I’ve been a fan of hot air ballooning since the 70s when I happened to attend the first Balloon Fiesta held in Albuquerque New Mexico. In the 80s I played various volunteer roles during the annual Balloon Fiesta and in the 90s I contracted my services as well as volunteered them to the Balloon Fiesta. As a result of my affiliation with the annual event, I’m honored to have lifelong ballooning friends from all over the world. We tend to visit these Facebook groups most often.
- Ballooning Group – Owned by my ballooning friend Lisa Gianetti (Crew Chief & Passenger Relations at Life Cycle Balloon Adventures), this closed group of over 1,000 members is comprised of balloon pilots and crew, ballooning event producers and promoters, and ballooning enthusiasts at large.
- Balloon Talk – A closed group managed by me and my team, was created by Michael Sheldon in 2010 for ballooning enthusiasts to chat about their ballooning experiences. In August 2017, at the request of Facebook, I accepted the sole Admin role for the group. Sadly, the group membership had been compromised by robots and it took a while to get everything running smoothly again.
- The Early Years of Sport Ballooning – A public group owned by Dave Wesner, website developer of ballooninghistory.com. Share photos from ballooning in the 60s and 70s in this group.
- Hot Air Balloon Equipment for Sale – A closed group owned by James Cotter, opened to help balloonists sell their ballooning equipment and to find the equipment they need to buy.
- Special Shape Balloon Pics – A closed group for photographers to share their photos of special shape hot air balloons.
- The Newest Balloons in the World – A public group run by George Garcia and Eric Hodges, the focus of this group created in 2009 is dedicated to the announcement of new balloons. Many owners elect to call on the group members for balloon name suggestions.