Value of airshows for recruiting

[RiverAux]

Over on another thread someone made a comment about not being terribly impressed with the return on investment for setting up an airshow recruiting booth.   I tend to agree with that. 

I've been heavily involved with setting up CAP booths at 2 major airshows (100K+ attendees) and 1 minor airshow and seen the results of other efforts by the local unit at the airshows in years where I haven't been in charge.  The quality of the CAP displays has varied from "Wow!" to "Whose little airplane is that sitting there by itself?".  While we usually end up talking with dozens of people, I've rarely seen more than 3 or 4 people actually follow up and attend a meeting.

Is it really worth the effort of flying in a couple of planes and scheduling a dozen or more CAP members to sweat out there on the flightline for two days for maybe 1 recruit? 

Now, if you restate the goal to just raise public awareness of CAP, they are somewhat more useful, but for that you've got to have a lot of stuff going on -- you need a major display that people will at least slow down to read.  You can only talk to so many people after all and just having a plane out there isn't enough to tell them who the heck we are. 

Now, historically airshows have been a major CAP recruiting venue and I'm sure there are units that have just raked in new recruits, but I haven't seen it.

[IceNine]

Airshow recruiting is in my experience, 30 members recruited, COMPLETELY different in the way that these people are handled.  A lot of the membership of this organization are people that know/knew someone, searched us out, saw us somewhere once but never asked.

Airshows are Active processes and you have 30 seconds to try and catch their attention before they move on to that awesome F22 sitting across the way from you.  So, what does all of this mean?

It means that you need to make them feel welcome right away. Introduce yourself, shake their hand, and get their name.  After you get their name USE IT, people don't like being forgotten quickly. 

Give them the nitty gritty of what CAP is, walk them through the pamphlet and hand them a business card.

Only ask questions once and then hold them to the answers throughout the conversation.  For instance

We have meetings on Tuesday evening from (insert times) at (insert location), We would really like you to come out and see what we are all about and have some more time to talk with you one on one.  Can we expect to see you? 

If they say yes, hand them a map and meeting times with contact information JUST IN CASE. 

This is also the time when you have them fill out the interest form.  Name, phone number, age (if a prospective cadet), occupation, and relevant experience.  These things help to ensure that they feel welcome when you get them to the meeting because you will have some things to talk about, without them telling you.

Before they leave the tent remind them that they can call/email with any questions and point to that information.  And SAY to them DO NOT ASK "Ok I'll see you on Tuesday @ (insert time)/ 

This has always worked like a charm for me for these types of activities.

[JohnKachenmeister]

Airshow recruiting has a value, identified by mfd, that varies with the skill and personality of the folks setting up and manning the display.  I have had medium success at recruiting at air shows, and (mfd's right again) almost all of the folks who joined already knew a little about CAP, and got a chance to talk to someone personally and in detail at the airshow.  I did recruit one cadet who had never heard of CAP, but that is, by definition, the exception.

I never thought to ask how many people had heard about CAP from another airshow, though.

But airshow support is good for things other than recruiting.  It is a good chance to enhance your Aerospace Education program using the LCWA method of instruction, and you can exercise your communications procedures, if you have enough radios.

One of my officers got a "Save" ribbon at an airshow when he saved an 8-year old's life by performing a Heimlich Maneuver on him, and last March our cadets earned some local respect with their immediate actions after a crash of a private jet during an aerobatics demonstration.

All things considered, airshow support is a worthwhile training/community service/recruiting activity.

(LCWA= Letting Cadets Wander Around)

[brasda91]

Give them the nitty gritty of what CAP is

Somewhere else I read that instead telling a prospective member a detailed description of everything we do, ask them what they are interested.  That way you can tailor your presentation/discussion to their interests.  If they're interested in the GT aspect, run with it.  No need to go knee deep into air ops.  I thought it sounded good.  I'm willing to try it during our next recruiting event.

[genejackson]

mfd,
You hit the nail on the nead about your intro's to the people and such comments as "I'll see you at xx:xxpm Tuesday?"    People want to be remembered and know their time and skills are valuable as well.

I have found Air Shows to be extremely valuable for recruiting.  I won't go into specific numbers except to say that I've personally recruited over 100 people to CAP in the past 11 years,  I've been an AirBoss at multiple Air Shows and we have the local CAP units set up recruiting and demo booths at each one.  Using the same approach as mfd commented on, we've had wonderful return on our time invested at the shows.   Following each event, we have seen an increase at every Squadron.   I tell all my Squadron Commanders within 100 or so miles to come join us, bring cadets to help with recruiting, flightline duty, etc and with the diverse crowds that come,  it seems every Squadron has somebody come join following the shows.  The other thing I've found to be very helpful is the local airport authorities find CAP to be more than cadets marching at meetings, etc.   They get a real view of our value.   Here in Danville VA, the airport manager is so pleased with what CAP brings to his airport that we are provided a 60x60 hangar with 4 offices, 2 classrooms, bathroom/kitchen and paid utilities for $25.00/month.  It was $175/month before we started helping each year with the AirShow.  Because of the support CAP provides this field, the Airport Manager dropped the rent.   Much easier to pay those rents with member dues now.

At another field (6V3), the airport manager was so pleased with CAP he started his own Squadron, is now the Squadron Commander and has had 30 new members this year alone.   Following the past 2 years AirShow at 6V3, (yes, I was his AirBoss),  the interest in CAP was fantastic thus all the growth there.   And that is now a mission base for me as well for any missions I might need to run in SW Virginia.

Airshows are definitely a plus for CAP.   My Group  is proof of that.   Over 250 new members in the past 3 years.   Good commanders who are people persons and not "good old boys",  ensuring we participate in local events where applicable, supporting Air Shows and getting good press out there about what we do.   

Like mfd said, you have to have good communication skills to get them to come back.  In my medical practice, if I don't maintain a good "bedside manner", my patients won't come back.   It's the return business and referrals that keep my practice growing.   Same thing in CAP.   If my S/CC's don't have a good "bedside manner" with their membership, they won't come back either.

Take every opportunity to talk CAP when you can.  It really works.

Gene

[IceNine]

Give them the nitty gritty of what CAP is

Somewhere else I read that instead telling a prospective member a detailed description of everything we do, ask them what they are interested.  That way you can tailor your presentation/discussion to their interests.  If they're interested in the GT aspect, run with it.  No need to go knee deep into air ops.  I thought it sounded good.  I'm willing to try it during our next recruiting event.

Throw that notion out of your head...

There is no value in a tailored presentation.  All that does in give people the impression that there is only one are of the program and they will then refuse the rest of them.

Every interested member MUST have the most basic understanding of ALL of our areas of participation.

So, tell them that we wear uniforms, and work with "kids", and work in search and rescue, and aerospace. 

Also tell them they will be working in all of these areas, so that there is no misconception, that they were recruited into the the CAP SAR Team, flying club, or babysitters club.

[floridacyclist]

A big thing to keep in mind is that it's not just about recruiting, it's about public awareness as well. The people you talk to may not join CAP, but often them knowing who we are and what we do may help....either as they refer someone to use or help us in other ways.

Last night my wife and I were having dinner with some friends and another couple when CAP got mentioned. The other guy (whom I did not really know) suddenly had a lightbulb look on his face. He said "You called me one day about a COPES course, right?" I was like...."uhhhhhhh....did I?". He went on to explain that he was the COPES director for the Scout council. I mentioned that we were helping with the aviation-themed Cub Scout Family Weekend next month and that some of our displays involved flight simulators, coordinating with local MEDEVAC choppers, an AE display and a mock SAR rescue with Cub Scouts tracking down a beacon and helping evacuate the (non-grotesquely) injured occupants. He said "Oh yeah, I saw that on the news where y'all did that exercise, that was pretty cool". I also mentioned that we had met with some folks about getting a course for the cadets in conjunction with the Cub Family Weekend. Before dinner was over, we had a promise to see if we could get both the COPES high and low ropes course for free in return for helping the Cub Scouts as well as an invitation to some of our older cadets to train as COPES instructors (we'll have to put that one through legal review).

Paydirt. Incidentally, while we won't be actively recruiting out of respect to the BSA, if some Cub Scout thinks we're cool and wants to join CAP when he turns 12, I won't chase him off either.

The same goes for airshow presence...often, just educating folks on who we are and what we do can have consequences far beyond new members showing up. We see this a lot in ham radio where folks need to be educated about the services performed so that the next time someone wants to put an antenna up in their neighborhood or complains about interference from broadband over powerlines, they at least know why such things should matter and that they're not just talking about a hobby. By the same token, whether they may join or not, folks need to know that A) CAP exists, and B) we're not just a rich boy's flying club.

[JC004]

A big thing to keep in mind is that it's not just about recruiting, it's about public awareness as well. The people you talk to may not join CAP, but often them knowing who we are and what we do may help....either as they refer someone to use or help us in other ways.
...

Absolutely.

[brasda91]

Give them the nitty gritty of what CAP is

Somewhere else I read that instead telling a prospective member a detailed description of everything we do, ask them what they are interested.  That way you can tailor your presentation/discussion to their interests.  If they're interested in the GT aspect, run with it.  No need to go knee deep into air ops.  I thought it sounded good.  I'm willing to try it during our next recruiting event.

Throw that notion out of your head...

There is no value in a tailored presentation.  All that does in give people the impression that there is only one are of the program and they will then refuse the rest of them.

Every interested member MUST have the most basic understanding of ALL of our areas of participation.

So, tell them that we wear uniforms, and work with "kids", and work in search and rescue, and aerospace. 

Also tell them they will be working in all of these areas, so that there is no misconception, that they were recruited into the the CAP SAR Team, flying club, or babysitters club.

This was my point:

Recruiting is sales...
Bob Haase

OK. You have the freshly mowed head, the spiffy uniform, and a really long list of the great things to do in CAP. You go to the local school, mall, or juvenile detention center looking for new recruits, and lo and behold, there they are! The conversation may go something like this...

"Are you guys in the Army?"
"No we're in the Civil Air Patrol. It's the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force."

"Oh."

"We do all kinds of things. We have weekly meetings where we learn about the military and airplanes. We have weekend activities where we camp, shoot off rockets, visit air museums, and march in parades. In the summer we have a thing called encampment where you live on a military base for a week, and we also have other activities like ranger school, flight schools, and PJOC where you learn about Air Force pararescuemen. Cadets who go far enough in the program can even get involved in IACE which is a program where cadets visit other countries and learn what cadets in those countries do. We even do search and rescue. It's really cool.

"Yeah, cool."



Then they walk away...

Why? Because you made one of the most common mistakes in sales- you tried to sell the product based on its features. The things listed above ARE really cool, but that doesn't mean they will spur someone to join up. Your recruit is just thinking "So what?"

"What do you mean, Major? That got ME to sign up". While that may be true, in recruiting, we need to grab the attention (and the commitment) of people who might not immediately see the benefits of weekend bivouacs or learning how to drill. I have recruited in large cities and tiny little towns. CAP has something for almost everyone. If you aren't pulling in 15 or 20 recruits at a school drive, you are probably not hitting them with the message they need to hear. They are all saying "So what." We need to get past the "So what".

How do we do this? By not focusing on the features of our program, and instead, focusing on the needs of our recruit. By learning the needs of that recruit, we will be able to show them the features of our program that will appeal to them and why they should join CAP.

Instead of just spewing lists of activities and benefits at the recruit, try to get to know them a little bit. A teen that is really into airplanes may not care about PJOC and ranger school. Some kid who wants to be a Navy SEAL may have no interest at all in color guard or visiting air museums. By talking WITH the recruit instead of AT them, you can target the conversation on the things that they ARE interested in instead of hitting them with everything you've got.

When hunting squirrel for dinner, a few pellets from a bb gun will be much better than a hundred from the shotgun. Sure you can hit the squirrel with both, but only one gives you something to work with afterward.

Moreover, once you learn where their interests lie, concentrate on that, not CAP. Let's say someone is interested in flying. Instead of saying "CAP has orientations flights, model rocketry, and AE classes. Come to a meeting so you can join", try to build an entire conversation that addresses what the recruit is interested in. Look at the program from their point of view. Maybe something like this...

"We have regular aerospace education classes which give you a good foundation of knowledge about how aircraft work. We have orientation flights where an experienced pilot will take you up and give you some real experience in the cockpit. Each of the 9 orientation flights is different so you get something new each time.
"Once you have been in CAP a while, you can become eligible for a flight academy. This is really cool because if you are on your toes, you can actually solo at the end of the week. It's intense ground school and air training, but it a great experience for someone who wants to be a pilot. It is also considerably cheaper than going to some local aviation school, especially if you can get a scholarship.

"Our AE officer can tell you more about that at our meeting. If you give me your phone number, I'll give you a call and arrange for you to be able to attend one of our meetings."

How do I gather that intelligence? This isn't a hard as it seems. You simply ask them what they are interested in. There are a few questions that I have found that can lead to a good recruiting pitch. Here are some examples in no particular order.

"Are you interested in the military?"
"What is your favorite subject in school?"
"Have you ever been flying?"
"How much CPR and first aid training have you had?"
"What clubs or organizations do you belong to?"
"What kind of survival training do you have?"

The answers to these questions will give you an opening to talk about how CAP does these things. I'm sure you could come up with some questions of your own. Now the answer to some of these may be completely negative. You may find that the person likes nothing that we do, but even that is valuable to you. Instead of boring some poor slug who couldn't care less, you can use your time to go after someone who WILL be interested.

More importantly, people respond when you take an honest interest in what they like or feel. When you ask them about their interests and show them how CAP could address those interests, you aren't someone who is just trying to sell a program. You are someone who is helping them fulfill their interests. That is going to win them over faster and more effectively than some rehearsed speech about things they don't care about.

[Stonewall]

I've seen terrible CAP displays (call them recruiting booths if you like) at air shows.  They have crap for a static "gear display" and often times the airplane, if there is one, isn't co-located with the rest of the recruiting team.

Another problem, is people try to recruit for their squadron and their squadron only.  Some of the larger air shows like Andrews,  Wright Patterson, or the Daytona Sea and Air Show, you need to be out there informing people about CAP, not a specific squadron.  Have a means for people to look up and find a local squadron.

The whole ES gear display is usually a joke.  You get some dude's gear made up of a angle-head flashlight clipped on to an LBE strap with a mangled looking buttpack, ACME first aid kit made in Korea and an orange whistle tied to a metal ring with dental floss, and you try to convince people that cadets truly are involved in real life search and rescue.

Sometimes people put squadron photo albums out for people to look at.  But it's kind of like telling a story to people who weren't there and don't quite understand the gist of the time/site specific comedic aspect of the story.

Backdrop displays.  They've got some good ones, but I don't know if they exist anymore.  But you'll see them halfassed put together without proper pictures or information affixed.

Model rocket display.  People want to touch things.  When visitors approach your booth and play with your crap, a model rocket may last all of one hour. 

TV with video?  Excellent idea, but playing a 4 minute video isn't good enough.  CAP used to have some hour long videos of NCSAs, the cadet program and the ES missions.  Something like that works to play off to the side, but you have to keep it running.

Demos.  Do a demonstration!  Have an ELT and L'Per and guide people through a mini-mission right there at your booth.  Have your most squared away cadet do it.  Someone who can benefit from some speech practice.  It's totally doable and gives something tangible for prospective members to witness. And if they aren't interested in joining, then one day when they run into you again they'll already know what you do.

There's right ways and wrongs ways to run a CAP booth at an air show.  Unfortunately I've run into more "wrong" than "right".

[IceNine]

Sounds like we need on of UK's famous Guide's...

I expect a draft copy in a week

[JC004]

Sounds like we need on of UK's famous Guide's...

I expect a draft copy in a week

Agree.  Get to typing, UK.   

[Stonewall]

I don't consider myself the authority at all.  To me, it's like how I say you can learn just as many lessons from a bad leader as you can from a good one.  Just don't do what the bad leader does and you'll avoid a lot of problems.

If you care to hear what I have to say about recruiting at air shows, I'll spend a few minutes typing something up at work tonight since I'm light duty.  Won't be able to post it until tomorrow though.

Off to work.

[Skyray]

What has worked for us in the Auxiliary at boat shows is power point presentations.  If you can spring for the hardware, you can do a pretty nice narrated slide show that is really an attention grabber.  Combine that with your squared away cadet who can stop the presentation and answer questions, and if they don't join it's because they weren't interested in anything we do.

[jimmydeanno]

In all my CAP experience, Airshows have proven to be the #1 most succesful recruiting tool available.  It brings like minded individuals to you and allows you to present yourself to the general public.  I can honestly say, the last two airshows alone have brought in 75 new members to our squadron alone, nevermind people who go to other squadrons because of it.

I wrote a whole long thing about our airshow recruiting event 2 weeks ago:
http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=2887.0

It's all in how you present yourself, if the people doing the 'selling' know what the heck they're doing and can portray the organization in a professional manner.

[RiverAux]

The other thread says you handed out 3000 brochures in one weekend.  Exactly how did you do that?  We've always been pretty aggressive at giving brochures to people we talk to, but never even got in the parking lot of that ballpark figure.  Were you just sending people out to hand them to random folks around the airshow?

[jimmydeanno]

This is how the airshow worked for us:

The Airshow was 'sponsored' by the Brain Injury Foundation.  They requested volunteers.  The wing supplied volunteers to do parking, flight-line 'security,' clean-up, etc.  Each volunteer was paid $10.00 per hour and the proceeds from that payment went to the squadron the volunteer came from.

We asked to set up the recruiting booth too, got permission (recruiting volunteers were not paid).  The recruiting booth was well manned and a bunch of cadets showed up to help with recruiting.

Since cadets don't sit still long enough to really accomplish much in the booth - we sent them on roving patrols for other 'potential cadets.' Every single 12+ year old they saw, they stopped and pitched CAP to them, gave them a brochure and told them about our open house.  If they had additional questions, they sent them to the recruiting booth.

The booth area was large - (40ft X 100ft) and had the GA-8, C182, Van, Comm Truck and 10X10 easy up tent.  So we were visible.  It also helped that we were right in front of 'Air show central' and next to the food and stuff.  We got a lot of people interested and gave a brochure to each person that stopped by. 

We were not at all shy about initiating converstations with people walking by.  The airshow had over 100K people attend over two days, so 3000 pieces of literature isn't too much to ask.

You figure, even if you get 1 out of 100 people to join because of the flyer you dropped in their hands, you still get 30 people for 2 days work...

Most of the 'we didn't have good results' comes from poor planning and poor attitudes.  I think sandman says something similar to 'CAP members are self-loathing and think themselves to be 2nd class citizens,' if this attitude is conveyed at a public recruiting event, expect poor results.

Don't give up on airshows - just hit them, and hit them hard.

[JC004]

What has worked for us in the Auxiliary at boat shows is power point presentations.  If you can spring for the hardware, you can do a pretty nice narrated slide show that is really an attention grabber.  Combine that with your squared away cadet who can stop the presentation and answer questions, and if they don't join it's because they weren't interested in anything we do.

Don't listen to this man!  PowerPoint is satan!  OK, kidding...PPT can be nice if used effectively.  I put together some presentations that just ran in a loop...the key is the right pictures (that means no FUBAR uniforms!).  If you will be outside, get one of those screen covers (unless you're using a tent with walls)...they come in lots of shapes and sizes. 

Don't forget to use giveaways.  This means pens and stuff, or a free raffle kind of thing.  We used to get a donation of something, like two large pizzas and a soda, or gift certificates from local stores.  Then we'd have them fill in a slip.  There was a checkbox on the slip for people who wanted more information about CAP.  If they did, we'd follow up with a letter and such.

[A.Member]

Airshows provide incredibly valuable opportunities for exposure and recruiting - even morale, especially among cadets.  It's one of (if not the) best things we can do in terms of visibility. 

Like anything, if you do a half-assed job, you can expect half-assed results.  If you put forth a good effort, results will be reflective of that.  It is from that perspective in which we can improve our approach as an organization.  We need to improve our focus and consistency.  This means understanding the obstacles that face us in such situations (ie. being upstaged by the F/A-22 next to us) and developing a workable strategy to overcome them.  It can be done and it's not an overly difficult problem to solve (there are many good ideas here) - I know first hand.  I've been there; we've done it.

[RiverAux]

Folks, I have seen an award-winning CAP airshow display bring in about the same number of people as the "display" consisting of a locked CAP airplane sitting out on the ramp at the airshow without a CAP member in sight.