VATUSA Convention 2007 (In retrospect) pic's and video added

[Richard Ruminski]

After 5 days of Vegas lights, night life, noise and hustle I find my self safe and home back in Pensacola Florida. A huge thanks and job well done to Tom Ferry our coordinator for this years VATUSA Convention. Although the attendance this year was not as large as last year the experience and comradely was just as great. My thanks to those who attended and listed below in order of appearance.

 

Friday afternoon registration.

 

Michael O from ZMP and an American Airline employee. John H from ZKC who not only controls and instructs at KC but is also helping to build the VTBB FIR from the ground up. Tom Ferry our organizer and new DA for the Western Region. Darian P a virtual pilot who flew the LAS event from the convention. Robert B who drove all the way down from Phoenix and controls for JAX.

 

Friday Night Town Hall Meeting.

 

Dave K VATGOV2 United virtual and ZAU controller. Dave had to fly commercial this year and arrived in Vegas without his luggage. Earvie R from ZHU one of our younger members. Varvie managed to talk his parents into driving him from LA to take part in the convention.Ryan P from Oakland another youngster with a p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ion for our hobby. The ZLA crew with Keith S, Brian R, Mike H, Andy C and Mike S. Mike is a MicroSoft employee involved with FSX, even though Mike was fitted with a MicroSoft Non Disclosure chastity belt he provided us with some future development plans for FSX and the MicroSoft gaming future.

 

Saturday morning.

 

After a night of social intercourse and gaming on the Casino floor the Convention kicked off.

 

Nick B from ATA virtual and ZAN controller joined us. Nick some how managed to talk his Farther into bringing him to another convention. Cornell L VATUAS staff and ATA virtual joined the group and started bugging me about my C3 OTS.

 

Tom kicked of the day with a welcome speech. A letter from MT the new VATUSA DD was read to the group.

 

KS from ZLA graced us with his knowledge and technique for handling high traffic volumes. Questions from the floor were answered by KS with some amusing and for lack of better words unorthodox replies. (Sorry, you had to be there to appreciate the last statement)

 

DK made a great presentation on Virtual Airlines and talked in length on VATSIM’s structure and core philosophies. DK has a p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ion for our hobby as evident in all his talks and comments. Dave’s knowledge as a RW pilot provided answers to many of our Virtual questions.

 

JH from ZKC presented us with a very informative lecture in departure procedures. John is a RW pilot and answered many of our novice questions. I now know what all those cute symbols mean on a DP Chart.

 

After a great lunch we set up for the Las Vegas fly in event. The ZLA crew got organized and did that VooDoo that they do so well. Pilots from all over the US converged on Las Vegas and were treated to some great traffic and superb controlling. Some buzz words heard during the event from the LA crew included “Sexy Separationâ€

Edited March 31, 2007 at 07:34 PM by Guest

[Brian Beach 915973]

Which city recieved the vote for next year's convention?

[Nicholas Bartolotta 912967]

Twas indeed a lot of fun, and I echo Ric's thanks to Tom for the outstanding planning and running on the convention. I convinced my dad he might win something if he brought me to Vegas for the convention, and made it clear we were going to split once we got to Vegas though. The rule was...if we p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ed eachother in the hotel, we do not acknowledges eachother...no waves, no smiles, nothing. (:lol: He was a pretty good sport about it )

 

This was a hike for me and I know some others since it was out west, but I can definitely say I had a blast and would do it all over again, it was well worth the trip and the money!!

[Richard Ruminski]

Which city received the vote for next year's convention?

 

Why Anchorage of course. Sorry, I had to give it a shot.

 

A decision on next years convention was not made. I'm sure that the process to pick next years location is in the works. I can however, say the the location candidates for next year will be from either the Southern or Northern region.

 

A big factor in choosing next year Convention should be who is willing to Coordinate it, more than where it is to be held. Learning of all the trials and tribulations that Tom had to go through this year it is my opinion that someone local to the area needs to plan the next one.

[Brian Beach 915973]

Which city received the vote for next year's convention?

 

Why Anchorage of course. Sorry, I had to give it a shot.

 

A decision on next years convention was not made. I'm sure that the process to pick next years location is in the works. I can however, say the the location candidates for next year will be from either the Southern or Northern region.

 

A big factor in choosing next year Convention should be who is willing to Coordinate it, more than where it is to be held. Learning of all the trials and tribulations that Tom had to go through this year it is my opinion that someone local to the area needs to plan the next one.

 

About a year ago I started putting my bid in for Detroit. The Westin Hotel is an excellent location, and I would be willing to help coordinate it.

[Bruno Pinto 964946]

Which city recieved the vote for next year's convention?

 

Matt is the new VATUSA1, I would say Houston

[Michael Oberg 855611]

I certainly had a blast at this years convention. I believe my best memory will be when the ZLA guys (Keith, Andy and Mike) set up next to each other for the flyin to LAS. I came to the convention "THINKING" I knew Approach. After watching these guys I was completely humbled. They handled a unbelievable amount of traffic like it was nothing at all to them. I hope one day to be at even half their level. Like Richard mentioned, some of their comments between transmitions still make me laugh even now. I sure hope all of us keep in touch until we meet again next year. I even tried to get Nick Bartolotta to transfer to AVA I guess that won't happen..lol. Thanks for a great time.

[Andrew Miller 873677]

Does anyone have any pictures to show?

[Darian Phillips 928692]

Yeap what a blast the convention was, 2 thumbs up on everyone. I was the one who drove from Los Angeles, Earvie drove with his father from Modesto California.

Edited March 28, 2007 at 05:10 PM by Guest

[Tom Ferry 942166]

Well I certainly had a great time except for spending 6 hours delayed at the airport on the way home. Thanks for the Recap of the events Ric. I think all had a great time despite the low turnout this year. As Ric mentioned earlier almost everyone walked away with a door prize or two.

 

• Mike Oberg won a copy of FSX donated by Microsoft
  Dave Klain won three licenses from Fly Tampa
  Robert Burkhead, Brian Ratledge, Mike Singer, Cornell Lloyd, Earvie Rollins, Ryan Proctor, and Darian Phillips all won Fly Tampa Products.
   
   
  Numerous Charts (donated by John Holt) were given away.
  

 

There was no official decision made on next years convention....look for a discussion about that coming soon.

[Luke Kolin]

There was no official decision made on next years convention....look for a discussion about that coming soon.

 

That's the best decision that could be made. The choice for next year's convention should be based on the people interested in attending NEXT YEAR, not those who could attend this year.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke

[Tom Ferry 942166]

And I forgot to add Robert Burkhead also has some pics he will be sharing with us shortly

[Keith Smith]

Thanks to Tom for his hard work in getting this put together. I agree that even though turnout was low, it really was a LOT of fun. It was great to meet everyone and hang out on the casino floors!

 

It's not often we get to control with other ppl side by side, and even less often that we get to go over and ask a pilot exactly what his thought process was during a creative interpretation of the SHEAD4 out of Vegas! It was fun asking Darian if he was planning to climb, since I'd already asked the mountain to descend and hadn't yet heard back.

 

My apologies to the UAL Scramble folks...there appeared to be a mixup in the event times. We started controlling and staffing heavily 2-3 hours prior to what turned out to be the actual Scramble start time. Conversely, our event wrapped up with a hard stop of 6pm PDT, when the skies were still absolutely packed with airplanes. The remaining ZLA controllers took over and did what they could, but it was not a pretty transition, and I wish we (ZLA) could've done a better job on that. Upon returning from dinner, though, I checked the scopes and saw plenty of controllers working all of the key positions, so apparently it worked itself out.

 

While it would've been better to see more people there, I think it worked out really well, all things considered.

 

If time permits, I will try my level best to come to the next one where I hope to meet the new ZLA ATM.

 

Rick, I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures and videos. Next year, I would love to see more flying/controlling, if possible. A lot of socialization and chatting happens during those events in any case. I think it's the way to go!

 

Michael O, it was a real pleasure meeting you, and I'm glad you enjoyed watching everyone work. Try to ignore the bad stuff...I've since cancelled the hit on those 3 pilots.

 

The event itself went really well, for the most part. Other than a laptop crash (overheating) during peak traffic, followed by 2-3 pilots being unresponsive and off course in a packed sky, it really did go very smoothly. You can't ask for much more than that given the several hours of maniacal traffic levels. 95% of the pilots were of an incredible calibre, and made the event an absolute pleasure.

 

See ya next year guys, if it all works out!

 

Keith

[Jeff Turner]

While I surely wish that I could have made it however some health issues have again appeared for me, so, I'd also like to thank not only Tom, but Richard Green who helped in getting us some of the door prizes... Thanks Rick.

 

 

JU

[Tom Ferry 942166]

While I surely wish that I could have made it however some health issues have again appeared for me, so, I'd also like to thank not only Tom, but Richard Green who helped in getting us some of the door prizes... Thanks Rick.

 

 

JU

 

 

 

Yes Thanks to Richard Green for getting the door prizes from Fly Tampa......Sorry forgot to mention that above......

[Mark Brummett]

While I surely wish that I could have made it however some health issues have again appeared for me, so, I'd also like to thank not only Tom, but Richard Green who helped in getting us some of the door prizes... Thanks Rick.

 

 

JU

 

As did for me. Still, nothing beats our "Elvis" impersonator at the hotel bar at the ORD Hilton last year.

 

Jeff, I still have the pictures...

[Dylan Kay 974936]

I say maybe San Francisco as the next spot.

[Jeff Turner]

While I surely wish that I could have made it however some health issues have again appeared for me, so, I'd also like to thank not only Tom, but Richard Green who helped in getting us some of the door prizes... Thanks Rick.

 

 

JU

 

As did for me. Still, nothing beats our "Elvis" impersonator at the hotel bar at the ORD Hilton last year.

 

Jeff, I still have the pictures...

 

I have a few of my own and a few of out past and present VATSIM NA Directors and many others... hehehe.

 

 

JU

[Nikolas Wagenknecht 923270]

How about Miami

 

(then try to lure the chicks on South Beach to the hotel and show them VATSIM )

[Matthew Temple 880167]

How about Miami

 

(then try to lure the chicks on South Beach to the hotel and show them VATSIM )

 

LOL!!

[Michael Oberg 855611]

I had made my sugesstion at the convention. Being we have had it in the Western and Central regions already, I suggested DFW in the Southern. From a "RW" airline employees point of view, my reasoning is this:

 

1. DFW is not a spring break or tourist destination, therefore flights are easier to get as well as cheaper. (cost is the major factor)

2. DFW/DAL is a hub for 3 major airlines, including Southwest, the no.1 low cost carrier.(no thats not who I work for)

3. There are several "reasonable" hotels within minutes of DFW.

 

Plain and simple, I believe we didn't have the attendance this year due to the EXTREME cost of the location (LAS). not to mention it left out our 18,19 and 20 year olds that might have come, due to having to be 21 or older for a hotel room in LAS.

 

just food for thought

Edited April 3, 2007 at 09:17 PM by Guest

[Johnathon Neilsen 955672]

How about Miami

 

(then try to lure the chicks on South Beach to the hotel and show them VATSIM )

 

Now theres and idea...

[Ryan Guffey 956726]

Im still waiting to see pictures How bout Memphis? I could actually make it to that one.

[Richard Ruminski]

Ok, some pic's and a short vid during the fly inn. at http://ruminski.com/cool/sitemap.htm

[Ryan Guffey 956726]

Yes.. Awesome!!! Wow, it sounded loud in there.