LDM, You are absolutely right in your statement. Being new at this, I have experienced a lot of snobs in this hobby. I visited a club the other day where they where hosting a fly-in, and not ONE person introduced himself to me. I won't be joining that club. The funny thing is, I have my own field to fly from but I wanted to get involved in the social aspect of this hobby. I quickly found out that if you don't have the newest, most expensive equipment at the field, you aren't "good enough", or if you fly an ARF you have no pride. (Gimme a break) In my eyes it should be easy to spot a newcomer, so why not recognize them and make them feel comfortable so they might join the club which requires an AMA membership, hence the growth that you all wonder about.
No, I won't be renewing my AMA membership when my three month trial is up- I don't need it to fly from my field, and if anybody wants to come here an fly you are more than welcome as long as you take the chip off of your shoulder.