200 MODEL AVIATION
View from HQ
Executive Director Jim Cherry
Service is the only product
we have here at the Academy.
he Academy of Model
Aeronautics is reaching out to the
membership in a new way in
2007.
Keeping watch over the 1,100-acre
National Flying Site in Muncie, Indiana, is
a formidable task. Borrowing a page from
the National Park Service and many
successful state park programs, the
Academy is seeking retired volunteers to
become flying-site hosts.
Requirements for this position are
simple.
• Must possess a love of all aspects of
model aviation
• Must own an RV suitable for 30-day
stays
• Must have outstanding people skills and
a willingness to represent AMA in a
positive manner to fellow members and
guests
• Must be willing to live on-site for one
month during the season—April-
September
• Must follow all flying site rules and
guidelines
• Must have a familiarity with modelaviation
flying sites (norms and customs a
plus)
AMA will provide these volunteers
with the following:
• A camping site with full hookups
• Transportation for use on-site
• A cell phone for AMA use
• Caps and golf shirts with an “AMA host”
designation
Duties will include:
• Helping members and guests visiting the
flying site
T • Helping ensure that the AMA Safety
Code is observed on the flightlines
• Helping check in members and visitors at
the camping sites
• Communicating with AMA staff
concerning conditions of the flying site
We are seeking two host couples for
each month of the flying season. This
buddy system will allow a sharing of
responsibilities while covering the site
most days of the week. Because of the
nature of this opportunity, we are asking
for couples only.
If you would like to apply to become
an AMA host and hostess, contact Mary
Hurn at [email protected] or
(765) 287-1256, extension 260.
The staff at AMA Headquarters takes our
support and service to the membership
seriously. It concerns us when we receive
a complaint about the lack of response to
an E-mail from a member.
E-mail communication works 99% of
the time, but that 1% rises to the surface
when a vice president or associate vice
president contacts us with a complaint
such as, “So-and-so E-mailed you two
weeks ago and hasn’t heard a thing from
the staff.”
Our research into these incidents
normally finds that the E-mail was trapped
by a spam blocker and delegated to the
junk-mail folder. Staff members are
instructed to review their junk-mail folders
daily to try to catch these messages.
Unless it has a subject title that jumps
out as a member’s question or an AMA
topic, we seldom open junk mail. I receive
roughly 170 E-mail messages a day not
including the 30-40 junk E-mails.
If you E-mail the Academy, please put
in the topic line something that indicates
that it’s AMA-related. There are a number
of words that are blocked by the spam
blocker. If you use “magazine” rather than
Model Aviation, the program will think it is
an advertisement for magazines and route it
to the junk-mail folder.
Check our Web page at www.model
aircraft.org/maildir.asp for the department
you want to contact. If you don’t hear
anything from us within 24 hours (Monday-
Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.), then please call the
Academy.
Although the world is moving toward Emailing
everything, I encourage you to call
us anytime during or after business hours.
Use the extensions listed on our Web site to
bypass the recorded welcoming message.
Usually a “live” person will respond to your
call during business hours, and you can
leave a voice mail after hours.
If you don’t receive some type of
response within 24 hours, call me at
extension 205.
Service is the only product we have here
at the Academy. I believe you would be
proud if you could meet the staff members
who are working and supporting our sport
and hobby.
Sometimes things fall through the
cracks, and those are what we want to find
and correct. MA
In the spirit of flight.
Jim Cherry
Executive Director
[email protected]
06sig7.QXD 4/23/07 8:40 AM Page 200
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/06
Page Numbers: 200