How to Promote Contests and Bring in Spectators

How to Promote Contests and Bring in Spectators

Running an aerobatic contest is no easy task, but it’s even worse when no one shows up!

There is a pervasive myth that “We can’t advertise contests or allow spectators because that would turn our events into air shows”.

Thankfully, there is no truth to this myth. Aerobatic contests and air shows are understood by the FAA to be entirely different things. The FAA expects that we will tell people all about our activities, and they assume that the public will want to stop by and check things out. This myth might be pervasive, but don’t let it hold you back in your efforts. Please help me eject this myth out of the IAC’s collective consciousness so we can put our muscle into the idea of getting more attention on what we do.

Some great ways to promote your contest:

• Work with the local FBO to offer competitors discounts on fuel and hangarage, and let potential competitors know about it.

• Put up flyers at the FBO. A great place for flyers is in the bathrooms because everyone goes to the bathroom and everyone wants something to read while they are doing it. Make sure the FBO is ok with this.

• Talk to the local flight schools. A great way to break the ice is to start with a briefing on the when and where of the contest, covering the waivered airspace and everything else the flight school should know to keep their students safe. From there you can make an invitation. Today’s flight school student is tomorrow’s competitor!

• Call all the IAC chapter leaders in your area. Make phone calls to potential competitors as well. People like to feel invited. Check in with people the week before the contest and remind them that they are expected!

• Call the local radio station and see if they have a segment on community events. A lot of times these news stations are looking for uplifting content and will appreciate the contact from you.

• Make sure that the newspapers and TV come by your contest. This will help you next year.

Some chapters seem to think that IAC contests are too boring for the public, but I’ve seen how much delight people in a small town get at the chance to go out to the airport and watch our events. It’s not boring to them! Remember: most people aren’t around airplanes all the time.

For the Corvallis Corkscrew we put up 11x17 color flyers at the local shops downtown. Out of our town of about 50,000 people we had several hundred spectators show up at our inaugural event. They were rewarded with some amenities including a food truck and a DJ. When we first started inviting the public we heard that it would be a waste of time, but several years later we’ve grown the chapter because of our outreach efforts. And our noise complaints are kept in check because the cranky people know how popular we are. The community sees our contest as their event as well as ours.

Regarding spectators, it’s important that you have a plan in place. Spectators should not be allowed unescorted within 500 feet of aircraft for their own safety but also to protect pilots and their aircraft. Brief contest staff and pilots about spectators and where they are and are not allowed.

Airventure 2021

While the exact restrictions aren’t perfectly clear as I type this, I am pleased to say that our IAC Aerobatic Center will be OPEN at Airventure! Our informative IAC Forums will be lead once again by the able Michael Church, our annual Member Meeting will be held per the IAC by-laws, and our annual Gathering is proceeding though possibly with limited seating. I will be at the IAC Aerobatic Center or thereabouts most of the week. Please stop by and say hi and tell me how we are doing.

Get Your Start

The IAC’s Get Your Start program is highly successful with many gift boxes sent out to new competitors. In addition to the gift boxes, Get Your Start is about sharing the joy of aerobatic flight on social media. Make sure to use the hashtag #iac_getyourstart when posting your aerobatic videos and pictures.

IAC Pricing Structure

I’ve had a couple of Contest Directors ask me recently why the IAC charges $55 per competitor and where does this money go? The answer is that the competitor fees are designed to burden the competitors instead of the general membership with IAC HQ’s costs for holding competitions. This largely includes a fair share of the salaries we pay our Executive Director and Editor but it also includes other ancillary costs like postage. The fees themselves go to the IAC’s general fund, out of which we pay for everything.

Now that I’ve explained that, none of us should waste one moment of our lives worrying about the morality of policies like these. We can price things in any number of correct ways. The $55 fee was calculated quite a while ago. It’s reasonable to review it every few years. I’ve been told that reducing the competitor fee would possibly increase the participation rate. That may be true.

I could ramble about a lot of different thoughts on pricing but here’s the deal: I believe in trying things out. I believe in doing different things, paying attention to what works, and then moving forward. I believe sometimes that we are going to make mistakes and have to reverse course. Again, there is no morality to these decisions. We only have to do what is effective and we can admit that we don’t know what “effective” looks like until we try something different.

So I’ll take these concerns to the board in the fall and maybe something will change. If not then that’s because the board likes what we are doing. If you want input into this decision then email me your thoughts at president@iac.org.