Nomad

Skydive Suffolk's Annual Spring boogie will be held on May 17-19 It will be co-sponsored by TroopSwap The theme is 'Murica so make sure to display your pride! There will be FREE LOADS!!!! on Friday starting 12pm. Organizers: Freefly: Amy Chmelecki, James "Punisher" Flaherty more to come. RW: Joost Luysterburg, Billy Busi, more to come Planes: Casa and Pac 750XL Vendors! Registration: $25 online pre registration $30 at the event www.skydivesuffolkspringboogie.eventbrite.com $20 registration for non jumpers (Anyone is welcome to attend and spectate, but to be included in meals, parties, beer and receive a boogie T-Shirt none jumpers will need to register) Saturday Events: - Come jump with the Wounded Warriors! - Free lunch by Chick-Fil A - BBQ dinner by the one and only Cravin Raven included with registration. - RedBull team will be out so come watch them or Jump with them. - RedBull tent will be setup with lounging and free RedBulls. - REDBULL GIRLS!!!! will be handing out free RedBull through out the day. Music/live entertainment all day. TV stations will be out to cover the event, you know what that means. After hours Shenanigans there will be be beer and costumes.... 'nuff said. Accommodation: For all of you fancy people there are a couple of hotels 5 miles away from the Airport, Contact Lacey for skydiver rates. For those planing to camp, we will open up the old DZ on the other side of the airport for camping, short walk from the current hanger. There is plenty of room for everybody. B-License minimum to jump at the boogie! More details will be added, get excited people this will be AWESOME! https://www.facebook.com/events/529175573771802/ All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

The real complaint is that competitors are being restricted in their own time and space. I for one have never asked for a free for all, that will never work. Official sponsors receive the signs, print, bags, all over the DZ etc etc. Sponsors of the teams receive a much smaller return(i.e. packing tent logos, pull up cords in said tent, vendor reps with the athletes) for a much smaller output(team fees). Major sponsors would NEVER pay the outrageous official sponsors fees from this year, because the cost per head is far to high. And major dollar will never come into the sport via team sponsorship if team are only allowed small logos on their person. You seems to be skipping over reading my posts when you say you haven't heard of anyone being harmed. Cause from where I'm sitting nationals directly caused a skydiver to loss a sponsorship deal. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Oh, so PD can run over to Minute Maid Park and set up their tent on the concourse? You know that's not true. That's what I'm trying to convey.*** I can't speak for others, but my issue has never been about them charging a sponsorship fee, that is standard, acceptable practice for events from local fairs to the Superbowl. My problem is that Spaceland enacting rules that restricted what sponsor skydivers are allowed to do in their own, PAID FOR(i.e. entry fees, if PD paid them or your team, or the individual paid them they still paid) space and on their own time. So while I don't know what Minute Maid park is or what is hosted there... No, I would not expect a skydiver to be able to go over and set up shop and receive signage placement for free. But if he/she was sponsored by Sunny D and involved in an event at Minute Maid park I would expect them to be allowed there Sunny D set up to follow them inside. Businesses need to make money to survive, we aren't a bunch of commune hippies trading love and flowers for free skydiving and brownies. My issue is not with Spaceland charging a sponsorship fee. If they feel *$,000k is a fair amount and the Official sponsors felt they received a good ROI, then rock on Spaceland. But they should not be shutting off the unofficial sponsors, via entry fees/other dz revenue, by restricting athletes in an unprecedented and equitable way. Nationals would not happen and/or we would not have the skill level we do in this country if every skydiver paid out of pocket for training and competition. These restrictions are unreasonable, will discourage sponsorsm and will hurt all competition in the end. I also agree that this is the USPA nationals and while Spaceland was in the wrong for these rules, they were simply a host and USPA should have ruled against this policy the moment it was presented. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

OHH OHHH Pick me!!! I did. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Yes, you paid less because there were a whole lot more sponsors footing their share of the bill, making it possible to spread the cost burden lighter among all. Imagine that! When a business is trying to break even and can only gather a handful of sponsors, the cost is going to be greater. You're comparing apples to oranges here. AND the sponsors that do decide to pay their advertising money to sponsor event expect some level of exclusivity, otherwise they'd have no reason to sponsor the event other than out of the kindness of their hearts (not a good business plan by the way). Sure, in a perfect world, we all sing Kumbaya and every manufacturer contributes to both sponsor skydivers and the event and the skydivers, in return support the sponsors through purchases of equipment and goods and the DZ is just there to provide a happy environment and planes so everybody can be happy and they don't care if they make any money. Well, welcome to the real world and capitalism. Businesses strive to make money. Businesses spend their sponsorship $$ where they think it will benefit them. Athletes/people that provide investment return to sponsors get sponsored. Events/businesses that provide investment return get sponsored. Those that don't, DON'T. If people would spend more time and energy figuring out how they could earn their sponsorship dollars (oh, and many, many do), instead of bitching about something or somebody that got in their way by protecting their own interests, then they'd probably be more productive.......if they truly have something to offer for their sponsorship. Times have changed. Rules have changed. Time to adapt and overcome.......or go un-sponsored. *** Official sponsors receive exclusively and certain perks, placement etc that none official sponsor do not. No question in any event anywhere that this is standard practice. What is NOT standard practice in any major sponsored event is limiting what sponsored athletes do on there own time, in there own space. We have been discussion the issue of not letting sponsor jumpers represent those companies who paid sponsorship dollar/ provided product to get teams to nationals. When you pay a fee you receive the right to what ever the event may offer, be it placement in a bag, signage, mike time, sponsored parties, vendors booth and space etc etc. Those who do not pay this fee by chose but have sponsored teams are limited to the athlete area for there logos, giveaway. They are still paying and making the event happen but in a smaller financial way and thus get a smaller ROI. So in fact your statement and correlation to a major sporting stadium is wrong. And hey it's really cool you know what major sporting events I've sponsored, for what brands, and how many sponsors there are! I would love to know that trick as it would come in really handy at my contract negotiations. Times have changed, the rules as of this moment at nationals are now out of line with ANY other major sponsored event... if you can find one that doesn't operate as outlined above i'll change my tune. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

I see this as a naive thing to ask. Let's say Joe is on "Team Buffalo Snot" sponsored by "Buffalo Snot Lube, Inc" And say their sponsorship consisted of Jumpsuits, Packing Tent, and registration and jumps only at events. Just to throw out a number let's say $10,000. They don't directly compete with any other vendor at the event but we can all use a good lube, right? Now if the tent won't be advertising their product, their advertising bang for buck just took a nosedive. If future sponsorship is already in question do you think it would be wise for Joe to throw the company name into the line of fire for such a stink storm? I wouldn't in their case. HUH?! Like I said....WHAT ACTUAL TEAM got hurt by this policy??? You can throw out 'what if's' all day, if they have no real world pertinence...why bother? It's naive to post 'chicken little' predictions without having any facts to predicate the theory. I did make it down to the Nationals a few times and spoke with members of several teams...the consencus was, it's a non-issue. They ALL did however, comment on how well the event was/is being run and the high quality of the staff & facility. This whole 'partner protection' hurting the Nationals...is a dead issue. *** Untrue. Real world, first hand; I was attempting to get a skydiver sponsored by a major, none-skydiving related company. Marketing deck and time lines were based on the ability of the athlete to rep at nationals both this year and beyond; the company was on board and ready to move forward until the ability to rep at nationals was taken away. Still working for this so I won't say it's completely dead, but HUGE problems were caused directly because of 'partner protection'. Time and momentum have been lost when we were trying to bring a new company in with there first ever sponsored skydiver. Absolutely NOT a dead issue. With the sponsorship fees they required wrap your head around this; companies were spending approximately .29cents per USPA skydiver across the country on this marketing effort. I have paid sponsorship dollars to get my brand on major TV sporting events, over 4 days, for less total cost. Absolutely ridiculous and much better ways to proceed for the benefit of all in this sport, rather than the pockets of few. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

(disclaimer i haven't read all 5 pages and i posted this on blue skies mag thread as well) It's disheartening to read something like this. I work in PR, Marketing and Sponsorship development for main stream companies. In their eyes USPA national is the 'high profile' event of the year for skydiving, World level is icing on the cake. At a time in our sport when main stream sponsors are opening up to the idea of supporting our professional athletes USPA should be working to expand and promote this interest, not squish it. Look at the interest and projects just over the summer, Revolution tea, Verizon's skydiver themed launch in San Fran, RockBand's official launch video to name just a few. These are major players with major dollars who should be encouraged to put money into our sport. Not to mention skydiving specific vendors. Say you have a decent suit, not even thinking of a new one, but after nationals you buy a new suit because you spoke with a vendor. You are adding money to our 'skydiving economy' growing that company and allowing them to slowing expand and produce better products at a lower cost. By sponsoring teams you are growing the competition culture and in exchange growing your company. Any company who sponsors anyone works with this mentality. I understand official vendors having booth space and certain exclusive rights. But to shut out logos on personal space and athlete promotion is unheard of in professional sports. Ever notice how in say skateboarding, at Rockstar sponsored events when a Monster riders is out you see his signs and banners? His trailers have logos? We are shutting out growth and progress of all for the pockets of a few. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

the queen of heart costume got me a few offers at the farm, you can borrow it Saturday and see if it works at the ranch?? maybe for you leave more to the imagination All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Hehe Miss Ann??? You in... All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

I think we were all trying to recover from the psycho punch :) I had my taste and ran away to my beer :0 All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Haha funnny you should mention the Nelson brothers... My first kissed was with a guy who plays with and is good friends with Gunner Nelson. my first kiss was with my high school best friend, known him for 5 years, I was 18 and he was 25. There had always been that "thing" between us but nothing had ever come of it. Finally one night we kissed, and kissed... and then i went to go home and we hugged and that was it. He moved to Cali a few weeks later for music and i visited then i started moving. We never dated or kissed after that but he is still one of the dearest people in my life and every time I hang up the phone with him I think " damn it I love that kid". I got so very lucky. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtfdwYOijug [/url] All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

I'm sorry diddy... I didn't realize everything should be decided by how many black people someone has governed. absolutely changing my vote now. Guess all the racial diversity in Alaska with the natives inuit or eskimos isn't really diversity since there are no black people... guess America really is white or black. So latino, indian, islander, asian etc etc etc they are all white since they aren't black. But agreed.. kinda funny video.. sad how many kids will listen All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Just FYI.. i'm a she not a he :) You know it happens, with the facial hair and all.... OMG! -- I'm sorry for being clueless! I don't think I ever even looked at the avatar, actually! Seriously, I apologize! It's ok I still like you; but not thinking chicks are dude might help with that sex thing All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

"Yea, and that will get me HMO care that allows me to pay thousands in co-pays.... NICE. So 300 a month doesn't get me heathcare, just the resemblance of it." Actually no, full benefits, $50 co-pay. At 21 years old I had a job that gave me Anthem Blue cross with a $25 co-pay and $500 deductible on major medical. I can certainly give you the name of this company and maybe they can hire you and solve your problem. Once again, if you are in poor health already and can not obtain medical care then you can deal with the mistake of your past. And if you are still in good health blue cross has wonderful plans with small co-pays and full coverage if you choose to spend you money on such. This is still and always will be, an issue of chose. Plenty of people live without advanced medical care, they might not live as long, or they might live longer, but it is a personal chose how to treat and approach illness. You choose to want medical coverage and to see a doctor for small and large issues, correct? I chose not to. And i'm sorry but aren't you on a skydivers forum... if you can't afford thousands of dollars in medical you deem necessary for your survival how did you afford $3,000plus dollar to get into our sport, and the hundreds it take to maintain reserve packs and lift tickets? You have money then, but once again, you CHOOSE not to spend it on health care. "Owed. Whatever. It is the duty of a government to care for its people, unless you are a member of the Nazi-fascist, pig-loving US of A. The rest of the industrialized world is wrong and we are right. Given to you by the party that spends as much on the military as therest of the world. FUCKING BRILLIANT." Amazing... I have intimate knowledge, as all Americans should, of the principles and charters our country stand on and it says nothing about providing health care. You are OWED the right to be safe and to pursue a fulfilling life; Nothing else. So let me ask you this, other than whining on a forum what have you done to remedy this situation you seem to find so appalling. You haven't left for a country with universal care that you agree with, so how are you changing the system here, please tell us? All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Absolutely agree... previous post was sarcasm. If you want health care alter your own personal lifestyle an it can be easily achieved; don't ask others to provide for you what you can provide yourself. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Just FYI.. i'm a she not a he :) You know it happens, with the facial hair and all.... All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

wait.. are we asking someone to alter their lifestyle, and give up a precious commodity of post whoring in order to provide what they deem a basic need? The audacity!! All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Then you have a few options 1) Drop your cell phone and internet, and/or expensive hobbies, and buy decent health care. Between $175 to $300 should do it. Or switch jobs, even career fields, to a company who provides full benefits. Starbucks give medical for all full time and certain part time positions. 2) Or live a healthy lifestyle and don't go to doctor except in major medical situations. Save money every month, or buy a major medical plan... So see the solution to your problem is quite simple. You'd like to make it a complex social issue but it truly is not. Personal responsibility, along with a bit of protectiveness, and all is well. If you truly feel you are owed medical care then please explain who hurt you/gave you an illness and lets go find them and make them pay for your treatment. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

I was just as baffled; I'm 22 and saw people who lived through JFK, mult wars, and the civial right movement completely disregard our wonderful country. And at an event hailed as historic and in line with JFK's famous DNC speech. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

So... what countries have you lived in with universal health care? And did you ever have to use such health care, because i've been there, done that, and I don't want it here. Second largest city in a industrial European nation and the care was awful. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

I was sitting in the stadium and it took every ounce of control not to start booing. That and the comment about better funding for our troops, as his record displays something very contrary. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

Man... my simple question sure started a firestorm. "Now, if I were a true American like you, I would close my eyes and love everything American, killing overseas w/o legitimate provacation, Imperialism and the sort. I'm not, I'm one of those silly liberals and if I were alive in the early civil rights era I would have fought for civil rights at some level, unlike the true American conservative, promoting it." Funny how you pretend to know my feelings or intent; all from my asking if anyone else made the same observation I did. And by all means, if you disagree with America, her anthem, and what we as a nation stand for... you've heard it before i'll say it again... leave.

Before I could even entertain the thought of a discussion with you please learn the correct usage and meaning of semantic. Which I assume was a typo of semantics; although it still has no relative meaning. Guess there weren't any other skydivers there eh? Although I completely disagree with Obama's views, it was amazing to be at the DNC. Conventions are always crazy and electric but this convention was especially charged. And Invesco field was packed, took us 3 hours to get out. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.

I was there last night.. and while the speech was epic and eloquent, at times, it was about Utopia. Grandeur abound.. with no substance. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost.