ORIGINAL: Hossfly
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Edited to add: BUDMAN: Would you want to be a Chartered Club Secretary / Officer and have to each day check to see just who may have an expired AMA license and just who has to be chased down to see if they are current with AMA?
AMA hdqtrs. would love it if they could be as you propose. The computer could just spit out the renewals and save much clerical labor in the renewal phases of the year.
However the clubs would be sinking because those club officers are just modelers that devote a lot of their modeling time to keeping a club running and thus they seldom get to do all the things that those that just show up to fly -- and do nothing else -- get to do. If you want all those goodies/events these officers provide, then do not try to load the club officers with even more administrative work just to satisfy your convenience even more. That goes for all of you that just "WANT to FLY".
Honestly Hoss, the poor overworked club secretary has been coddled to the extent that he has been given control of key elements of AMA policy. Every club member must be an AMA member, because the club secretary couldn't be expected to keep up with workload of verifying everybody's personal liability insurance. Then there is the oft repeated mantra you are humming, that the poor overworked secretary should only have to do it once a year. What's the difference in doing it once a year vs once a month? AMA provides him with a roster of those in the club that are AMA members. Organize said list by month rather than alphabetically. The secretary generally attends a monthly club meeting, and with that simple list knows which club members need to renew that month, and can do his verification in a couple of minutes then and there, for members that have not already mailed him photocopies of their AMA cards. Great big hairy deal. The only reason HQ did not do this years ago is caving to the hue and cry from those in the membership that dig in their heels at any thought of deviating from the sacred way things have always been done. "Status Quo Uber Alles!" is the AMA member's creed.
Abel