1st VSA Winter Webinar this Saturday (January 16th) from 4:30 - 6:00 pm

[Pete (98)]

Hello Everyone,

The first 2021 VSA Winter Webinar is coming to Zoom this Saturday:

Reading The Sky and Finding the Energy Lines (Basic) ~ Pete Alexander
Pete Alexander has had the opportunity to fly with some wonderful coaches and pilots over the past two decades. He will share their tips, strategies, a few stores and a cornucopia of eye-catching photos of the energy lines on the Mendocinos and other locations from across the globe.

Current VSA members’ participation is FREE!! (VSA dues are $20 a year)
Non VSA members’ participation is $30 for the series

It’s not too late to sign up!
Sign up via Google Form to enable us to plan for the video conferencing needs.
https://forms.gle/c9HSkpT7jVGvhEGCA

Upon signing up you will receive an email with the link and webinar instructions.

If you have any additional questions, please contact the VSA at vsa@williamssoaring.com

Here’s the first couple of slides for your viewing pleasure:

[Peter Kelly]

I have signed up for the seminar and I'm looking forward to it. Pete-98 puts on a good show every time! Always worth attending!

Thank you to all who have contributed to making this happen.

Along with the anticipation comes a bit of apprehension about the event. No one likes to look stupid. I'm sure I'm not alone in having this problem. Not having ever seen "google forms" before (but it looked good and was simple), and not having used zoom before, this all entails new challenges. A bit of a zoom practice session an hour or so ahead of time - just to get set up - might be worthwhile... certainly in my case. Even with a practice session an hour ahead of time, it may still take a me a bit of time to get tuned and to be in the audience. I would hate to be the one that delays Pete's presentation.

Although I'm a paid up member of VSA (as I have been since 1987), the "google forms" wanted me to check a box of venmo or cash/check. so I selected cash/check. I'm not sure how that part of the sign-up works, but there are other choices such as Zelle and Pay Pal ( both of which I have available to me), but I am guessing that "Google" is the one who restricts payment type?

Again, thanks to all of you dedicated people who organized this event.

[Pete (98)]

Thanks Peter for your kind words. I'm putting the finishing touches on my presentation this evening.

Zoom will work on your PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet. I would recommend you use the biggest screen you have. I have quite a few really good photos.

Ted will be providing a link to the Zoom meeting tomorrow by 1 pm for the people who have registered which will take you to the meeting. If you have not used Zoom before, it will take you to the correct location on the Zoom server to download the need software which will only require a few minutes. We will open the meeting up no later than 4:15 to allow everyone to get settled.

If you want to prepare for your Zoom experience before the meeting link arrives, you can go install the Zoom software before the meeting by visiting: https://zoom.us/download.

[Ben Mayes]

Hey everyone,

I am super excited, only 1 hour until I can see all of your faces and hear from the great Mr. Alexander.

I would like to thank Pete in advance for the effort he has put in to provide what should be a great evening of awesome soaring photography and shared knowledge.

The link has been emailed to all participants. We will open the link at 4PM and will start the presentation at 4:30PM.

If anyone has any difficulties please give me a call!!

See you soon!!

Ben Mayes
VSA President

[Ginny Farnsworth]

This was an excellent presentation! I loved the tip about watching the wind indicators on the reservoir to see where the lift is. As always, Pete (98), the imagery and information was 5 star quality. Lots of prep work went into this production, and a big THANKS to all involved. I look forward to the next presentation.

[Peter Kelly]

Ginny said it first ... a big thanks to all..
Lots of prep work went into this production, and a big THANKS to all involved. I look forward to the next presentation.
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This following is like one of my typical - "post flight debriefs to all".

A posting where I share what I discovered/ learned on my flight on the previous day - in hopes that it will be beneficial info to other pilots who did not get a chance to fly or may have much less experience. A place where I typically compare the actual flying conditions to the RASP forecast - assuming most were watching the fcst in the first place.

Well yesterday I didn't fly, but I was there at the webinar with lots of pilots - but lots of pilots were not in attendance as well.

I checked in at the webinar (using my wife's computer (Linda Kelly)) because, at the last minute, I screwed up the brand new webcam I purchased from Best Buy an hour or two before hand, even screwed up the zoom app on my own computer. How can you screw up those things? Don't ask. I'm too embarrassed to talk about it.

I was in the audience at yesterday's "premier" VSA Webinar. I checked in and Ben and I exchanged "hello" to each other. I didn't have anything meaningful to contribute but I really enjoyed watching and listening.

I scrolled through the participants (even during the meeting - for an hour or so) and saw all the pilots that were part of the meeting. Many had turned off their cameras, but I could see they were still listening and watching. It was all very cool. Seeing most of my favorite co-pilots was a special treat for me (pilots in Colorado, Rio Vista, East Bay-ish, Sacto, etc.) all in on the conversation.

The pre-presentation period at this webinar (about 20 minutes long) was EXACTLY like a Saturday morning at WSC. Most all of you know what I'm talking about - it's like the 30 minutes before the pilot meeting starts at a contest. Mostly small talk - a few war stories, etc. A period of dead time where we are all waiting for the lift to start and anticipating the first tow. It was like some were busy putting their ships together, or getting ready to fly in one way or another, while others were sitting around the tables, eating a sandwich, or just listening to others talking, etc. I always enjoyed those precious minutes in my soaring day.

It would take a bit - make that a LOT - of moderation, since you can only have one person speaking at a time, but it would be very cool if you (Ben) were to host such meeting on a weekly basis. Really, every week! OK - maybe every week would be too much, but maybe bi-weekly (every other week) would work. Make it the same day of the week and at the same time - maybe 4PM or 7 PM on a Tuesday or Wednesday - some day when no one is flying. People could use the "raise your hand" Reaction icon that is built into Zoom, when they have a question or want to make a comment. Moderator would limit all comment to one minute, etc..

It would be like a seminar of just "hangar talk". An important ground rule that the moderator would need to adhere to is to limit the "mic time" of any given speaker to one or one and a half minutes. We've seen hundreds of Zoom meeting on TV news broadcasts this past year, so most of us know how the meeting should be conducted. We just need a moderator to be in charge.

We have three great choices for moderators with Ben, Jim Smith, and Ted - all VSA officers ready to run the meeting.

Walt Rodgers has been doing weather briefing seminars/ interactive webinars down at Hollister - but that has a specific topic, and i don't know how successful those webinars have been.

Any way - this is food for thought. Pilot might plan ahead for a meeting and ask the moderator to give them two minutes of "mic time". There is a lot of talent at our glider port. We would all benefit from such meetings. Lots of newer pilot might appreciate the opportunity to ask specific questions from the comfort of their living room.

Most pilots are not that chatty - until you get them started.
Most pilots would benefit from hangar session talks.
Nice thing about hangar session talks - you can walk away - get a drink, join another conversation, see other pilots, and talk to pilots you haven't seen for a while, etc. But there will be lots of others listening to your small talk, so keep it brief and on point - whatever your point might be at the moment. There could easily be minute or two , even several minutes where no one was is talking, and the moderator just standing by. If it were totally dead time, someone could, or might, start a conversation, but would need to watch for interruption from the moderator, etc.

What do you think?

Is this doable?

Worth trying?

[Ben Mayes]

Peter,

This sounds like a very interesting topic. I will get with Jim and Ted to see what we can do!

This is absolutely doable we will gage the interest level and maybe make talking points that will allow different people to chime in on.

Thank you for the idea Peter and the great words above.

VSA President
Ben Mayes