The 2013 Iowa Aviation Conference will be held April 24-25 at the West Des Moines Sheraton Hotel. The conference will offer a combination of presentations and interaction with industry representatives for airports and FBOs, as well as a pilot safety seminar for pilots.
Registration for attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors is open. Information on the conference, including registration, agenda, hotel, and sponsor/exhibitor packages, is available at the Iowa Aviation Conference web page. A block of hotel rooms have been reserved at a special conference rate of $104 and are subject to availability until April 3.
The format of the conference is different than in past years, according to officials. The Iowa Public Airports Association general membership meeting will kick off the conference on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 24, and will be followed by the opening of the exhibit hall and a welcome reception. A pilot safety meeting will take place that evening. The next day (April 25) will be a full day of educational sessions with breakfast, lunch, and breaks taking place in the exhibit hall.
A free FAA Pilot Safety Seminar will be held in association with the 2013 Iowa Aviation Conference from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24. At the meeting, hear from AOPA’s Yasmina Platt, and then be entertained by humorist and aviation safety speaker Mark Grady.
Mark Grady’s presentation, titled the “Four Levels of Awareness,” will make for a fun and informative evening for pilots. The presentation integrates video, real examples and engaging storytelling to create a lasting impression and reduce the chance of an accident attributed to pilot error.
Grady has been an active safety program presenter for over a decade and is a Commercial Pilot with over 6,000 PIC hours. He spent 10 as an award-winning traffic watch pilot in North Carolina. He has also been a long-time safety seminar presenter for the AOPA Air Safety Institute, where he was named their instructor of the year in 2008.