http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php Copyright 2012, David Kervinen David Kervinen en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry120423-231344
http://animaltracks.today.msnbc.msn.com ... -cute?lite]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry120423-231344 David Kervinen Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:13:44 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=12&m=04&entry=entry120423-231344 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry120116-195245
Well it appears that the Reno Air Races will continue, which is a VERY good sign for the entire industry. The Reno tragity has had a profound impact on a few contract potentials we had in the last six months.

We are starting to become active in continuing our efforts to get this bird out of the cage and on the airshow circuit. As we've always said, we won't do it until we secure the right title sponsor.

Infinity Entertainment continues to be busy working on other marketing efforts but the team is excited about starting to realign our efforts with the Toucan now that it appears the market is finally starting to head in the right direction.]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry120116-195245 David Kervinen Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:52:45 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=12&m=01&entry=entry120116-195245 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry110917-040138
What an absolute horrific day in the aviation world here in the US. We are absolutely sickened by the news of what has happened at Reno. As the casualties at Reno Air Race mishap continue to mount, we feel absolutely numb and sad. Our hearts go out to the victims and families of the innocent spectators involved, it should never have happened like this!

We have received countless emails and phone calls (from media) regarding this situation. Obviously it is way to early to speculate just went wrong and why. That said, I think it is EXTREMELY important for people to understand this is NOT an air show but an air race.

US air shows have NOT had a spectator fatality in more then 50 years! And there is a reason. Every demonstration pilot has a routine that is approved by ICAS ACE’s and the FAA that require the aircraft’s energy to never be directed at spectators. This is exactly why the air show industry has had a safety record that is envious of Indy Car, NASCAR, F-1 and just about ever other motor sport.

For whatever reason, Reno Air Race organizers and the FAA must be classifying the racing differently then air shows. If you look at the course and the grand stands, you’ll notice a discrepancy in this idea. Pylons 7,8 and 9 are in direct way of spectators from an energy perspective. A “G” lock, mechanical failure or high-speed stall would have spectators directly in harms way. Not trying to through the air race industry under the bus, just saying it and the FAA didn’t live up to what we are all expected to live up to in the “air show” world.

A lot of speculation going on right now for sure. On a personal note, if you asked me, I would tell you that Reno Air Races 40+ year history is over. Nobody is going to get liability insurance at this venue or for racing anytime soon. With spectator fatalities involved, I can tell you it will have a huge rippling effect on everyone in the air show industry. Which is not a bad thing. We are all about safety.

I think "superbanna" stated it best (though we are not in total agreement on criminal charge thing) on slashdot.org blog just a bit ago"

"US Airshows specifically prohibit any trajectories towards crowds and have large setback distances from the "box" that the display is allowed in, specifically for this reason. Clearly neither was being followed, or this crash wouldn't have killed and maimed so many people.

Was the race allowed to weasel out of those regs by not calling itself an airshow, even though that's exactly what it is?

http://www.proairshow.com/What%20to%20say.htm [proairshow.com]

"Since current regulations were put into effect in 1952, there has never been a spectator fatality in an North American air show accident. Thatâ(TM)s a safety record that is he envy of the entire motor sports industry."

So much for that record. The same page says:

"Second, air show performers â" both civilian and military â" are prohibited from performing maneuvers that direct the energy of their aircraft toward the area in which the spectators are sitting."

So much for that rule.

"Third, the industry and regulatory authorities strictly enforce minimum set-back distances that were developed to ensure that, in the event of an accident, pieces of the aircraft will not end up in the spectator area."

So much for that rule.





]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry110917-040138 David Kervinen Sat, 17 Sep 2011 08:01:38 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=11&m=09&entry=entry110917-040138 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry110606-152148
It’s been a long time between posts, so we thought we’d give you an update. Yes, the mystery ship AKA Turbine Toucan is alive and VERY well. As we’ve mentioned in the past, the economy has been very unstable, forcing us to lay low and reserve cash flow. We are very confident a partner/title sponsor is just around the corner. We have literally been working our tails off with that endeavor.

Infinity Entertainment has been very busy with other brand related activities but our heart and sole is wrapped tightly with the success of the Turbine Toucan. We continue to believe air shows are hands down the best, untapped opportunity in existence. And we have the continuing data to support it!

We continue to work on innovations related to the aircraft and both it’s performance and the entertainment aspects making sure when we do come out of the nest, it will have been worth the wait. More to follow.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry110606-152148 David Kervinen Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:21:48 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=11&m=06&entry=entry110606-152148 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry110303-152302 We wanted to point out a great article on teammate and test pilot Dave Morss. It's a great read, especially for anyone ready for their first flight. Go Dave!!

http://www.sportaviationonline.org/spor ... pg=34#pg32


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry110303-152302 David Kervinen Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:23:02 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110303-152302 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101221-005618
Our thoughts go out to the Finer family, our thoughts and prayers are with you this Christmas. ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101221-005618 David Kervinen Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:56:18 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=12&entry=entry101221-005618 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101130-112958



It is with extreme sadness that I share the news that our very close friend Bob Finer lost his life on the 17th of November in a tragic accident.

He was involved in a training mission with the Dept. of Defense (DOD) training special op's men for war out of Avon Park, Florida. On the 17th they were performing a night mission and were returning back to base. Bob called in at 2045 that he was four miles out, but never returned. The plane was found at 0115. There were three men on the aircraft Bob was the pilot and two other men who were operating the surveillance equipment, there were no survivors.

NTSB is investigating and at this time it is believed there was an in-flight break-up, the right outboard part of the wing was found a little less than a 1/4 of a mile for the wreckage.

Bob has been flying since 1975. Most recently he flew the single-pilot, twin turbine, Grumman S-2T as an aerial firefighter pilot in California. As a carrier-qualified Marine Corps jet aviator, he has flown many hours at low level conducting close air support, armed-reconnaissance and forward air control.

During assignment at the Marine Corps Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron (MAWTS) he instructed advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground tactics. Additionally, he instructed air-to-air combat maneuvering in the Advanced Strike Syllabus to fellow naval aviators. Bob held a variety of leadership positions during twenty years on active duty in the Marines, serving both as an infantry officer and naval aviator flying the A-4M, A-4E, TA-4J/F, OV-10A and OV-10D before retiring as a Lt. Colonel.

Bob was closely involved with the Turbine Toucan project and was a personal mentor. His highly contagious, upbeat attitude and incredible discipline for safety made him a perfect fit for our little circle. Once in a lifetime do you meet someone like Bob, who has had a profound effect on my life. You will be missed is simply an understatement.

Our heart-felt condolences go out to Bob’s wife Dena and four children in Boise Idaho.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicoe ... =146843162
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101130-112958 David Kervinen Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:29:58 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=11&entry=entry101130-112958 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101031-124836 It is official, the Turbine Toucan by FSD International has been released! After a few months of development and beta testing, you can now experience what it's like to fly the Turbine Toucan.

This is very exciting news and we are so proud to be a part of the overall development of it. Please check out http://www.fsd-international.com/ to purchase your very own copy. ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101031-124836 David Kervinen Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:48:36 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=10&entry=entry101031-124836 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101019-160341 The Turbine Toucan Simulator on Microsoft's Flight Simulator X is currently in Beta and doing very well. All sorts of parameters have been added and should be an absolute hoot to fly.

FSD International is doing a great job, we are very please with what we have seen so far.

We'll keep you posted on a release date, which should be by the end of the month.


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101019-160341 David Kervinen Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:03:41 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=10&entry=entry101019-160341 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101001-221523

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101001-221523 David Kervinen Sat, 02 Oct 2010 02:15:23 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=10&entry=entry101001-221523 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101001-173835
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


THE WORLD’S FIRST EVER HOVERING BIPLANE GOES VIRTUAL

The Turbine Toucan takes flight Virtually


SAN CARLOS, California – October 1, 2010 – Infinity Entertainment Inc. and FSD-International join forces to bring the Turbine Toucan, the highest performance biplane in history, to the virtual world.

The Turbine Toucan represents the highest thrust to weight ratio aircraft in the world today, including any current jet fighter in the U.S. arsenal. At a ratio of 1.65:1, The Turbine Toucan can not only hover but also accelerate vertically. The record breaking performance demonstrated by the Turbine Toucan will open the world to aerobatic maneuvers never performed or witnessed before.

“What makes taking the Turbine Toucan virtual so exciting is it gives people the opportunity to be inventive and create maneuvers that have never been performed before. Instead of emulating what has been done in the real world, Microsoft Flight Sim pilots have the opportunity to break boundaries and be creatively expressive in the process” says Infinity Entertainment CEO David Kervinen.

Founded in 1992, Infinity Entertainment Inc. is a multi-faceted Entertainment and Event Marketing Company dedicated to providing highly differentiated, ROI driven, world-class experiences. Our management consists of innovative, best-of-breed creatives who have years of hands-on experience managing, positioning, developing and executing awareness for some of the world's leading brands.

Also founded in 1992, FSD International, Inc. is one of the first developers of add-ons in the Microsoft Flight Simulator online community of hobbyists. Beginning with version 4 of Flight Simulator, the developers of FSD have been creating premium quality aircraft, accurate flight models, cockpits, aircraft systems and scenery for almost 20 years now. The mission of FSD has always been to provide the highest quality add-ons, introducing cutting edge technology on many occasions over the years, yet provide these products at a reasonable price. FSD also has a reputation of not only supporting its customers, but also, in updating products with improvements and forward compatibility for new versions of Flight Simulator when they come along. FSD has always been very accessible to its customers and is very responsive to its customers in terms of product improvements and new product development.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry101001-173835 David Kervinen Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:38:35 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=10&entry=entry101001-173835 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100503-113245
Greetings,

We’d like to take this time to introduce our latest sponsor True-Course Aviation Insurance Services. These guys are a class act! They service airlines, FBO’s as well as private aircraft owners. Check them out if you get the chance at www.true-course.com! We are excited to have them onboard!

Well, we have had one very busy stretch over the past six months. We’ve provided brand strategy and development for two of the Internet’s most successful games, Farmville and Mafia Wars. Both games are developed by Zynga, a San Francisco based company. As we wrap up that work, we are starting to work on even more exciting opportunities with a few household brands.

Over the weekend we had the wonderful honor of hosting the crew of Aluminum Overcast, EAA’s B-17G which is campaigned all over the USA. They drove all the way to KSQL to see and visit with the Turbine Toucan team members, a great day it was. If you get the chance to fly with them, I would HIGHLY recommend it, this opportunity won’t be around forever and it’s a wonderful experience.

Now that the our workload is no longer at full capacity, we will continue to actively develop our marketing communication packaging for the Turbine Toucan for the 2011 season. We’re now in the midst of setting up more sales meetings with CMO’s now that we have turned the corner economically speaking.

Thanks for visiting and sorry for the radio silence this past few months, we had been REALLY busy.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100503-113245 David Kervinen Mon, 03 May 2010 16:32:45 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=05&entry=entry100503-113245 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100322-223120
Been way to long since our last post. We’ve been working on developing brand work for Zynga here in San Francisco. The marketing communication arm of our company has been doing extremely well and is busy as heck. This continues to bolster our enthusiasm that the market conditions are slowly improving! I think we have a ways to go before experiential marketing makes any kind of sustainable return.

I am encouraged to see a few articles about sponsorship marketing and titles such as “ROI or DIE” . This is something that we’ve been preaching for some time and something that most in the air show world have little to NO clue about. There are a handful of folks that do “get it” but a majority have little to no marketing background to make any such required claim to get any substantial deals.

As for the Turbine Toucan, it continues to do very well and we are looking at a few commercial deals which might get us some fantastic exposure without letting to much out of the bag regarding its aerobatic potential.

At some point we’d like to share what Ken Erickson and Sean Tucker are up to these days, really exciting stuff which I think you’d all be interested in hearing. I’ll have to see if he’d be willing to share with all of us.

Can’t wait to share the work we’ve been doing, it should be going public fairly soon and another huge launch in June!

Thanks again for visiting and your continued support!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100322-223120 David Kervinen Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:31:20 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=03&entry=entry100322-223120 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091201-154522
We continue to be swamped with work, mostly in the marketing and brand arena the past few months. Working with Chiat|Day has been a real pleasure.

For all you facebook fanatics, we have been doing a great deal of work for a company called Zynga. If you are not familiar with them I will give you a hint, the have 5 of the top 9 applications on facebook. Still don’t know them? OK, have you heard of Farmville and Mafia Wars? Zynga is the company behind the most successful online games in history, and they have done it in very short order!

Infinity Entertainment continues to have the pleasure of working with some of the brightest, most talented people in Silicon Valley. I have never seen such a concentration of talent in my many years in the valley. This is the company to watch!

As the market continues to generate positive momentum (though slow), we are very encouraged about the opportunities to partner up with the right company for the Turbine Toucan.

Ken Erickson remains VERY busy with Sean Tucker and team as the team is now readying for the 2010 airshow season.

Everyone at Infinity Entertainment wishes you all the very best this Holiday Season!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091201-154522 David Kervinen Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:45:22 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=12&entry=entry091201-154522 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091025-125724
Infinity Entertainment has been busy working on a host of projects for our core clientele the past few months. We are excited to be working with Chiat|Day on an upcoming project. For those of you who are not familiar with Chiat|Day, they are the agency of record for Apple Computers, Sony Playstation, Nissan, Absolut Vodka and Visa just to name a few. World-Class creative we might add!

Though we have worked with many agencies over the years, we have never worked with Chiat|Day, so it should be a fun experience. As soon as the project goes public we’ll tell you all about it. In the mean time, we continue to work the process for finding new opportunities for the Turbine Toucan now that the economy has somewhat stabilized. It’s still not in a good place, many incredible people with talent are still unemployed and that included a great deal of collogues in the marketing space.

More to come soon, thanks for stopping by!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091025-125724 David Kervinen Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:57:24 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=10&entry=entry091025-125724 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091021-171420

Everyone at Infinity-Entertainment Inc. is very excited about Sean Tucker’s appearance on the Oprah Windfrey Show this Thursday, so set your VCR’s!! As you all might know, Sean is a very good friend of ours, the team and more specifically Ken Erickson, our pilot and Sean’s chief pilot. So we are all very proud! Sean has broken so many boundaries in the aviation space and more specifically the air show industry these past few years.

This is also a huge first for the airshow world! Last year Sean made it on Good Morning America, that in itself was seen as a big deal and one of the higher profile publicity events for Sean’s career.

As an FYI, The Oprah program is viewed by more than 20 million Americans (USA) every week and broadcast internationally to more than one hundred and twenty countries worldwide. The valuation of this exposure would most likely surpass the cost of Sean’s sponsorship for the past 4-5 years. Talk about ROI for Oracle.

Sean’s success continues to demonstrate the viability and huge opportunity the airshow space represents to agencies of record and corporate sponsors. Awesome Sean, great job and congratulations!!!

-Team Turbine Toucan


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091021-171420 David Kervinen Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:14:20 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=10&entry=entry091021-171420 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091015-163109
So the good news is that Susan Cress has seen a lot of activity in the CPG (consumer packaged goods) industry (primarily Fortune 500 companies) with regard to ramping up ad spending. She is heavily involved in consumer insights with many Fortune 1000 companies, so she really does have a pulse in consumer marketing world.

We are resuming our efforts to find the perfect fit with regard to a title sponsor now that we are starting to see some reasonable trends going on.

Ken is actively working on his low level waver with the Turbine Toucan, which is exciting because that means we have to have our routine worked out. So, we’re optimistic. It’s been painful to be on the sidelines last year but the market/economy just wouldn’t cooperate.

We have obtained a few more technology sponsors as well.

More to come in the next few weeks. Thanks for hanging in there with us, we really appreciate the loyalty!!!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091015-163109 David Kervinen Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:31:09 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=10&entry=entry091015-163109 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090703-165903
In spite of ... or some say maybe because of ... the recession, hundreds of thousands of people are finding out what we already know. Air Shows are just a whole lot of fun. Two months into the heart of the 2009 air show season, the industry continues to witness a trend first noticed last summer when air shows collectively saw a 10-15 percent increase in spectator attendance compared with 2007. Across the board, air shows are reporting strong attendance, with many - if not most - seeing all-time record attendance.

"Every week, we hear from more shows who have been challenged to deal with overflowing crowds and also from performers who have never seen such large crowds at specific venues," said John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows. "I've worked at ICAS for 12 years and this is a phenomenon I've never seen. At this point, we're thinking we'll have an overall 20 percent increase over last year. When you look at all the empty seats at baseball games or at NASCAR races, it's quite a contrast."

Jim Breen is president of the California-based Umbrella Entertainment Group, which works with 20 air shows each year and says he has never seen such consistent attendance increases across the board. "There are some outlier shows where the attendance is really off the charts," he said, "but when you pull those out, it still looks like everything else is up about 13 percent on average." Breen singled out shows at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, NAS New Orleans, and Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC as examples of shows that have hosted record or near-record crowds during the last several weeks.

Talk to more air show professionals and you'll hear similar stories…

"We had the largest show we've had since I've been involved, which is since 1999," said Rebecca March, Manager of the NAS Patuxent River Air Show, held May 23-24 in Maryland. "We had more than a 10 percent increase over 2008. We expected a good turnout, but this many people was a very pleasant surprise."

"With total attendance in excess of 70,000, this was our largest show in the 18-year history of the event," said Colonel Larry Gallogly with the Rhode Island National Guard Air Show in North Kingstown, Rhode Island on June 27 and 28. "We used every parking spot available to us and put more spectators on the ramp than we ever have before."

"It was the largest attendance in our 29-year history," said Fred Buckingham, chairman of the Florida International Show, held March 21-22 in Punta Gorda. Buckingham estimated 2009 attendance at 65,000, a substantial increase of more than 18 percent over the previous record of 55,000.

"We were expecting lower attendance than last year because of a bad weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday," said George Gorman, Manager of the New York Air Show at Jones Beach, held May 23-24. "Instead, we had a total of 407,000 spectators, and that even was with fog that delayed the Sunday show for 2-1/2 hours and a major traffic snarl on the east part of Long Island. We were barely off our all-time record, which is amazing considering everything that was working against us."

"I would say the attendance was more than double at this Hemet Air Show from the last time they had a show two years ago," said Susan Newman of Harrison Air Shows, an air show performance team. "Same goes for the Chino Airshow, which was two weekends before. When we took our golf cart from the pit to the VIP tent, it was nearly elbow-to-elbow and we barely could get through and that was the case at both shows."
"We expected between 32,000 and 34,000 spectators for the entire weekend," said Major Doug Bodine, director of the Ellsworth Air Force Base Air Show near Rapid City, South Dakota, held May 30-31. "We had more than that by the end of Saturday and finished the show on Sunday with total attendance of 51,200…our largest air show ever."]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090703-165903 David Kervinen Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:59:03 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=07&entry=entry090703-165903 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090623-001409

Greetings All,
This past weekend was another small little milestone for Infinity Entertainment, and it all happened serendipitously. Hiller Aviation Museum was having its annual Vertical Challenge Airshow at hour home airport in San Carlos Ca. It is the US’s largest all helicopter show with civilian and military hardware just about everywhere.

The day before the one-day event one of the guys at Hiller Aviation asked if I would be interested in leaving my hangar open to display the Turbine Toucan. I gave it some thought and figured what the heck. This was actually the first time the Turbine Toucan would be exposed to the general public. Unlike the AOPA show in San Jose, which focuses on like-minded aviation professionals and pilots, the Vertical Challenge really is a family event. Most know little to nothing about aviation, they just want to be entertained.

So, this was a great test to see if all our marketing insight and gut feeling was right. And it was. Women and children absolutely went crazy over the cute, colorful biplane. Men were drawn to it based on shear performance and aesthetics. It was a huge sense of validation for us as well.

As we have discussed before, the whole idea behind the Toucan theme was to cater to a very neglected airshow demographic that represents almost 48% of at venue attendees, women and children. It also happens to be a theme that is easily remembered and recognizable.

When I committed to display the Toucan, I figured I would have a small peppering of interest compared to all the military hardware, just across from my hanger. Well, turns out there were a huge flow of people coming to the hangar non-stop. I have never been so tired. Nine straight hours of standing and talking to people about the plane.

The enthusiasm was extremely high from pilots and even higher from people who could not believe a biplane could hover. We had at least eight families come back a second time because their child wanted to see the Toucan again. I’ve never seen so many non aviation women so drawn to the plane (ok, they did have children with them), they genuinely seemed to find it sleek and cute all at the same time.

Vertical challenge is a very small show but It really was a magical time making such strong connections with people on such a visceral level. Nothing warms my heart more then inspiring people, and I think we did that on Saturday.

Cheers!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090623-001409 David Kervinen Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:14:09 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=06&entry=entry090623-001409 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090610-230342

It certainly has been a very difficult past year for the entire country, let alone Infinity Entertainment. We managed to weather the storm fairly well, clamped down on spending and focus on doing what ever it takes to keep our basic infrastructure in place so we have a future. To date, it seemed to have paid off. As of July, we will be aggressively pursuing a title sponsor for the 2010 airshow season. It requires significant resources to do but we feel the timing is good. Improvements in the collective American psyche regarding the economy have people fairly optimistic and that includes Infinity Entertainment. We have reached out to a few bellwether Fortune 1000 clients of ours who echo our sentiments.

The 2009 airshow season is now well on its way with very favorable attendance records considering the economic conditions. Historically, in down turns in the economy, airshows seem to do very well. Some has to do with the cost/value proposition and some has to do with it being a family affair. At any rate, this is a season we wish we were part of. Nothing could be more frustrating than to have a highly anticipated, high dollar asset sitting in a hangar awaiting its debut. It a frustration the entire team seems to share.

As always, we will continue to share our journey of securing a title sponsor with all of you. We want to thank you all for your continued support for the past eighteen months, it is such a boost to the entire team. Thank you.

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090610-230342 David Kervinen Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:03:42 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=06&entry=entry090610-230342 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090525-162217 Now and then the air show industry gets a much needed shot in the arm. This time, the LA Times writer Martin Zimmerman does a wonderful job of illustrating how well air shows do in an economic downturn. I think John Cudahy has done a wonderful job of getting the word out and picking up enough interest that the LA Times would follow up on it.

This is just the kind of story that helps to substantiate our story when we talk with our clientele. I think it is a worthy read! Check it out at

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-a ... 0657.story

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090525-162217 David Kervinen Mon, 25 May 2009 21:22:17 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=05&entry=entry090525-162217 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090518-182015 We are extremely sorry for the length of time between posts. We’ve been laying low waiting for some sign of the economy starting to improve before we venture back out and spend a great deal of resources making a sponsorship happen. Mean while, Infinity Entertainment has been focused on working with our core clients in a marketing communications capacity. Based on conversations with our client base, it does appear that we are bouncing around the bottom economically, so we are encouraged about the future where we should have some pent up demand.

We have had several companies reengage with us over the past few weeks which is a good sign but they were also very cautious to say that they plan on doing nothing until revenues are up and solid recovery is in play. We’ve had several companies interested in licensing as well as a few agencies looking at incorporating the Toucan in a few new ads, so we’ll see how that goes.

Ken Erickson (our chief pilot) has been busy as heck flying 7 days a week with Sean Tucker, so we’re happy that he is staying extremely busy. After talking with Sean for about a half hour a few weeks back, his school continues to be booked solid in perhaps the most economical challenging times in more then forty years. A great deal of the students are International now, but none the less that is still amazing. GO Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety!

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090518-182015 David Kervinen Mon, 18 May 2009 23:20:15 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=05&entry=entry090518-182015 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090302-173538 I was just speaking less then a week ago about not hearing anything about the Airshow industry’s effects from a serious down turning economy when I heard that Wings over Pittsburg has cancelled its show. They don’t give any reason but I am sure it has a lot to do with the required community support (crowd control/police/misc event costs). It is very sad news, for the industry and especially for the Pittsburg community.

With dwindling tax revenues, I’m very surprised we haven’t seen more to date, granted it is only March 2st.

Casualties so far:

2009 Freedom Airshow at Goshen Airport is cancelled
http://www.freedomfestgoshen.com/index.php

2009 Cape Giralrdeau Airshow Missouri

2009 Wings over Owensboro, Ky Cancelled

2009 Millville NJ Airshow Cancelled

2009 Minnesota Air Spectacular (Mankato Regional Airport) Cancelled

2009 Wings over Pittsburg

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090302-173538 David Kervinen Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:35:38 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=03&entry=entry090302-173538 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090224-193810 As you know, we are very keen on the event/entertainment markets from a marketing perspective. After all, that is what Infinity Entertainment does. Last week we were talking about the effects of the market relating to NASCAR. This week seems to be more of the same, just this time it is Golf. And the effects are substantial. This is another worthwhile read for those interested in event marketing. It's sobering.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/29318132/

Anyway, we literally get hundreds of emails asking why our program is still not sponsored and why we won't be on the 2009 airshow circuit. Though we like to think we have one hell of a neat airplane, a great pilot and a highly differentiated entertainment package compared to any other airshow property; the net of it is, we are in the worst recession I have seen in my 48 years of being on the planet.

And yet you look around the air show industry and you don't see or hear a thing. ICAS isn't reporting on it. None of the industry pubs talk much about it. Baffling really.

Perhaps there is something to an earlier rant about this industry being HIGHLY subsidized by air show performers (god bless them!!). Perhaps. Which has always been part of the debate about the legitimacy of the industry. After all, industries are driven by capitalism, which is about making money. And yet, only a few (I'm talking people, not companies) seem to even break even in this business (did I just call it a business?), which just seems so wrong to me. And then you consider the risks involved (as a performer) and it just doesn't compute. Shouldn't risk some how be connected to compensation?

Kind of hard to call it an "industry" when nobody makes any money don't you think? People in my circle call it a hobby, it's hard to argue the point. Well this is a rat hole I don't want to go down because I think I would offend a lot of people, but I do find the topic interesting. We wouldn't be involved if we didn't think the industry had a great deal of potential, and it does. Perhaps that is a topic worth reviewing at some point.

Most importantly, I hope that you all are keeping your heads above water and still have jobs. Our core client base has cut way back and we certainly are feeling a great deal of pain, so we can sympathize if this down turn as adversely effected you.





]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090224-193810 David Kervinen Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:38:10 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=02&entry=entry090224-193810 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090217-151754
I think you’ll find it an interesting read, even if you don’t follow the sport. And if the economic downturn effects NASCAR, just think what the airshow industry has coming its way. It should be an interesting ride and a good learning experience for those trying to make the air show business a legitimate, ROI driven industry.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/29016085/




]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090217-151754 David Kervinen Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:17:54 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=02&entry=entry090217-151754 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090125-195732
It has been some time since we have last posted any updates on our program. As we continue to see the economy take a downturn, we feel it is now best to sit it out as long as we can afford to hold out. Discretionary spending has all but stopped in a majority of Fortune 1000 companies; so spending any additional resources will be better spent just keeping what little required infrastructure for this program in place.

It is HIGHLY disappointing situation for the entire team. We have such a huge pent up demand for the plane and performances literally all over the world. Except for the few people close to the team, nobody has seen the potential of this aircraft, which is just such a shame.

The irony in our situation is the complete success we continue to have online. January is turning out to be one of our biggest months of traffic in the past six months. Baffling! It means we continue to have a HUGE loyal following.

Infinity Entertainment will continue the journey but will be focusing on other marketing communication initiatives with its core clientele. We are hoping we start to see a correction in the market as early as late fall, and if so, we will ramp things back up again. Right now, conserving valuable capital is the key to us surviving the current economic crisis.

We want to thank everyone for all your continued support over the past year or so, the support and encouragement has been absolutely profound.

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090125-195732 David Kervinen Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:57:32 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=01&entry=entry090125-195732 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081224-170758 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081224-170758 David Kervinen Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:07:58 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=12&entry=entry081224-170758 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081203-201535
Well it has been a heck of a painful month for us. The economy has taken a severe downturn and has had a significant impact on our business. A great deal of the relationship building we have done over the course of the last nine months though helpful for the long term, won’t be yielding us a title sponsor for 2009.

It appears we have sailed into the perfect economic storm. As we have illustrated over the past year, our ability to campaign the Turbine Toucan is exclusively tied to title sponsorship for obvious reasons. So now we have to focus on just surviving for the short term in hopes that a turn around is near. If we roll into a deeper more drawn out recovery then we will have to completely reevaluate our options.

As we mentioned a while back, we had decided to postpone any world record attempts because a few potential title sponsors wanted to be involved in these attempts, which made perfect sense at the time. With the 2009 air show most likely not going to happen for us, we think it is time to revisit the thought of making these attempts after the first of the year. This will continue to keep us in the press and generate any momentum we can as we continue our hopeful journey of finding a title sponsor. Stay tuned on this….

We are also looking at a few overseas opportunities for the Turbine Toucan. As much as we wanted to roll out the aircraft here in the USA, it might not be a reality. We’ll keep you posted on this front as well.

We want to thank you again for your continued support over the past year or so; you all have been so supportive. The volumes of emails we receive continue to lift our spirits in these very painful economic times.

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081203-201535 David Kervinen Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:15:35 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=12&entry=entry081203-201535 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081113-104303

We have been approached by a scale model manufacture that actually makes their desktop models right here in the States! They are willing to make a rather large run of the Turbine Toucan and will do all order fulfillment and shipping. We will set up ordering right here on our site if there is any interest. I’m not sure the cost yet but it will be in the ballpark of your average desktop model, which might be upwards of $200.00, but that is a guess at the moment.

So, if you are interested we really need to hear from you. Infinity Entertainment is not trying to make any money on this deal, just be able to supply models to enthusiasts. If you are interested, please post a reply to the posting with your name. I believe this company will also be able to ship internationally. More to come on this.

Above is an example of what we had made a year before the plane was ever built, we used it to pitch our concept to Agencies. So it will look similar but I think the quality is not as good as what this company is going to put out. We've seen their product and it is NICE work. Let us know your thoughts!!



]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081113-104303 David Kervinen Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:43:03 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=11&entry=entry081113-104303 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081111-162823
The entire Infinity Entertainment Company and Team Turbine Toucan want to thank our veterans for all they have done to make this great country what it is, the land of the free. Without their sacrifice, we would not have the freedoms to pursue dreams.

It has been some time since we last posted an update, so thanks for the patience. We had been busy preparing for AOPA’s Expo 2008, attending it and working on title sponsorship.

For us, the AOPA Expo was a total success. We had a good turn out and enormous interest from all over the world. Several UK publications want to do features on the Toucan/team in the up coming months. We had several families travel as far as five hours one-way specifically to see the Turbine Toucan in person. If that wasn’t flattering enough, they said it was worth the trip if they had not seen anything else. The entire team was very humbled to say the least.

We had another grandfather and grandson come from Morrow Bay (a four hour drive one way) to see the Toucan as well. The Grandson has been following our website for over a year. It was a pleasure to meet them both.

The most astonishing thing about the show to us was the weather. It was perfect. A week before the show the weather forecast was for rain Wednesday through Friday, which would have prevented us from attending. On the last day, just an hour before the end of the show we finally saw a little rain. We managed (thanks to AOPA) to be the first aircraft to depart the show since there was a sliver of a weather window opening up for us to get home. We were also racing “official daylight” to get the plane on the ground back at San Carlos. Not even a few minutes after the plane was safely put away did it start raining hard! Fhew!! I found it funny that a mass of people gathered to see it depart, most thought it was trucked in since they have never seen it fly. Most commented it was crazy to hear that signature turboprop sound out of a tiny little biplane.

At AOPA, the number one questions we were asked was, when are we going to see this plane fly at shows and when are we going to post videos. Great questions that deserve some serious explanations. As you know, Infinity Entertainment Inc. (the owners of the Turbine Toucan) is fundamentally an entertainment marketing company. We are operating in the best interest of our title sponsor (when it is finally secured) by not sharing much of what the plane can do. We want the experience to be extremely fresh when we start campaigning the aircraft full time. Anything we do in sharing what the aircraft is all about diminishes the impact when we campaign the aircraft fulltime. Don’t take it from us; take it from the 50 Fortune 1000 CPG (consumer package goods) companies we spoke with. That was one of the key points that made them happy, that it has had no public performances to date. They want to be the beneficiaries of an initial rollout when it comes to excitement and press.

This leads to the second topic, sponsorship. On the title sponsor front, we were extremely close to closing a few LARGE contracts before the economic down turn in the past six weeks. Both companies did not say NO but had to defer any decision until next year. The combined deals would have been the largest in the air show industry to date, so we are extremely disappointed with the delay. That said, we continue to receive validation for what we are doing and that our direction and insight into a very untapped market is the right course.

For most who might not know, it takes between six and eighteen months to close a large, multi year deal for title sponsorship. This is typical with any large sanctioned motorsport such as NASCAR, F1, NHRA and Champ Car. We have had the extreme privilege of working with a consultant who not only is a veteran of motorsport marketing; he also was responsible for one of the largest domestic breweries entire motorsport sponsorship programs. This includes their NASCAR presence, NHRA and ABRA (unlimited hydroplane) to name a few. He saw something VERY special with our program and wanted to be involved, which in itself is a huge endorsement and validation if you will.

With the elections now behind us, and the start of a new direction, we are hoping it is the beginning of an economic turn around.

One last note, we have now moved to our permanent home at San Carlos Airport! We are the very first occupants of the newly constructed hangars, which come complete with DSL hook up. There is typically a 20 year waiting list to get in ANY hangar at San Carlos, so we feel exceptionally lucky to make it in the new ones. We’ll be spending the next few months tricking it out, so more to come on that.

Have a fantastic week.

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081111-162823 David Kervinen Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:28:23 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=11&entry=entry081111-162823