ORIGINAL: kkf1977
James thank you and you are 100% correct. I was just asking a question because I couldn't find the by-laws and was asking my fellow AMA members for help. I also agree with you on the leadership of the AMA. When real issues arise they just want to ignore them. There are boards and committees in place yet they want to do nothing. I also know for a fact that most of them do not or have not flown a model airplane or helicopter in the past 20 years let alone compete. Is this a requirement no, but I think being active with in your own orginazation is key to growth understanding and support. I think the AMA needs some younger blood in positions to help make desisions and help drive the path of the future. If you look at some of the competition board members some have not been in the hobby or seen for over 15 years. Why is this? why is it so hard to get active people in these roles? Not wanting to start a big debate just stating the obvious and addressing some concerns. I am also not saying they are all bad just that most have been in their seat for too long and it is time for a change.
Let me get this straight: You are new to the hobby, you have never been an AMA member, and you are new to RCU. Yet you know enough about the AMA to pass judgment on it as a bunch of lazy bureaucrats who are out of touch with the current needs of the hobby and don't even participate in the hobby themselves? I'd love to know how you have that information. Surely you've attended some board meetings or been privy to what happens in a few SIG's? Or at least you must have a close friend who in on the executive council who reports to you what happens in all the meetings he attends? But maybe not. Maybe you're a $29.95 expert- that's a guy who has a new broadband connection and has spent a couple of days reading what people post on the internet and now think he knows everything.
I'll agree that the AMA moves slower than it probably should in responding to new opportunities and needs in the hobby, and it's entirely possible that it is missing opportunities to meet modelers' needs in certain areas. At the same time, resources are limited and most of the workforce is volunteer. The guys in Muncie can only do so much themselves, and they are dependent on volunteers putting their time in while maintaining jobs and their own hobby participation. The AMA could fix that by jacking up dues to around double what they are now, but I don't think most of us would vote for that. So maybe before you complain you should serve as an officer in your club for a year or two, then maybe become a part of the vast AMA volunteer base so you actually know what does and doesn't happen in the only national aeromodeling organization in the US? Of course before you do that, you might ought to pay your membership dues so you are at least supporting the organization that you are so ambitious to run.