Hello everyone, this is the real life Paul Koepnick from the banned list. I somehow ran across this thread and instead of being embarrassed and hide, I thought I would be a man, and be transparent about what happened almost 10 years ago so that you don't have to dig around and speculate and poke fun at what happened in my life. Now I take full responsibility for all of the outcomes that lead to this situation and the consequences of my life choices. Like anyone, I make mistakes, and unfortunately my mistakes became public record. Be grateful that your skeletons and the things you are ashamed of were not misconstrued or aired for the world to see.
Anyway let me give you some facts and let you make your own opinions about me:
I came to EAA that year to work sales for a start up cooler/AC company called icy breeze that a few years ago was featured on shark tank.
I had/have a real actually non profit called Proud Local Inc. you can verify in the business entity search that I started in 05/2015. It dissolved in 2018 but I reinstated it in 2023. All fund raising was legitimate and by the book.
Its true that after the event I asked to stay onsite, I signed up to be a volunteer where in the EAA volunteer handbook it specifically states
" During the week of AirVenture alone, there are 130 different volunteer areas. These volunteer opportunities can be pre-event, during the fly-in , and post-convention. The time commitment can be flexible, with opportunities being only a couple hours, a few days, a week, or even months. EAA also encourages family volunteering for families with youth under 14 years old, which means there are volunteer opportunities for every age and of all interests."
It also states if you are volunteering you are allowed to camp on the grounds.
https://www.eaa.org/eaa/support-eaa/volunteer/articles/2014-09-volunteering-at-airventure-oshkosh
I was digging through dumpsters because people would fly in to OSH buy brand new camping equipment from target, use it for a week, and then throw it away because they couldn't take it on the plane. I literally wasn't doing it for profit, I just thought it was a great opportunity to donate it to goodwill, salvation army, shelters, which I have proof that I did. I hauled it all with my own truck and asked for nothing in return, I went to airventure and told them exactly what I was doing, I never tried to hide it, but what my mistake was that I blasted the wasteful practices all over social media....This is what ****ed them off. I was making EAA look bad for exploiting an oversight as neglect and then painting myself as the good guy and EAA as the bad guy. I found out pretty quick in private against my will how upset they were at me, but who is going to believe me...I had good intentions, and the proof to back it up, but my desire for admiration for it and my behavior was wrong. I truly was trying to be of service, but it was never asked for and that was my fault.
They ended up confiscating my camping equipment, my computer, my tablet, my phone, everything I had and refused to give it back. What was I going to do call the cops?
As for the check, that was a miscommunication with my parents regarding non profit contributions and how I used those funds, and I settled that financial conundrum myself when I got home.
In my desperation and out of fear, I do admit that I took a car I believed a "friend" gave me permission to use. They were not aware that I took it, and when I came back to drop off the car, I was arrested and got a "Joy riding" misdemeanor. No damage, no one got hurt. I made a huge error in judgement and paid the humiliating price for it and live with the public reminder of it daily. And I have no one to blame for it but myself. I went through a lot of stressful **** in a short amount of time and I broke, I'm not making an excuse but I cracked and I couldn't get my feet back underneath me. I understand The truth of it all is very difficult to believe but that is all I got, and I am at peace with it all and after 10 years I am willing to be transparent about it. Again, I have nothing to hide anymore.
I find it amusing that they still have me on some banned list like I am going to show up and make a scene. I have turned my life around, got married, have a family, run a successful business, and I have zero interest in going to EAA. I have never even stepped foot in OSH in almost 10 years. If you are curious in what I do, watch the videos of my cold water immersion practice and how I teach people to overcome fear and trauma, so they don't have to live through the hell that I did. I wish EAAA nothing but the best. Planes are cool, EAA is cool, the people are cool, but I don't need to rock the boat and make more of a spectacle of myself. I'll leave everyone alone but can we please return the favor.
I will end with this, everyone makes mistakes, nobody is perfect, especially me, but my character is defined by what I do next not what happened yesterday. And tomorrow I will be better, I will do better and I will learn, adapt, and I will be kind to others and help empower them instead of putting them down. I feel for those men on those list, I don't know what they did, I am not justifying their behavior and understand if they are a continued threat they don't deserve the privilege to attend a private event. If this continued embarrassment is my consequence then fine, I will live with that. You can make fun of me all that you want, you have every right to, just be mindful that I am trying to be an example of resilience for my kids and my family. Your words don't effect me much but they do effect my kids and my family. I cannot tell you how to behave on here, but I hope we can all try to learn, grow, and choose to be better. What would you do if it was your face on that list? I know I would respect a man who stood up and took ownership. So I hope I can earn a little respect from you now.