New Digital Resources for 2015
In 1935 a small group of model aviation pilots met in a Detroit, Michigan hotel lobby to create an organization for aeromodeling. The vision was to build a unified voice for the hobby, sport, and educational pursuit of model aeronautics.
Eighty years later, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) has grown into the world’s largest aeromodeling organization that is 160,000 members strong. It is very exciting times here at the AMA. More than ever before we are aggressively advocating for our member’s rights, enhancing member benefits by offering perks such as Model Aviation Digital, and working with hundreds of clubs across the country to protect and preserve flying sites.
Two years ago we started the ground work to launch an ambitious new member perk. The goal of the project was to offer a completely revised online experience and to provide members with access to their member profile and AMA resources. We conducted multiple surveys, spoke with many similar organizations, and leaned on the advice of experts in the field. We are excited to announce after thousands of hours of work and countless pots of coffee, the AMA will be launching this new membership perk with the new 2015 membership year. Members will be able to navigate through a cleaner, sleeker website and have the tools to easily manage his or her member profile.
When logging into the new site, all AMA members will have a centralized hub that we’re calling the member dashboard. We consider this as one of the most significant and valuable features of the project. The dashboard allows members to easily track upcoming events, submit support tickets to the AMA staff, modify magazine subscription(s), keep in touch with AMA club(s), and easily update personal information.
If a member lost his or her membership card or forgot to bring it to the flying field, no problem. Members can simply pull up a copy of his or her AMA card in the member dashboard. The member can then show the card on his or her phone to a CD at the flying field or print an extra copy.
The new site also allows members to more easily search for area clubs, hobby shops, and events. To search for an event, members can utilize a number of tools and search filters. If a member is traveling, the event search feature can automatically recognizes a user’s location and offers results in a mobile friendly format.
We’re excited about this new member perk and wanted to offer members a sneak peak. As we approach the launch date we’ll be revealing more features - stay tuned.
Chad Budreau
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AMS1.jpg: The member dashboard allows users to easily manage their member profile.
AMS2.jpg: While searching for events, users can fine tune their search by date, location, and discipline.
