Somebody had me check into KC awhile back. It has good commercial service, plenty of convention space and should have enough ramp space somewhere for the aircraft. To really make it enticing (since it’s not really on anyone’s wish list) we would need Garmin to step-up and roll out the red carpet for owners since they have equipment installed in 98% of the fleet. To further make it somewhere to visit (other than the BBQ, sorry TX, and world champion baseball) someone with USAF connections would need to get us a tour of whiteman AFB, the B2’s/A10’s. Plenty to entertain spouses/kids for a day or two anyway.
Just another opinion…
Tucson, Branson, KC, Omaha: I’ve been to all of them, and like all of them a lot. But try this: after dinner, ask your spouse if flying to any of those destinations for ~3 days gets them fired up. Mine looked at me like “is that a serious question?”
Plus, she says if you’re going to AZ, then go to Scottsdale.
And while seeing shows in Branson might be good for the spouses during the day, I’m thinking the pilots will be in the convention hall most of the day, and doing something more “social” with the others during the evening. Sitting in a show doesn’t fit the bill for a pilot convention format, in my opinion.
I’ve been to a ton of these conventions now and Coeur D’ Alene ID is still the best location by far for an aviation get together. Good cheap airport and a fantastic hotel on the water. I like the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs as well as a close second. The worst ever was Horseshoe Bay in TX. My wife about killed me when she got there and seen there was nothing to do! [;)]
Jon, CJP did Tucson a couple years ago and it wasn’t terrible, but the airport is a long ways away from where you want to stay. It was better than Duluth! [:#]
Oh I agree with you completely! Can’t beat Vegas, DC, or somewhere warm in the winter. Besides I have a strange suspicion this would take over my life if it were held here for a year, which I just can’t do.
Jon,
The real challenge that each of our Migration Chairman have faced is why less than 5% of our members dedicate their time to come to a migration. If you can solve that, please sign up for the job.
For me, coming together once a year and focusing on COPA and our community is a good thing.
I think it is important to go to locations that offer a wide range of opportunity for pre, during and post migration.
I have not been to every migration like some here. For me the best migration we had is M8 at Dayton, because it had a lot of aviation stuff I had not seen before. AF Museum, tour of Hartzell, Visit the Wright home, etc. Dinner down at the old town and the Wright museums. Speaker from Smithsonian talking about the Wright. My wife was not there, but my son and I enjoyed it.
I think my DC event has it all. What if every table at the dinner had an FAA, TSA, or other dignitary that you could talk with and talk about GA. What if we could fly many FAA leaders in our planes around the DC area and show them GA. What if we had dinner at the Air and Space Museum with many leaders of FAA and Congress. The possibilities are endless, but I make no promises. I told the Board, we should not try it unless we could get 10% of the members to come.
I wasn’t a CJP member for the Tucson convention, but came there as a guest speaker. Loved the hotel and the weather. I’m not a shopper, but my wife is. I wouldn’t bring her to Tucson. But I would to Scottsdale.
Coeur D’Alene is very beautiful. I believe people like it because it is set up for doing unique experiences: the boat trip, the dinner across the lake, etc… But don’t book it later than mid-September, unless you want to gamble with WX.
I was there in 2013 for the TBMOPA Convention, and thought the hotel itself was just ok. The rooms are a little tired, and could use a renovation. But the location makes up for it.
Broadmoor: Can’t argue with that. It’s exquisite. You’ll pay more, but the wives I know LOVED it and want to go back.
Santa Fe: the Phenom Owners are going to try there this year (May, I think). They will need two hotels, but both are close to the convention center. This is a different model than the other OPA’s are using, but I think they will have a great convention. I’m looking forward to hearing how it goes.
How many attendees does COPA expect for 2016 (including vendors and paid spouses)?
I’m with you, John. As an aviation geek myself, I’d love all of that stuff in DC and Dayton.
CJP is doing New Orleans this year: great hotel (The Roosevelt), and the WWII Museum is only 1 mile away. Lots of stuff for the spouses to do. Not “centrally located”, but more so than other prime locations.
I don’t have the answers… wish I did. Just opinions.
John: I would love to do DC. Make it happen on a weekend not on 9/11 and we will get Jim Inhofe to speak.
You have my vote. Make it happen.
I thought we learned our lesson with Nashville and only planning the next migration after the last one was done. For some reason these hot convention locations are booked up well in advanced. Craig talked about the challenges in finding weekends that are not occupied by other convents, activities or holidays.
DC should be after the next administration. Which is thankfully less than a year away now.
It is really not worth it unless 1000 attendees want to come. That is why I was asking/pushing for a survey of members (Given that we have so many new ones) to gauge interesting location, content and other COPA activities.
Now that the code has been cracked on getting DC3 approval remotely, that opens up some new interesting ideas as well.
Guess we will have to wait for the next migration chairman to begin working on the M15 and M16 locations.
If we had it in DC, not only could we get Jim, but probably lots of other interesting people. Jim Fallows probably knows everyone and is friends with all on the left side.
Manassas would be nice, and late September would offer the best weather.
If we did it, we would probably use both KHEF and KJYO. My initial idea was to use the Landsdowne Resort so you could play golf. Have a little Member/Vendor game on Thursday. That makes it easy to go to the NTSB Training Center and the Hudvar Hazey Air and Space Museum for dinner. Close by. There is a large Factory Outlet nearby for the ladies.
Michael Bush wants me to get KIAD and the Hudvar Hazey ramp for our staging area, but the security challenges are very large. The trick to all of this is to get FAA support to make the BS go away. That’s why I want a new administration. This one would probably want to charge us a fee for the extra work like they did the EAA.
September would be good, but I would actually like to have it in late August.
Too hot and humid in August [:@]
Piece o’ cake, John. You’ve always been an ardent supporter of theirs…
If anyone can do it with subtlety and diplomacy…
With a new administration and a new FAA Authorization Act, many things might be possible. My first call would be to Sam Graves. Worked for the Freedom Flight, will work for COPA.
Nashville has my vote. Centrally located and lots to do.
Randy Morris
Could someone start a poll with all the places suggested so far? This will give us some indication of what the readership thinks.
Survey is a great idea. I love DC but flying in there sounds like a lot of work.
Yeah, you have to file a flight plan and never squawk 1200. [;)]
Which hotel would you have it at?