Is the AMA unable to come to terms with the technology of the times?

The AMA had it's roots in promoting a common interest. At it's origin, was the need to disseminate information through clubs and publications to add to the collective understanding of the hobby. Everything from beginning construction to flying and organized competitions. Information was the engine which powered the organization's momentum. The power the organization wielded was the result of collective interest and understanding of the membership.

Today we have the ability to instantaneously respond to each issue. The AMA is no longer the reservoir of information storage and distribution. It has become a stagnant backwater. The AMA is still thinking in the proposal/referendum/majority response to issues. An archaic system which only serves the AMA and not it's members. In a recent MA issue I was struck by the news of 3 separate fatalities involving ATVs and border fences or gates around flying fields. My reaction was why 3? Why wasn't warning information rapidly sent to all clubs and members. While it's members discuss issues individually on a second by second basis, the AMA is still thinking 20th century mass communication.

Information is not the exclusive commodity it once was. It is immediate, dynamic, and sometimes unruly. An organization unwilling or unable to function in the new reality will wither and die. While the AMA celebrates it's 70th anniversary I hope it spends as much time looking forward as it does looking back.

K Wigen
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