Coffey to pilot group’s Web operations

Net communcations specialist, pilot to oversee AOPA Web site and two newsletters

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo photo Courtesy of AOPA ‘‘The AOPA job will take all the things I’ve learned over the past 10 years,” said Jeff Coffey, an Internet communications specialst and private pilot.

Because the safety of private pilots and their passengers depends on such information as weather conditions, temporary flight restrictions, and even the U.S. president’s travel schedule, an unusual degree of responsibility rests on the shoulders of Coffey and his staff of five at the AOPA office at Frederick Municipal Airport.

The AOPA Web site is by no means the sole source of such information, but it is an important one for the 67-year-old nonprofit’s membership of more than 408,000.

‘‘I think pilots are a population that is particularly tech-savvy,” said Coffey, recently named vice president of e-publishing at AOPA. ‘‘The challenge for me is that the pace of change with online communications is incredibly rapid. Its uses change daily, weekly and monthly.”

Coffey’s unusual combination of skills set him apart from other applicants for the job, said his new boss Jeff Myers, the association’s executive vice president of communications. ‘‘What’s needed is someone who can harness potential and utilize the appropriate technology to maximize member value. He has a passion for general aviation and it’s an industry that is not easily understood.”

Before joining AOPA, Coffey was in charge of all online communications for Larsen Design of Minneapolis, where he worked on projects for clients that included 3M, Ecolab and General Mills.

‘‘The AOPA job will take all the things I’ve learned over the past 10 years,” he said.

He may need every bit of it. Along with the association’s Airspace Alerts, he is now in charge of two weekly electronic newsletters with a combined circulation of nearly 400,000: ePilot and ePilot Flight Training Edition.

He will also oversee the redesign and content of the AOPA Web site, the medium through which the association’s three missions — representation, education and information — are conveyed to the association’s members.

Myers said Coffey will find the professional design resources he needs right in Frederick.

‘‘Frederick used to be a sleepy town,” said Myers. ‘‘Now, we don’t have to leave town to get what we need.”

Coffey inherited his passion for flying from his father, an insurance salesman and weekend private pilot. The elder Coffey had been profoundly physically disabled from birth and was told that his missing leg, fused ankle and pincer-like hands would keep him from ever flying a plane.

‘‘He jumped through hoops” to get his license, his son recalls. The fact that he did it ‘‘is inspiring for me.”

When he finally got his no-restrictions license in 1963, Coffey’s father was featured in AOPA’s magazine.

Coffey got his own private pilot’s license after graduating from college and today flies a two-seater he built in his garage from blueprints and a good deal of aluminum. While few would attempt such a feat, Coffey said he feels safer flying a plane he built.

‘‘I am the father of two young daughters and I have no interest in injuring myself,” he said.

His wife and daughters, ages 1 and 3 years, will soon join Coffey in Frederick, where he has rented a house. In the meantime, the high-tech family has a video conference every night.