Plane Conversations

I first discovered Keith Johnson’s blog, PlannerWire.net  starting with his article 13 Event Industry Blogs and Sites That You Should Check Out. Last July he updated the list to 44 event industry blogs that are important.  It it just too hard to resist not publishing the list he compiled.  Below (after a few of my comments) please find the best event planner blogs on the Internet, by Keith Johnson.

Why is an aviation company like Social Flights interested in event planners?

Nobody ever suggests that UAL or Alaska Airlines would ever ask anyone who intends to stay on the ground that day what their opinion is regarding airline service.  Airlines are too busy to worry about what happens before and after their clients board their planes.   The airlines are in the business of filling seats so why would they care about the communities whose collective posteriors occupy the spaces in between the lines on their balance sheets?

Maybe that’s the problem with airlines.

Social Flights has every intention to understand the needs of the travelers for whom we provide air service.  We exist because the communities we serve tell us to exist.  Communities of travelers tell us where to fly and when to fly.  They tell us how many people they need to arrive at any geographic point in North America and how many people to depart from any point.  Without event planners, there is no reason to travel.  Think about that for a moment.

A vertical market (often referred to simply as a “vertical”) is a group of similar businesses and customers that engage in trade based on specific and specialized needs.  Vertical marketing can be witnessed at trade shows. Obviously, the term “vertical” has important implications for the aviation industry and I could not help myself from playing with these words.

At Social Flights, we are constantly researching methods and systems that will cause “the value game” to spin freely.  In quick review, the value game involves the 4 pillars (again, verticals) of our business plan; the operators, the travelers, hospitality industry, and the entrepreneurial community must come together around the shared aircraft.

One of the key elements is finding the skill set for hundreds of entrepreneurs “community organizers” that we will deploy to geographic areas to help fill private airplane inventory in both directions (to fill primary and empty legs). The more that we study this very important community role, the more we realize that the skill set is most dependent on knowledge of vertical (there’s that word again) markets.

Verticals

For example;  We seek to find someone with a great deal of knowledge of the national wedding planner industry who can access the data from all wedding planners and combine it with the data from the Social Flights Network.  Our algorithms will determine matches and the community organizer will create the flights.  Similar Verticals include Life event, holiday, and funeral Industry.

Professional Event:  We also seek people with strong ties to a University where we could locate aircraft to suit predictable needs such as alumni weekend, spring break, intercollegiate tournaments, academic recruitment, and vip lecturers.  The person who can manage this type of relationship can earn a significant amount of revenue on a residual basis for managing and maintaining the relationship.  Similar verticals would include professional events, industry events, and retreats.

Corporate Travel Vertical: More and more companies are looking for ways to save costs on jet ownership while also avoiding the commercial aviation system.  When we look at the data, a significant proportion of travel is going to the same places; i.e., remote offices, branches, production facilities or meeting long term customers and sources.  A person who is familiar with the travel needs of corporations can make an extraordinary income with Social Flights.

So let this be a call to action for entrepreneurs and travelers alike.  Look at your network.  Do you command respect and influence in your vertical?  Are you looking for a way to earn residual income for your social, creative, and intellectual knowledge assets?  Are you good with numbers and can you spot the arbitrage opportunities in raw data?  Then maybe you should consider an affiliate relationship or franchise ownership with Social Flights.

After all, the opportunities are…well….vertical.

Social Flights is proud to announce one of the most important innovations in travel since the OTA.  Our new events page allows communities to promote their events and their special attributes for free to people across the country who may want to share a charter aircraft to get there.  Our “kickstarter” feature books the trip when the seats are filled – at which point we will deliver them comfortably to your doorstep.

We call this Social Flying.

Normally, the airline decides when, where, and how you will reach your destination.   With Social Flights, communities of people tell the airline where, when, and how they want to reach your destination.  Of course, many people want to attend your event or experience the natural beauty, culture, or history of your community  - the problem is that they simply cannot get there.  That’s the problem that Social Flights solves best.

Social Flights opens up a new market for air travel

For example:

• Many events require a 3 day minimum commitment; 2 days to travel commercial and 1+ days for the event.
• Weekend travel is almost impossible with the airline system. End of story.
• Spontaneity: airline seats often book solid weeks in advance or priced through the roof within the week of travel.
• Access: many of the greatest events, most amazing sites, and unforgettable experiences are NOT near a hub airport

The following screen shot is an example of how communities are using Social Flights Event service.  Go ahead and try it, contact us here or call 615 534-4590 to participate in the beta rollout of this new and exciting feature