There’s a soft fog ahead as you lift off the runway and leave the airport behind. Hills on the horizon grow sharper as you approach, then fade into the haze as you continue your ascent. You fly straight on toward the horizon as it darkens with the sunset, through all types of weather and over every kind of terrain. You bank back and suddenly it’s night. The lights of Rio de Janeiro twinkle far below. Then it’s day again and you’re flying over Christ the Redeemer, one of the seven wonders of the New World.

This isn’t a dream – it’s far too detailed and real. No, you’re in a FlightSafety International full flight simulator with one of the training leader’s hundreds of highly skilled, patient, knowledgeable instructors. You find yourself leaning with the banks, growing anxious with the approach of Sugar Loaf Mountain. And our instructor is taking it easy on us. You understand how even veteran pilots might build up a little adrenaline when an instructor unloads a cascade of problems in quick succession, requiring quick, calm, certain responses.

Taking the Tour
A flock of Greteman Groupers took advantage of recent open houses at FlightSafety’s two Hawker Beechcraft Learning Centers in Wichita. (You can check out our photos here.) The all-new 1-acre maintenance center still sparkles, which might lead one to believe that it isn’t being used yet. In fact, Manager Bill Magyar and crew just run a tight ship – they’ve been training technicians since Fall 2009. The pilot center, similarly spic-and-span, has been around for years, but is newly expanded and remodeled.

Bringing the World to Wichita
Professionals from 154 countries train with FlightSafety, and currently the Hawker Beechcraft centers’ customer base runs at about 70 percent foreign nationals. At one level, these centers showcase highly technical, cutting-edge sophisticated training technology, yet they also are set up to accommodate the widest imaginable diversity of languages and cultures.

Congratulations, FlightSafety
Our sincere thanks to our gracious hosts and hostesses for a fun and insightful tour, and our warmest congratulations to FlightSafety for its investment in safety. The folks who work at these centers display such dedication and a clear love of what they do. These heroes make the skies safer for all of us. When we board a flight with a FlightSafety-trained crew, we know we’re in the very best possible hands.

Have you trained with FlightSafety or had the opportunity to tour one of its facilities? Tell us about your experiences.

Check out all of our photos from the event here.

Sometimes it’s good to spread things out. Here’s my pick for this February Final Friday and another great show to see at next week’s First Friday.

Doug Billings at Gallery XII
Doug Billings creates mysterious visions of Wichita as though he is looking through the eyes of an early 20th century Italian Surrealist. Doug, who teaches printmaking at the Wichita Center for the Arts, will be showing paintings, hand-pulled original prints and handmade books based on his experiences and reflections as a resident of Wichita, Kansas.

Gallery XII
412 E. Douglas
Friday, Feb. 26
6–10 p.m.

Doug Billings, "Wichita Melodrama #1," Lithograph

Doug Billings, "Wichita Melodrama #2," Lithograph

Doug Billings, "Wichita Melodrama #3," Lithograph

Next Friday, March 5 – Pulp: Works on Paper at Butler County
Paper is a material that we often take for granted. But many artists appreciate its tactile beauty, versatility, immediacy and warmth and use it to great effect in their work. Guest curator Matthew Hillyard brings together former professors, some fellow art students now out of the classroom, and a number of local area artists with whom he has an aesthetic connection. The diverse works in the show are all created on or with paper.

Erman B. White Gallery
Butler Community College
901 South Haverhill Road, El Dorado, Kansas
Friday, March 5
6-8 p.m., Curator’s Talk at 6:30 p.m.

Scott Brown, "Passing," Linoleum block print

Annette Gaspers, "A Perspective on the Moving Point," Installation detail

Cheri Lee Charlton, “Trigger Happy,” Graphite, marker, ink, watercolor on paper

What shows have caught your attention this month?

In our work, we spend considerable time thinking about brands. How to build or revive them, depending on the need.

Lately, I’ve been devoting more time than usual thinking about personal brands. Last week CBS affiliate KWCH TV 12 invited me on its morning program to talk about the Tiger Woods press conference later that day. As a PR professional, they wanted to know what I thought about the counsel Woods had apparently been receiving – from not speaking out for three months to not taking questions at his press conference. (Wouldn’t have recommended either.)

The Game That Counts
After Woods’ announcement Friday, I heard a number of people say (or read their tweets), “He didn’t need to apologize to ME.” They’re right. He didn’t. But expressing regret was the right thing to do.

No, he’s not an elected official. He’s a public person and the breach of trust is between him and his wife. But fans and the general public feel betrayed, too. The man they have idolized, the man they thought they knew didn’t just step down from his pedestal. He smashed it up good.

I didn’t have high expectations for the highly scripted and rehearsed announcement, but Woods said all the right things. He accepted responsibility. Acknowledged he’d let people down. Talked about how he plans to restore confidence. And said the words others often dodge, “I am so sorry.”

Woods didn’t weep. And he didn’t force his wife to stand by his side. He acknowledged that he still has work to do and he asked for help. Time will be the judge of Woods. As it is for us all.

Getting Out of the Rough
While Woods is a master of the short game, he’s taking a step back and looking at his drive. He needs to stay inside the trees and out of the water. The revelations of the past months have recast how we see him. But if he works hard and lives a life that’s honest to who he is – whoever that may be – our impression will change.

Life is a long game.

Who do you think has done the best job of restoring a once-fractured personal brand?

This weekend, as the helicopter industry gathers in Houston for its annual Heli-Expo, talk among operators, service providers and manufacturers inevitably will focus on safety – how the industry fares, what it can do better.

Helicopter safety, like that of all aviation, is leagues ahead of where it stood a few decades ago, and the industry devotes enormous effort and resources to improving its record. Still, helicopter safety trails most other aviation categories.

The equipment continually improves – systems become more reliable, avionics grow ever more sophisticated. Meanwhile, operator error accounts for the largest number of accidents. Regulators, top operators, helicopter associations and the insurance industry all agree – regular, quality training is the best route to improving this record.

A Training Breakthrough
At Heli-Expo, FlightSafety International will promote its groundbreaking new Level 7 flight training devices, which deliver training that compares favorably to the cost of in-aircraft instruction yet provide the clear benefits of simulation-based training.

These devices remove another barrier – perceived cost – to regular helicopter training, and point the way to a future in which helicopter safety records approach that of the rest of aviation. We’ll be watching to see what other innovations emerge from the annual rotorcraft extravaganza.

Have helicopters played a role in your life? Emergency transport, sightseeing, travel to otherwise inaccessible destinations or some other objective that only a helicopter could meet?

If you’re a Gmail user (or simply a reader of the Internet) you might have heard about Google’s latest foray into the social media space. Their new service, Buzz, is a Twitter/Facebook-Status-Update/Foursquare hybrid that lives inside their mail service.

Even though Buzz is yet another service for people to keep updated, it does offer some pretty nice features.

Gmail Integration
One of the biggest draws for the service is that if you have a Gmail account, you’re automatically signed up for Buzz. There’s no choosing a username, setting up a profile or confirming membership. There’s also no looking for people to follow. You automatically get updates from your Gmail contacts. Finally, the updates are accessible directly from your inbox, so you can read the latest buzz from your friends while you check your mail and without visiting multiple sites.

More Than Text
Buzz makes it easy to embed maps, photos and videos directly into your messages, so people can see what you want them to see without opening a new browser or even clicking a link.

Mobile-Friendly
With many smartphones, Buzz can tag your update with your current location. So, for example, if you post about having some great coffee, your friends can see exactly where that’s happening. Or, if you’re more of an observer, you can see updates from other Buzz users that are nearby your current location, potentially tipping you off to a great deal or a worthwhile activity. Finally, you can speak your update into your phone and Buzz will automatically transcribe your message for you – no typing necessary.

Worth The Buzz or Just a Bust?
It’s difficult to tell if Buzz’s features are strong enough to make it a serious contender. Its tight Google integration is sure to be a draw and maybe even serve as a gateway-social-media tool for those who have yet to make the plunge into the social media world. But it’s also entering a crowded space with strongly entrenched competition.

Have you tried out Buzz yet? What do you think about it?

To cap off a dreary January, perk yourself up with some cheerful hues this Final Friday.

Mary Werner and Brenda Jones at Steckline Gallery
Mary Werner joined Newman University in 2003 as Director of Visual Arts, where she has been building a vital program by employing her wisdom, charm and dedication to her work. Her colorful paintings combine animated dresses, floral and plant patterns and journal entries. For this show, Mary is joined by fabric artist Brenda Jones, who often sews dresses and aprons from maps and other found materials. Shown together, their works will transport you to a warmer place and most likely stir fond memories of your mother or grandmother.

Steckline Gallery
De Mattias Fine Arts Center, Newman University
3100 McCormick Avenue
5–7 p.m.

Grandma Buster’s Hot Plate by Mary Werner

Willa’s Milky Way by Brenda Jones

Sandra’s Ethiopian Wedding Dress by Mary Werner

Tragedy in Haiti Sparks Memories, and Raises the Question – How Best to Help?
Vivid pictures keep flashing through my head. Images of the riotous ruin that was Port au Prince, Haiti, in what were relatively good times during my visit there 10 years ago. Mental portraits of the many good people I met, hoping they are OK. Knowing that some, perhaps many, are not.

My thoughts return most often to the neighborhood where my new friend and interpreter Richard grew up, and where his family still lived. The best buildings there would be targets for a bulldozer here – the rest were leaking hulks crumbling into the streets, people crammed into every nook. Surely this area now is nothing more than a rubble pile.

It is difficult to contemplate. It is not possible to imagine the misery – it was a place of inconceivable suffering in the best of times.

It’s Hard to Know What To Do
The friend I went to visit worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development – America’s very best gift to the rest of the world – and she knew that improvement could be measured only in small victories, individual triumphs. The larger picture has always been intractably out of focus.

My best advice is this: give money or volunteer work to an established agency. A few of us at Greteman Group plan to help a local Salvation Army-supported effort to pack supplies. Since it’s part of a coordinated project, the materials stand a good chance both of being useful and of actually being delivered to where they will make a difference. If you’re looking for some guidance, Charity Navigator has independent reviews and ratings of organizations doing relief work in Haiti.

Royal Caribbean Does the Right Thing
I’d like to say, too, that I’m proud of Greteman Group’s association with Royal Caribbean, which has taken unfair criticism for bringing in a cruise ship to its usual stop well away from Port au Prince. The company has made and continues to make substantial donations to the Haiti relief effort, and its decision to support the Haitian economy is a bright spot in an otherwise bleak economic landscape.

Have you identified a reliable vehicle for contributions or volunteer work to help with Haitian recovery?

This morning, I had the opportunity to go on KNSS NewsRadio to talk with Steve McIntosh about Do the Deed. For four whole minutes, the Wichita airwaves filled with talk of acts of kindness.

If you missed the interview, no worries. We’ve got it below. Have a listen and then head over to the site. While you’re there, be sure to log a deed suggestion or vote on your favorites.

Also, we’re launching the next phase of the campaign in the coming weeks. Our new ads and the website will start to feature the most popular deed ideas, as voted on by the community. So, once you submit a deed, be sure to get all of your friends, family and coworkers to vote!

The Brad Paisley concert served as a successful inaugural event for the Intrust Bank Arena.

My husband and I attended the inaugural event at Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday evening – the Brad Paisley concert. For those of you who don’t live in Wichita, there was great debate several years ago about building the arena given its downtown location and potential parking issues. I’d venture to say that any former naysayers who attended the concert have changed their minds.

Parking was a breeze. No lines when we walked up to the door 30 minutes before the show. Food and beverage options galore. Great entertainment. And a full house. Perfect Saturday night if you ask me.

What is the first event you plan on attending at the Intrust Bank Arena?

This year, my colleagues gave me the best gift ever.

Instead of buying me a present, GGers took our Do The Deed campaign as inspiration and pledged to do small acts of kindness on my behalf. Each team member wrote down his or her commitment and bound them together, creating a book of deeds for 2010.

The ideas range from little daily things (smiling more, communicating better, ordering the six-inch sub sandwich rather than the foot-long) to larger, life-changing commitments (quitting smoking, eating less meat, exercising regularly). Others are donating funds and efforts to causes that hold a special place in my heart.

I appreciate the thought that went into each and can’t wait to see the team live them out.

Peace and joy.

What is the gift you most hope to receive?