God Help Us, We're Just A Few Days From The "Big Launch"

There is an old Chinese proverb that goes something along the lines of "be careful of what you wish for, as you may find it." I've come to be very fond of that saying as Aero-TV has progressed over the last six months from what was once an intriguing idea, to an amazing (if a little crazy) program, to be taken on by an even more amazing team of committed people, to what it is now -- a burgeoning reality that is but days away. I can't say that I recall any time of my life in which I've worked harder, or had more fun, or been as enthused about the future as I am right now. And, the reasons for that have absolute nothing to do with the business success that we perceive for the future of this program, but rather in the impact that it is already having (even in its infancy), and the impact it promises to make in the future. We aviators have watched a treasured way of life/business, come under fire by ignorance and malice way too many times, and in Aero-TV we see a phenomenal tool to not only document all things right, good, and necessary about aviation, but a treasured way in which we can eventually come to transcend the limits of the "Aero-Verse".

So... just what the heck is going on around here?

Well I'm glad I planted that particular question in your heads, because we have much to say and precious little time in which to say it before we have to embark on what are most assuredly going to be some of the busiest days of our lives here at ANN.

First of all, let me tell you how pleased I am with how the beta test of Aero-TV went. Over the course of a tumultuous week, the Aero-TV crew (Team leader Peter Riley, Video Journalist Jessica Wunderlich (who did the cool Aero-TV crew drawing, below), VJ Nathan Cremisino, VJ Alexander Manning, Web Designer Birgit Pauli-Haack, as well as the rest of the ANN Crew and I) worked 20-22 hour days (no kidding) to establish the procedures and produce the content that ultimately resulted in over 20 programs aired during Oshkosh, as well as the filming of dozens more. Just as important, we laid the groundwork for the upcoming daily production of Aero-TV.

We are astounded with how many people saw the videos, are enthused by the comments that we received, and are truly pleased with how much we learned as a result of our beta effort. Not only did we get to cover the 'best air show on/over Earth' in a new and innovative way, but as simple as our beta sneak-peek was, I am pleased to report that we really blew away folks with these initial efforts. Best of all; you ain't seen nothing yet. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that what we've learned about Aero-TV, as a result of our beta tests and extensive consults with industry veterans from both aviation and new media industries, has the potential to change our aviation world. At a time when aviation remains under attack by ignorance, amateurism, and entities who truly want to see us either be curtailed or fail altogether; we think Aero-TV has the potential to bring great things to the world of flight -- not the least of which is expert video reporting by Aero-Professionals who can actually spell "aileron."

Okay... enough of the sales pitch... let's talk about where we go from here.

Aero-TV will commence daily production with the start of the NBAA, later this month. Our daily NBAA coverage will be devoted to business aviation matters, and our normal schedule of Aero-TV (which includes at least one daily news wrap-up and one feature story), will commence on October 1. This schedule will dovetail very nicely with the start of the AOPA Convention just a day or two later. The first 60 days of Aero-TV will present us with a huge learning curve, despite all our preperations. We have selected an amazingly talented staff -- truly, these are some of the best and the brightest people I've ever worked with -- both on the aerospace journalism side as well as the video journalism aspect. However; any undertaking this sophisticated will require us to start simple and work our way up. As a result, the our initial comittment will consist of a daily news program and a daily feature program... though as soon as our procedures and workflow are better-established, we intend to expand both news programming and feature programming offerings aggressively. We hope that within the year, that both Aero-News and Aero-TV will be able to expand it's offerings dramatically with greatly augmented and dedicated daily news coverage, as well as a number of daily features that cover all aspects of the aviation industry.

ANN has compiled an impressive roster of expert VJs (video journalists -- four so far, with a fifth coming on board shortly), as well as a number of aerospace journalists who will work alongside them. We're thrilled to tell you that we're going to be working with some old friends whose dedication to aviation is unquestioned, and whose expertise and attitudes about this business we value greatly.

Aero-TV will be employing some of aviation's "best and brightest" -- including veteran aviation journalist Dave Higdon (pictured above), and up-and-coming aviation industry veteran Jamail Larkins (shown below). Other aerospace journalists will be joining us, including two highly respected members of the business aviation community -- who will be announced shortly. Mind you, we're keeping our eyes open for others who can help us search, document, and produce the stories that deserve to be told about all aspects of the aviation and aerospace world. If you think you might be one of those people, we'd sure love to hear from you, as our requirements for talented staffers are likely to continue for some time.

Let's talk about story selection for a moment... I don't need to tell you that there are thousands of amazing stories that can be told about aviation and aerospace, but I would like to ask for your help in searching out some of the very best. We're looking for your suggestions, your ideas, your experiences, and what truly fascinates YOU, as we search the country (and even the world) for stories that deserve to be told on Aero-TV. Seriously, we need you to be an additional and valued link to everything that is exciting, interesting, germane, and worthy of your attention. There are simply too many exciting things going on out there for us to know about them all, and while we're proud of our News-Spy network, we need all the help we can get in tracking down stories that deserve a spot on Aero-TV. Please help us with this, folks, as the ultimate benefactor of your input stares at you in the mirror every morning, i.e., YOU. Help us be of more service to you.

While were on this subject, let me tell you that we're not asking you to do this out of the goodness of your hearts, or even just to see the stories that you want to see. We're about to announce a series of prizes and awards that will be offered on a regular basis to the folks who contribute so generously to our News-Spy network. We're working with a number of ANN's valued partners and will start the program with the upcoming award of one of Clarity Aloft's (http://www.clarityaloft.com, modeled below by the irrepressible Megan Waterman) amazing light-weight headsets (a $525 value!) to a lucky News-Spy contributor in the not too distant future. We're not quite sure yet how we're going to set up these awards... whether to award them based on random selection, or by some kind of merit system for those who really have put their heart and soul into being some of ANN's bests contributors, but we have a number of these awards planned for the near future and I assure you that were going to be able to give out some great goodies with our sincere thanks for all you do to help ANN stay on top of the aviation news game.

So... keep those News-Tips and story ideas coming!!!

OK... let me touch on something NOT so positive. Something disturbed us a bit about a few things that happened after our Oshkosh Beta effort. While we fully realize that the Internet is frequented by a few people whose ethical and moral beliefs are not exactly laudable (and we know who a number of them are a lot more than we want to), we did run into something we did not expect... at least not as quickly as they transpired. While we're very pleased that people were so enthused about Aero-TV and the programs that we produced at Oshkosh, what we did not expect was a number of folks (who supposedly had some kind of interest in aviation), who not only copied/ripped-off Aero-TV programming to a number of online video sites, but edited the videos without permission -- and in some disturbing ways.

We have made it possible for individual videos to be shared and embedded on websites across the world, with a simple utility that is attached to every Aero-TV program. So, if you want to see the video or use the video in some other place where you think it can do some good, we're generally pretty cool about it -- with reasonable limits... though if you do so, we hope you let us know where the video appears and give us the chance to approve such use. However, where we have to put our foot down, and for darn good reason, is the unauthorized copying and editing of our work. We've worked damned hard (and at great expense) to build a system and a staff that can produce world-class Aero-Video programming... and for someone to steal it, change it, and call it their own is nothing less than felony theft.

Worse; it is particularly disturbing when some yahoo (reportedly from Belgium) takes our carefully produced, heartfelt, piece on the tragic crash of a P-51 and the death of its pilot, and republishes it, with all the identifying material (including our watermark) cropped out and then puts it to rock music as if it was something to celebrate. This made me ill. I hope that nothing tragic ever befalls this idiot (IMO) in such a visual manner that it winds up in the hands of another person who would subsequently show it the same disrespect we feel he did to OUR respectful story about the tragic loss of a valued aviator.

So... we're going to make it very easy for you to use our videos, and we're not really going to be that upset (most of the time) if some of our products are even copied to some of the video sites so long as they are properly credited, unedited/unaltered, and otherwise respected as our copyrighted property. BUT, if we find these products, which we worked so damned hard to produce; altered, edited, distorted, or otherwise changed, published and/or used without our permission, be advised that we will protect our work (and our industry) from the illegal theft and the distortion/disrepute that may occur as a result of such use. If any of you has a request or a reason to want to be able to work with one of our products, use it in some way, or otherwise find a different use for it than we have permitted so far, please be advised that we're likely to be all ears -- and 9 times out of 10 we're going to be pretty cool about working with people whose hearts are in the right places. BUT, please understand that Aero-News is trying hard to do something very positive and very difficult... and that we would appreciate your respect for those efforts.

OK... back to a more positive track... let me also note that those of you associated with organizations, companies, or other entities with a significant following may want to get in touch with Aero-TV. We have a number of exciting syndication programs that can make Aero-News and Aero-TV content available to you for your sites, via branded portals, or other programs that will be announced shortly. In just a few days we will announce major alliances with one of the most respected publications in the world, as well as a major news network... and that's just the tip of the iceberg (over 70 major syndication agreements are in the works RIGHT now). We welcome and invite all interested parties to get in touch with us if they think that they might make a good partner for Aero-News or Aero-TV.

Finally, we been very disturbed at some of the lumps that GA and BizAv have taken from the airline world over the last couple of months. The war of words foisted upon the general aviation and business aviation community by a number of entities in the airline world (who wouldn't seem to know a fact if it bit them in the Ass), has hurt us all. It has destroyed a once somewhat cooperative relationship between the airline industry and the rest of aviation, it has bred further distrust for a crumbling airline industry that really needed friends rather than enemies, and if there wasn't already a tremendous lack of faith in the ethics and professionalism of the airline industry their recent disinformation campaign has all but destroyed whatever credibility they had left.

Be that as it may, over the last six months of traveling with Aero-TV crews and the gear that is part and parcel of a professional video production effort, (not to mention the need to get to a number of locations with a number of people in short order), we have to tell you that we've about had as much of the airline industry as we can stand. It is the rare trip, these days, that doesn't put one of our staff in some form of hazard, delay or other problem. We've been delayed. We've been canceled. We've been re-routed. We've had expensive video gear messed with by TSA people who not only ignored the attached TSA-Safe locks, but forgot to put the locks back on and then ALSO forgot to close the bags. We've dealt with rudeness on the part of airline personnel who often didn't understand the reasons for delays -- or outright lied when they did. We've rarely been able to maintain any sense of a legitimate schedule, and as a result have had to plan in such a way as to waste a phenomenal amount of time to get people out to locations well in advance of when they have to be there -- in order to plan for the eventual and regretfully expected delays or other problems.

The airline industry is busted... and short of a total overhaul, I'm not so sure that its current iteration can be fixed. But that doesn't help us at all... today. Aero-TV is, here and now, making a commitment in telling you that we are going to use GA as our primary mode of transportation as soon as is possible -- and eventually for the great majority of all of our extensive travel requirements. We are researching a number of aircraft, both new and used, that may fit our mission profiles and we think that aviation's most comprehensive real-time news service, and our new Aero-TV Network needs to make a statement that GA is a reasonable, valuable, and dependable mode of transportation.

Yup... it's time to build an ANN Air Force.

Unfortunately, what that means to yours truly is that after spending a phenomenal amount of money launching Aero-TV, that we may have to put my beloved Glasair III up for sale (hopefully not) so that I can find ourselves the first of several dependable, four-seat, IFR capable modes of GA transportation for a number of our video teams. While some of our teams may be deployed by road or RV, for the forseeable future, we want our most time-critical projects to be served by a modern general aviation aircraft... which will not only be our mode of transportation, but a highly visible ambassador to the many other media partners -- newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, networks, and hundreds of other immediate entities -- that we will be working with over the coming years. This is not an expense that I had planned for at this point (hence the reason that my best-ever toy may have to go on the block so as not to kill rest of the Aero-TV budget), but I think it's a statement that needs to be made. With all the crap that we're encountering while having to travel the airlines these days, I really think that this is more than just a strong and vocal political move on our part -- it's a matter of simple business survival. For those of you out there who have had to travel extensively by GA over the years, and have significant operational experience with certain aircraft, we'd love to hear from you about your experiences, long-term, with the aircraft you own/fly as we prepare to make a decision to pick up the first of what we expect to be a number of corporate aircraft to cover the world via Aero-TV.

By the way; for those of you who may be looking to get information on sponsoring Aero-TV (initial sponsorships are pretty much SOLD OUT, but we should have spots opening up after the 60 day warm-up period), please click the appropriate link below... and for those of you with ideas for future Aero-TV stories, please click the link that applies... and let us know what you have in mind.

THANKS for all your support... we SO look forward to serving you with the best Aero-Video programming we can produce.

FMI: I Want To Sponsor Aero-TV! , I Have A GREAT Idea For Aero-TV!