ModAero, an Ill-Fated Attempt at a New Aviation Event

SkyDog58 said:
Brian Columbus bought the Atlantic Flyer News and became its publisher. I have heard that publication has since shutdown. Does anyone know for sure?
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Was notified yesterday on facebook that the name of the Atlantic Flyer page had been changed to ModAero. So I guess that settles that.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Do you know if they are still printing the paper or if not if they plan to?
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I can't imagine they would give up their facebook presence if they were still in existence. But, that's just speculation.
 
Latest gem from their spam this week: "In 2016, we reached over 1.2 Million people and more than 70% were in our target demographic"

1.2M reached (if one can believe anything this guy says, that's likely 1.2M facebook ad impressions), 75 showed up for the event. Interesting odds.
 
172andyou said:
Latest gem from their spam this week: "In 2016, we reached over 1.2 Million people and more than 70% were in our target demographic"
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I'm doing a big direct mail campaign for my business... I can claim that 99% of the addresses on the mail list are in the demographic I want.
 

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The organizers definitely hope to put on another ModAero in 2017. They had a volunteer meeting here in central Texas not long ago. A friend who went last year is trying to organize a group camp out in 2017.
 
PPC1052 said:
That is the first video that actually makes me think that a drone could be fun beyond just the novelty factor.
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Watch the Drone Racing League on TV sometime... not something I would watch for the entire season, but a single episode is still interesting
 
What's the latest people are hearing? Their facebook page seems pretty quiet for an event that supposed to take place in like six weeks. The EAA is nearly two months later and has content enough to fill several posts a day.
 
Seems like a solution in search of a problem

and an audience.
 
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Look you can call me PP and a Modaero shill, I'm just happy there's a event at my home airport.
 
172andyou said:
Latest gem from their spam this week: "In 2016, we reached over 1.2 Million people and more than 70% were in our target demographic"

1.2M reached (if one can believe anything this guy says, that's likely 1.2M facebook ad impressions), 75 showed up for the event. Interesting odds.
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Just watched the video on the site, apparently 48% of pilots are millennial, including me (they have defined it as 18-44). I thought that the millennial generation started in 1981?

If this really is a generational thing and there's a gap in the way that group is being served, I wonder if the aim couldn't be better achieved by attaching this to one of the other more established events. Oshkosh, SnF, perhaps even the AOPA fly-ins.
 
Not trashing it or expecting much from it. Certainly won't be camping for it. I'm open to flying down for a day.

Anyone thinking of hitting Saturday?
 
Ravioli said:
Not trashing it or expecting much from it. Certainly won't be camping for it. I'm open to flying down for a day.

Anyone thinking of hitting Saturday?
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Since I don't live far away I'll probably make it.
 
Rebel Lord said:
Look you can call me PP and a Modaero shill, I'm just happy there's a event at my home airport.
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And that's fine. We all love to have fly-ins and airshows at our home field or close by. And of course we also love the big shows like Oshkosh and SNF. It's when someone decides that he wants to instantly build a big show from scratch on the incredibly false premise that the current big shows aren't appealing or friendly to the younger crowd that some folks got agitated and bashed modaero and its organizer. Although I am older (59) I know lots of younger folks who love OSH & SNF. I see a lot of young people at these shows as well as smaller local and regional events. Want to start an event? Great! Just don't sell it as a cure for an ill that does not exist.
 
SkyDog58 said:
And that's fine. We all love to have fly-ins and airshows at our home field or close by. And of course we also love the big shows like Oshkosh and SNF. It's when someone decides that he wants to instantly build a big show from scratch on the incredibly false premise that the current big shows aren't appealing or friendly to the younger crowd that some folks got agitated and bashed modaero and its organizer. Although I am older (59) I know lots of younger folks who love OSH & SNF. I see a lot of young people at these shows as well as smaller local and regional events. Want to start an event? Great! Just don't sell it as a cure for an ill that does not exist.
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I get that and I agree. I don't really care about targeting young or old. I go to the safety meetings at the airport and I'm always the youngest by 3 decades and I still have a good time talking with the old timers. My great grandpa is 89 and was a professional pilot into his 70s and only quit flying in the last 5 years. I talked with him for hours about flying.
 
@Rebel Lord, what is the timing of the airshow? Do y'all know yet? I assume there will be NOTAM issued but those can't come out until 72 hours prior.
Also, can real pilots get in free or do we have to pay an outrageous fee like they asked last time? (which would be a huge deterrent, btw)
Let us know more details, please.
 
BigBadLou said:
@Rebel Lord, what is the timing of the airshow? Do y'all know yet? I assume there will be NOTAM issued but those can't come out until 72 hours prior.
Also, can real pilots get in free or do we have to pay an outrageous fee like they asked last time? (which would be a huge deterrent, btw)
Let us know more details, please.
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It's the first weekend of June. No idea about prices yet I'll ask around. The ticket prices were ridiculous last year I agree

Edit: ok looks like general admission is 27$ And includes the airshow.
 
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Well, the first one must have been successful for the organizer. Wash, rinse, repeat.
 
weilke said:
Well, the first one must have been successful for the organizer. Wash, rinse, repeat.
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Unlikely. He didn't make enough to pay his vendors and just walked away from his debts. Word on the street is that he had a two year contract that he has to fulfill. Though why he would choose that one to be the one he honors is anyones guess.

Take a look at http://modaero.net this morning. It's broken as broken can be. The firm he hired last year to do his website posted here a while back about getting stiffed. Wonder if he did the same this year, or just hired someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

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It is starting to look more and more like the first one, bunch of hippie stuff with no brains.

Need proof? Look at the event program above:

Wednesday Only
June 2nd, 2017

Fri-Sun, June 2-4, 2017

Um ............... :D
 
I'm awaiting a response on Facebook about details on the scheduling. If I don't get anything back, I'll probably find something else to do that weekend.

Edit: Their FB response:
Unfortunately, we have been forced to postpone the event due to logistics issues. We will be announcing makeup dates soon. Thank you for your interest!
 
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Caleb Davis said:
I'm awaiting a response on Facebook about details on the scheduling. If I don't get anything back, I'll probably find something else to do that weekend.
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I hear that root canals, colonoscopies, and lobotomies are popular alternatives.
 
And with 'logistics' we mean 'money'.
 
172andyou said:
Unlikely. He didn't make enough to pay his vendors and just walked away from his debts. Word on the street is that he had a two year contract that he has to fulfill. Though why he would choose that one to be the one he honors is anyones guess.
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I would not use the fact that his vendors didn't get paid as any indication that he didn't get paid. Would be interesting to see the books and track down who did or didn't get paid. One mechanism to extract money out of events is by paying ficticious marketing companies up front so you can show empty pockets when the event is over. Concert promoters are famous for this.
 
He just needs a couple of hot, famous models to promote the event. That will ensure success.

Did anyone hear about fyrefestival...
 
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