March 1: CHGPA Spring Kick-off Meeting

[davidtheamazing1]

Dear All,
It feels like Spring in DC – Lets go flying! But before we start the fun, we have to take care of some CHGPA club business. Please participate so that our group will be ready to fly! We have lots to report on, and to do for the upcoming 2012 year. We'll start with pizza!

The event is Thursday! (March 1, 2012)
New: If you can't make it you can still participate via webcast.

7:00 pm - Pizza (Come at 7 for freshest, hottest pizza)
Tip: Bring 90¢ for a soda from the coke machine.

7:30 pm - Start Meeting agenda
Because the building will be locked from the outside, you should plan to arrive by 7:30

Agenda

• Welcome New Folks, Thanks to host
• 2012 Membership Report + Join via Paypal
• "Pulpit Sticker" Membership Category
• 2012 Calendar (pick CHGPA dates for 2012)
• Woodstock launch (improvements)
• High Rock Report (Formal Recognition+Article)
• Safety (Started by Tom Mc)
• CHGPA Officer Election
• + flying stories until the beer runs out (BYOB)

New Location New Location - Click here for map
My Office Conference Room (Downtown)
1225 I St NW
Washington DC, 20005

Metro: Metro Center/McPherson Square
Parking: On-street parking is widely available after 6:30. The immediate area has free spaces, but check the sign since some blocks do require meters until 10pm.

Can't Attend in Person?
NEW: WEBCASTING
Live streaming of the CHGPA Meeting will be at the following link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dc-free-flight

I will start streaming at 7:00PM EST (during the pizza eating) so you can have a chance to test your connection and send in your hellos via the chat feature. (Please join us by 7:20PM EST to ensure you are able to connect.)

Note regarding the building: finding your way to the meeting room is going to be tricky because of locked doors. It would be helpful to have a "doorman" to shuttle people from the lobby to the meeting room... Can anyone volunteer?

RSVP:
On Facebook:
Or here via the CHGPA Forum

[pch]

I would like participate in the meeting via webcast.
Pete Humes

[MikeB]

I can't come in for the meeting, so webcasting is fine with me. What do I need other than the CRT?
Mike

[davidtheamazing1]

I will set it up via Ustream so that we just need a browser and an internet connection. You can even connect from a mobile device. It is one-way video broadcast but you can send us chats through the interface, and I will try to make sure anything sent in can be read out loud and addressed by the group.

[mcgowantk]

I plan on being there too (in person). Maybe we can talk safety - we sometimes hold a spring safety meeting to discuss issues we are seeing. On another topic, I found the CHGPA Flight Distance Award trophy on my bookshelf. Since I did not have an XC flight last year (at least not a notable one), we should figure out who it should go to.

See you there.

Tom McGowan

PS Is there a floor or suite number with the address?

[davidtheamazing1]

Live streaming of the CHGPA Meeting will be at the following link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dc-free-flight

I will start streaming at 7:00PM EST (during the pizza eating) so you can have a chance to test your connection and send in your hellos via the chat feature. (Please join us by 7:20PM EST to ensure you are able to connect.)

Regarding the building, finding your way to the meeting room is going to be tricky because of locked doors. It would be helpful to have a "doorman" to shuttle people from the lobby to the meeting room... Can anyone volunteer?

Given that constraint, will anyone be arriving after the 7:30 pm starting time?

Tom, good suggestion. I will add "Spring Safety Brief" to the agenda, can I call on you to kick-off the discussion?

[mcgowantk]

I would be happy to kick off the safety discussion. Folks also can watch me eat pizza on the live streaming video - although that won't be pretty. See you around 7:00.

Tom

[jyoder111]

Is there a facebook event page to RSVP for this meeting? I'll be there in person.

Jesse

[davidtheamazing1]

Yup! RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/235683803190916/

[John Dullahan]

David,

I will connect via webcast.

John D.

[sailin]

Can't make this one either...gotta work I will try to link up on the Webcast if we are in the station.
Feel free to vote me off the island as the club secretary if someone wants the job.....getting to these meetings has proven to be extremely challenging for me. Hope to see you all out at the mountains or the flight parks soon!

Jon

[deveil]

This is probably neither here nor there but while I might have been there I'll be here since I wouldn't get the cool 'cast there and if I can get two others here instead of there will the club pay for their and my pizza? (I didn't really mean that but since I said it I must mean it ).
gary

[Dan T]

I plan to attend.

Dan T

[davidtheamazing1]

Want to watch the meeting? http://ustre.am/IaF9

Somebody left a voice recorder behind... Please message me to coordinate

[dbodner]

First off, thanks to the current board for agreeing to continue their run. Continuity in leadership has at times been underappreciated. I see some good things coming out of this crew, and I want to support that.

I like the idea of the virtual meeting. Apparently, I wasn't bright enough to figure out how to send in comments (Mac with Safari or Foxfire), but these bugs can be figured out. There's no reason to exclude those outside the Beltway (or the US) in our deliberations.

I came in at the tail-end of the waiver discussions. If we're talking about the Pulpit waiver, the two clubs decided to end it at the March '05 Pulpit meeting (I have the minutes). The waiver only protected the Pulpit, not the our LZ landowners. The argument at the time was that any USHPA member would already have a superior waiver on-file. If the two clubs now want to change that, then we should convene a long-overdue Pulpit meeting and re-vote. Full disclosure: I was the impetus behind getting rid of the waivers. To me it was a PITA. And unless we unanimously and aggressively police the requirement, it's ultimately pointless.

[davidtheamazing1]

In 2011 we had two pulpit memberships, both to visiting pilots. I think the published label and defining the membership concept is a bit more important as people can now sign up for membership online without talking to anyone first.

Thanks for the feedback about the waivers. I don't think anyone wanted to change the established process.

Regarding the webcasting, I think we successfully proved the concept but personally I wasn't keen on the methods for (virtual) participant interaction. We'll have to think about that for next time. Either better utilization or a different platform.

[sailin]

Meeting agenda and minutes posted over in the "Meeting, Events & Competitions" section.

Jon