April 2006 167
IF YOU REMEMBER from last month, I
am going to take some of my precious space
to write about the 2006 marketing plans. As
you might recall, my background is in
marketing with Sprint. It didn’t take our
president, Dave Brown, long to ask if I
would chair the Membership Development
Committee, also known as the Marketing
Committee.
You see, our membership numbers have
been going down for the last several years
while the industry has been growing! Hmm
… seems as though we have not been
meeting the customer needs, right?
With the help of two really bright men,
Eric Meyers and Wes De Cou, we have
developed several programs to begin to
address these needs. We will continue to
work with the Executive Council on the
details of implementing these programs.
Briefly, we have designed a five phase
approach as follows:
1) Capture a significant market share of
the indoor and park flyers by providing them
with a turn-key method to secure flying
sites.
2) Stimulate the new nitro flyers through
a free buddy-box program with the receipt
of their AMA dues.
3) Revitalize the Introductory Flight
Program with a color-rich binder explaining
how to earn your solo wings.
4) Do you know that we have the world’s
best flying facility in Muncie, Indiana? And
I would bet that many of you have not even
seen it, let alone “played” there! The fourth
marketing program is targeted to begin this
process in the fall of 2006 with a sensational
air show you won’t want to miss.
5) And finally, an integrated advertising
campaign with a new slogan to inform the
current membership that AMA is much
more than just insurance. Additionally, these
advertisements will appear in other industry
and non-industry publications.
So there you have it. Look for the
advertisements to launch these programs. As
you can imagine, much work has gone into
this and I am sincerely appreciative of all the
hard work our volunteers have contributed.
I am confident and excited about the
potential of these programs with the end
result of growing our membership numbers
for 2007 and beyond.
January 1 Fun-Flys: As usual, many of us
participate in a New Year’s Day fun-fly so
that we can boast that we have our first
flight in for the year. Believe it or not, I
know of some crazy guys who arrive at the
field before dawn to be the “first!”
Anyway, since we all live in this six-state
region where temperatures sometimes get a
little on the uncomfortable side, I thought
these two pictures sum it all up!
District IX fun-flys: I have allocated a
small amount of our budget for three funflys
in 2006. Jerry Tuttle has spearheaded
the Kansas/Nebraska fun-fly slated for May
6-7.
We are hoping to host all venues of
flying including turbines, CL, and FF. Be
sure to look for the advertisement in MA
magazine!
Travis McGinnis and Mike Harrington
are planning the Colorado District IX fun-fly
and Fred Hilderbrand, Troy Lapp, and Max
Hansen are working on the Wyoming, North
Dakota, and South Dakota fun-fly.
Please contact your associate vice
president for details and see if you can lend
a hand!
That’s it for this month. Until next month,
have fun and keep in touch!
Associate Vice Presidents
Max Hansen, Huron SD;
[email protected]
H. Michael Harrington, Ft.
Collins CO; wdal@
lamar.colostate.edu
Fred Hildebrand, Casper WY;
[email protected]
Troy Lapp, Bismarck ND;
[email protected]
Travis McGinnis, Arvada CO;
[email protected]
Brenda Schuette, Auburn KS;
[email protected]
Jerry Tuttle, Olathe KS;
[email protected]
John Van Brocklin, Hastings
NE; [email protected]
Webmaster: Jim Shaw,
[email protected]
Contest Coordinators:
Mike Tallman, Wichita KS;
[email protected]
Judy Gerken, Denver CO;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator:
Steve Mangles, Denver CO;
[email protected]
D i s t r i c t I X Volunteers
District IX
Mark Smith, District IX Vice President; [email protected]
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
As reported by Larry Hanson of the Arvada, Colorado, club, the Arvada Associated Modelers
rang the New Year in with all of the gusto required for their annual Frozen Finger Fun-Fly!
This event happens every January 1, regardless of weather conditions. Some years there is
snow, sometimes sleet, and this year it was the wind! Gusts of up to 50 mph were logged
during this event, but true-to-form, everyone participated. Photo by Dennis Wruk.
Flying at the Frost Your Buns January 1
event in Rapid City SD. Photo by Jim Tiller.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/04
Page Numbers: 167