NBAA Convention Set For October In Las Vegas

NBAA will hold its annual business aviation convention and exhibition in Las Vegas, Oct. 10-12, the group announced this week. The event will feature 1,100 exhibits, 100 aircraft on static display and plentiful opportunities for education and networking. Keynote speakers will be U.S. astronauts and identical twin brothers, Mark and Scott Kelly. They'll headline the event's second-day opening general session. "We are honored to welcome Mark and Scott Kelly to NBAA-BACE," said NBAA President Ed Bolen. "Their stories are truly remarkable aspects of America's aviation and aerospace history." The brothers served as U.S. Navy aviators before joining NASA in 1996. NBAA said they expect 27,000 visitors to attend the show.

NBAA said it will enhance its education sessions this year with new technologies that encourage more interaction between the presenters and the audience. "The NBAA events mobile app allows for the presenters to ask questions of the audience, to gauge the level of knowledge the audience already has," said Mike Nichols, NBAA vice president of professional development. "They can modify their presentation real-time based on the attendee learning needs." For example, NBAA said, if a speaker is giving a presentation on operations to Cuba, and they find out 80 percent of those in the audience already have flown to Cuba, the speaker can tailor the presentation to focus on advanced issues rather than the basics. The app can also be used for Q&A. NBAA also is sponsoring a greater number of roundtable discussions, Nichols said.