ORIGINAL: Jim Branaum
Hello Abel,
I am not sure arguing about the organizations make up is productive, so I won't. However, I AM very concerned that the raw membership number seems to be declining. THAT is something we should address as reduced membership numbers allow EC members who swear "not on my watch" to raise the dues 20% every couple of years to pay for the expanded goals for the Muncie site and other "we gotta have this" high dollar items.
Or should we all just go away?
RE: Membership decline??? - 11/19/2004 6:02:15 PM
SSRCCPREZ has one part of the idea, the electric folks just don't NEED the AMA and the AMA has not presented it case to them properly. That is TWO straight shots by ONE kind of flyer. However, putting the AMA into the buying and owning and otherwise retaining flying fields nationwide is just another taxation plan to relocate wealth within the AMA.
Saying that politics drives people off is sort of like saying giving at church drives members off. Ain't so, the preacher and his laymen do that without ever talking about $. Our problem is (one more time) that most don't know how to present the AMA to prospective new members without dropping into the rant about insurance, which does NOT define the AMA.
My opinion, and I am partial to it unless you can convince me otherwise.
Hi Jim-
No argument from me, just observation. Another observation, FWIW, is it ain't just AMA politics, their penchant for spending our money on Muncie, etc. It happens at all levels; I've seen it in attitudes of some that have posted here, and I have recently seen it at my own club. We had a couple of young (20's) fellows join within the past year, which is something of a rarity. Their preference was for the popular small, electric 3D type models that have been made possible by energy sources with high power density. I'm coming to share that preference, not because I identify with their generation, rather because the models offer the possibility of enjoying high performance while flying within a range where I can see them. I think you can guess how this fits in with the image of what model airplanes
should be in the view of the rulemakers, who are of the generation stereotypical of AMA. Those young guys have apparently found another place to fly as I haven't seen them since the 'board' did their thing. SSRCCPREZ sure got that right; they don't need AMA or AMA club sites. Not so easy a choice for me though, as I appreciate the fraternity with friends there as much as the flying, and also have as large an investment (time and effort, not money) as anyone still standing in preserving our right to fly there. I'll just hope for a turnabout sometime in the not too distant future, and push when I see any break in the stone wall.
Anyway, still not arguing, mind you - you have to do something more than present AMA to prospective members........you have to deliver too.
Abel