tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Did I see the words RCRC AND SAILPLANES in the same sentence? When was that....and where was I????

abel_pranger

Heck tailskid, that's an easy question. You were on the receiving end of The Sarge's flaming RA conniption fit and orders to pack up your camera and get the *&^%> outta there.

Abel

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

You may have hit that nail on the head!

LSF2298

My Feedback: (4)

That was 1975 thru 1980. We co-existed quite nicely. Power on odd number days and sailplanes on even. But that was only for frequency preference. If you wanted to fly on your off day, as long as no one else wanted the pin, you flew. Every once in a while the power guys got the whole weekend as the 31st would fall on Saturday and the 1st would be on Sunday. Us glider guiders accepted this as a necessary evil. Used to fly over Sparkman Drive launching towards UAH during lunch back in those days. I was treasurer for a couple of years. We were all trying to get the Shuttle in the air back then (and not piggyback on a 747) and were just glad to have a place to fly. OK, enough history. Remember, Glider Guiders keep it up longer!

Red Scholefield

My Feedback: (9)

RCRC was quite active in Sailplanes, holding annual meets during the late 60's into the early 70's. We flew at the old airport site before the present field was set up. Almost had one meet shut down as shadows from the sailplanes several hundred feet up bothered a golfer.

Eric.Henderson

This thing about resigning and being fired is not as complicated as it has been discussed.

If you get fired you get paid up to the date of firing - bye, gone, no more money.

If you resign you get your two weeks pay from that date (or whatever your contract says).

Employers will often say you are being fired today but we will give you the option to resign. The employee gets a few seconds to decide. No more money after today or get my resignation pay. Hmmm, mortage bills family etc. Most opt for the resignation.

You are still being let go. It's not blackmail it's just an option that a company will often give employess who have staff status. It is not sinister. It is just a process that is employed when someone is being fired! Some managers even consider it to be an act of kindness - not joking!

Either way you are gone.

Regards,

Eric.

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Eric,
You are right. It also allows you to take advantage of acrued days (PTO, Vacation time which you have built up, etc) in this situation. MOst employers will cut your check of accrued time at that point, as opposed to waiting for arbitration and having you to have to try and get it later. I guess it is all how you look at it, but it is supposed to make it easier for you to transition from one job to another.
I am not seeing a whole lot of sinister behavior in it either. Has anyone asked how Ed Clayman knows this? Lot I know Ed is a consumate scale modeler and owns Flite-Metal business (I buy his products), but I have never seen his name on the AMA pay roll, but I could be wrong. You are putting credenous to his post, but you discount everyone else for reported hearsay.
The fact that this thread is now running 31 pages speaks volumes about why the AMA chooses not to use this venue, when in fact as has been pointed out, it really only represents about 0.001% of the membership. Especially when most here will not recognize the fact that they are playing by the rules set down by the federal employment mandates, and when they try to do something that is to the "employee's advantage" they are being ridiculed for it.
Back to munching my popcorn, but please carry on, we have got to get several more posts to equal the "Basin" thread, however I think we can accomplish it if we try really hard.

abel_pranger

The fact is that whatever small percentage of the membership is represented by those that participate in the on-line forums, they are the only ones that know that Steve K was fired. Do you really not see why the silent majority has remained silent?

Abel

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

Wow,
I have read about 1/4th of the messages and there is a lot of love for Steve in the RC community.
I will say this. I have been in management since 1988. I would not summarily terminate someone for insubordination.
What I do see is that he asked all AMA HQ members to let the SIG drive. This will facilitate communication.
What I don't know is if the request to have the grounds mowed is part of the SIG's responsibility.
If so, then Steve was an example to deter further insubordination and to inform everyone that he was serious.
I have done this in the past. It seems unfair but does get the point across.

What I will surmise is that Jim failed to pull the team together to fully explain his actions and intent.
This caused the misunderstanding between what he wanted and what Steve heard.
In the same situation I "MAY" have done the same thing.
What I would have done difference would be to put a letter of reprimand in Steve's personal file and then get everyone together to inform them of my intent and that a violator has been disciplined for not following directives.

Red Scholefield

My Feedback: (9)

Other than the Technical Advisor position is posted on the AMA web site - Job Opportunities, and sent out to most of the District e-mail lists it will remain a secret.

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Yes, Abel I see why the silent majority has remained silent. I also see that the vocality on here may not represent the true majority. GO out to the field where the guys are flying and pose this question to them..."Do they think that because they pay $58 a year to be a member of an organization that they have the right to to know every detail of the daily going-ons between the employees of that organization and the leadership of such?"
The majoirty of them will tell you that they could care less. The others will likely even be unaware that that the AMA even has any employees. Some will say yes, but nowehre near the majority.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that this little corner of the "universe" means a whole lot to the vast majority of the AMA members, they are only in it for the insurance.
The vast majority of the most vocal AMA crowd here constantly complains. It was not long ago that some here were even scrutinizing the bottom line of the magazine. They were asking for a more prudent use of the funds which we pay for our membership. It could be that perhaps the administration is doing something about that, I don't kow that for sure, but if you beleive the conspiracy theories here, that is what happened. Perhaps it was a bad relationship between boss and someone who had been there longer, don't know that either. What I do know is that whether or not I agree with it, IT IS NOT MY BUSINESS. He is an employee of an organization of which I am a member. The American Medical Association does not give me an explanation when someone gets let go, neither does the NRA, NAUI, PADI, nor any of the other numerous organzations I belong.
My entire point thru this thread is that as much as we may dislike it, we have nothing to say nor can we effectively prevent someone from being fired at the AMA HQ.
Tommy

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Well said. The problem we have here is a complete conflict of interest. We have a popular guy at the AMA who goes above and beyond the call of duty with the membership base and that can easily cause plenty of conflicts, when co-mingling with your customers. As far as I can see he's just a little torn in what is expected by the members and what's expected by the AMA HQ admin office and I think it caught up with him. Does anyone here even know the name of the head janitor at AMA HQ, does anyone care?

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Don't get me wrong, I do care about the employees, but I am fooling myself if I believe that $58 a year entitiles me to know everything that goes on in Muncie. I am sure from what I have heard that he had a heart for his job and may have went over and above what was required of him. He also may have stepped on some toes to do it, and he may have went outside his realm of responsibility, I DO NOT KNOW THAT, but in any case whatever he did was between him and the management, and we are not in between those two parties, and we should not place ourselves there.
Wish him well, tell him how much you apreciate his service, and do what you can to get him a new job. Continuing to drege it thru the mud here is not going to do him any good, beleive it or not.
Tommy

KidEpoxy

Head Janitor?
Heck, for pages we bantered back & forth about the head Maint guy
.... we dont care what his name is either, and he is in topic of this thread.



Dont worry, we can beat the Basin Thread. Just give it another week or 2, cause I dont see any real threat of the AMA answering our calls for ccountability any time soon. Sit back & relax, this one is going the lang haul over a simple question that folks dont want answered.

John Casey

My Feedback: (4)

I disagree......Your an AMA member..and your $58 as an AMA member
does "entitle" you to know everthing about
whats going on in..... YOUR AMA.(as we are often told)

Your entitled to know as members because its your money and your elections they are screwing around with.
And screwing around with the sole insurance company that is the provider of "model airplane insurance "
that allows "US" to get Private and public land insured so WE can fly.

This type of corruption endangers US ALL and the the entire sport/hobby.
OUR AMA IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOVE REPROACH.!!!

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Answering? Wait ... who did you ask? Did you file a action item as described in YOUR AMA bylaws? Did you call your DVP? Because if you are looking for accountability from a person who manages administration staff in Muncie, on a forum not associated with the AMA, you're barking up the wrong tree.

For $58 you get all kinds of perks and benefits, now you just have to learn how to use them.

littlecrankshaf

My Feedback: (58)

.

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Take one step up higher on the soap box John. That has got to be one of the most assinine statements made in this thread. Every opportunity you have on this website is dedicated to "bringing down the man". What evidence do you have that this is corruption? That there is some type of conspiracy? Have you listened to yourself lately? But then I guess it's not paranoia if THEY really are out to get you.

My $58 a year does not entitle me to squat, except access to an insurance coverage if I need it, a voice in business and government issues, and a source of information about modeling activities. It DOES NOT give me the right to get into their business of how they run the organization on an employee level. If we voted for this individual and had overseen his perfomrance then it might, but we did not, and therefore we do not have any say so.

I used to have hope for this organization, thinking that sooner or later we might could all geton the same page, but I know with some there is no compromise. They would want someone else to do all the compromising but would never come to the table themselves with an open mind. Geesh, this is getting ridiculous.
Tommy

littlecrankshaf

My Feedback: (58)

Recently in another thread:

Here is the problem. Mixed messages. Out of one side of the mouth the AMA is portrayed as a service based company but when desired, out of the other side of the mouth, it is maintained the AMA is a membership based organization analogous to a club.

Most of us could accept AMA as a business and not concern ourselves as much with staff changes...just pay the fees and use the services… if they have what you want but if not, just pass. Maybe shop somewhere else and do without their brand of products or services altogether. But we are told often, over and over, to support AMA the big non-profit promoter of our hobby… we are one big family with a common goal.

The reality is AMA wants our support ($ and otherwise) with the same accountability that AT&T has...get real...not hard to figure why AMA will continue to fall even though many aspects of the hobby/sport grows. No genuine cohesiveness with the membership...err...customer base.

The next generation becomes jaded and disinterested easily…not necessarily a bad thing but reality nevertheless...

AMA will need to develop more services or products instead of concerning themselves with membership relations to counter the prevalent trend that has put them into a spin. It is time to spit or get off the pot IMO. AMA needs to make a decision to survive. As other businesses do, continually offer new exciting products and services…. or get back to a membership based organization in which members have insight into their operation.

JC is in the driver’s seat and it seems as the members have nothing to offer but money and blind acceptance at this point in exchange for the same old… old stuff. IMO will not work in the future.

It will be interesting to see how this saga will unfold in the next decade or so. Who knows, some party may wish to take the opportunity and truly make a go at a business such as the AMA has. RCUniverse is excellently poised IMO with their much younger spirit and larger base at the moment… there may be a few others as well.

John Casey

My Feedback: (4)

[quote]ORIGINAL: DocYates


Well Doc.... Have listened to yourself lately?.....If you as an AMA member are'nt going to do it WHO IS? The tooth fairy? The answer is to stick your head in the sand? HAA.... I will agree that 99% of the members will never find out about this kind of crap and wrongdoing.... but some WANT IT THAT WAY. Hide everything from the members.

Its "OUR AMA" so we are always told .....if "we" are not going to fix it who is?
Some like mushrooms for members.... it bodes well for them.

Every AMA club has a flying site like AMA built with our money...don't they DOC ?

ALL That money could not have POSSIBLY been put to BETTER use BY all the clubs of the AMA right? HAAA.......
Election balloting messed with......corruption...you betcha!!!!

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Crank,
repeating it does not necessarily make it any more true than the first time you said it. Beleiving that RCU is more insightful and younger than the majority of the current voices of the AMA is another misconception. I am probably not much older than you. I have been an AMA member for over 20 years however. What service do I beleive the AMA provides for me? I think they do have an ear in Washington with the FCC? I beleive that they do have an ear or at least some correspondence with the FAA, much more than myself or you alone will have. I do believe there is strenghth in numbers, but there is no evidence out here that the current AMA needs to be overthrown and taken over like some would have you believe.
Do I agree with everything the AMA does?..No. Do I feel like I can call my DVP and express my concerns when I have them and he will listen to me? Yes. Do I feel like I get my money's worth from the AMA ($58 a year)? Absolutely.
The difference here is that I believe I get represented by one side of the AMA, my voice can be heard thru the EC indirectly thru my DVP, if I choose to do so. The EC does have some authority over the ED, (thanks for catching my mistake Crank) but not as much as some would want.
I pay my $58 a year, voice my concerns when I have them, and don't go looking around every corner for the boogeyman. Call me a sheep, one of the kool-aid drinkers, or one of the poor sould being led to the slaughter by "z Fuerher" if you wish, but inreality I feel like I am probably more like the other 98% of the AMA constituents. I am not calling for the leaderships head on a plate, and if I get unhappy, I'll go spend my $58 somewhere else. Heck if something better comes along, I might even join up. I had memberships in the AMA and the SFA when it wa round, the only difference is the AMA is still here.
Last week there was going to be some great revelation that would "bring down" the AMA as we know it, I will tune in just to hear that, of course I bought into the Segway rumor as well.
Tommy

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Drivers seat? JC is in charge of the operations of the administration of the AMA. He's been given power by the elected members whom are in the REAL drivers seat to run the operations. If those elected members want to remove the power of administration and hand it over to themselves, it's as easy as raising their hands to vote on it. But I just wonder if they will take these full time jobs, free of charge???

Again, "all that money spent" is spent by the EC. If they want to vote to erase the admin portion of the AMA all they have to do is vote on it. Another catch 22, disolve the AMA HQ, then there will be no AMA clubs. You don't have to be an AMA club to fly an RC airplane on your land. You just put it together yourself and if you want to insure it, make a call, if not, don't.

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Yes John,
I exercise my right, I VOTE. You can do the same thing. SO can every AMA member out there, but in reality very few of them do...Why?...because they could care less. It is a sad state of affairs, but that is the stark reality. They work 9 to 5, or 8 to 6, or some other 40-50 hour a week job. They go home to their families with hopes of getting out a few hours on the weekend to fly, and not have to put up with the BS from somebody crying and whining about something. They don't have the time, or so they think, to put forth the effort to drop the card back in the mail, or go to the website and vote. You can put it on the web, my guess is voting would increase by 10%, not much more. Just because you and I might be interested in the politics of the AMA, does not mean the vast majority are concerned.
You ever wonder why we live in a country that is considered one of the richest in the world, where most everyone has plenty to eat. Everyone has running water that is safe to drink. We can drive from coast to coast without having to stop and have our papers checked. We can go to the grocery and find lots of food avaialble for purchase. We have gasoline at half the price of the rest of the world, and we spend most of our time *****ing and whining about nothing. That is probably why the rest of the world hates us. Go to a third world country where the water is not safe to drink, and kids play in sewage, and people will walk for 8 hours to stand in line and see a doctor, and see if some of those people would exchange places with you for a few days.
Tommy

littlecrankshaf

My Feedback: (58)

Full circle. I think you may have finally confused yourself!

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

I let my fingers get to fast. I will correct that, I meant to say the EC does have a little authority on the ED (Executive Director), but I think he has pretty much free reign over the day to day control of employees.
Thanks for catching that, at least you do read what I type...