The PD Blog

PD Spotlight: Donna Wagner, the Canopy Whisperer

Ever wanted to know more about what goes on behind the PD walls during the day?  It can be pretty interesting with the many characters and legends (even if only in own mind) that work here.  The PD Blog feels the need to share, so we decided to launch this new feature on the blog to quench the thirst of inquiring minds.

This first time around, the PD Spotlight shines on Donna Wagner, our trusty PMD Supervisor (keep on reading to find out what PMD really stands for).

How long have you been at PD?
For 6 years and to be honest I have never worked at one company for over 3 years. This is a first for me.

How the hell did you end up at PD? Err, we mean….  What brought you here?
This was to be my in-between job after burning out in a Public Relations job previously held.  I was asked if I knew anything about Skydiving and I did know a little as I had spent time on several drop zones. It’s been fun ever since.

Any hidden talents, pet peeves or passions? 
I play Handbells, flute and love music – all kinds.  I think I only have one pet peeve and that is littering our earth. I am passionate about education, for myself and teaching others.  Reading good books and spending time at the beach and doing so at the same time every chance possible!

What is most rewarding about your job? (apart from working with the lovely people in Marketing)
PD is a company that allows me to personally serve the needs of our customers. I really enjoy the interaction with the customers.

What is the toughest part of your job?
Making sure that all of our work goes through in a timely manner. (is she suggesting skydivers can be impatient??)

Have you made a skydive?  If yes, give us the details!
Tandems! I’ve done six total and I really love it, but that adrenalin rush lasts me a long time and only need it once every three years. : )  My favorite Tandem Master is Art Shaffer at Skydive Palatka.

Most bizarre (or funny) canopy problem sent in? 
We had a canopy come in with bikini wax on it!  Determining what it was, and if we were going to remove it was a challenge. By the way, we were not able to get it off (and no, we are not telling you whose canopy it was).  Cats also seem to like canopies, we get lots of requests to wash the canopy to remove kitty tinkle.  PEEYEW!!!

What do people send their canopies in for?
Relines, patches, repairs, new skins, washing, permeability testing and any other issues with the canopies.

What makes Donna tick?
I just enjoy working with people. I Love to laugh but I am very serious about my work.

Why is there a baseball bat next to your desk?
“No Comment”

Suggestions for a proper maintenance routine?
Keep your canopy out of the sun as much as possible - UV rays are not good for parachtues. When packing, take care to orient fabric and lines properly to lessen the likelihood of line burns.  Also, wear a shirt to keep your sweat from getting on the fabric when packing.  The salt in our sweat weakens the fabric over time.  At the end of your jumping day, clear out all of your line twists. When walking back after a jump, pick your canopy up off the ground - don’t drag it through the rocks, grass, dirt etc (prevents snagging of fabric).
Watch your lines closely and reline when the performance starts to diminish or lines look worn or frayed.

What is PMD?
PMD stands for Parachute Maintenance Department. We inspect the canopy, slider, lines and slinks/links for any damage or deficiencies.  We advise the customers on what we see and let them decide what course of actions they would like to take. We do our best to educate our customers on what preventative steps if any,  can be taken.   I highly recommend an inspection before buying a used canopy unless inspected by a trusted rigger.   Oversews, replacing illegible warning labels, old logos, and many other things can be done at no charge to the customer while his or hers canopy is here at PD.  We keep the canopy up to date with any changes that may be available and we are ready to help with any issues the customer may have in the air or on the ground with their canopy.

Many thanks to Donna for taking the time to chat - we hope you enjoyed this mini-tour of PMD.
If you have any other questions about PMD feel free to post a comment and we will do our best to find you an answer!

Rockstar checking out PD

Here is a quick video from Eric's visit to PD - where you can watch him getting the grand tour of PD :)
More to come!

Birthday Gillooons

Birthdays occur at PD with alarming regularity, or roughly once a year per staff member (we have been observing this trend for a while now and the theory seems to hold true).
One of those days rolled around not long ago, when Gilles Dutrisac (one of our R&D Project Leads) turned a certain age.  His co-workers decided to make the day memorable and help him celebrate, so they filled his fishbowl office with a few balloons...

1.  A sleepy Gilles reports to work early in the morning.

 

2.  Gilles wonders where his trusty desk and chair have gone.  

 

3.  Gilles somehow manages to find his desk and sit down - but our sources tell us that his office got a little squeaky so eventually the balloons (also known as Gilloons) had to be evacuated.

 

 

 

 

 

Photos, planning and plotting done by Chad Ebling and Jim Belanger

Hug a Canopy!

It's Valentines day today - the perfect day to sit down with your canopy and tell it how awesome it is and how much you love it.  Even if you can't go make a jump (like the PD gang did this morning) you can still fish it out of that dark dungeon of a D-bag and air it out a bit - or give it a hug - perhaps read it a story.
It's also the perfect time to start thinking about summer and check to see if any maintenance is needed. Now is the time to take care of that new lineset or slider or whatever it is your canopy needs to be ready for the summer. 
Check our website for maintenance FAQ's - or if you need to make arrangements to send your canopy in for service, download the Maintenance & Repair form.

If you keep up with the maintenance and show your canopy a little love, it (she?) will love you right back and reward you with many happy openings and sweet landings.

New Engineer at PD

Here at PD not a whole lot would happen without the dedicated men and women making up our Engineering department.  Their hard work and dedication goes deep into the very fiber of every PD canopy, making our products what they are.   Much of that stuff goes unseen, but it lays the foundation for a long and healthy life of a parachute.   As you can tell, we at PD love our little nerds & geeks, so we are happy to have Kristina Byrne on board as our latest addition to the family.

Kris has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and along with that a masters degree in business.  Kris is a skydiver and has been jumping since 1991 - active in competitive skydiving since 2001 with 4-way Formation Skydiving as her favorite discipline.   Kris is currently a part of Sebastian Tempest. 
When Kris isn't busy flying in the tunnel or training with Tempest, she enjoys running, yoga & reading, and can occasionally be caught napping on the couch with her doggies :)

 

You know how some days are just destined to be good days?   Well we had one of those days here at PD recently, when we arrived at work to find the e-mail below waiting in our inboxes:

Kolla,

 

I recently purchased a used Katana 150. I finally got a chance to jump it this past weekend and all I can say is Thank You. I have been skydiving for close to 9 years now and have always favored PD canopies. In fact I have jumped many others but I have only owned PD. It always seemed that every canopy out there had some sort of trade off. High performance meant twitchy or otherwise undesirable opening characteristics. To get light front riser pressure you had to put up with heavy rears.........etc etc etc. PD has finally designed the PERFECT canopy. Stable, slow openings. Awesome performance. Unmatched flying in the swoop. It's just perfect. The canopy I have been waiting for. A big thank you to the entire PD team. I'll be flying this canopy for a long, long time!

Clayton W Fowler

It doesn't get much better than that.   Clayton, thanks for taking the time to tell us that you are happy with our products, it really means a lot to everyone at PD to see letters like that every now and then :)
I hope your Katana will continue to take care of you for a long time to come, and if you are ever in Florida, by all means stop by and say hi!

Junior - with a soft J

World - please meet tour rep Nick Grillet (also affectionately known as "Junior") hard at work in the PD Marketing Department. As you can tell, he's more at home on the mat under the PD tent, but since it's winter now we had to bring him indoors and introduce him to a desk and a computer (it would have been cruel to leave him outside, even with the mild Florida winters).   He's adapting pretty well to the new surroundings though, so anyone has questions about the PD tour, feel free to contact Nick!

image/jpeg Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Hammering Customer Service

Customer service is a funny little thing.  You don't really pay attention to it much until the day you need it, and then it becomes a HIGHLY important concept.
There was a bit of an issue with my cable connection this morning and I tend to get very cranky when I don't have Internet.  The fact that it was a Monday didn't help either.  So I called the cable company and after a short wait, I was put through a friendly guy who diagnosed my problem and a couple of hours later a service rep was at my house changing out the faulty piece of equipment. 
My little cable incident got me thinking about customer service in general, especially after a friend sent me a link to an article about Mona "The Hammer" Shaw and her recent battle with Comcast.  If you haven't read it yet I'd recommend taking a look.  Not that I'm endorsing hammering, but I'm sure many of us can relate :)
At PD, our take on customer service is pretty simple: it must be top notch. We put a lot into our canopies, huge  emphasis on R&D, the quality of materials and construction etc - so it would just be silly not to back that up with the best customer service we can provide. 
Or at least we try. Granted we have our moments at times - but we do try very  hard.   So if you ever need help with anything that has to do with you PD product, please don't hesitate to contact us.  If we don't perform to your expectations, do let us know (or if you have a really good experience we'd love to hear about that too!).   And please leave the hammer at the front door....   :)