Fast Company Article - September Melinda Re

Imperato, Gina. "Geronimo!". Fast Company. September 1999. Pg. 334 - 345.

Neoleisure or Not, No Geronimo For Me!

In the 11 months that I have been reading Fast Company, I have found that my favorite staff writer is Gina Imperato. Several times I have enjoyed an article, chosen to review it and only upon typing up the bibliography have I discovered that Gina is the writer. I guess we must just think alikein most things. 'Cause Gina did something that I would never do. She jumped out of a plane. She had a parachute, mind you, ground training, and 2 assistants during the free fall portion of the jump, but jump she did!

The article gives descriptions of the training required before the jump school will take a student up, the equipment needed for a jump and the actual jump - Gina's first.

In addition to the skydiving school instructors, she jumps with the CEO and employees of a software company. They were skydiving together to celebrate the beginning of their company and the introduction of their first product. The company's CEO likens the jump to the start up of the business. "What could be more adventurous than launching a startup? It's the thrill of taking on the unknown that keeps us together", he explains. After the board of director's initial refusal to let the staff jump, they jumpwith a promise never to do it again. That's not the case for Gina. She enjoys it so much she vows to jump again.

The article contains information on the U.S. Parachute Association's web site at www.uspa.org. The site contains a glossary to give even a novice the vocabulary of a pro and answers commonly asked questions such as "What if your parachute fails to open?"

The equipment needed to skydive is detailed and according to the prices in the article, costs about $7,500. For each piece of equipment, Gina has furnished a web site for purchasing your own.

Last, but never least, is a list of jump schools that are located near major business-travel destinations so when you're done meeting, you can head for the "drop zone" and show your colleagues how much of a risk taker you really are. There is one in Chicago. Anyone interested?

The part of this article that intrigued me, because believe me, I was repulsed by the fact that it is about skydiving, (I'm afraid of flying and am also almost afraid to look at or read anything about it!) was the fact that the article was listed under "neoleisure". Is that like "new leisure"? Is everything new? Does everything have to be new? And to be new enough, does it have to be called "neo"? Correct me if I'm wrong, but skydiving isn't new. According to the article, the part of skydiving that is new is that it used to be considered an extreme sport but is now working its way into the mainstream. Oh. That explains it.

Since I am writing this up over Labor Day weekend, my husband is acting the part of a colleague. That's not too far from the truth, however, as we are engaged in business ventures together and he's mycolleague. He doesn't see any difference in a bunch of people from the same company (read "guys") going skydiving or duck hunting or having a drink after work. He does agree with me that the "neo" thing is the part that seems a bit extreme. He asks me how long have people been skydiving? I don't know, but I've seen some WWII movies where the soldiers are parachuting into enemy territory and that's quite a while ago. All in all, I think these people are nuts, neo or not.

-- Anonymous, September 07, 1999