Originally posted by Matt Kirsch
I read lots of rants about how the AMA should change its sales pitch from "insurance" to something else, but nobody has any suggestions what that sales pitch should be.
When I catch someone telling a potential R/C pilot about joining the AMA "for insurance," I ALWAYS chime in that the AMA is more than just insurance. That's usually replied to with, "Yeah, you get a magazine too..." I always have to explain what else the AMA does, but the potential R/C pilot's eyes just glaze over and they say, "Insurance...yeeeah...good idea..." If you can't sum it up in a 6-word sentence, and if it doesn't have anything to do with them DIRECTLY, it's more than the average person wants to hear.
Matt,
I could have sworn there were several alternatives presented in the last few weeks that would have served as a good beginning. Not that you are all wrong, but WE (you and I) have to change our story and WE need to tell others to do the same. Telling everyone that there have been no suggestions as to something else to say is not going to accomplish the task we MUST tackle.
I was asked to answer a question a few weeks ago. The questioner wanted a non-political answer to the question "What the AMA is good for if not just insurance?" I provided an answer, as you should be able to do. My point is that WE MUST SHARE those answers with many others. We MUST change the appearance of an 'insurance' scam. That cannot be done without some thought and pre planning.
By the way, the answer to the question is that the AMA helps you share your growth in the hobby with others. This hobby/sport is a technological social event and sooner or later most of us go to 'strut our stuff' for others at their flying field. Insurance helps the individual and the club, but the actual services the AMA provides make the social part of the event (non competitive or otherwise) 'happen'.