chicagoland

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Everything posted by chicagoland

  1. That price is only extended to our local jumpers. The foreign rate is now $7999.
  2. We have not made any decisions for the 2013 PROpass yet. If we do it, PROpasses for non-locals will be $7999.00 USD.
  3. I will say that Matt's product is really nice, but I want to clarify some differences: With PROskydiving, the products are a la carte. You can run PRO and/or JumpRun independent of each other. Also, with our system, you are only paying for sales that originate online, not every tandem that comes thru your DZ. Also, you need to cut our percentage rate in half as we are covering all of the credit card fees - fees that the DZ would incur even if they set-up an e-commerce solution themselves. So, we are essentially charging about 2.9% per online transaction. If you choose not to use the plug-in feature and just want the best scheduling tool in the industry, it's yours to use - free! Just ask to be a featured PROskydiving DZ and we'll set you up with your login. With PRO, our services can be set-up in minutes. There are no implementation costs, no monthly fees, no contracts - just pay for what you use. With regards to JumpRun, we are taking things to the next level. JumpRun has been (and still is) the fastest, most stable, and robust manifesting solution out there. With our new version, we will be integrating some amazing features. Imagine if you customers' Facebook pages updated automatically when they signed their digital waivers, when they manifested on a load, etc. Integrating our activities and social media is going to take our sport to completely new heights. It's coming...
  4. Actually, I didn't mean for it to be. We are looking for feedback from jumpers about what they want in an all-you-can-jump season pass. Sorry if it came across that way.
  5. We are gathering feedback from people about our CSC PROpass. This is the 3rd year we've offered the all-you-can-jump membership and it's becoming very popular. Take a look at the discussion on the CSC FB Page http://www.facebook.com/CSCskydiving and give us your input.
  6. PROskydiving is proud to announce the acquisition of DZ Tools and their suite of dropzone manifest software solutions - JumpRun and Departure Viewer. By bringing JumpRun into PROskydiving, dropzones will soon have a version of JumpRun compatible with current operating systems as well as complete integration with PROskydiving's online reservation and gift certificate solutions. This integration will allow dropzones to seamlessly bring a customer's contact and payment information into their own manifest database saving data-entry time, staff overhead, minimizing mistakes, and reducing customer wait times. We're very excited about the addition of JumpRun. We have big plans for PROskydiving and we look forward to rolling them out. For more information about JumpRun or to learn about PROskydiving, check out www.PROskydiving.com/jumprun Come see us at PIA!
  7. After reading this thread, I have thought about it more than ever, but I've never considered PROskydiving to be in competition with SkyRide. We are a software company focused on creating tools for DZs to be productive. We have big plans for other tools for DZOs to put in their arsenal for becoming smooth running, profitable businesses. Yes, we handle reservations, but we never deal with the customers - we've been down this road... With regards to one of my other companies (completely unassociated financially with PROskydiving), I have to weigh everything out. I know that SkyRide is scamming people, but us ceasing to take their customers will, in no way, slow them down. I guess the justification for me has been financial as well as the idea that we can give these people a great experience out of great airplanes despite their poor decision on where to purchase their jump. Doug
  8. I know my word does not mean anything to you guys, but I assure you we are not going to be the next SkyRide. PROskydiving has been very well received by the industry and DZOs are excited about having a system like this to help them streamline their operations and push reservations out to their websites. Feel free to contact any of the DZs on our network and ask them why they joined - it's not because they are worried about us going down the street. We are very concerned about how we are perceived (the only reason I am paying attention to this thread) and are considering adjustments to make sure the industry knows that we want to create a win/win situation for everyone involved, especially the customer. Doug
  9. There's not much to tell here. We've had zoning issues with the county. Due to the problems, the airport owners have decided to take the airport in a new direction. I'm sure you guys will find a way to twist this into something much more. I encourage everyone to call the airport manager and do your due diligence on me. I'm not perfect, but I think you will be hard pressed to find anyone to call me a liar or a cheater.
  10. We changed the way non-network DZs are listed at the bottom: http://proskydiving.com/skydive/IL
  11. I'm not sure where you are getting your figures from, but the only time we take 15% is for any transactions that originate on PROskydiving's website. We feel that this 3rd party fee is fair for business that we send to a participating DZ. If a customer books via the DZ's website, the fees are 4.9% - 5.9% (based on estimated annual volume) per transaction and we cover the credit card fees. Also, for any phone orders that are manually entered from the DZ admin side, there is no fee at all. www.PROskydiving.com/dzinfo Doug
  12. Our marketing plans do not include the internet. We want to sponsor events, take out magazine ads, TV ads, things that will get people thinking about skydiving and generate new business. If they want to Google a DZ near them, that's great, if they end up going to PROskdiving to locate a network DZ, that's fine too. Currently, the internet is the only place we are marketing our industry. That works well for people who know that they want to go skydiving. What about the people who don't even know there's a DZ 20 - 30 miles from their house?
  13. It's not worth me trying to sway your opinion of our business model, but I would like to clarify a couple of things. One, yes, we stand to generate some revenue from this, but in return, we will be marketing skydiving on the national level and ultimately increasing the skydiving exposure so everyone involved benefits. Advertising on that level does not come free. Second, you have to trust someone at some point. If you guys know anything about me and my operation, I have a pretty good reputation as an honest businessman. That is not going to change. Third, if you click the name of the DZ on any dropzone page, there is a link back to the DZ's website - http://proskydiving.com/skydive/il/locations/chicagoland-skydiving-center I encourage everyone to educate themselves on our business model before casting judgement. I can be reached anytime to discuss this further, but would rather not use this medium. It's not the most uplifting place for me to visit when people are comparing me to SkyRide.
  14. Many DZs are currently taking a form of online reservations. Some of them are taking credit cards via the web without any security and none of them have a back-end system to manage the content that comes from these sources. We are simply offering DZs a secure method to take online reservations from their own websites. For the percentage we take, we are giving them use of our system as well as national marketing exposure. If you don't understand or appreciate our business model, I am sorry. We are quite proud of it.
  15. You're never going to get DZOs to admit they're taking them, besides, most DZOs don't read these threads. I know I don't, but I wanted to address this one to make sure the information that is being spread about my company is accurate. I'm not proud of dealing with SkyRide, but I have to pay the bills.
  16. I don't understand your post. Skydive Midwest is only about an hour north of us and takes SkyRide.
  17. I meant that 56% of our total revenue in 2009 was generated online. I personally do not see any similarity between the PROskydiving business model and SkyRide. We are not a booking service (unless they choose to book on PROskydiving.com), but rather an online reservation solution for the skydiving industry. We don't deal with the customers directly - all of the information is managed by the DZ and the customer never talks to anyone from PRO. The customer knows they are dealing with a 3rd party from the minute they start the process. If they don't like it, they can click right thru to the DZ's website. If your DZ would like to streamline their internal operation and push reservations out to their website, we can help. If they don't, that's fine.
  18. Sorry, I was out all weekend. MY DZ is in the same situation that most DZs are in. Yes, we do take SkyRide GCs at my DZ, but only because we can't afford to let all of the business go to the competing DZs. Unfortunately, this is what keeps SkyRIde going, but at the end of the day, we all need the business to keep those expensive turbine aircraft running for you guys. Doug
  19. PROskydiving's goal is not to become the highest ranked website in the industry and get between potential customers and dropzones. We are creating tools to help dropzones become more streamlined so they can work smarter, not harder. At this stage of the game, we have not implemented any national marketing campaigns, but when we do, we hope to be sponsoring events, athletes, wrapping over-the-road trucks, national magazine ads, etc - advertising that individual DZs could never afford on their own, nor would they even want to advertise a local business all over the country. PROskydiving allows us to market nationally and drive business locally. We do take a small cut of every tandem that books, but only when our payment processing system is used. In other words, if the DZ books someone via the phone and enters the customer into the PROskydiving reservation system and does not use our payment system, there is no fee at all. In reality, a DZ could opt in to this system, use it internally and pay no fees whatsoever. We spent over $75,000 to build this system and we're willing to share it for free. That's how confident we are that our tools will be welcomed by the overworked DZ staff. As for hiring someone to answer the phones, that could be effective, but over the past three years, my DZ has gone from 28% online sales to 56%. The consumer expects the ability to book online and get everything done without picking up the phone. Regardless of your thoughts, that's where business is going. If DZs don't get on-board in some way, they risk losing everything. We're not saying they have to join our network, but hopefully everyone will see the advantage. Doug
  20. Trust me, we are very aware of the collective bad taste that SkyRide has left in the industry, but we have designed this system to be the absolute opposite of everything they are. I am a DZO, so I know what tools we need to be effective in bringing business through the door. I actually disagree with your theory that small DZs do not need PROskydiving. Most small DZOs have a cell phone attached to their heads all day long talking to customers, taking reservations, etc. This system will help minimize phone calls (in frequency and duration) while giving them a pre-packaged e-commerce solution to be competitive within and outside of the skydiving industry. Within minutes, any DZ can turn their static, informational website into a 24-hour business tool allowing them to be more attentive to the customers who are on the DZ. We do not want to force this system on anyone, that's why we put links to all of the DZs under the "non-PROskydiving Dropzones" category. Everyone benefits from PRO. If a DZ wants to take advantage of all of the tools, they can. It's their call. I can only tell you how effective it's been for Chicagoland Skydiving Center. In 2009, more than 50% of our total revenue was generated from online sales. Doug
  21. Dave, You have the right to speak your opinion, but you clearly do not understand our business model. I am available to discuss it further and help you understand how we have created a tool to help DZs become more streamlined and profitable. www.PROskydiving.com/dzinfo Doug
  22. Thanks for the info. Hartwood is off the list. If anyone sees any inaccurate info on PROskydiving, please let us know. Check us out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicago-IL/PROskydiving/270911497610?ref=ts
  23. Skydive Greene County is listed as a non PROskydiving DZ at the bottom of the Ohio page. We would like to have them on the network. http://proskydiving.com/skydive/OH
  24. Thank you for the feedback. We are updating the system now. As for the age authentication, that is verified when they arrive at the DZ when they arrive. Keep it coming. We want the feedback.