http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php Copyright 2010, David Kervinen David Kervinen en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 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 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081001-180033

Infinity Entertainment Inc. is proud to announce that the Turbine Toucan will make its first ever, inaugural public appearance at the AOPA Expo in San Jose California this November 6-8. We are excited that AOPA has extended this fantastic opportunity to us to share with the World this very special aircraft. It is a wonderful venue to connect with like-minded aviation enthusiasts and share our passion for flight.

It is absolutely the perfect venue at the perfect time and the entire team could not be happier about it. We’ve been waiting a very long time for this day and it is finally coming. We really hope you can make it out, stop by and say hello!

For more information please click on the provided link http://www.aopa.org/expo/


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081001-180033 David Kervinen Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:00:33 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=10&entry=entry081001-180033 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080923-033332
Sorry for not keeping up with the blog these past few weeks. Again, we’ve been absolutely swamped on the business side of things. Considering last weeks Wall St. aerobatics of sorts, we continue to get fantastic feedback and accolades about our program. In some cases we have seen deferment of any considerations or decisions until after the first of the year, which is understandable. Between the economy and the election, it sure has seemed slow down the process. But most are very clear about their sincere interest.

For most that don’t know, the average NASCAR deal can take between nine and eighteen months to solidify and there is a lot to work out. Valuation, activation and strategy have to be set upfront in order to meet each of our potential title sponsors objectives. Each has VERY different needs as well as strategy, so the process/proposal can take a very long time to build out.

The economy has also proven to be a silver lining. Considering that our program is a fraction of the cost of a Sprint Cup Sponsorship and most other major motor sports, we have looked very attractive to some. Couple it with a very unique piece of equipment, highly differentiated performance and unparalleled “at venue attendance” and we have the attention of some very savvy agencies. After all, at the end of the day this is a media buy. And a great buy at that.

On the equipment side of things we have just started to work on our proprietary smoke system (again). Our basic system works great but we have decided to spend a little $ on R&D for something a little more involved. We are working on creating a two-channel system, which include the left and right exhaust nozzles. The objective is to be able to control each side independently. The second objective is to have the nozzles/solenoids controlled via MIDI (music instrument digital interface) protocol. This protocol allows us to sync the smoke system to pre-recorded music.

Because we are turboprop driven, the exhaust nozzles are actually much cooler than one would think, about 700-800F at the nozzles. A piston engines with a six into one exhaust is about 1300F at the collector, which makes burning Corvis oil no problem.

In our case, the flash point of Corvis oil is way to high. After some work, we have come up with a proprietary blend of smoke oil, which brings the flash point way down and creates great smoke. Now that is only part of the solution.

The exciting part of this experiment is not just creating smoke but colored smoke. Now, if we only wanted one particular color then we’d just add dye to our blend and call it a day. But what if we could have three different colors from the same source of smoke oil? What if we could independently control these three colors on each side of the airplane simultaneously? Get the picture? Kind of a neat proposition to think about, well for us anyway!

Never a dull moment at the bird cage (which folks at the airport call the TT’s hangar).

If we make any real progress on this front you’ll be the first to know about it. Have a good week!

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080923-033332 David Kervinen Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:33:32 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=09&entry=entry080923-033332 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080904-173209
http://www.aero-news.net/podcasts/casts ... -09-09.mp3
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080904-173209 David Kervinen Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:32:09 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=09&entry=entry080904-173209 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080816-185024
The Chicago Air & Water show is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend, and doing so with a wonderful line up of performers including the Blue Angeles, US Army Parachute Team- The golden Knights and a F-22 rapture demo as just part of the entertainment line up for this weeks extravaganza.

ABC’s Good Morning America’s Taryn Winter Brill took an exclusive look into the biggest of its kind Air & Water show. Though the backdrop of the story was the actual show, the talents of Mr. Sean Tucker framed it out nicely. Good Morning America reported an “at venue” attendance of about 2 million over the course of the air show weekend!

But the real story is not the show or even Sean’s appearance on GMA. The real story is the delivery of raw numbers. Between Chicago’s Air & Water show attendance figures and Good Morning America’s average daily viewership of about 4.3 million, Oracle was able to reach about 5.3 million people in spectacular and memorable fashion. We’re not even factoring in all the local newspaper/print and local television coverage. Unlike traditional advertising, Oracle enjoyed more then two minutes of GMA editorial, which you literally CANNOT buy. I’d say Oracle made a heck of a return on their investment in Sean this year.

The formula for delivering raw numbers is what is perhaps Sean's biggest asset. I’m not talking his great piloting skills, nor am I talking about that very special aircraft of his, that’s all a given. No, I am talking about one of the best-kept secrets in Sean’s marketing arsenal. Brian Norris and the Oracle support aircraft.

The primary role of the Oracle support aircraft is to be a media platform. This six passenger aircraft provides the media an extremely dynamic way to tell their story, with their own cityscape as a backdrop. Whether it is still photography, video or motion picture, the support aircraft’s role is key to getting stories told, and what makes the team differentiated from most.

Brian’s job as a support pilot is demanding and requires the same kind of creativity as any air show pilot. Not only does he look for the best backdrops, lighting and formations to fly, he has to coordinate it all with the local ATC (air traffic controller). The support aircraft requires rock solid performance so Sean can literally do aerobatics around the aircraft. It also requires immense communication and training for this kind of formation flying. And above all, it requires safety.

If you’ve ever wondered why you see so many aerials of Sean with the Blue Angeles, his formation team and countless cityscapes on the front of about every major newspaper in the US, its because he provides the media, free of charge, a platform to get their story told. Getting the story told is what it is all about.

This is why we continue to express how important it is to have adequate resources to provide the title sponsor MEASUREABLE results, which Team Oracle has done nicely. Below is the link to Good Morning America's feature story.

ABC's Good Morning America Coverage of Chicago's Air & Water Show

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080816-185024 David Kervinen Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:50:24 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=08&entry=entry080816-185024 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080804-172354
Susan Cress and I had just completed a very nice call with a company that really understands what our program is all about which, in itself was very refreshing. It always helps when a company is also involved in and understands the aviation industry. At the end of the call I headed out to the airport to check on a few things and have breakfast with the usual gang at the Sky Kitchen.

Well, Willie Turner of Hiller Aviation Museum comes walking in, in his usual upbeat stride saying hello to about everyone in the coffee shop. This time around he had a guest. Willie came over and said “David, I want you to meet Kermit, Kermit Weeks”. WOW, I’ve known about Kermit for years but have never had the pleasure of meeting him. Willie wanted Kermit to see the Turbine Toucan, an aircraft that Kermit had not heard of, until today.

At the end of lunch Willie arranged for Kermit to stop by and see the plane before heading out on business. I’m guessing, based on what Willie told him on the drive over to the hangar, his expectations were fairly low. After all, Kermit owns the most prolific aircraft collection in the world and is a guy who’s been there, done that and seen it all.

When we opened the hangar door, I believe Kermit’s eye’s lit up in a big way. Being that Kermit is a three-time U.S. Aerobatic Champion, he instantly understood exactly what he was looking at and the staggering potential of the aircraft. He walked around the plane several times. As he did, he asked some very good questions few people ever have ever asked.

Though he is a giant in the aviation world, he is a very approachable, down to earth person with a great sense of humor. I really enjoyed our meeting and hope we get the opportunity to spend more time together down the road.

If you haven’t had the chance, I would highly recommend a visit to Kermit’s Museum, which is called Fantasy of Flight. It is just off Interstate 4 in Polk City, Florida, just down the road from Orlando and Disney World. I’ve been there on several occasions and it really is a wonderful experience if you love aviation, like most of us.

For more information on Fantasy of Flight please go to www.fantasyofflight.com, you will not be disappointed!

To learn more about the man himself, Forbes did a great article a while back called “Mad For Airplanes” http://www.forbes.com/2001/01/15/0115garage.html

As I understand it, Kermit has some VERY big plans for his museum, so I highly recommend keeping an eye out for developments, should be very exciting times at Fantasy of Flight.

-Have a great week!

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080804-172354 David Kervinen Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:23:54 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=08&entry=entry080804-172354 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080730-160138
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080730-160138 David Kervinen Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:01:38 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080730-160138 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080709-131858
Our journey has really been a two-part process. The first being the development and test flying of a very exciting, unique and unusual aircraft. The second part might be even more involved than the first… corporate sponsorship. In all honesty, this part of the process is by far the most demanding and much harder than building and flying the aircraft. The second part of this equation is also the hardest to articulate and why we extend an apology for the temporary radio silence.

What we are trying to accomplish in the air show industry is unprecedented and there are a lot of eyes watching. That includes many agencies of record we had early conversations with when we were at the exploration stage of building the Turbine Toucan.

And just what are we trying to accomplish? Our main focus since we got started was to create a highly differentiated marketing communication platform. This not only included our highly differentiated aircraft but also our custom 75ft tractor-trailer, support aircraft, pit equipment and team. We are intent on creating an experience both in the air and on the ground, which is second to none. Our tractor-trailer has several missions but is centered around our title sponsor for hospitality, similar to NASCAR, NHRA etc. We’ll also use the tractor-trailer for the ultimate static display. It will be complete with pit equipment and access to the pilot & crew, which will be a focal point at any air show. The static display/hospitality also provides air show event organizers that much more entertainment, adding value to their event.

We have had many meetings at the CMO level with Fortune 1000 companies, which is an achievement in and of itself. Each meeting takes more than a week to prepare for, with custom presentations for each of the prospective title sponsors. Many, if not all, of these meetings are confidential, making details something we can’t communicate. So, a lot is happening but unfortunately we can’t elaborate. Add the current economic conditions and it puts a whole new layer of challenges and complexity to our pursuit. Our focus over the last few months has solely been on positioning our entertainment property to the world.

We took on the challenge of building the Turbine Toucan because we identified a very unique opportunity (for which there are few and far between), after looking at the air show industry. What many don’t realize (including agency’s of record and corporations) is that air shows represent the single largest spectator event in the US. The top 14 air shows trump that of NASCAR, Indy Car, Champ Car or any other motor sport when it comes to “at venue” attendance. Air shows also represent both rich and wide demographics, with a higher average household income and education than NASCAR. They also provide the greatest geographic reach, with events in every state of the union. Air shows get overlooked for several reasons, one being the lack of television coverage. They are one of the few events that do not translate well to television, no matter how hard you try. It is such an emotive experience that you have to be there to truly appreciate and interpret.

To the savvy marketeer, the lack of television coverage is quickly overlooked when one considers the raw “at venue” attendance figures… the numbers are staggering! The reason this is one of the best-kept secret is because air shows don’t have an industry-sanctioned body and lack any kind of resources or voice to get the word out at an orchestrated national level. In a sense, we are that lone voice, educating individuals at any opportunity we can what an incredible opportunity this industry truly offers! Air shows, in our opinion, represent one of the best “experiential marketing” opportunities ever. And that is why we embarked on this journey, to help evolve an industry, raise the bar and provide incredible ROI to a forward thinking company!

Every motorsport/event in the U.S. is made up of and driven by corporate sponsorship… and with great success we might add. So why is the air show industry so slow to adopt? It is one of the last few event industries remaining that is not regulated or managed by a sanctioned body. The FAA has, in a sense, been that lone soldier. International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) unfortunately can only act in an advisory capacity for the industry, since it is grossly under funded. There is no industry marketing being done, it is only done at the local event level, which is one of the many reasons companies and ad agencies lump it into the same category as a county fair. Every fair is different; there is no cohesiveness, no standards for the guest experience, etc. With that said, we are also in one of the most enviable positions of any motor sport with regards to safety. Not a single spectator has been killed at an air show from an aircraft related accident. This unprecedented safety record is also a huge story to tell yet very few people are aware of this fact.

Not being a sanctioned event also has its advantages. Our research indicates that community/local driven events, such as air shows, are far more news worthy at a local and regional level. This is an important attribute, as part of the overall value to a potential sponsor and delivers valuable exposure and PR money can’t buy… literally.

In order for the air show industry to continue to evolve and prosper, a paradigm shift is needed. After years of researching the air show industry and its practices, we could only identify a few individuals/businesses that focus on this industry full time and receive 100% of their revenue or salary from it. Up to now, events have had the great fortune of relying on the generosity of air show performers who have been willing to subsidize the air show industry in order to perform at public venues. And all but a few are either independently wealthy or have another full time occupation/business to support their love of flying and performing. In either case, the monetary losses for being on the air show circuit full time is staggering! We won’t disclose what the elite level performer makes for a two-day show (from the event organizer) but suffice to say it is nominal considering the associated risk and costs involved. With fuel prices surging out of control, this paradigm shift is what the industry needs, if it is to survive.

Up to now, the industry has been fueled by the passion of pilots. Pilot/performers willing to subsidize (in most cases) the industry in order to do what they love is very admirable. But it is not sustainable. Nor does it give the industry the required resources to do things on a much higher level. At the end of the day, air show fans are also consumers, who have most likely been to other motorsport events such as NASCAR, IRL, NHRA and their expectations are high. So, the bar has been set for the industry for some time. But the bar will never be reached if we expect pilots and local air show promoters to brunt most of the cost.

By contrast, Sean D. Tucker, title sponsor Oracle, illustrates our point exactly. It provides him professional marketing talent and resources. It also allows him to have a top notch, full time crew, equipment and a back-up aircraft. More over, it also provides him much needed resources to provide hospitality at every venue he appears. Sean’s sponsorship allows him the time and resources to practice EVERY DAY leading up to and between his scheduled air show performances. What does all this really mean? For one, SAFETY! And on so many levels I can’t begin to emphasize the importance of. It also is a level of professionalism we need to see more of.

Many might question why Oracle, a software maker for business applications, would ever sponsor an event that is made up of the widest consumer demographics in the event business. It’s not like you can go down to your local strip mall and buy anything Oracle branded after you just saw Sean perform at an air show. Oracles sponsorship is not going to influence any impulse buy at your local store. But air shows provide a huge value and ROI for Oracle.

So why does Oracle sponsor Sean? For the very same reason Dupont, a B2B company sponsors NASCAR. Both companies use these unique venues to entertain key industry partners and distributors, top performing employees and their families, as well as providing invaluable and immeasurable company moral for such an association. And both companies have measured success with such an affiliation!

So, if there is truly measurable ROI for Oracle and their sponsorship, imagine the success a CPG (consumer packaged goods) company could experience from one of the best-kept secrets in the event/experiential marketing world.

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080709-131858 David Kervinen Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:18:58 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080709-131858 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080704-161541 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080704-161541 David Kervinen Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:15:41 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080704-161541 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080609-172550 Sorry for not keeping up with the blog over the past two weeks. We’ve been very busy with activity on the marketing side of this venture. It continues to be very positive even considering the current economic conditions.

Fuel prices continue to drop the jaws of the entire team. We managed to burn some Jet-A over the weekend and though expensive, it was a very rewarding outcome.

We finally brought the smoke system online and all we can say is WOW! We could not believe the volume of smoke we managed to generate. We’ve only done ground tests, so the next thing we do is take it in the air and see how it performs. Because the exhaust nozzles discharge the exhaust along side the aircraft, this generates some challenges.

The right side of the plane is no issue, but the left swirls the smoke over the top wing in amazing fashion. We were in IFR conditions almost immediately. At over 120kts will be another thing, we just don’t know until we try it!

We are also planning on adding solenoid valves that can alternate between the two exhaust nozzles if the one on the left doesn’t give us problems while in flight. So programming the timing between each side could prove to be a very neat thing, especially if we can harness it to midi (music instrument digital interface) protocol, which could control tempo of the valves etc…

So, that will be a fun, creative endeavor over the summer months. We’ll keep you posted on the trek for a title sponsor as we get a little closer, a lot of great stories to tell.

Have a great week!

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080609-172550 David Kervinen Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:25:50 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080609-172550 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080503-192557

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080503-192557 David Kervinen Sun, 04 May 2008 00:25:57 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080503-192557 http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080502-203445



Greetings & Happy Friday,

Boy am I glad this week is over, it was a long one! As promised, here is the sub panel which finally has all its placards. This is kind of a unique process and different than engraving. We anodize the panel, make a reversed out mask and then sand blast the letters into the panel. Charles Robenalt did this work for us as well as the throttle quadrant.

What I like about most about the process is the depth of the letters is a little more then a few thousandths and matte finish, unlike engraving. It also is much easier to clean as well.

In the works is our custom tow bar designed to attach to our tail wheel and be used with a golf cart. We’ve had it done for a few months but I just have to get it powder coated, which will happen next week so we’ll share that as well.

We’ve had some nice emails come in this past week. We want to thank everyone for the continued support! More to come…….


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080502-203445 David Kervinen Sat, 03 May 2008 01:34:45 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080502-203445