I want my SSA

Earlier, Bill Daniels wrote:

...2. Relocate the headquarters to a city easilly reachable by a significant
part of the membership. i.e. good airline connections with at least three
active local clubs. This would mean that at any moment a rank and file
member could walk in off the street creating a mindset in the paid staff
that, "It would be harder to get away with something." It would also mean
that a large number of vollunteers would be available if needed.

Good thinking.

I say, get a cheap steel building at Tehachapi CA. The Experimetnal
Soaring Association and the Vintage Sailplane Association both conduct
annual meets there, they have an active glider FBO and many private
owners, and the site has a strong heritage in sailplane development and
innovation. It's just close enough to LA and Bakersfield and the CA
central valley pilots, and it's one good XC flight away for the Minden
guys.

After the move we can flip the Hobbs HQ on eBay to pay the IRS. Let the
National Association of Correctional Facility Systems Installers have
it, and its computer network.

Bob K.

Bob Kuykendall wrote:

I say, get a cheap steel building at Tehachapi CA.

We don't need one more thing in this world to be in California.

Somewhere near Chicago would make very good sense. If it's good enough
for Boeing it ought to be good enough for the new "Soaring Association
of America".


Jack

Earlier, 588 wrote:

Somewhere near Chicago would make very good sense...

It depends on how near. I think that hell will freeze over and PW-5s
will win an Open Nats before I endorse an SSA move to the city that
gave us the Meigs Field debacle.

Bob K.

Bob Kuykendall wrote:

Somewhere near Chicago would make very good sense...

It depends on how near. I think that hell will freeze over and PW-5s
will win an Open Nats before I endorse an SSA move to the city that
gave us the Meigs Field debacle.

No, no, no -- not IN Chicago. That _would_ be disgusting.

There is plenty of opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the city when
you choose to do so without being subject to its antediluvian politics.

Every resource that could benefit a soaring organization is here in
the surrounding communities, but without the distractions presented by
good soaring weather.

Win/Win!


Jack

I vote for Las Vegas.


588 wrote:
Bob Kuykendall wrote:

Somewhere near Chicago would make very good sense...

It depends on how near. I think that hell will freeze over and PW-5s
will win an Open Nats before I endorse an SSA move to the city that
gave us the Meigs Field debacle.

No, no, no -- not IN Chicago. That _would_ be disgusting.

There is plenty of opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the city when
you choose to do so without being subject to its antediluvian politics.

Every resource that could benefit a soaring organization is here in
the surrounding communities, but without the distractions presented by
good soaring weather.

Win/Win!


Jack

588 wrote:

Every resource that could benefit a soaring organization is here in
the surrounding communities, but without the distractions presented by
good soaring weather.

Win/Win!


Jack

You wouldn't want good soaring weather.
Didn't Boeing move it's management to Chicago to get away from those
pesky people who actually build the aircraft? More or less like
relocating the SSA to Hobbs.
Sarcasm aside (tough for me), the Chicago area is a good idea, and I
live in Tehachapi, California... Where we hold the "Open Cockpit
Regatta" on January 1st.
OK, sarcasm not too far aside.
Chicago O'Hare has:
The Billy Goat Tavern on Concourse C (United T1).
The no-name Greek place on Concourse F (USAir T2).
The Chicago Department of Airports hidden behind McDonalds between E and F in T2, where you can dole out grief about Miegs.
Good connections from anywhere.
But South African Airways doesn't fly into ORD.
Jim

588 wrote:
Bob Kuykendall wrote:

I say, get a cheap steel building at Tehachapi CA.


We don't need one more thing in this world to be in California.

Somewhere near Chicago would make very good sense. If it's good enough
for Boeing it ought to be good enough for the new "Soaring Association
of America".

I thought Boeing moved management to Chicago so they could fire workers
in WA and not worry about their houses being blown up.

Shawn

Bill, I agree that moving the organization HQ would be an important
symbolic step as well. We may have to sell the building anyway to cover
our losses.

Boulder CO is a good choice now that Denver is a "Southwest (Airlines)
City" so it has low air fares and good access to most of the
continental US. Another Southwet City is Albuquerque, NM. A smart
strategy would be to play carrot and stick with NM on unpaid taxes, and
keep the organization in-state if significant concessions were
received. Another possible site would be Dallas, TX, if the Wright
Amendment repeal goes through.

Bill Daniels wrote:
I don't think there is any future in joining or affilliating with either the
AOPA or the EAA. Now these are fine organizations to which I have belonged
but the culture is very different from the soaring community and I am sure
there would be issues that would not favor us. Associate yes, but remain
distinct.

Here's are three suggestions I think should be considered to revitalize the
SSA organization.

1. Convert Soaring Magazine to a webzine to save about $300,000 a year.
This would make the articles searchable thus creating a knowledge/culture
base for all of us. Make the webzine open to all.

2. Relocate the headquarters to a city easilly reachable by a significant
part of the membership. i.e. good airline connections with at least three
active local clubs. This would mean that at any moment a rank and file
member could walk in off the street creating a mindset in the paid staff
that, "It would be harder to get away with something." It would also mean
that a large number of vollunteers would be available if needed.

Hobbs is a fine community but it is very isolated from the membership at
large. I remember when the SSA headquarters was located in Santa Monica,
California with a dozen or more local clubs from which help was available.
It was, in my humble opinion, a much better organization then.

3. Create a study group of vollunteers to evaluate other national soaring
clubs like the BGA and DAeC to see if there are features of these
organizations that should be incorporated into a revitalized SSA.

We need an SSA for the 21st Century.

Bill Daniels

Read No. 3 again, your geography is woefully lacking!


At 13:30 09 September 2006, 588 wrote:
Wayne Paul wrote:

So where is the center of the US? I use to live
in
Omaha, Nebraska and know that Omaha is closer to Washington,
DC then it is
to Boise Idaho. So my guess is that it is somewhere
in western Nebraska or
eastern Colorado.

1) GEOGRAPHIC CENTER, Contiguous 48 States: near Lebanon
KS


2) MEAN CENTER OF POPULATION (1990 Census): in Crawford
County,
Missouri

3) MEDIAN CENTER OF POPULATION: (38 deg 57' 55' N,
86 deg, 31' 53'
W), in Marshall township, Lawrence County, Indiana,
about 14 miles
south of Bloomington, Kansas.

4) Center of soaring: ? -- the SSA may have info from
which that could
be derived, but Kansas City is about half way between
#1 and #2 above.


Jack




















City is about half way between
the 48-State
Geographic center and the Mean Center of Population,
so it can't be
far off.



Jack

My vote is for Elmira. Put SSA in a broom closet at the NSM. Once an
organization owns a building then they tend start hiring employees to
fill it. All SSA needs in a location is a computer and a file cabinet.
Let the manufacturers/dealers put on the convention. Merchandise can
be drop shipped from the supplier or perhaps the soaring vendors could
handle it. As I understand it the magazine isn't published on site.
All we need from the SSA is: Group insurance; FAI racing compliance and
badges; and lobbying. And I reckon that if we didn't have a building
and a bunch of employees we might be able to afford a proper lobbying
firm if it was ever needed(let's hope it is never needed at that
level).
Another internet opinion-worth what you paid for it.
Nyal Williams wrote:
Read No. 3 again, your geography is woefully lacking!


At 13:30 09 September 2006, 588 wrote:
Wayne Paul wrote:

So where is the center of the US? I use to live
in
Omaha, Nebraska and know that Omaha is closer to Washington,
DC then it is
to Boise Idaho. So my guess is that it is somewhere
in western Nebraska or
eastern Colorado.

1) GEOGRAPHIC CENTER, Contiguous 48 States: near Lebanon
KS


2) MEAN CENTER OF POPULATION (1990 Census): in Crawford
County,
Missouri

3) MEDIAN CENTER OF POPULATION: (38 deg 57' 55' N,
86 deg, 31' 53'
W), in Marshall township, Lawrence County, Indiana,
about 14 miles
south of Bloomington, Kansas.

4) Center of soaring: ? -- the SSA may have info from
which that could
be derived, but Kansas City is about half way between
#1 and #2 above.


Jack




















City is about half way between
the 48-State
Geographic center and the Mean Center of Population,
so it can't be
far off.



Jack