I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say it's not outright deception. That said, I do think the manner in which the EC and officers are selected leads to a rather homogeneous gene pool of thought. You can only be a VP if you're first a leader member. And good luck being a leader member w/o the support of the VP. That all but ensures that everyone is pretty much thinking the same ... that everyone eats, lives, and breathes model planes like they do. Thus the never (seriously) consider any other possibility.

Further proof would be to look at how dissenters are treated. Not long ago one VP dared to disagree with the strategic direction of the AMA, and the President and the EVP use the organization's official publication to attack the man! Worse yet, the rest of the VPs sat by and did nothing. What's even scarier is that the "Editor" allowed it as well!

The main question is whether it's too late to make the necessary changes. I personally don't think so. Their inability to face reality and be transparent with members is my main reason for lack of optimism. I'd hoped that by now some of the hard questions I've tried to ask would be addressed in the magazine etc., but no. They just keep doing more of the same and hoping for a different result.

So now they're heading into a stock market downturn with financial trends (from IRS990s) that show nothing but declines. The CFO's latest column seems to hang hopes on baby boomers as their kids are out of the house. Unfortunately, I don't think he's looked at census and economic data that shows baby boomers are MORE likely to be supporting their kids well into their mid to late 20s (or later). That's not a group that's going to have a lot of disposable income. But hey, when have the facts ever gotten in the way of AMA rhetoric.