ORIGINAL: MikeL
This is where some of you guys go off the rails. How many clubs are there? 2,400 or so? Have you ever tried to make 2,400 phone calls in a timely manner? Have you incurred the expense to prepare and mail 2,400 envelopes?
Now I know there is a reality distortion field in place within this forum, but surely at least some of you can understand the difference between those two options and selecting an e-mail list and clicking on send.
Everybody complains about the AMA, but they're trying to simply take advantage of a common, inexpensive communication method. If there are people in this world that are stuck in the 20th century... well, they'll either die off or adapt soon enough.
There's a certain delicious irony of discussing this here.
Mike, I don't think I've seen anyone here say that email shouldn't be used if it's available, and I think your comment about making 2400 phone calls is rather disingenuous. To the contrary, most seem to believe that email is the quickest and most cost efficient way for AMA to communicate with it's chartered clubs. To any reading this, if you disagree with that comment, then please speak up.
IMO the issue ISN'T making phone calls vs email, but INSISTING that email MUST be available in order to issue a club charter. Those are NOT the same things.
AMA should NOT be in a position of refusing to issue a club charter for lack of an email address. Further, for those clubs where none of the officers, including the SO has an email, then yeah, pick up the phone or send a letter. I'm not going to hazard a guess as to what that percentage may actually be, but I'd be willing to bet that the number of clubs where no officer has email is fairly small. It's certainly not 2400.