Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 1: January 2014 | Page 12

ASSOCIATION

ERIC
By C.J. Sturtevant

I

t’s a new year, and USHPA
is pleased to introduce a new
staff member you’ll probably be
interacting with. Towards the end of
2013 several members of the office
staff moved on to other career opportunities; here’s the current roster:
Beth Van Eaton, the new “old
timer” among the office staff, came to
USHPA in 2008 to manage membership services; after the recent redistribution of office duties, she’s now
the official programs manager and
unofficial office manager, with projects ranging from office accounting
and documentation to re-designing
the USHPA online store and implementing the new USHPA membership cards. And, she assures us, she’s
still the go-to gal for chapters and the
USHPA site and event insurance.
Eric Mead, our IT guy since 2011,
continues to handle everything technology related. Profiles of Beth and
Eric appeared in the March 2011 and
February 2012 issues of this maga-

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

BETH

ASHLEY

zine, respectively.
And now, meet the recent addition
to the staff, Ashley Miller, who took
over membership services from Beth.

website, shipping out merchandise/
magazines and membership materials, processing all that paperwork, and
serving the members.

Ashley, what brought you to our
association?
I joined the USHPA staff on
September 16, 2013. Although I am
not a hang glider or paraglider pilot, I
was intrigued by these sports and was
given the opportunity to serve as the
membership coordinator based on my
educational and work background in
sport administration.

What’s the best/most interesting or
satisfying part of your job?
The best part of this job is when a
pilot calls in, all excited about a new
rating or appointment, and describes
his or her experiences.

What’s your job title/description,
and, in a nutshell, what do you do
during a typical day at the office?
As membership coordinator, I
handle just about every aspect of
membership ranging from paperwork—processing renewals and new
member applications, ratings, instructor/administrator appointments—to
answering phone calls. A typical day
consists of responding to emails and
questions submitted through our

Every new job has its challenges—
what’s looking like it’ll be your
biggest challenge at this point?
At this point the biggest challenge is learning and understanding
the complexity of hang gliding and
paragliding so as to better relate to
the members. Mastering this learning
curve will be essential to managing
the sanctioned competitions, which is
going to be part of my job.
Has your initial impression of hang
gliding and paragliding changed
since you’ve been working at
USHPA?