AOPA members pick and choose their news

AOPA's popular ePilot electronic newsletter is about to get personal. The weekly publication was already regionalized, sending region-specific news based on a subscriber's address. It was announced at AOPA Expo 2002 that subscribers can now select more of what they want.

AOPA has already tested the new system with a small number of members. Now, any subscriber will be able to go to AOPA's Web site and simply check boxes to select the types of flying that they do and the category of aircraft that they fly. Based on these preference selections, members' newsletters will include additional information on these subject areas.

AOPA Expo 2002 marks ePilot's third anniversary. The weekly newsletter now has a circulation of 220,000, allowing AOPA to communicate with more than a third of the nation's pilots every week.

"AOPA's ability to regionalize distribution of its electronic publications proved its worth in the harried days following the September 11 terrorist attacks," said AOPA Vice President of Diversified Products Mike Collins. "As restrictions were imposed, lifted, and re-imposed by federal officials trying to figure out how to secure our nation, we were able to keep our members near many of the temporary flight restrictions up-to-date with the newest available information.

"Now," said Collins, "we are employing some of that technology to allow members some degree of control over the content of their personal newsletter."

For more than a year, ePilot has included a calendar of aviation-related events in a subscriber's region and since this past spring, has also included a regionalized weekend weather outlook, provided by AOPA partner Meteorlogix. With these new enhancements, members will be able to select more than one region (or even no regions) to be included in their weekly newsletter.

With AOPA ePilot, AOPA Pilot and AOPA Flight Training magazines, and AOPA Online, the association prides itself on its ability to communicate quickly with its 387,000 members, who make up some two thirds of all U.S. pilots. For more than six decades, AOPA has represented the interests of general aviation nationwide.

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