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Picture big smiles. Welcoming hugs. And boundless enthusiasm. The biggest takeaway of the 23rd NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference has to be the vibe. This conference quite possibly brings together the friendliest, most welcoming group of aviation professionals from around … (more…)

Self-help counselors tell us to set happiness expectations for the day, because that mindset – anticipating good things to come our way – becomes self-fulfilling. We encourage those in business aviation to adopt that philosophy for 2013. While we cannot will aircraft sales into being, we can approach every challenge with a solutions orientation. (more…)

In December, our center-of-the-U.S.-based agency bustles like the North Pole. Designers and writers wrapping up last-minute ecards. Production staff overseeing 3-D mailers coming off the press. Account executives making lists and checking them twice.

You, no doubt, have already begun receiving holiday wishes in every conceivable form. As they cross your desk – or computer – or smartphone, think about those that cause you to pause. That warrant a bit more of your attention. What makes you choose those you display, forward to others, share on Facebook, slip into your briefcase to take home – or toss into the trash? (more…)

Business aviation turns its focus to Dubai as the 2012 Middle East Business Aviation event prepares to open. More than 7,000 visitors are projected to attend this show – MEBA’s fifth. The three-day event takes place December 11-13 at a new location, Al Maktoum International Airport – Dubai World Center. The show promises many other firsts – from a first-ever dedicated U.S. Pavilion to the launch of new focus areas: helicopters, business airports and VIP interiors. (more…)

For better or worse, the 2012 U.S. election is in the books. Whether you favored one candidate or were simply an interested observer, the one sure thing is that you weren’t certain of the outcome until the actual returns rolled in.

The predictions were all over the board. Mitt Romney supporters, including such luminaries as Karl Rove, cited reputable pollsters who predicted his victory – some going so far as to forecast a landslide. Obama supporters, likewise. And we’re not talking in-house Republican or Democratic polling. (more…)

Al Ueltschi knew there is simply no substitute for being the best. Our hats are off to him, and our hearts are heavy for his friends and family – including the entire worldwide FlightSafety family. Al Ueltschi has touched down for his final landing. It was a magnificent flight. (more…)

Technological and social changes give us unprecedented control over marketing content. It warrants extra thought concerning what form that content should take. How to give it impact and make it memorable.

Stories. That’s the short answer. But like most short answers, there’s more to it.

Facts leave us cold. Stories engage. Information drops away like leaves in the fall. A good narrative sticks around like a mid-winter snowfall. An exceptional tale forces its way out and makes you recount it to everyone who’ll listen. (more…)

Ernest Hemingway said, “Most people never listen.” He would have been right to add that most businesses and organizations don’t either. Successful ones do. They also encourage comments.

As communications committee chair for the Wichita Aero Club, earlier this year I asked other committee members – Nicole Alexander of Hawker Beechcraft, Lisa Conklin of Spirit AeroSystems and Peggy Gross of Bombardier Learjet – if they agreed we should conduct a member survey. All did. Enthusiastically. (more…)

Good things come to those who wait. Eight years after the Wichita City Council voted to build a new airport terminal, we’ve broken ground. Hallelujah!
Our Wichita-based agency – Greteman Group – has been involved practically from the start. Our role as public art consultant: to tell the story of Wichita’s incomparable aviation history. We’ve been there, sleeves rolled up, working with the architects designing the aviation-inspired terminal. It’s been a privilege. (more…)

Amelia Earhart would have turned 115 this week.

Her birthday reminds us, again, to marvel at the incredible advance of aviation in, really, just a little more than one long lifetime.

But there’s an organization – and a glorious annual event – that keeps alive the dash and delight of those first heady days. The Experimental Aircraft Association and its EAA Airventure, in full swing this week. That’s just its official name. The world knows it as, simply, Oshkosh.

Oshkosh embodies the sheer fun and wonder of aviation. To anyone who doubts whether that spirit still lives, we offer this rebuttal: half a million. That’s how many people attend. Actually, 541,000 in 2011, and organizers expect that to increase 3 percent this year. (more…)