... your zest for the industry, that is. Seriously. The annual NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, held this week in Phoenix, is unlike any other. The first thing that strikes any newcomer is the enthusiasm engulfing the event; the second is the relative ease in which one makes contacts.Â
The schedulers and dispatchers are those people responsible for routing and arranging services for corporate and Part 135 charter aircraft. While it’s their job to ensure quality aircraft and executive services at a destination, they themselves rarely see that destination firsthand. For fixed base operators and business airports in particular, this conference is a way to reach these vital cogs in the aviation wheel – to tout services, location, amenities. Besides FBOs, other exhibitors include Part 135s who supplement corporate flight department activities, and suppliers (fuel companies, scheduling software providers, etc.). Key to the event’s success is the policy of offering only 10x10-foot ‘tabletop’ exhibit spaces. Everybody’s on a level playing field when it comes to exposure.Â
The event has grown geometrically over the past decade, and again set records with more than 2400 total attendees and 351 exhibitors. The 2008 conference is scheduled for January 29-February 1 in Savannah. If corporates and 135s are the target, Schedulers & Dispatchers should be at the top of the marketing list.Â
Thanks for reading. jfi  Â
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