YO! From Philly, the home of the Liberty Bell, Cheese Steaks and Rocky, Tamson and I hope that all the members of the LPBA and their co-pilots have had a good Summer. I hope that Past President Gina Constant and Jesse have been able to get some much-deserved rest since she left office after the Summer Convention in Seattle. What a wonderful conference it was, Tremendous CLEs, Beautiful city, awesome food and even better camaraderie.

In the aviation world, with Fall and Winter comes cooler denser air optimizing both lift and engine performance. This fact also provides the perfect analogy and segway into discussing my plans for my term as Pilot-in-Command of the LPBA. My intent in the coming months is to use our resources on hand (a buzz term for our membership) and its collective institutional knowledge to move LPBA’s VSI to show a positive rate of climb. So, you might ask, Adam, how do you intend to do this? The answer is that I intend to surround myself with the best people possible.  We already have a great Executive Committee with President Elect Jim Wade, Secretary, Jared Allen, Treasurer Bruce Marshall, and of course our Past President Gina Constant. In addition, we have a very accomplished Board, and an Emeritus Counsel of past presidents whose experience base is deep and wide.

However, like most other organizations LPBA has faced membership recruitment and retention challenges which of course have a direct impact on our convention attendance and financials. While our finances are still healthy and the quality of our Conventions has not been impacted, attendance has. This topic was the subject of a healthy discussion during our Executive Committee, Board and General Membership meetings. We face both a shrinking and aging pilot population and the intersection on the attorney/pilot Ven Diagram has also gotten smaller. Nelson Mandela said, “Times Change, We Need to Change as Well.”  Times have indeed changed and so I am taking a step beyond our hard-working Executive Committee and Board to ensure that LPBA makes the appropriate changes to stay relevant with the times and ensures our viability into the future. In aviation the best chance to conduct a successful flight always starts with a plan. What is our destination or goal? What environmental conditions will we encounter? And what are the limitations and capabilities of our aircraft? To that end I am creating an Ad Hoc LPBA Strategic Planning Committee, to be chaired by Past Presidents Hon. Darrell Clay and Frank Steinberg. The Strategic Planning Committee will be charged with the task of presenting the EC and Bboard of Directors with a recommended flight plan for the future of LPBA. Some of the areas the Committee will address will include membership, including making LPBA attractive to those with young families, succession planning, Convention structure, cooperation with other similar aviation legal groups, working with aviation industry stake holders and leadership development. My plan is to include a broad range of LPBA constituencies to be represented.

From my view over the cowl the keys to ensuring LPBA’s continued viability and success can be reduced to three (3) areas. They are 1) Membership, 2) Convention structure, and finally 3) Membership.  So, in a world of fewer and fewer pilots how do we keep our membership at sustainable levels. Well, besides our spectacular Journal, the camaraderie of our organization is in my mind the key to membership. I think anyone who has attended a convention will tell you the same. How do we build camaraderie? We attend conventions where we learn together, break bread together and live by the motto “what happens in hospitality stays in hospitality!”  To that end, one of my major goals is to make coming to LPBA conventions more affordable but at the same time holding conventions at spectacular properties in exciting locations. I look forward to welcoming younger families to LPBA as they are truly the future of the organization.

With this in mind and with the invaluable help and guidance from my amazing wife Tamson and our dedicated Executive Director Karen, we have a fantastic Winter Convention planned. The Winter Convention will be March 12-15 in Louisville Kentucky! We will be staying at the 21C Museum Hotel in the heart of Louisville and right at the start of the Urban Bourbon Trail. The 21C is a wonderful boutique hotel as well as a museum chocked full of Art. The hotel bar ‘Proof on Main’ has been named by several sources including Garden & Gun magazine, The Courier Journal, Bourbons Bistro.com and The Bourbon Review, as one of the best Bourbon Bars in the Country. Our opening dinner will be at the amazing Fraizer History Museum just a block and a half away from the hotel. It also happens to be the official start of the very walkable Urban Bourbon Ttrail on which you can tour and sample whiskeys at several in- town distilleries. Lest you think that bourbon is all there is to do in Louisville, the city is a foodie city as well with, steak houses, seafood Sea food bars, Cuban and Creole restaurants. Tamson is planning great activities for the spouses, aka co-pilots, which may include a shopping and cocktail making excursion to LuLu, the vibrant and young artsy section of town. A book club, puppy yoga and tours. There are historic homes to see and if you are a sports fan visit the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum just a block from the Hotel, the Muhamad Ali Center and Boxing Museum, and of course Churchill Downs, the home of the most exciting two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby. Most spots in the city are not more than an Uber ride of less than $10.00. The best way I can sum up Louisville is that I went for the bourbon and came away loving everything! Tamson who is not a whisky fan (I’m still working on that) was pretty skeptical and before we even left from our site visit proclaimed, “this City is amazing, we are having the Convention in Louisville!”

I look forward to a great year for LPBA and please know that I am always happy to hear from members with questions, concerns or suggestions.

Tail Winds
-Adam Zucker