View from HQ

It is interesting to see that AMA is not alone in experiencing a huge increase in insurance premiums. E-MAIL: It seems that every month I am writing something about E-mail. How did we get along before it? AMA has many members who use this form of communication, and it is great! You usually receive a fast response, and it is less formal than a letter. I still have the problem of what to answer first: E-mail, telephone messages, or snail mail. To help us help you, please address your E-mail messages to only one AMA employee. If three of us receive the same message, you may receive answers from three different people, or you may not get an answer at all: each person could think the other is responding. Check out our Web site for a list of employee E-mail addresses. If you are unsure who to send the E-mail to. send it to my address and I will sec that the employee responsible receives it. E-mail is another area where we can help reduce costs. It takes less effort, no paper, and no stamps. As I've mentioned before, I encourage members to keep us posted on your E-mail addresses. We have used this method to remind members to renew, which drastically reduced expenditures. We will use it to survey our members and send out special or urgent notices. The National Newsletter and Cloud 9 will eventually be sent via E-mail and will be available on the Web page. This month I want to recognize the current chartered clubs we have recorded with 200 or more members. See the table below. Insurance: It is interesting to see that AMA is not alone in experiencing a huge increase in insurance premiums. The following is a piece of correspondence to Special Services Director Carl Maroney from Model Aeronautical Association of Australia (MAAA) Secretary Ivan Chiselett. "We received an insurance quote in early February, as we have our annual Council meeting then, where the fees for the next year's dues are set. The quote we received showed an increase of about $60,000. The quote from the company carried the warning that we still had four months to go on the old policy and the premium could rise and they would not give us a fixed quote until one month before the policy was due to expire. "So we based our membership dues increase on enough to cover that 'quote' plus an additional $2 to cover any expected rise between February and June. When the fixed quote was received it turned out to be $17.50 per member higher than the quote we received in February." The MAAA has a membership of roughly 9,500 members. Its insurance rates are currently roughly 56% of its federal fee. Let's hope that the insurance premiums will become stable next year. Each AMA member can help keep the cost down by remembering to fly safely each time. Keep your site free and clear of any obstacles that could cause an accident.