34 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE DECEMBER 2015 / JANUARY 2016
EDITOR'S NOTE
Editor - Alex Wendland
awendland@aviationpros.com
920-563-1644
For those unfamiliar, NBAA's Young Profes-
sionals in Business Aviation program is a group
"dedicated to building relationships between
emerging leaders across the industry." Through
various events, it allows students and recent
graduates to rub elbows with industry leaders
and insiders at major events. Events like NBAA's
Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition.
The exposure allows aviation's future leaders to
hobnob and network with the current crop of in-
dustry leadership.
The YoPro events kicked off on Tuesday eve-
ning with a networking reception that was not
only well-attended by YoPros themselves, but
NBAA did a great job making sure there were
experienced professionals there to network and
get everyone comfortable. The takeaway from
Tuesday night's festivities was the amount of di-
versity set to enter the industry - I met dozens of
people from around the world with all different
backgrounds and experiences that will only help
broaden the horizons of the future of aviation.
Wednesday morning, however, was the YoPro
highlight. Dozens of people, YoPro and not-so-
YoPro piled into the Innovation Zone at 9 AM
for "Elevate to New Heights: Young Profession-
als and the Future of Business Aviation," a panel
discussion moderated by NBAA writer Lowen
Baumgarten and opened with a speech by Ron-
nie Garrett, editor of our sister magazine Airport
Business. The panel, Jo Damato from NBAA, Sar-
ah Barnes from Paragon Aviation, Brad Thress
from Textron Aviation and our newly-very-own/
JetWhine.com's Rob Mark, spent about a half-
hour discussing issues among themselves on
stage before venturing into the crowd. After a
moment of hesitation, the questions started com-
ing in. We probably could've stayed there all day
if we had the time.
Questions ranging from hiring international
talent to how to interact with executives kept the
panel occupied for another hour, 30 minutes over
the scheduled end time.
The NBAA crew, especially NBAA's Manager
of Registration Sierra Grimes (a YoPro herself )
deserve commendation for pulling off the pair of
events as deftly as they did.
The topic I was hoping to hear more about,
however, was the inevitable clash between gen-
erations with different motivations and ways of
working - how can we best cohabitate, collaborate
and innovate without dismissing each other as
"entitled" or "stuck in the past"?
Perhaps that's another edi-
tor's note for another time.
My First Show
U
ndeniably, the highlight of NBAA for the AviationPros group
was our involvement in the NBAA Young Professionals
events - affectionately referred to as #YoPros because, you
know, young people.
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NBAA 2015 was my frst formal foray in our industry; the
whole week was engaging, exciting and was an exhibition
for an industry with its eye towards the future.