2020 First Meeting Recap

The 2020 First Regular PIA Meeting in Myrtle Beach is a wrap following three days of committee meetings, social events and the announcement of significant industry news.

Here are the highlights from three days of meetings hosted at the Embassy Suites Resort in Myrtle Beach.

The most significant news shared at this year’s meeting was the announcement of the pending merger of Rigging Innovations and Sun Path Products.

On Friday, February 21st during the morning plenary, it was announced that a dinner would be hosted for all attending PIA members – the agenda, unknown.  At the beginning of dinner, Rigging Innovations’ founder Sandy Reid approached the lectern calling everyone’s attention to the big screen. The following video was played:

At the conclusion of the video, Sandy shared the details of the pending merger which would have Sun Path acquiring RI’s product line with manufacturing to transition over to Sun Path in Raeford, NC in time.

Presently, it will be business as usual for all dealer networks as the transition is expected to be slow and deliberate to ensure no interruption of service for any of RI’s customer base. Answers to frequently asked questions can be viewed here.

Plans are well underway for PIA Symposium 2021 to be hosted in Cincinnati, Ohio. The announcement of booking links for PIA discounted rooms are expected to be released on PIA.com on Wednesday, February 26th.

Additional notes include:

• the development of a custom-built PIA Mobile App to help improve the attendee experience
• the formulation of a social media team to be positioned by Beyond Marketing during the Symposium
• The use of two host hotels – the Hyatt Regency and the Hilton and the Duke Energy Convention Center
• Prices for Symposium Booth Space will remain the same
• Discussion of new and updated advertising opportunities
• PIA Sustaining Members would be offered a 10% discount on all Symposium advertising opportunities.

PIA welcomed three new Full Members and a Sustaining Member to the organization.

Positive Altitude Skydiving, Rahlmo Enterprises, LLC and Phenix Engineered Textiles all joined as Full Members.  Paratec GmbH of Germany joined as a Sustaining member.

Pictured below from left to right: Keith Paulsen of Positive Altitude Skydiving, Kevin Gibson of Rahlmo Enterprises, Morris Cooke of Phenix Engineered Textiles. A representative from Paratec was unavailable for a photo. 

Three companies announced brand name changes within the organization.

They are as follows:

• Sigma to Merit
• British Parachute Association to British Skydiving
• Parachute Industries of Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd to Safran Electronics & Defense South Africa (Pty) Ltd
• Zodiac Parachute & Protection America to Pioneer Aerospace dba Safran Electronics & Defense, Parachutes USA Corp

Travis Flint of Sun Path Products was honored with the PIA Member of The Year Award for his contributions to the organization for his many years of dedicated service. The award was universally met with applause during Friday’s plenary session as Flint has spent tireless hours on multiple committees and has been a driving force contributing to the success of many PIA Symposiums. Congratulations to Travis!

Slide show of Museum update shared by Jim McCormick.

The next PIA Regular Meeting will take place in Madison Wisconsin from August 6th through 8th. Hotel booking links are now active. The meeting info can be located here.