You hit the nail on the head several times. If the membership of IMAA doesn't hold our Directors accountable then no ground will be gained in todays IMAA vision statement, which was stated in my article, IMAA needs a new vision statement with todays giant scale aviator to survive. You raise some serious issues that must be addressed.

There will post after post on this subject and until something is done from above, these are just words read on a screen.

At this point, I fall-back on what I discussed in my article, along with the steps stated on my first post of what I believe needs to be fixed, so we'll see what happens during the 2008 flying season.

David
#29132

David, unless the younger ones (below 60[8D]) get in and take IMAA in a new direction do not expect much change. Expect to see continued sniping about past actions but nothing of substance that will attract other giant scale enthusiasts.
Like it or not AMA either by design or default has absorbed most of what was the IMAA of the 80s and early 90s. It may be really difficult at this stage to wrest anything back from AMA that would clearly show the reasons as to why an IMAA membership is a benefit. As I said in an earlier post, when is the last time you saw a new 40&8 club chartered?

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a 40&8 club?

Here you are Dan.

If you read through the bottom part you can see a similar situation that is similar to what has happened to IMAA. The parent organization usurped most of what made them unique and now they are trying to gain new members but they are not relevent to the times.


La Societe des Quarante Hommes at Huit Chevaux is an independent fraternal organization of U. S. veterans, more commonly known as the Forty & Eight.

The Forty & Eight was formed in 1920 by American Legionnaires as an honor society and from its earliest days it has been committed to charitable aims. Membership is by invitation for members of the American Legion who have shown exemplary service. All Forty & Eight members are thus veterans of congressionally recognized wartime periods via their Legion membership.

The Forty & Eight’s titles and symbols reflect its First World War origins. American servicemen in France were transported to the battle front on narrow gauge French railroads (Chemin de Fer) inside boxcars (Voitures) that were half the size of American boxcars. Each French boxcar was stenciled with a “40/8�, denoting its capacity to hold either forty men or eight horses. This ignominious and uncomfortable mode of transportation was familiar to all who traveled from the coast to the trenches; a common small misery among American soldiers who thereafter found “40/8� a lighthearted symbol of the deeper service, sacrifice and unspoken horrors of war that truly bind those who have borne the battle.



Resolution

To change Membership Criteria

WHEREAS, The membership of La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux has continued to decline over the past several years and

WHEREAS, The reduction in membership is hindering our ability to maintain our programs as well as our ability to support the American Legion and

WHEREAS, La Societe became a fully independent veterans group in 1959, and

WHEREAS, Broadening La Societe’s membership criteria harms no group or person, and

WHEREAS, This measure does not diminish the ritual, charity, selectivity, or honor at the heart of La Societe, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Article IV Section 1 WHO MAY BECOME MEMBERS be changed to:

Membership is open to all American Legion Members and all Honorably Discharged Veterans and all Military Personnel currently serving our country, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Avocat National make all changes necessary to bring the balance of the constitution in agreement with the changes made to Article IV, Section 1.

Thanks for the 40&8 explanation, that is a bit of history I did not know. Yes, I can see the parallel you have drawn between the 40&8 and IMAA.

The difference, I see, is the 40&8 recognized their ranks were decreasing and tried to do something about it. But, I am not sure the IMAA has realized it yet.

I might add that I am a member of the Vintage Radio Control Society (VRCS) and we had a cut off date of January 1, 1970. That has worked since the inception but the membership realized if that date was cast in stone the organization would eventually die. So, this year a vote was taken and the cutoff date is now a rolling date of 35 years from the current year. I might also note: this was changed even though the membership numbers were still increasing. That is due to leadership and the leaders listening to the members.

We are not going to have an IMAA event in Napoleon Ohio this year.

Our annual show in sept. did well over 100 pilots in 2006. The show was slower last year (2007) . there is no growth in the IMAA.

we are also not going to sanction with ama.

However AMA will be required

All you get for the money is a twenty dollar advertisement in the AMA mag. there are better ways to get the word out about an event.

And I havd a feeling it will still be put in highflight.

The prevailing sentiment seems to bypass IMAA and just list the event on the AMA calendar.

IMAA should be recognized for all that it did to coalesce the people and knowledge that made the early giant scale planes possible.
However this society does not spend much time honoring it's elders. It is always "what have you done for me lately"?
We are a progress or fall behind type of people. IMAA has failed to progress.

David,

I commend you on your courage posting on this site. I hope you do not get fired from your position at the next board meeting in June. Since the board did not have a meeting in over a year because they could not come up with a meaningful agenda, I hold little hope for anything new at the June meeting. A few of the directors have now been on the board for over two terms. I would invite all IMAA members to review the motions made by the directors since the year 2000. You will see that for the most part, they have done nothing. You say that the members should put pressure on the directors. I disagree. The members should look for NEW blood on the board and a new president with some leadership ability.

Frank P

Frank...

Get fired? Here again, I have to defend myself to all that are reading this forum because of your small accusation.

My comments on this site are reflective from what I wrote in my article posted in HighFlight last quarter nothing more, nothing less.

David

David,

I read your article and if you recall I called to to tell you that I thought it was very good. In your last post, you stated that you had to defend yourself from "your small accusation. I did not accuse you of anything but rather I commended you. You are most likely not aware of the fact that the board of directors tried to sanction me for posting on this site even though none of my posts contained any information that was not already public.

I believe you have a lot of good ideas but from what I have been told, most. if not all have been discounted by the powers that be. I would hope that you will run for office in the next election.

Best wishes,
Frank Ponteri IMAA 5085

Another great example of how the printed word often gets misconstrued. I think if you guys were looking at each other’s facial expressions while hearing the tone of the words a very different interpretation would be had. Humor often gets misinterpreted in the forums but then again there are a few here that have none.[8D]