Aircraft Maintenance Technology

MAR 2018

The aircraft maintenance professional's source for technological advancements, maintenance alerts, news, articles, events, and careers

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ARSA INSIGHT By Brett Levanto 58 MARCH 2018 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY I N L AST MONTH'S AMT MAGAZINE, I shared my rubric for making event atten- dance "worth your while." Before you dig through back editions, let me summarize: Fill your professional calendar by starting at the end and determine what you need to get from attendance. Once you get to the event, whichever you choose, there's obviously plenty to learn. Valuable discussions on business matters, presentations on regulator y compliance, grassroots action for legislative advocacy — at panels, plenary sessions, cocktail parties, luncheons, and dinners, you will find a full menu of professional opportunity. There's something else important you should learn: What matters to the event host? Other than holding your attention and convincing you it's worth coming back, what does the organization putting on the party really care about? As you read this, dozens of aviation maintenance leaders are preparing to descend (or are already descending) on Washing ton, D.C., for the Aeronautical Repair Station Association's 2018 Annual Repair Symposium. If you're one of them, your time will be well spent. You'll build rela- tionships with policymakers, have an impact on key pieces of aviation law, and get face time with a collection of international regu- lators (If you're not with us, you can follow along or catch up at arsa.org/symposium ). For an association, an event should be a microcosm of its larger value to the pro- fessional community it serves. With ARSA, regulatory insight is a must — access to experts in compliance issues is a core value presented to its members. That's why its annual spring event devotes two days to discussions with regulators (including rep- resentation from all four members of the international "quadrilateral" group: the FAA, EASA, ANAC, and Transport Canada), ques- tion and answer sessions, and presentations on issues that matter when dealing with a government. From the foundation of this expertise, ARSA's value sprout s into advocacy. Understanding the intersection of busi- ness and government — the credo of the association's management firm — demands the effort of putting it into practice indus- trywide. Through lobbying on Capitol Hill, letters and petitions to the FAA and other international regulators, and participation in industry events, the association tries to ser ve the entire maintenance community by making sense of the rules and reigning in the rulemakers. During both the Executive to Executive Briefings and Legislative Day por- tions, this focus is put into practice for the mechanics, engineers, quality managers, and executives who spend time face-to-face with government officials and lawmakers. The fundamental requirement of advo- cacy is knowledge. Making change means understanding how things currently are, what's missing, and how to strategically walk a government agency from here to there. It also requires making the best use of the "right now" for the sake of good safety and good business. So, from that core of knowledge and through the lens of proactive advocacy, the association's training program was born. The association taps directly into the regula- tors for guidance and instruction on SMS and other oversight matters (and helps you knock out some IA Renewal credit). In each of these areas, ARSA's work is supplemented by tools and resources. The association's team has produced grassroots advocacy kits, model manuals, supplements, and issue papers to provide its members with ways to be their own experts, advocate their own issues, and foster their own knowledge. Connecting these efforts to the central focus of the association pro- duces a more powerful voice. Through these activities and resources, an event — for ARSA, its Annual Repair Symposium — becomes a medium through which members, allies, and attendees trans- form into an active part of the organization's work. Why? If the business of a professional association is to serve its members, why involve them so directly? If the purpose of the central body is to speak as an industry's voice, why ask that industry's members to use their own voices in the name of the collective? In one of her regular "Sarah Says" columns, which avid readers of ARSA's hotline mem- ber newsletter know well, Executive Director Sarah MacLeod explained the answer. In her August 2015 viewpoint, MacLeod considered the association's moniker as "the voice of the aviation maintenance industry": "It's a fair — and often repeated — illus- tration of the association's role on behalf of repair stations: the body that will speak truth to power. When it engages regulators, legislators, or bystanders, ARSA elucidates the perfect intersection between business and government. One voice. One mes- sage. One purpose. "In reality, though, ARSA is not a single voice. It can't be; a lone note is clear but it's also easily lost in the cacophony of talk- ing heads and blowing wind in the halls of government. To be successful, ARSA is a conductor of voices — yours." At an industr y event, whether run by a trade association, media organization, gov- ernment agency, business group, or other stakeholder body, the purpose should always be to conduct the voices of partici- pants into a shared purpose. Hopefully you were able to make it to the nation's capital with ARSA, but no matter where you land, demand that the groups to whom you give support use it wisely. PROVING GROUND How a professional event can teach you a lot about what matters to its host BRETT LEVANTO is vice president of operations of Obadal, Filler, MacLeod & Klein, P.L.C. managing firm and client communications in conjunction with regulatory and legislative policy initiatives. He provides strategic and logistical support for the Aeronautical Repair Station Association.

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