On June 9-10, 2019, more than 40 Boston Virtual ARTCC members came together in support of the simulation community at FlightSimExpo 2018! The weekend was fun-filled and action-packed: with FlightSimExpo’s 45 exhibitors and 21 speakers, members were kept engaged throughout the conference. However, it’s in the evenings and before and after the event that the fun really happens! Members enjoyed a dinner at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurant (inside Flamingo Las Vegas Resort) and spent hours together on drives through the desert, visits to the Hoover Dam, plane spotting at the airport, late nights in the casino, concerts and shows, and many other activities.
What I’m personally most proud of about our community is how everyone was willing to pitch in and step up in support of this first-time event. As North America’s community-driven flight simulation conference, Expo will be forever grateful to receive the support of BVA members—along with other simmers—to manage registration, stuff conference bags, prepare badges, conduct check-in, and help in a variety of other ways.
With more than 1,000 registered attendees, my biggest concern with the event was registration: long lineups and a slow process were a real possibility. But BVA members stepped up in a big way. In two days, there was not a single lineup at our registration desk. The team, dressed in red “Ground Crew” shirts, did a phenomenal job of representing our community and FlightSimExpo during the weekend of new product releases, engaging seminars, and hands-on exhibits. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there is simply no way the event would have gone as smoothly without volunteers from the community to keep everything moving.
I won’t make a list—it’s too easy to miss someone—but time and time again, feedback I heard from attendees focused on how great our volunteers were, and how smoothly everything went.
FlightSimExpo featured a major online ATC presence from VATSIM and VATUSA. Our controllers participated in a weekend-long staff-up of the Las Vegas area, and VATUSA lit up America by staffing every single Center on Friday night. BVA and FlightSimExpo are proud to work alongside VATUSA in a partnership that promotes our hobby, and online aviation, to simmers around the world.
As you may know, FlightSimExpo is managed by members from our community, myself included. I’m privileged to be part of a community-inspired and feedback-driven event that truly is a first of its kind in recent history. To all of those who attended the event, volunteered for us, or supported by flying and controlling from home: you are the reason we do what we do.
As I write this article, I’m sitting in an airport, waiting to head off to a series of site visits at 2019 venue options. The event has taken feedback from attendees, developers, and the broader flight simulation community and will be looking at options in several major U.S. cities. Expect an announcement on the FlightSimExpo social media profiles, along with via email, as soon as the date and location for 2019 are finalized. We can’t wait to see you again soon!
Here we go! BVA’s 19th annual Boston Tea Party takes place on Saturday, August 11. For seven hours, controllers from BVA will come together in Nashua for a day of live and in person air traffic control!
As usual, the event is pleased to offer a solid lineup of prizes from some of flight simulation’s best developers. By participating Tea Party Poker, pilots will be able to win prizes from:
FlightBeam (any airport)
FS2Crew (1 license)
HiFi (any product)
QualityWings (any product)
TFDi Design (Boeing 717)
X-Crafts (E170/E190 combo)
Wondering about how you can win? Visit the Boston Tea Party page for details on Tea Party Poker.
Save the date and get ready to join us on August 11 for our biggest online event of the year!
It is with great pleasure that BVA announces the appointment of Szymon Puzdrowski to the BVA Administration Team. Szymon has served as our Webmaster for the past year; acting in an advisory role to the Administration Team. Szymon is an adept developer who has been instrumental in several crucial web projects for BVA. We look forward to having Szymon at the table as we continue to build and grow our BVA web presence.
Thank you for your dedication to the BVA community and welcome (officially) to the Administration Team!
Come join the Boston Virtual ARTCC and Dutch VACC for a long-haul, transatlantic, inter-division jamboree! From 1100-1400z on Sunday, July 29th, we'll have Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) staffed to the gills to accommodate departures, and will have all en route facilities staffed for a flight to Boston Logan Airport (IATA: BOS, ICAO: KBOS), where the Boston Virtual ARTCC will provide a full staff to sequence arrivals and get them onto the ground. Bring your favorite long haul aircraft, your business jet, or whatever you want, and join us for 7+ hours of packed airspace and professional air traffic control.
As well, we'll have a detailed pilot briefing released within a couple weeks that will offer details on general procedures that will be useful along the route, as well as specific information on the booking system we'll be using for this event (more information to be released about this later).
Lastly, we're excited to announce that this is just part 1 of 2. Later this year, we'll host the "go home" leg of this trip, the same facilities staffing Boston to Amsterdam. These events serve as a fantastic time to brush up on both international and American procedures, and prepare for the bi-annual Cross the Pond. We hope you'll join us on the 29th for this event, and look forward to seeing many of you there!
Last month's question was:
