All Hail The Aero-Heroes of 2009!

Final Compilations by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Trouble-Maker, Jim Campbell

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult, task facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aviation/aerospace community has managed to accomplish.
 
Thankfully, 2009 was a year in which we saw the best and brightest among us step forward and work tirelessly on behalf of us all. No doubt about it... the challenges we faced in 2009 were numerous, and ongoing... so was the quality of expertise and passion brought to our defense by those who heroically demonstrated to the world the very best side of aviation... via their deeds, words and actions.
 
It is ANN's honor to recognize Ten persons/organizations or groups that qualify as our Aero-Heroes for 2009... in something of an informal order, starting from the 10th to the 1st. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included or omitted from such a list. In the meantime, we thank the folks who made this year's list. Thank you, folks... we really needed you this year, and you didn't let us down.

ANN will list our Top Ten choices over the next few day's, but in order to kick off the New Year right, let's enjoy another selection from our Heroes List for 2009...

Aero-Heroes #4: Ed Bolen and NBAA

Ed has been a regular occupant of our yearly "Hero" list for quite some time -- since transitioning from his former leadership at GAMA to his current post as the head of the most powerful business aviation organization extant, NBAA.

2009 was a trial by fire... as there is no question that outside forces made defending, protecting, and promoting the business aviation community a difficult, if unpopular, job. For a significant portion of 2009, it had to suck to be Ed Bolen...

From the initial assaults on business aviation provided by an ignorant, biased, and oft-malevolent Congress trying to score cheap media points at the expense of the big three automakers, to even cheaper shots at an industry that is responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs by the nation's aero-ignorant general media; walking in Bolen's shoes during 2009 must have been a first-class bitch.

Of all the things that one might have expected from the nation's political structure and general media, one really has to wonder about the stupidity inherent in the attacks made on industries and programs that are so uniquely keyed to moving this country forward, responsible for so many jobs, and so closely associated with billions of dollars of this country's economic well-being. So it came to guys like Ed, with one hell of an assist from a delightfully unapologetic Cessna CEO, Jack Pelton, to provide a professional, level, and reasoned approach to fighting the errant "Bravo Sierra" that was foisted upon us, day after miderable day. Ed and NBAA did a spectacular job of providing facts, making contacts, and refuting so much errant negative information that it became (at times) impossible to keep up with it all. Bolen did not do this alone. NBAA employs a phenomenally gifted staff and we traditionally expect great things from them because of the nature of their responsibilities, and the talent they bring to the job -- this year they did not disappoint us.

At the same time 2010 presented some unique challenges... not only do they have to keep up a "defensive fire" against errant negativity and cheap attacks, but this is the year that all of our messages needed to be recrafted to fit with the transition to NewMedia. Traditional communication is evolving -- not just in terms of what we say, but how we publish and transmit our mesages to a public, political structure, and media that is reeling from revolutionary changes taking place around the world. NBAA is making some attempts to adopt critically important NewMedia methods in recrafting their message for the future, and despite a faltering start (including some occasionally embarrassing online audio and video work last year), we're watching NBAA learn fast, and embrace the fact that future messaging and communication is going to be different from anything done previously. So... not only do they have one hell of a job to do, but the very nature of the job itself is changing -- and the one thing that we're particularly enthused about is that NBAA seems aware of their responsibility to do both as aggressively as possible -- and against brutal opposition.

Ed Bolen and his troops deserve our heartiest congratulations for a job well done under vicious circumstances. But let's conclude this plaudit with one caveat -- this industry has been fighting a battle with defensive tactics, in particular, for most of the last year (and even well before then). It's time to stop being so defensive, and start being offensive -- it's time to think ahead to the usual nonsense that we fight on a regular basis and be ready to do more than respond with more than the facts -- We need to be prepared to get our messages, our facts, our truth, and our reality, out in front of people BEFORE it's even questioned or maligned by those who simply don't understand. 2010, folks, is going to be a hell of a year. We look forward to seeing how NBAA takes it on. Go get 'em, Ed...

FMI: Comments/Criticism????