The ICAS Convention is more than a business opportunity to sell our performance and sign contracts: it' a gathering of who's who among air show professionals. This year, it was time for Team RV to make its debut.
ICAS 2010 , Dec. 5-8, was an exciting and educational experience for the team beginning with preparations here at home. Our good friends and ICAS veterans George Cline and Hugh Oldham allowed us to interview them beforehand, which provided us with insight to the convention that we otherwise would have had to learn the hard way on the first go. Thanks gents for taking the time to do that for us.
As a result of Cline and Oldham's help, we managed to put together a great booth and marketing program that resulted in new contracts and venues for 2011 and many more prospects for 2012. They warned us to not be disappointed our first time there. We entered the event with low expectations, nervous about how we would compare with our competitors and friends. We had surprising results. While our booth never caused a "traffic jam," we attracted a steady stream of individuals, and we certainly learned a lot from those conversations.
There is nothing to fear when you are selling a great product that you believe in like Team RV – and so we really enjoyed talking about ourselves to all our new contacts (we listened, too)! The seminars and educational programs of particular interest to us were the First Timers Orientation, where veterans gave newbies like us the inside scoop on what to expect at the convention. Also the Safety Stand Down which provides a review of air show accidents and root causes was of particular interest to Kahuna as Flight Lead.
We met some new friends, had a beer with some old ones, and thoroughly enjoyed the four-day event. Next year, with a firm expectation of how this event is run, we hope to do even better.
ICAS, the International Council of Air Shows, plays a unique role in the air show industry. As a non-governmental organization, its mission includes maintaining safety, providing continuing education and training, providing resources for air show professionals, and promoting the industry on behalf of members. It's the only association of its kind in the US today.
