Welcoming in The New Year

A Few More Refreshing Changes

Web

I have spent the last few days with some developers working on the new website, which has been in the works for a short while. We plan to go live by the first of April or earlier, with something we know will please our membership. Let’s face it, our surveys and analytics tools showed us that the actual site was barely used so it was more than time to bring this instrument up to speed and in line with our mission.  Along with our wealth of information, our guides, our advocacy and places to fly, look for the site to be a lot more interactive, fed regularly (if not daily) with news and updates, more photos and videos, being more intuitive, more informative and a lot more fun. As we make better use of technology, I would urge you to make sure your member profile is updated with all your correct information and more specifically, your language preferences.

Staff

Mid-December of last year, our new Manager of Operations Michel Cordeau joined our team. Since then, we have been flooding the poor guy with information and he says he enjoys it!  Other than getting familiar with just about everything at COPA, Michel’s first task is to look at developing, harmonizing and getting approved by Transport Canada (TC), a series of rust remover seminars that could be given across the country at our Copa Flights.

As I write this he is not in yet but as you read it, our Manager of Government Affairs, Carter Mann, will have been sitting at his desk in our office for a few weeks already. I can tell you that Carter is just as excited to be here as we are of having him join the team.  Both he and Michel will be working hard in giving compelling membership value, promoting general aviation, developing and maintaining collaborative relations.  Why not give them a call?  They are there for you.

Advocacy – aerodrome consultation

The law has changed last January first and new aerodrome proponents now have to consult before their aerodrome can see the light of day. COPA has prepared an explanation sheet and a form for those that want to make their existing aerodrome known. We encourage you to do so, for different purposes but mostly for the upcoming phase of the consultation process, where entities wanting to setup what could be considered obstacles would have to consult with aerodromes.  In order to do so, it’s certainly helpful to know where these aerodromes are.  Find the documents on our website or call us at the office.

What’s next

Still a lot of work to be done with our advocacy initiatives and with the strategic plan; planning a few group flying trips, preparing the 2017 COPA convention in Kelowna and getting a lot closer to all through our COPA Flights.

Give me your feedback at bgervais@copanational.org.