ORIGINAL: Hossfly
ORIGINAL: frankp
As most of you know, the IMAA is the largest SIG within the AMA. Over the past eight years, the membership of the IMAA has dwindled and is now hovering around 6000 members. At the current rate of decline, the membership will fall to the mid 1980's level. Unfortunately, the Officers and Directors have done nothing to stem the tide of falling membership.
With the changing times in our hobby, the management of the IMAA has done nothing to update and modernize the IMAA mission statement or define what unique part the IMAA plays, or would like to play, in todays model aviation enviorment.
It is my opinion that unless the core membership of the IMAA becomes involved, the IMAA will go the way of the QSAA. If you feel as I do that the IMAA is in need of a new direction, please e-mail your thoughts and recomendations to me.
Frank V. Ponteri
//snip//
The question is do you as a member want the IMAA to survive and if so what would YOU do to improve that likelyhood? What I am seeking is recomendations!
IMAA is just like AMA. The Board has their little position and the membership does nothing about it.
IMAA tied the noose around their own neck when they traded with Dave Brown reference Sanctioning Procedures. When IMAA gave away the sanctioned event distance separations for AMA SIG status and insurance, IMAA started rolling down feces-hill gathering same as they accelerated downhill.
In the larger areas where there are a number of clubs, and a club obtains the IMAA/AMA sanction which is called Cr -- non rule book event with restricted entry -- then works for months to get a great show organized, and now 2 months before the event a nearby club, certain individuals with A/Hs on both ends of the torso, sanction an AMA C event through only AMA using IMAA's defined Big Bird sizes, then the IMAA Event loses half or more of its potential draw. [:@] This is reason enough to never sanction through IMAA, because doing so can well be a disaster. IMAA sits on its butt and does nothing to get that ball out of play. I have written about that but the Dist. Director is like an AMA DVP and simply says, "Uh Huh" when at a director's meeting. Without IMAA Sanctioned events in the area, who will even know such exists?
It is difficult enough to get guys to pay AMA dues and the numbers clearly indicate that group is on a downhill slide also. There is no reason for most fliers to think about IMAA. They can do their flying at regular AMA events. IMAC has captured the contemporary Big Bird people, other than the scale purists, which no longer need IMAA because there are adequate scale events and regular AMA Fly-Ins for their needs.
Like AMA depends on the Charter Clubs to sell their wares, IMAA tries to stand on some plank that has long faded away. Kind of like that guy all blindfolded and tied up being punched at with a sword on the plank over the deep sea. Just not a bright future when the leaders are all blindfolded, the membership doesn't care and only the sharks await. [X(]
Please correct me if I am wrong, but IIRC, a person can compete in an IMAC event without belonging to IMAC. The same goes for all other AMA sanctioned events which may be the event operated by a specific SIG, such as Pattern, Pylon and Scale.
Therefore:
(1) IMAA needs to
immediately lobby Dave Mathewson and the AMA EC using IMAA Directors one-on-one with the AMA DVPs, and get that stupid assinine AMA Cr thing deleted with normal C separations between IMAA Fly-In events and regular AMA Fly-Ins.
(2) IMAA must allow Contest Directors to allow non-IMAA to fly in an IMAA Event, however with no elgibility for any awards, etc., but to get those people into the IMAA circle of friends and become knowledgeable about IMAA.
If IMAA fails to do this, then the hill will just get steeper.
While some IMAA officials may think that this IMAA member making the above statement is in violation of Article VII, Section 11 of the IMAA Bylaws, I think not because I plainly differentiate between IMAA's position and my own. [>:]
IMAA 04598 Chapter 148
Edited; Always have to type IMMA vice IMAA. [
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