32 Devonshire Drive
Morganville, NJ 07751
732-591-8409

Executive Summary

The Club was formed in 1982 as a group of coworkers interested in adventure travel. The goal was to bring people with common interests together. The Club has been operated on a cost sharing basis. Today the Club is incorporated with a 10% cost of overhead (pretty low), owns a private plane, and conducts about 35 adventures annually.

Adventure Products

The Club plans, organizes, and conducts adventures of three primary types - weekend trips departing from Caldwell, New Jersey, week-long trips departing from any commercial airport, and local social events.

The Club organizes transportation, accommodations, and activities for participants. Weekend adventures depart from Caldwell airport in a Cessna 414A a twin-engine, turbocharged, pressurized, eight-passenger plane that flies at 225 mph. Adventures typically depart on Thursday or Friday after work and return on Sunday evening. Longer adventures depart from Newark Airport on Friday after work and return the following weekend. Additional information and a schedule of activities can be obtained from the Club and are distributed to members via monthly newsletters. Newsletters list schedules, describe trips, and provide pertinent information. Timelier updates are disseminated via electronic mail.

Currently, the Adventure Club owns a Cessna 414A, is a certified air carrier, and has trip leaders. The president is a certified airline transport pilot and ASA certified instructor captain. He is also an accomplished skier, biker, wind surfer, scuba diver, hiker, and photographer.

Below we describe the nature of the three different categories of adventures evening dinner trips; weekend adventures; and, week-long adventures.

Evening Dinner Trips

A typical evening dinner trip departs Caldwell Airport at 5:15 pm in a Cessna 414A, arrives about one hour later at the destination, allows for one hour to visit or shop around town, allows for two hours for dinner, and returns to Caldwell Airport about midnight. Weather permitting the route may include a flight route down the Hudson River past Manhattan at 1,000 feet to view the spectacular City lights, then overhead Newark airport enroute home to Caldwell.

Amazing Weekend Adventures

A typical weekend adventure will depart Caldwell Airport at 5:30 pm in a Cessna 414A, fly to our destination, have an excellent dinner, and stay at a quaint B&B or a rented house. Depending on the destination, the adventure includes one or more of the following adventure activities:

The evenings include dining, shopping, dancing, and other evening entertainment. In addition to the activities, a big attraction is the social aspect of the adventure.

Awesome Week-Long Adventures

We depart Newark Airport in the late afternoon on Friday using the commercial airlines, fly to our destination, have an awesome week or two adventure and then return. These adventures include activities such as skiing, biking, sailing, and backpacking. Popular destinations include the Caribbean, South Pacific, Mediterranean for sailing; New England and the West for skiing; Nova Scotia and eastern Canada for biking; and, the arctic for backpacking.

The Company

History

The AT&T Adventure Club was founded in 1983 as a value added social service for the purpose of bringing AT&T employees together who shared a common interest in adventure. The AT&T club operates on a cost sharing basis where the financial burden of each trip is supported by each participant. The AT&T club has had a membership of about 350 people over the past several years of which about half actively participate in adventures. About 80% of the participants return for future adventures. Based on the AT&T Adventure Club, several of the members have incorporated to the same service to a broader market expecting to reduce cost while maintaining the same level of quality and service thus enabling a profit.

Founder

The Adventure Club, Inc. was founded by John W. Beck as a Subchapter S Corporation in October, 1993 and open for business on January 1, 1994 for the purpose of providing transportation and enabling services for individuals and small groups interested in adventure. In November, 1994 the Adventure Club, Inc. was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as an Air Carrier thus enabling the Club to advertise and hold out for hire as an on-demand air charter.

Markets

The adventure travel market is currently greater than $1B per year and is the fastest growing segment of the travel industry. Within this market, the Adventure Club has found a niche that involves adventure where the participants are more actively involved than most other adventure opportunities. The Club is most like Vermont Bicycle Tours, http://www.usac.com/cgi-bak/Members.pl, except that the Club offers a greater diversity of adventures than any other company, greater access to remote locations than any other company, and personalized service. This niche has enabled the Club to grow and sustain a stable membership over the years via word-of-mouth advertising (primarily) and AT&T newsletters (secondarily). The company is creating demand for this unique type of adventure and is expecting exponential growth when advertised publicly.

Growth

During the first year of operation, the Club spent considerable resources to get the plane to conform to Part 135 of the FARs (new standards), achieve FAA air carrier certification, and establish a merchant account to enable acceptance of VISA and MasterCard. In addition, software was improved to support scheduling and billing. This required a substantial investment. During the second year of operation, the Club is expected to establish corporate accounting and make a small profit. In the second year, the Club will advertise within the Caldwell Airport region, the Boston region, and the Philadelphia region. Additional adventures and services will be created to attract people in these three regions. In the third year, the Club will expand to include other major metropolitan areas. In the fourth year, the Club will expand to foreign countries.

We will increase the number of sailing trips to include lessons throughout the winter and spring months. We will add week-long skiing trips to Summit County, Colorado to attract people from all locations within the US and abroad. We will add week-long biking trips in Nova Scotia. Etc.

Products and Services

The Club's strategy is to provide unique adventures trips to places that are difficult to get to via car or commercial means and are attractive because of available activities and scenic beauty. The Club can be cost competitive and make entry difficult because of the unique training of the trip leaders pilot (or skipper), tour guide, sales person, and instructor all in one. The Club attracts people with similar athletic abilities and social interests thus making it a personal and social experience this "chemistry" will be preserved through selective marketing.

Customers

Adventure Club members are professionals with a median income. They all active people and most have interests in several types of physical activities. An estimated sixty five percent are single or dating while the remainder are either married or seriously dating someone. Of the married, about half have children and are less likely to take adventures. Very few families participate in adventures because of cost and physical endurance.

Competitors

Club members spend their vacation dollars and vacation days primarily on road trips to the beach, commercial flights out West for skiing, and tours such as Vermont Bicycle Tours. [Need more here.]

Company Profile

There are currently about 300 active Club members. Each year we have a membership drive where member data is validated and the annual dues are collected. Club members who have participated in an adventure during the past year have their dues waived. In the future, with the Web technology, we expect to have an increasing number of members.

Technology

Current technology used by the Club includes electronic mail, access to the Internet, use of the World Wide Web, and voice response phone systems to enable easy access to Club information, signing up for trips, billing, and other member-oriented services. Future sophisticated phone systems will be utilized when membership volume increases.

Future Vision

Make friends and have fun.