Airplanista blog to hold Oshkosh meetup July 29

"Aviation geeks" on Twitter attending this year’s EAA AirVenture will have the chance to meet like-minded people at the annual Airplanista #Oshbash meetup on July 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Experimental Aircraft Association press tent. The event will also include a panel discussion on the GA Power Collective.

The panel will feature participants from the major aviation associations, including Frank Ayers Jr., chancellor of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott, Ariz., campus; Dick Knapinski, EAA's senior communications advisor; Peggy Chabrian, president of Women in Aviation, International; Brittney Miculka, AOPA senior manager of pilot community development; Dan Johnson, president of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association; The Ninety Nines President Martha Phillips; and Kathryn Fraser, director of safety and outreach at the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

“The desire to grow aviation is universal,” said Pimentel. “My GA Power Collective panel discussion will bring some of the aviation industry’s most influential people together in one room to spark a transparent conversation and discuss how we get to one million certificated pilots,” said Dan Pimentel, editor of the Airplanista blog and the event’s organizer, in a press release. “The ultimate goal of the event will be to encourage the major aviation groups to work together as a ‘collective’ to develop new strategies for reaching out to the non-flying public and grow aviation.”

People who attend #Oshbash will be eligible for door prizes with no purchase necessary, with prizes being donated by Aero Glass, Phoenix Graphix Publishing, Sporty's Pilot Shop, Flying Eyes Sunglasses, Torgeon Professional Swiss Pilot Watches, Skyvantage, and authors Karlene Petitt and Eric Auxier.

The event will be livestreamed and will be tweeted using the #Oshbash hashtag under Pimentel’s @Av8rdan handle. For more information about the event, contact Pimentel here.