2009 - Spotting Weekend Wrap and Thank You's

[Kurt A]

Time is really flying, as it's almost 2 weeks since we held our 7th Sydney Airport Spotting Weekend. So much time and effort goes into making these events really worthwhile and fun for everyone; a great chance for each of you to meet up or catch up with your fellow Aviation Friends, Spotters and other enthusiasts or just your mates.

The event has been taken to greater heights each year, increasing attendee numbers, more exposure via promotions, greater support from Large Aviation Companies, and other Industry related vendors. So to that effect, I’d like to take a moment to recognise all who have helped and contributed in some way to make the 09 Spotting Weekend a great success.

Thanks firstly to Sydney Airports Corporation Limited, for allowing the Sydney Airport Message Board to create and hold such an event on the Sydney Airport grounds. We’ve always been very pro-active with our communication to SACL, and we’ve never had any concerns from their team. We’re very appreciative of their support and relationship.

The Australian Federal Police came to our party this year, and were very proactive towards the success of our event. Their plan from the start was to ensure that our event was able to go ahead with the least amount of hassle from the Security presence at Sydney Airport. I thank Snr Constable David Cattell and Federal Agent Jason Legge in particular who made themselves available during the Saturday Spotting Festivities, clearly from a non-threatening point of view to talk and discuss Security issues and others things with the spotters on Shep’s Hill. I’m sure many benefited from their talks.

We were also greatly honoured and very pleased to welcome David and Sergeant Scott Willis along to present at our Annual Dinner and Trivia Night gathering. Their presentation was based around future plans at Sydney Airport to potentially integrate a Spotting Program in collaboration with all Security Agencies operating at Sydney Airport. Great interest from all present was formed which generated quite a conducive and meaningful discussion during question time.

Recent events have allowed us to get a 'foot' in the door so to speak, and certain important relationships have now formed. These plans and relationships will hopefully help the overall 'spotting' experience at Sydney Airport and others into the future. This is something very positive for all Aviation Enthusiasts in Australia, and I hope to be able to bring you more information on the progression of such plans in the near future.

Yet again, we are truly happy and grateful to Andrew McLaughlin and the Australian Aviation team for joining the Sydney Airport Message Board again this year. Their support in prize offerings alone has been second to none. Whilst Andrew might be quite the ‘Aviation Enthusiast’ himself, we’re still very happy and appreciate that he was able to join us on the Saturday at Shep’s Hill and also during our Annual Dinner and Trivia Night gathering. The forum is very fortunate to have Andrew as an active member also, and we’re keen to maintain the great relationship we have with his organisation.

We were very lucky and once again super pleased to have Robin Hickman from Aircraft Tracking Avionics in Melbourne join us at the Spotting Weekend this year. Robin brought along and demonstrated his Kinetic SBS-1e receiver which was able to track inbound and outbound aircraft at Sydney Airport in real-time on his laptop for display. This is yet another dynamic feature of the Spotting Weekend and attracts a different and more unique enthusiast to the fenceline. So it was great to be able to offer this as another varied interest amongst those that attended. I thank Robin for his commitment.

Special thanks also to Mark Taylor who made himself and his SBS Radar and laptop available for the Sunday viewing.

These days, a Spotting Weekend without a good humorous crowd and an Aussie barbie isn’t quite complete. I must commend Chopper Mal and David Morrell for putting on a great BBQ during both the Saturday lunch and Sunday brunch. A sterling preparation and cooking effort by both ensured all were suitably fed and watered during what was a really stinking hot weekend. Stephen Brown with Mal's support and Scott Lindsay also kindly brought along some large shades for us to take respite underneath during the day, these were truly most handy. Thanks for all your support guys, I really appreciate all your work, and I’m sure those that were fed, do also!

Frank and Phil over at Airside Tarmac Tours were again very accommodating and all too keen to offer our Spotting Weekend attendees a rather reduced rate to enjoy a magnificent Tarmac Tour, which ended up going over 2hours. I thank them for their ongoing support. We provided 37 attendees from the Spotting Weekend which equated to close to 90% of all those on the bus, and I know for sure that Frank and Phil thank us for our Support. Having recently spoken to Phil, he for one really enjoyed the tour and the enthusiasm shown by those on the bus, so thumbs up to those who went along.

We held the Annual Dinner and Trivia Night gathering at the Saint George Rowing Club again this year, and we really appreciate them accommodating our group. I’m able to hire out their function room for our event at no cost each year, so we’re truly blessed to have that relationship with them. The meals were great as always, and although unfortunately some waited longer than others to be fed, organising 50+ meals in less than 40 minutes is not too bad. Sometimes things don’t go as smooth as we all like, but I know for sure everyone was fed in the end, so that’s the main thing. The location is certainly a plus and the atmosphere always enjoyable.

The Trivia Contest and Awards Presentation was then held after dinner and was a huge success. I’m very pleased to report that we had 50 people present during the post dinner festivities. Thanks to all that came along, I hope you had a wonderful time. Thanks to all involved and congratulations to all winners and nominees. You can read more about those events in the Spotting Weekend parent thread.

A huge thanks goes out to Virgin Blue and their fantastic Public and Media Relations group. Virgin Blue were our major supporter of this year's Spotting Weekend and contributed massively by providing us with our major Lucky Door Prize - 1 Return Ticket from Sydney to anywhere on the Virgin Blue Domestic Network. This prize was drawn towards the end of the evening and was won by Murray Hudson from Sydney. Congratulations and enjoy your flight.


Will Tidmarsh - Founder, Murray Hudson - Prize Winner, Kurt Ams - Administrator. Photo: Avid Creations

The ‘Voice on Q’ Mr Trevor Sinclair was also very kind to support the event again this year. Whilst working his evening show on Vega95.3FM, Trevor gave the Spotting Weekend some ‘air-time’ in the week leading up to the event. We’re also very lucky to have Trevor ‘onboard’ so to speak, as he’s even an active member of the forum. Cheers for the plugs.

One man behind the scenes who should not go unrecognised in any way, is David Knudsen. Dave was responsible for the Website Design, all my Website updates and last minute changes to content to ensure all those that visited the site were truly left well informed. Thanks for the support Dave and putting up with me, and as the traffic stats suggests... it was a job well done.

Hopefully I haven't forgotten anyone.. and if I have, I do apologise.

So lastly, but definitely not least.... my right hand man throughout the organisation of this Spotting Weekend was Stephen Brown from Newcastle. I truly thank him for his ongoing support and late nights endured on Skype to ensure this year’s weekend was just as a success as every other previous weekend we’ve been happy to organise. His attention to detail and pro activeness during the preparation helped me get through the important things that I needed to organise to make sure we were all go. He was instrumental in the preparation of the presentations for both the Trivia and the Message Board Awards night, and if you were present on the Saturday evening, you could appreciate his work.

Both Stephen and I sincerely enjoy putting on these weekends for you, and we really appreciate your support, so I truly thank all those that were able to come and enjoy the weekend with us, especially those that travelled interstate. I hope you all had a great time. I am confident we'll be able to host many more fun and successful Spotting Weekends and gatherings into the future. Along with all our Industry friends, I'm certain we're well positioned from a support perspective when it comes to any social events we plan.... so I’m looking forward to a bright 2009/10.

Kind Regards

[Stephen Brown]

Thanks Amsy, pleasure to help out and make the weekend a success.

I've already got some big ideas for the next one....

[Matthew Chisholm]

Great effort guys.

[Jayden Laing]

When is the next Sydney spotting weekend. As this is my final year at school, im hoping to make the next one if it is next year sometime.

Cheers,
Jayden

[Mick F]

2 years time.

Mick

[Nigel C]

Unless, of course, you want to do the organising yourself Jayden....

[David M]

Great weekend as always Amsy.... well worth the trip over this time to catch up with mates and see a few A380's flying!

2 years time.

...or quite possibly every 18 months so we can get some shots of morning winter light!

David.M.

[Tony G]

Thanks all involved in the event. I managed to attend the airport tour ( It is still a buzz the third time around). First time I have been on there when they pull up near 34L and sit there for a while at a point of rotation for most aircraft, shame you cant take photos. Great day. Thanks again Admin staff for adding me one.