At the SSA General Membership meeting in Reno on February 3rd, SSA Chairman Al Tyler announced a new strategy and marketing campaign for promoting the sport and recruiting new glider pilots and SSA members. The campaign was developed by Bill Daniels and his Growth and Development Committee and described in detail by Bill in a presentation at the convention in Reno.

We have published Bill’s presentation in the SSA Convention News section of the Café, but I think the campaign is potentially so significant to the future of soaring in the SSA that I want to highlight it in this more prominent space on our site.

I have been an SSA member since 1972, so I’ve seen many campaigns, programs, and plans to grow soaring and the SSA, but none has had the financial backing and full support of the SSA Board as this one, and none has been so ambitious and forward thinking as this one.

Bill and his committee have developed some great ideas and tools for promoting the sport and the SSA Board has allocated enough funds for them to carry out their part of the mission.

Now it is up to us—the members—to do our part.

I encourage every soaring enthusiast in the U.S. to review Bill’s presentation, put a “Let’s Go Gliding!” bumper sticker on your car or trailer, and, even better, purchase the trailer-size graphic for your glider trailer. Denise Layton has informed us that she will have information about how to get the trailer graphics up on the SSA Web site in a few days.

We welcome thoughtful and constructive comments on the campaign, and we will forward those responses to the SSA, but before you respond to this post, please read through Bill’s presentation. We also encourage you to contact your SSA regional director with suggestions about how to make this campaign even better.