ORIGINAL: abel_pranger

I have no quarrel with your essential point at all. It is my place to bring people into the hobby/sport, and I don't put the onus on AMA to do that. All I ask of AMA is to get out of my way while I'm doing it. My objective is to introduce others to modeling, not to induct them into AMA.
I have brought a lot of friends and family into modeling. Usually, doing so involved working around AMA, or simply ignoring their rules. Rules that appear mainly designed to put a toll booth between my guests and their introductory experiences with modeling. If the venue is my AMA-chartered club field, there are two options for accommodating the newcomer: the Intro Pilot program, or a buddy box flight with my airplane - just once per AMA rule. I and my guests prefer the latter. Turning them over to a stranger for their introduction to modeling via hands-on experience is tacky - modeling is a social thing too. There is no legitimate reason for the one-time policy re buddy-box flying. The owner of the model is fully responsible for the flight and can seize control instantly as he deems necessary. Stats kept by AMA show no unusual risk in the buddy-box situation, and yes I have checked that out. The one-time policy is there to restrict the newbie from engaging in modeling until he has paid AMA for the privilege.
AMA policy of this sort, and I have cited but one example, that puts promotion of AMA cash flow ahead of promotion of model aviation exits because it can, when AMA is the only game in town.

Abel