2/2/2010

We're more than half way thru this long Chicago winter. CSC will be jumping again in less than two months! Friday, April 2nd is CSC Safety Day with speakers and safety related discussions. We will have an airplane flying (weather permitting), so if it's nice, come out for some jumping before the seminars which begin at 5:00pm. Afterwards, we're heading to the Welcome Matt for dinner and drinks.

We are getting together this Thursday night at Roadhouse 66 in Wrigleyville. We'll have an open bar from 7:30 - 9:30 with special music guest "The Drew & Paul Show" performing live. $25 to get in. This event is open to anyone and everyone. Roadhouse 66 is located at 3300 North Clark, just south of Wrigley Field. RSVP via facebook or email lisa@PROskydiving.com. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.

Sammy, Iva, and the marketing team have been busy working on many new campaigns. One of the most exciting ones is the Chicago Auto Show. We will have a booth at the show from February 12 - 21. We're looking for fun, outgoing volunteers to work 6 hour shifts (either 10:00am - 4:00pm or 4:00pm - 10:00pm). If you can help out, please contact lisa@PROskydiving.com. It's going to be a fun week.

If you just can't wait until April, we are hosting a SkyVenture tunnel camp in March. Dates will be determined this week. This camp is for jumpers of all levels including those who are considering our Freefall University program. There is no better time to fly in the tunnel than when you are first starting out. The camp will be a low-pressure, fun learning environment. If you are looking for higher level skills training, we can arrange for that as well. Price will include tunnel time, coaching, and hotel. If you're interested in joining us, please contact nathan@PROskydiving.com.

Speaking of Freefall University, we've recently hired a new team member to oversee our entire student program. Barry Williams brings a lot of energy, experience, and knowledge to our student program. Over the past few years, our tandem business has taken priority over our training program and we are making an effort to focus as much attention on FU as we do other aspects of our business. Bringing Barry on-board will give CSC a dedicated manager to make certain operations run smoothly, training is standardized, and customers receive the level of service they expect when coming to CSC. Welcome aboard Barry.

Powers Lake Demo Jump

This past week was exciting for us here at PROskydiving. We launched a new version of the site. Other than a totally new look and feel, there is an integrated reservation system that we developed specifically for the skydiving industry. Simply put, there is no service as intuitive, customizable, and powerful as this system. It is the culmination of 6+ years using a previous version that we developed (www.dropzoneCRS.com) plus an additional 20 months of coding. We are heading down to DeLand, FL in March for the Skydive Expo where we have booth space to promote this exciting service.

Below are the 2010 licensed jumper buy-in prices. Please note that all buy-in rates will fluctuate with our current retail jump price. In other words, if CSC is forced to increase jump rates due to a spike in oil prices, your jump price will increase the same amount. Inversely, if our retail price decreases, your discounted price will also come down. We feel that this safeguards us in the event that oil increases. The average prices outlined below are based on our current retail price of $23.00/jump. Jump packages were due by January 31, 2010, but we've gotten quite a few requests to push that deadline back so people can use tax refund checks. If you still want to take advantage of these jump prices, please contact us.

Did you buy your all-you-can-jump PROpass for 2010? PROpass is for those who seek the most from your experience at CSC. With PROpass, just show up and jump as much as you can. You also get six 1-day "buddy passes" good for 20% off tandem, solo, or experienced jumps (must be a new CSC jumper), 10% off all major gear purchases (canopies, harness/containers, AADs), and a free locker for the 2010 season. All of this for just $3,250! We don't have many restrictions, but PROpass does not cover back-to-back loads. No black out dates, just jump, jump, jump! For details contact customercare@skydivecsc.com

Congratulations:

• Eric Bickel - Strong Tandem Examiner
• Matty & Celia - engaged to be married

Footnote:

CSC has experienced substantial growth over the past three years. Many of you have experienced the growing pains that came with it. First of all, we would like to thank everyone for their patience and loyalty, but we certainly can't expect you to stick around with long waits to get on an aircraft. That said, CSC is making significant changes to address these issues and we're looking forward to implementing these new measures. To begin, we have many more two-turbine weekends than we've had in the past which means Otter loads full of fun jumpers while the school jumps from the PAC. We've also changed our fueling arrangement which will greatly reduce time spent on fuel stops. And the most significant component that we believe will streamline our operations is the reservation system within PROskydiving. As everyone knows, the busiest time on the dropzone is between 11:00am and 3:00pm. With the additional control we have over our student load via the PROskydiving reservation system, we can adjust class sizes for certain weeks, days, or even down to the class level. If we have an event going on and we know it's going to be busy, we can slim down the mid-day class sizes and push reservations to the morning and late afternoon to ensure the day does not bottleneck. Bottom line is that we've learned a lot over the past few years and several of us work year-round to implement these new ideas to make sure that your safe skydiving experience is also as fun as it can be. 2010 is going to be big and we look forward to seeing everyone. In the meantime, join us on Thursday night at Roadhouse 66 for a fun night of friends and live music.

Misc Grayson Video

Weather Forecast Video

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