Originally Posted by
porcia83
Reminds of the damned if they do, damned if they don't approach some take with the AMA. Even Franklin has indicated it's better for them to be involved than not. Perhaps it's an issue of expectations. If folks think that because they are involved they have the ability to make everyone do what they want, well they I can see why there would be disappointment as they clearly don't have that ability (non of the participants do). If on the other hand folks realize the AMA is just one of many entities involved, and serve in an advisory and informational capacity, and can help craft a positive outcome for it's members, well then that is a different story.
Would you agree with Franklin that it's better that they are involved, rather than not?
In the Pentagon, we had a saying "Form follows funding." In the case of this committee, as was the case with the registration committee, which stakeholders represent high dollar and tax revenue producing industries? AMA? Uh...no.
I'll be the first to say it's better they're involved than not. But I'm not naïve about their ability to influence compared to other stakeholders. It's my opinion that the AMA is there for no reason other than to add legitimacy to the process, so FAA can point back and say "they were involved."
I also disagree with the AMA's internal communication strategy. I was taught that it's always better to under promise and over deliver. I feel much of the AMA internal communication does the opposite. I read many AMA releases and they're in such a rush to show members what they're doing that they're failing to see that it's creating unrealistic expectations of the organization's ability to influence among other much more powerful members in this group.
They were involved in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Registration Task Force (RTF) Aviation Rulemaking Committee, and we see how that turned out. In the end, all AMA could do was release statements that
"AMA wanted to include dissenting comments in the final task force report, but was prevented from doing so." Which looked like nothing more than whining. This November, it'll be two years since that release, and we're still registering.
AMA's "Dissenting Opinion" release:
http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/med...-registration/