ORIGINAL: cloudancer03
The ama needs to re evaluate some things inasmuchas the hobby has changed dramatically over the recent years..and it needs our input in a constructive manner.perhaps a committee that travels to varying parts of its membership holding what amounts to townhall forums and taking the information under review and put forth recommendations to change certain aspects of the ama to reflect the state of outr hobby and communicate better with us..I just looked at my montly ama publication and no offense its boring as hell.my professional association communicates routinely via the internet.couldnt we use that email vehicle instead of a boring magazine..just a thought
Indeed, input in a constructive manner is precisely what AMA needs. Alas, such constructive input is largely not to be had in this or any other online forum because of the nature of the beast.
The online forum, that is.
As for a 'travelling committee' holding 'town hall' meetings, gathering information for review, and putting forth recommendations, that is precisely what your District officers are supposed to be doing all the time.
District V for example has some 23,000 members, and Tony Stillman cannot possibly visit all the members at their respective clubs. Tony has some 18 helpers, those being the District V Associate Vice Presidents.
In North Georgia, I have the responsibility for supporting 34 clubs scattered over the entire Northern half of the State, and trust me when I say I've only managed to meet with about half of those clubs so far this year. I'll meet with the remaining clubs as time permits, with the goal of meeting with every club at least once a year, "up close and personal" as it were. These meetings are either at a sanctioned event the club hosts, or at a club meeting, or simply at the club flying site on a weekend when a reasonable percentage of the members are likely to be present.
There is no way I'll ever be able to talk directly to every AMA member in North Georgia; I'll be lucky if I can meet the goal of meeting every club once a year because being an AVP is a volunteer (and largely thankless) job and I do have to keep a roof over my head by doing the 8-to-4:30 thing five days a week.
On the other hand, every District V officer (save one) has an e-mail address which is listed on the District V web site as well as on the AMA web site. Our addresses and phone numbers are posted as well.
Care to guess how many District V members have used my District V e-mail address to contact me with their concerns this year ?
Zero.
Care to guess how many District V members have used my District V e-mail address to contact me _at all_ this year ?
Three, and those only in response to my efforts to contact them.
OTOH I've received thank-you's from several clubs for being >the first AMA official in history to ever visit their club<, so I suppose that means we are making progress in getting in touch with the membership. I'm real sure it also means that District V has been essentially defunct from an operational standpoint for about 20 years, until Tony Stillman won the election last Fall. It takes time to get a whole AMA District "jump started".
Got a problem with something AMA is doing ? Contact a District Associate Vice President and tell them about it. Try to avoid being antagonistic because they are volunteers and probably didn't sign on just to be a dumping ground for complaints.
Can't seem to get any response from your local AVP ? Contact your District Vice President and let him know about it.
If you can't get any answers from anyone on your District staff, contact any other AMA officer you can find and let them know about your concerns.
Start with the local guy first 'cuz that's why he's got the job in the first place. The local AVP may not have all the answers down pat, but he can certainly find the person who does
From one who does really care,