Like most associations, USPA looks for programs that can benefit certain members while also bringing additional revenue to the association. These “non-dues revenue programs,” in association-speak, help keep members’ dues down by creating other sources of income for the association. And if USPA can harness the buying power of 32,000 members to create savings for members, then so much the better. Recently, USPA introduced a members-only auto and home insurance program through Unitrin, and a members-only affinity credit card program. Naturally, we mailed the news out to our members. Also naturally, we received some complaints about junk mail, which presents me with an opportunity to discuss how USPA ensures your privacy.

First of all, USPA does not, and will not, disclose, sell, rent or give your e-mail address to another organization for their use. Period. We value that communication method with you and won’t jeopardize it by letting anyone else access it. On the other hand, we’re now sending a monthly e-newsletter entitled the “USPA Update” to every member who has provided us with an e-mail address. If you’re not receiving the “Update,” but want to, you can go here and give us your current e-mail address. (And if you don’t want to receive the “Update,” you can opt out anytime using a link at the bottom of each issue.)

Any telephone numbers you provide us are also treated the same way—never given out beyond staff and board needs. You should never receive a telemarketing call generated from USPA.

USPA does sell members’ postal addresses to outside parties (yet another source of non-dues revenue) who have an interest in making their product or service known to skydivers. Generally this includes DZs, boogies, gear manufacturers, gear retailers, etc., but it also occasionally includes non-skydiving product and service providers. USPA reviews the proposed mailing material and reserves the right of refusal for anything we deem offensive or even tasteless. A member has the right to opt out of this mailing list by simply checking the box on his member application or renewal form where it says, “Check here if you do not want your name to appear on a mailing list occasionally sold by USPA.”

Finally, USPA also generates its own mailings from our membership list, usually member renewal notices, but also occasional special mailings such as member surveys, regulatory alerts and notices about new programs that we think many members will want to know about (like the Unitrin insurance). Currently our database doesn’t provide an opt-out feature for this type of mailing that would not also eliminate the mailing of membership renewal notices. However, we are researching that feature and if we’re able to provide it in the future, we’ll let you know.

To the general public, Patrick Swayze—who died at age 57 this week—will best be remembered for the films Dirty Dancing and Ghost. To skydivers of the day he’ll be remembered for Point Break. And for two reasons. First, Swayze took up skydiving at Perris Valley so that he could film many of the skydiving scenes himself. According to co-star Keanu Reeves, the production company issued Swayze a cease-and-desist order to stop skydiving; he kept jumping anyway. Along the way he joined USPA and earned his A license. Second, the movie’s release in 1991 brought a flood of first-jump customers out to DZs nationwide. Those customers didn’t find skydivers bantering in five-minute freefalls, but many did find a sport of their own as shown by USPA’s membership totals. Membership rose from 20,000 at the end of 1990 to 26,150 in 1992, and steady increases in subsequent years. Thanks, Patrick, for boosting our sport. Blue Skies.

Scott Van Allen is one of the finalists in the mixed media category of the Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest.

Rachel Carson was a renowned American biologist who dedicated her life to the preservation of nature. Now, the EPA, along with Generations United, the Rachel Carson Council, Inc., and the Dance Exchange, conduct an annual contest in her name with the purpose of combining nature and art. The Sense of Wonder entry criterion was to describe something “that best expresses the Sense of Wonder that you feel for the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife, and all that is beautiful to your eyes.”

Scott submitted a poem and picture as his mixed media entry titled “All We Need Is The Sky.”

The winner will be chosen through online voting, so head to http://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/agingepa/rcvote.nsf/fmVote?OpenForm and vote for “All We Need Is The Sky” under the mixed media category and help Scott promote our sport. Voting closes October 1st.

Most of you have seen the ad for the Skydiving Music Challenge in Parachutist. It’s a simple challenge where you create a skydiving video using the song we give you. We choose the top-5 and let the voters decide who wins. Some might have already started on their own videos, while others might have dismissed the challenge for whatever reasons. A few are probably beating themselves up because they don’t fly camera yet, and therefore won’t have any aerial footage to work with.

The challenge came about in an effort for us to get more involved with our members. Once we heard about Jonay’s interpretation of our sport, we listened to the music and, gambling with the fact that music doesn’t please everyone, we decided the beat was good enough to do something with it. Contacting Jonay and getting his permission for the challenge was easy. Finding a sponsor to donate a prize wasn’t. It took some calls, e-mails, and research on gear manufacturers. In the end, Tonfly was kind enough to give us a hand and furnish us with a fully accessorized camera helmet for the first place winner.

The challenge itself brings no revenue to USPA. It was done entirely with the intent for our members to have some fun. Therefore, we are not looking for instructional videos or tandem promotional videos, but for the videographers to enjoy flying and editing, for some sick videos to come out of this and for someone to go home happy with a free new helmet. Show us what you got!

More information on the challenge – rules, entry form, deadlines and any other instructions – here

Sponsors: Tonfly and Jonay

Blue Skies!

You may have recently seen a sentimental email about the June 17 passing of Darrell “Shifty” Powers at age 86.  If not, read about it here on Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/shiftypowers.asp

While Snopes can’t verify the source of the reported encounter, “Shifty,” as he was known, was real, and so was his bravery as he served with Easy Company of the 101^st Airborne in the dangerous days and months following his drop on D-Day.

It turns out that skydivers have a perfect opportunity to honor Shifty and his band of brothers. Sunday, August 16, is National Airborne Day, a day annually commemorated by Congress to remember and honor those servicemen who volunteered to earn their jump wings and serve our country as an airborne soldier. (Read my blog about last year’s National Airborne Day here: http://skydiveuspa.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/national-airborne-day/)

So here’s the thought: Let’s honor Shifty—and his band of brothers—with a memorial skydive. Actually with lots of memorial skydives. Why not organize a memorial dive at your DZ that day? You could form an “A” for Airborne, an “E” for Easy Company, or a “101” for the 101^st. Or form a star (if large enough, let a veteran fly in the center), and facing each other with joined grips, give thanks to Shifty and all those who set aside their lives, answered their country’s call, and literally saved the world.

So do a dive for Shifty and his band of brothers and let us know how it went. Send your description of the jump and any photos or links to videos to communications@uspa.org. You don’t have to stop there. Nearly every assisted living facility has WW II veterans who would thoroughly enjoy a visit by a bunch of skydivers expressing appreciation for their service. After all, we not only owe them for their service; we also owe them for sowing the seeds for our sport. It was post-war veterans that wanted to continue jumping out of airplanes who began what became the sport of skydiving.

As you may have read in July’s Five-Minute Call, in October, Parachutist will print its 600^th issue. We are working on a pictorial and looking for crazy, skydiving-related things involving the number 600. Send us a picture with the most amusing ideas you can come up with to communications@uspa.org or Submit a Photo.

Best picture wins a cookie! – Well, no, not really, but you do get compensation for print use.

Oh, yeah! Remember! High-res pictures only.

32,003. That’s the current level of USPA membership at the end of June. What’s the significance? Well, in addition to the fact that membership continues to grow, it’s the first time since May 2005 that we’ve exceeded 32,000. Here’s the full story: USPA membership reached its all-time zenith of 34,583 in August 2001. Then the following month came the attacks of 9/11. Like all of aviation, skydiving suffered for months from a public apprehension and mistrust of all flying. A stalling economy didn’t help either. Membership began a slow but steady decline, going below 32,000 in June 2005 and finally bottoming out in October 2006 at 30,488. Then began a slow but steady climb, and finally back over 32,000 last month. 32,003 is just a number, after all. But it signifies skydiving is holding its own through this recession. And that’s good news for all of us.

We just approved the final proofs for the June issue; here is a sneak peek of what you will see in just a few weeks . . .

• Historical profile of Leslie Irvin
• A beginner’s guide to 4-way formation skydiving (first in a series)
• Guinness Book of World Records: Tandem record (most tandems in a day)
• Core exercises to combat back pain from skydiving
• Intro to wingsuiting

We hope you enjoy!

Loyal USPA blog readers may have noticed the lack of recent posts lately. We’re not abandoning the blog, and we certainly have no lack of news! We have recently spread our online wings to include Twitter and Facebook, and are still on MySpace and LinkedIn. Those sites, especially Twitter and Facebook, have been more conducive to the kinds of news we’ve had lately – short, quick updates not really worthy of too many words–140 or less, in fact (that’s the maximum number of characters a Twitter update, or “tweet” can be).

It has been great for things like letting people know the SIM pdf is now updated with bookmarks (www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Man_SIM_2009-2010.pdf), that there is a new job opening at USPA (www.uspa.org/aboutuspa/employment.aspx) or that Safety Day reports are online (www.uspa.org/USPAMembers/Safety/SafetyDay/2009Reports.aspx).

Those sites also get more activity and response than the blog has, so we’ll spend a little more time there. We will still be blogging when there is a major story that requires a little more behind-the-scenes, personal explanation, or if inspiration strikes! Let us know if you want to read about anything in particular, too – either comment here, or use the “Why” post (skydiveuspa.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/why/) as a forum to ask your questions about why USPA does some of the things it does.

Here are all the places you can now find USPA online:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/skydiveUSPA
Facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/US-Parachute-Association/55722708148
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/_USPA
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=41846
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SkydiveUSPA

In my previous Dues & Fees Increase post, I listed the one-year renewal for PRO ratings to be $15 and two-year as $35. It was a misprint and should have read that it’s $15 for a renewal without a card or $35 for a renewal with a card. We also posted a full list of prices (including rates for our members living overseas) on the USPA news page.