2005 Convention April 20th-22nd, Kansas City, KS
2005 Convention Wrap-Up
POPA had their 9th annual Convention in Kansas City, Missouri in late April. The Convention was held at the Fairmont Kansas City located adjacent to the famous Country Club Plaza, a Kansas City Landmark. The Plaza has over 120 stores and restaurants and kept the POPA Companions very busy during the convention. The Fairmont was a wonderful location and provided us with elegant room accommodations, as well as convention facilities.
Kansas City Aviation Center (KCAC) was the host FBO at the airport and did a great job. Upon arrival everyone was quickly guided to their parking spot and directed to the shuttle buses or rental cars that were lined up and waiting. We thank Angelo Fiataruolo and his gracious staff for their dedication and hard work in making our convention a huge success. The final count on planes was 44, and made quite a site for everyone at the airport and a great photo opportunity. Wednesday afternoon started with a pre-convention tour that visited Honeywell's million dollar, high-tech, 570,000' facility in Olathe, KS. The tour had 38 participants. The tour was a huge success and when the opportunity exits, POPA will be offering these tours at future conventions.
This year was a record for vendors, with a total of 22. In addition to the vendor booths, we also had all of the auction donations on display, plus an internet café for POPA members. The internet café was a huge success, with both laptops computers being used almost full time. This will be a permanent part of all future POPA Conventions.
The sessions at the convention this year were very well received and averaged over 100 people per session. Dick Rutan, our featured speaker, gave a riveting talk that had the audience in awe. The video and audio clips from his Voyager trip were remarkable. POPA President Phil Rosenbaum opened the academic sessions with welcoming remarks, and two days of academic sessions were presented to the owners. A sample of the first day sessions were several seminars by PilBAL on Technical, Policy, DOC, and Safety Issues plus the State of the Company and Industry. Jeppesen, Advocate Aircraft Taxation and the Partners Training Program filled out day one.
Day two started with Atmospheric Phenomena That Cause Reduced Visibility, Clear Air Turbulence, Stall Protection System, Honeywell Update, Enhanced Vision Systems Capabilities & Limitations, Pratt & Whitney Update and ended with a Website Tour with our webmaster and POPA Member, Art Schumer.
Of course there were numerous social events that started with a two-hour cocktail party on Wednesday evening. Also joining us that evening we tornado sirens going off all around us! Luckily, the tornadoes never got close enough to cause any damage. Weather for the remainder of the convention was uneventful. Thursday’s highlight was a wonderful reception, dinner and POPA Silent Auction that raised over ,000. Friday night everyone enjoyed the Farewell reception and dinner, and the POPA Live Auction that raised another ,000, making the total auction receipts of ,000. In addition, there were wonderful breakfasts and lunches on Thursday and Friday with plenty of food and time for members to socialize and visit the vendor display area.