Volunteer photographers needed at AirVenture Oshkosh

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

We?re looking for volunteers for the Awards group at AirVenture as our core group ages and succession planning becomes less and less hypothetical.

All of the volunteers we?re looking for need to make multi-year commitments ? there?s enough of a learning curve that we can't train a new crew every year. And we work long and hard, too, from the Sunday before AirVenture formally starts till Saturday night. Equally important, we enjoy each others? company and enjoy interacting with all the guests attending AirVenture.

One kind of volunteer we?re looking for is homebuilt airplane photographers. These volunteers need to have basic photography skills such as you?d get in a formal class, a little bit of skill to tweak the photos on the computer from time to time, and the patience to rename the photos for easier sorting. Most importantly, though, these photographers need to be airplane people ? it?s not hard to tell the difference between pictures taken by airplane people and pictures taken by plain old commercial photographers. So we need people who really know homebuilts, all kinds of homebuilts, people who can walk up to pretty much any homebuilt, even the old ones, and quickly spot what?s interesting, and who also have a judge?s eye for workmanship. (No, we don?t do the judging.) And of course, really fun incidental photos are part of the job, too.

One or two of those volunteers will also make powerpoint presentations of the homebuilt award winners for that ceremony.

The other kind of volunteer we?re looking for is a proofreader, somebody who is slightly gonzo (or more) about all kinds of airplanes, not just homebuilts, and can proof-read the text of the awards before the trophies are made. You should pick up on details like the difference between C-FABC and CF-ABC for Canadian planes; Cessna 180 vs C-180 vs C180. If you?re an airplane recognition fanatic and are rarely stumped by unusual aircraft at AirVenture, this could be you. This job happens mostly on Friday, and it is fast paced, high pressure, and intense ? deadlines must be met so that awards can be awarded.

We are also looking for volunteers who will in years to come lead this effort. Doing the job right will probably take two years of experience, minimum. We?re getting all the procedures written down, but still...

The reward for being one of these volunteers is free admission for the week, but mostly you?ll be working on the volunteer job. You?ll (probably) have time to go to an occasional forum or workshop, but mostly you?ll be taking or sorting pictures. In my opinion, it?s the best volunteer job on the field.

If you?re interested, PM me and we can talk at AirVenture.

Ed Wischmeyer
AirVenture Awards Chairman