CONTINUING EDUCATION
GEBA
Continuing Education Seminar
SATURDAY MARCH 1st, 2025
(Registration see below)
Lackawanna College, Scranton, PA.
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Hotel information and reservation:
Baymont by Wyndham
1266 O’Neill Haighway
Dunmore, PA 18512
$80 per night
Call (570) 348-6101
to reserve your room(s)
Use GEBA for the booking code
Room Block Closes
02/17/2025
2025 CES Presenters
Don Day – Forecasting Winds Aloft
Patrick Cannon – Media Training and Training the Trainer
Lani Diemicke and Robin Smith – Handling the Unexpected
Killy Hilberth – Experience with national level competition and how to get involved in competition
Patrick Smith – Insurance
Brett Engroff – Aeronautical Decision Making
Dan Pregnar – Stump Dan on the Fan
John Piper – Organizing Large Balloon Events
Train the Trainer – Most of us that are qualified to provide instruction in lighter-than-air aircraft have never had the opportunity to learn the basics of providing aviation education. Mostly we learned by doing, and in some cases, this produced less than satisfying results for both the student and the instructor. In this session, we will discuss in detail, elements connected with the teaching process. This program was developed as a full-day instructor recurrent program, hosted by the BFA. We have condensed that down into an hour that gives a capitulation of those things that will make you a better teacher, or if you are training for your commercial certificate, will give you a great head start on what the checkride will look like.
Crisis Management and the Media – A program that should be taught not only to event managers, balloonmeisters and event sponsors, but to every pilot and crew that participates in any type of ballooning event. Learn what to do and say after an accident or incident and how to say it. What actions should you take immediately and what information should you give. How would you appoint a public information officer for an event and what information would you prepare for that person prior to ever having an event. Learn the do’s and don’ts of media crisis management.
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Producing a large venue event – An overview of the logistics required to produce a large live event such as a major balloon festival. We’ll discuss Safety, FAA requirements, and overall coordination with local officials and on-site coordination of all aspects of the event. Included will be experiences from events I did in Michigan, New York and New Jersey.
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Weather – Forecast Winds – Now that we don’t have the RUC Wind Sounding Data available anymore, where can we go to find high-resolution wind forecast data? We will examine some other options as well as explore how to best use the wind forecast data and how the forecast wind data is made.
Accidents and Weather – We will examine two weather events that lead to accidents/incidents and the meteorological forensics involved to “reconstruct” the weather patterns that caused the problems. The reconstruction of weather events is a useful exercise to identify patterns that may occur again in the future.
Websites For Wind (Vertical) Forecasts/Data
Windy – https://www.windy.com
Ventusky – https://www.ventusky.com/
NOAA/Ready – https://www.ready.noaa.gov/READYcmet.php
NWS Seattle Sounding Page – https://www.weather.gov/zse/ModelSounding
Meteoblue – https://www.meteoblue.com/
Pivotal Weather – https://www.pivotalweather.com/model.php
Weatherbell (paid) – https://www.weatherbell.com/
University of Wyoming RAOB – https://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html
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Robin Smith Lani Dimicke
Join us for an engaging seminar on “Expecting the Unexpected: Adventures in Ballooning,” where we’ll dive into real-life challenges and surprises crew face in ballooning. From managing passengers, navigating preflight surprises to equipment failures—this session is packed with practical insights and tips to help you stay prepared, safe, and confident in any situation. Perfect for new or experienced crew and seasoned pilots alike, this is one adventure you won’t want to miss!
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To choose wisely, not poorly – Pilot decision making is all about managing the risks of the decisions we have to make as aviators. We must always do our best to evaluate all of the factors surrounding our choices, while still leaving us the ability to alter our choices if needed.
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Reaching New Heights: A Beginner’s Guide to Competitive Ballooning. Explore the exciting world of competitive ballooning in this accessible session designed for beginners. You’ll learn how to get involved, understand competition formats, and develop the skills needed to participate—no prior experience required. With no age or experience barriers, this session welcomes everyone interested in exploring the challenge and camaraderie of ballooning competitions.
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Stump Dan with the Fan Don’t allow your fan to take advantage of you. Your inflator fan is one the most important, but yet dangerous pieces of equipment. Discuss with Dan his thoughts on fan safety, placement and preventative maintenance. Spending just a little time maintaining and cleaning your fan might just prevent injury, breakdown or a catastrophic failure. Bring all of your fan questions and see if you can stump Dan!
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Forecast the future of insurance. What’s going on with the future of insurance? Come have an open discussion about some big changes that can affect your coverage!
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Honing your Trailer Driving Skills. This breakout session is intended to enhance your trailer-backing skills. For those that claim they don’t have those skills, hopefully you will after taking this session!
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Emergency Response and Ballooning. This presentation will be an overview of several specific injuries and responses, as they pertain to hot air ballooning. Basic first aid will be covered for all general, sudden, and emergent injuries and illnesses, with an emphasis on hot air balloon-specific potential injuries.
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2025 Membership Registration Forms / CES Registration Forms
You can use this option for your GEBA 2025 membership and register for Continuing Education Seminar in one transaction
- Please note that you will be taken to PayPal for payment where you have the option to use VISA, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER and AMEX.
- You Do Not Need To Have A PayPal Account.
CLICK HERE for Online Registration for New and Existing Members + CES option
CLICK HERE for Online Registration for Continuing Education Seminar Only