RC Clubs not renewing AMA Charter
05-05-2016, 03:56 PM
#127
I just sent my district vp a long letter detailing the above. I shared that I find it troubling that members don't get a look at financials until the AMA is more than half way through the next execution year. The EC gets to make decisions to spend money before we members even know if we have that money to spend.
I also pointed out that members' money is being used to pay people to make these reports, yet they're not doing them and AMA HQ leadership either doesn't know or doesn't care. I also pointed out that these aren't just breakdowns in administrative reports, it's happening in safety critical areas as well.
For quite a while they've been telling us to go to their NOTAMS site to ensure we're not flying where we shouldn't be. Yet until just a couple days ago, when I pointed it out, NOTAMS that expired months ago were still posted, info on the DC SFRA was woefully out of date, and new information (several POTUS movements) had not been listed at all. Again, members' money is being used to pay someone to keep this up to date, but it wasn't being done. And the safety committee, nor the safety officer, nor titled AMA job holders, nor the ED, nor the EC even noticed it wasn't up to date.
Lastly, I pointed out that that these failures fall on leadership. Leadership that is paid a salary that puts him in the top 1.5% of all incomes in Muncie. I could care less how they pay him, but if they pay a top 1.5% salary using members' money, then they need to demand top 1.5% performance - and the examples cited above are not top 1.5% management performance by any measure.
I also pointed out that members' money is being used to pay people to make these reports, yet they're not doing them and AMA HQ leadership either doesn't know or doesn't care. I also pointed out that these aren't just breakdowns in administrative reports, it's happening in safety critical areas as well.
For quite a while they've been telling us to go to their NOTAMS site to ensure we're not flying where we shouldn't be. Yet until just a couple days ago, when I pointed it out, NOTAMS that expired months ago were still posted, info on the DC SFRA was woefully out of date, and new information (several POTUS movements) had not been listed at all. Again, members' money is being used to pay someone to keep this up to date, but it wasn't being done. And the safety committee, nor the safety officer, nor titled AMA job holders, nor the ED, nor the EC even noticed it wasn't up to date.
Lastly, I pointed out that that these failures fall on leadership. Leadership that is paid a salary that puts him in the top 1.5% of all incomes in Muncie. I could care less how they pay him, but if they pay a top 1.5% salary using members' money, then they need to demand top 1.5% performance - and the examples cited above are not top 1.5% management performance by any measure.
05-05-2016, 04:01 PM
#128
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: El Paso,
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05-05-2016, 04:04 PM
#129
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I just sent my district vp a long letter detailing the above. I shared that I find it troubling that members don't get a look at financials until the AMA is more than half way through the next execution year. The EC gets to make decisions to spend money before we members even know if we have that money to spend.
I also pointed out that members' money is being used to pay people to make these reports, yet they're not doing them and AMA HQ leadership either doesn't know or doesn't care. I also pointed out that these aren't just breakdowns in administrative reports, it's happening in safety critical areas as well.
For quite a while they've been telling us to go to their NOTAMS site to ensure we're not flying where we shouldn't be. Yet until just a couple days ago, when I pointed it out, NOTAMS that expired months ago were still posted, info on the DC SFRA was woefully out of date, and new information (several POTUS movements) had not been listed at all. Again, members' money is being used to pay someone to keep this up to date, but it wasn't being done. And the safety committee, nor the safety officer, nor titled AMA job holders, nor the ED, nor the EC even noticed it wasn't up to date.
Lastly, I pointed out that that these failures fall on leadership. Leadership that is paid a salary that puts him in the top 1.5% of all incomes in Muncie. I could care less how they pay him, but if they pay a top 1.5% salary using members' money, then they need to demand top 1.5% performance - and the examples cited above are not top 1.5% management performance by any measure.
I also pointed out that members' money is being used to pay people to make these reports, yet they're not doing them and AMA HQ leadership either doesn't know or doesn't care. I also pointed out that these aren't just breakdowns in administrative reports, it's happening in safety critical areas as well.
For quite a while they've been telling us to go to their NOTAMS site to ensure we're not flying where we shouldn't be. Yet until just a couple days ago, when I pointed it out, NOTAMS that expired months ago were still posted, info on the DC SFRA was woefully out of date, and new information (several POTUS movements) had not been listed at all. Again, members' money is being used to pay someone to keep this up to date, but it wasn't being done. And the safety committee, nor the safety officer, nor titled AMA job holders, nor the ED, nor the EC even noticed it wasn't up to date.
Lastly, I pointed out that that these failures fall on leadership. Leadership that is paid a salary that puts him in the top 1.5% of all incomes in Muncie. I could care less how they pay him, but if they pay a top 1.5% salary using members' money, then they need to demand top 1.5% performance - and the examples cited above are not top 1.5% management performance by any measure.
Mike
05-05-2016, 04:47 PM
#130
A drunken monkey could have come up with a better slogan than that. It would be funny were it not tragic - as they're using members' money to pay a PR firm to come up with that garbage.
05-05-2016, 05:02 PM
#131
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Mike
05-05-2016, 05:10 PM
#132
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hmmm.....Multirotor Associate Editor
Who would have guessed?
05-05-2016, 05:24 PM
#133
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What did you expect for the $250,000 in seed money spent to fund a marketing plan for selling AMA to drone operators? Tell you the truth, I'm quite pleased with what I got for my share of dues revenue that was allocated to this purpose.
05-05-2016, 08:27 PM
#135
I agree. Particularly since it's obvious from his sentence structure that he speaks at least two languages, whereas I suspect that those making the snide comments can barely manage one. I worked with people from all over the world, and quickly learned not to judge their intelligence by their facility with English, because many of them turned out to be smarter than I was.
I think it's quite obvious from his sentence structure and spelling that he's a "messenger" from AMA HQ.
05-05-2016, 08:36 PM
#136
My Feedback: (10)
I know our AMA club didn't renew as it was simply the 4-5 of us who still belong to AMA and we would pitch in to recharter as proptwisters two... One of the guys died, another moved away and a third didn't renew his ama... So we only have 2 guys left as AMA members that I know of. Our club membership is growing, I think we have about 130 members now and we buy a site liability policy to cover the landowner. its 3-400 per year as I recall. The AMA blew this whole thing years ago with the FAA and now have to ebrace the drone people as they are the growth area in our hobby.. like it or not we are all in the same boat so we had all better start pulling together or we are screwed....
05-06-2016, 04:00 AM
#139
I live 30 miles or so from Boston , and travel there once a week sometimes more . I NEVER , and I repeat never , see a single person flying any kind of drone in all the open spaces I pass . Where is this millions strong activity taking place ? All these millions of folks own these drones and don't fly them ? Every so often I will see the typical parent or grandpa with a kid and a foamie airplane or Kite , but not once have I seen a single droner , much less any groups of droners , in the way you used to see kids with their Cox trainers at just about any open space 40 or 50 years ago .
Yes I do believe the AMA has done a lot of good over the years . I also believe that they have made mistakes too , the dismal failure of the Park Pilot Program being one most recent notable example . But on this one , in this struggle for future relevance , they've totally screwed the pooch by chasing folks who don't want or need them at the expense of those of us who expected to be the #1 focus of any defense mounted against excessive FAA regulation . Sure , if they wanted to lobby for FPV on the side , after they had secured the rest of the hobby's rights to fly unhindered , great ! More power to em . But No , they deliberately lumped us all together , tried their little CBO power play , and never once thought us who've supported them all these years would be angry as Hell that we were marginalized into no more than another bargaining chip for their attempt at total control of all UAS ?
Last edited by init4fun; 05-11-2016 at 02:16 PM.
05-06-2016, 05:26 AM
#142
Senior Member
Everything I mentioned so far was the work of members. That's because it's what was observed and understood first hand.
The second hand things have been just as important. Things most members couldn't do, like attend those FAA meetings.
05-06-2016, 05:29 AM
#143
Senior Member
05-06-2016, 06:20 AM
#144
Banned
My Feedback: (8)
Yep , there's all kinds of people making a tidy profit off of our nice little non profit model aircraft advocacy organization .
A fair "living wage" based on the average of the "comps" , the comparable compensation for similar work in a given area , with maybe even a percentage or few above that to show that we as an organization aren't totally cheap ? Sure , I'll go for that , but honestly , what does the EC do that's so great to earn in the highest percentile per given job ? Membership is declining , Lots of folks are , , , "Disgruntled" , , , over the whole drone fiasco , and these guys get paid like kings ? And of all the clubs in the country 26 got to split only $23K but $110K was spent on drainage for one runway in Muncie ? And we wonder why there appear to be , , "flaws" in our representation ?
Hear that ???? ....... It's LCS , Screaming down from the heavens , , , , "TOLD YA SO !!!!!" .......
A fair "living wage" based on the average of the "comps" , the comparable compensation for similar work in a given area , with maybe even a percentage or few above that to show that we as an organization aren't totally cheap ? Sure , I'll go for that , but honestly , what does the EC do that's so great to earn in the highest percentile per given job ? Membership is declining , Lots of folks are , , , "Disgruntled" , , , over the whole drone fiasco , and these guys get paid like kings ? And of all the clubs in the country 26 got to split only $23K but $110K was spent on drainage for one runway in Muncie ? And we wonder why there appear to be , , "flaws" in our representation ?
Hear that ???? ....... It's LCS , Screaming down from the heavens , , , , "TOLD YA SO !!!!!" .......
Of all the people complaining about the EC salary (which is actually on the low side for commensurate positions), lay out what you have done on behalf of the AMA, other than pay your dues and fly at your fields. Be specific too. What is stopping any of you from seeking the same positions...so that you too can be "paid kings".
The salary shaming and apples to orange comparison to it are represent a new level of desperation. Seriously. VP and any other positions are there for the taking...why are there so few people running for those position, you gotta wonder. Could be it means doing some actual work and making decisions.
05-06-2016, 06:44 AM
#145
Ok , serious question here ;
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
05-06-2016, 06:52 AM
#146
Banned
My Feedback: (8)
Ok , serious question here ;
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
The 400 number bantied about by Franklin earlier is down to about 200..that was posted on the AMA website and I posted that here as well, but oddly enough nobody wanted to talk about that. Easier to scream and shout about 400 clubs not renewing and the no doubt end of the AMA...but not so much as a peep when the number shrinks. Par for the course in mehville.
05-06-2016, 06:53 AM
#147
Banned
My Feedback: (8)
Ok , serious question here ;
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
Club Officer Info
They are here! We have received the 2016 club officer lapel pins from the manufacturer and we will start mailing them this week. Please allow 10 to 14 business days for the pins to arrive.There are still more than 200 clubs that have not yet renewed their charter for 2016. If you have misplaced the forms, simply send us an email and we will forward the appropriate forms to you!
Odd, nobody has mentioned the number is down from 400 to 200.....not as much sizzle when the gap is closing I guess?
They are here! We have received the 2016 club officer lapel pins from the manufacturer and we will start mailing them this week. Please allow 10 to 14 business days for the pins to arrive.There are still more than 200 clubs that have not yet renewed their charter for 2016. If you have misplaced the forms, simply send us an email and we will forward the appropriate forms to you!
Odd, nobody has mentioned the number is down from 400 to 200.....not as much sizzle when the gap is closing I guess?
05-06-2016, 07:18 AM
#148
Ok , serious question here ;
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
Since this thread is discussing the fact that a number of AMA clubs have not renewed their charters , I thought I'd ask if anyone knew how many have still not renewed ? At the beginning of the thread it was said to be 400 , and then I think I remember reading it may have dropped to 200 with some of the procrastinators finally getting it done . If it IS at 200 clubs lost , is there a stat somewhere comparing year to year gains or losses of chartered clubs ?
I'm just curious what the actual numbers are , and how they compare to past trends ....
Oh , and to the post above mine ? A huge flaming towering all encompassing "Meh" , is about all that's worth ....
05-06-2016, 08:44 AM
#150
See post 88
Club Officer Info
They are here! We have received the 2016 club officer lapel pins from the manufacturer and we will start mailing them this week. Please allow 10 to 14 business days for the pins to arrive.There are still more than 200 clubs that have not yet renewed their charter for 2016. If you have misplaced the forms, simply send us an email and we will forward the appropriate forms to you!
Odd, nobody has mentioned the number is down from 400 to 200.....not as much sizzle when the gap is closing I guess?
They are here! We have received the 2016 club officer lapel pins from the manufacturer and we will start mailing them this week. Please allow 10 to 14 business days for the pins to arrive.There are still more than 200 clubs that have not yet renewed their charter for 2016. If you have misplaced the forms, simply send us an email and we will forward the appropriate forms to you!
Odd, nobody has mentioned the number is down from 400 to 200.....not as much sizzle when the gap is closing I guess?
Believe me , I wish the figures were that we are UP by 200 clubs rather than to see the loss of any ! Like I've said , I do not indict the entire AMA and have never said the entire organization is no good , but I do call out things I don't see as being right . I know I'm not alone in this one simple premise , that I and many other members feel the AMA should have covered it's existing membership by strongly opposing all FAA regulations from the start rather than trying to protect itself by attempting to force membership through the whole CBO thing . The AMA's future , in my opinion , will not be assured through forcing membership , It'll be assured by providing the membership a compelling reason to be members . Do I know what that reason would be ? Nope , I'm not in the management business . Now the guys we have that ARE in the management business for the AMA , the "1.5%ers" as they were , had best be coming up with something , now that it appears the forced membership thing isn't going to be enacted for the majority of the hobby .