Wonder how that will turn out? More Later.

EAA 44 <eaa44.org> in Rocheste NY offers several other programs besides monthly meetings to entice the general public and the flying community.

We hosted a stop of Pres. Hightower's Grassroots Tour last summer as part of our new Sport Aviation Center Grand Opening and Dedication.

We host FAA FAAST WINGS seminars and AOPA ASI Safety Seminars.

Our chapter organizes aviation museum tours. We have chartered a bus to go to the Air Force Museum in Dayton and plan to go to the NASM and Udvar-Hazy this summer. These are long weekend trips to allow for travel and plenty of time to see the museums, spouses are welcomed.

Our members restored or built replicas of significant aircraft in Rochester aviation history and these now hang from the ceiling of the Rochester airport terminal.

Our primary fundraiser for many years has been our "Original Oshkosh Airlift" where we organize round-trip transportation from ROC to OSH, ground transportation from OSH to dorm rooms at UW, and daily shuttle to the convention site. This is open to anyone, you don't need to be a member.

More info can be found at our website or contact me.

Bob Nelligan-Barrett
EAA 44 Board Member