ISTAT Jetrader - Autumn 2021 - 36

AVIATION HISTORY
Douglas Runte and
Adam Pilarski at the
2012 ISTAT Americas in
Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Shangri-La of ISTAT
A history of ISTAT meetings, including moments big and small
from one longtime attendee's perspective.
by Adam Pilarski
Senior Vice President, AVITAS Inc.
I
STAT serves many wonderful
purposes in the aviation
community. It connects
thousands of professionals who
love the industry. It creates and
cements lifelong bonds between
our members. It creates
opportunities to make deals, share
information and pursue joint goals. In
addition to this publication and various
educational programs, it provides
a forum for getting together and
developing trust. In an industry where
deals often involve millions, hundreds
of millions or billions of dollars, trusting
the person on the other side of the
deal is most important. Hence, personto-person
contact has always been
an essential part of our industry. The
recent problems have disrupted that
tradition, but most believe we will get
back to the tradition that served us well
for many decades.
36 * THE OF F I C I AL PUBL I CAT I ON OF ISTAT
From a Few Dozen
to Thousands
One of the original reasons for forming
ISTAT back in 1983 was to create an
opportunity for in-person meetings. The
first meeting was held in Miami with
only a few dozen participants. These
meetings have since been held annually
and experienced phenomenal growth.
I think of these get-togethers as
Shangri-La, a beautiful but imaginary
place. These meetings fostered the
necessary and important relations
between members.
From the original couple of dozen
participants, we reached over 500
people in 2002 and over 1,000 in 2007.
The event in March 2020 in Austin,
Texas, had 2,026 participants. After the
first few meetings, the membership and
leadership became aware that for ISTAT
to justify its name, the first letter ( " I, "
which stands for " International " ) should
lead us to have such conferences
in other locations around the world.
It started in Europe in 1994 where
meetings were held in a small location
in Saint-Paul de Vence on the French
Riviera near Nice. The secluded
location could host only a few dozen
participants. While it was located in
gorgeous surroundings, we eventually
outgrew the space. From there, ISTAT
moved to more traditional locations in
regular hotels. The first such European
conference was held in Venice in 2001
with 126 participants. Since then, we've
gone to Prague, Istanbul, Edinburgh
and Barcelona, among others. Our most
recent conference in Berlin in 2019 saw
a record 1,767 attendees.
As everybody is well aware,
aviation, which has been growing at
very healthy rates for the last few
decades, experienced the most robust
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