RCU Forums - View Single Post - What can the AMA do to recruit the under 30/park flyer group?
Old 01-16-2005, 03:20 PM
  #20  
abel_pranger
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Default RE: What can the AMA do to recruit the under 30/park flyer group?

ORIGINAL: fliers1

The idea of clubs using park flyers for promotion purposes, is for safety puposes. Meaning they could promote with park flyers on school property, shopping malls, or just about anywhere. Otherwise, clubs could only do anything on their flying sites. As club members get people interested with park flyers - where there would be a lot of spectators, they could have their regular larger fuel and gas powered models on display. They could sign them up after explaining the advantages of flying in a club.

CCR

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CCR-
You make a very good point here. The idea of using them for promotional purposes builds on the very thing that has caused their popularity and the growth of interest in model aviation they have brought. They are flown in locations that are both visible and accessible to people. AMA clubs are generally less visible to people that are not already AMA members, and they certainly are not accessible to non-AMA members except as spectators. AMA's campaign to "partner' with park flyers is full of nice sounding words about welcoming park flyers to the fraternity of aeromodelers, but has only one tangible bottom line: urge AMA members to "Sell AMA." I don't want to sell AMA. I would be happy to sell the benefits of the club environment, and invite them in to fly and try it out. No can do, except within the constraints of the AMA Intro Pilot program. Even the one-time buddy box thing doesn't work, as the park flyer guest would not be allowed to fly his own airplane.
It has never made sense to me that AMA has gone to every extent one could imagine to exclude non-members of AMA, aka potential members of AMA. MHO is that no effort to recruit new members stands a chance until/unless that sacred cow 'you gotta pay before you play' mindset and entrenched AMA policy is dead and buried. That's highly improbable. There are people that will take AMA to the grave with them before yielding an inch on that tenet.

Abel