View from HQ - 2003/10

192 MODEL AVIATION
LEADER MEMBERS, send me your Email
address! This really applies to all AMA
members. As we become more electronically
savvy, I can see that instances will arise
quickly where we would like to have
additional input from the membership. What
better way to get the message out when it is
an emergency than E-mail?
I am going to rehash some old business.
When preparing the October 2002 budget, it
was recommended to do away with any
earned memberships that were awarded to
members for meeting certain criteria,
including officers of the association, contest
directors who submitted the required
paperwork and held a sanctioned event, and
other individuals who met certain conditions.
This was only one area we looked at to
reduce expenses. At the Executive Council
meeting, the budget was presented and
passed, and a motion was made to reduce the
amount of the earned membership and give a
50% credit to those meeting the criteria to
receive an earned membership.
After many inquiries the Executive
Council decided that most of the individuals
who would be affected by this motion had
already fulfilled their obligation in 2002 with
the assumption that they would receive an
earned membership for 2003. It voted to
delay the implementation until the 2004
membership year.
In an effort to get additional opinions on
this subject, prior to the July Executive
Council meeting I had the opportunity to send
a “push E-mail” out to the roughly 1,700
Leader Members of the Academy who have
E-mail addresses on file.
I received responses from more than 700
individuals. The first day the responses were
overwhelming, but I did take the time to read
each one. At least 40 of these responses asked
additional questions, and I was able to
provide them with the requested information.
This is a wonderful way to obtain
feedback quickly, and I appreciate those who
responded. I even got the feeling that the
recipients appreciated the push E-mail and
that they were asked to participate in the
questionnaire.
The responses were overwhelmingly in
favor of what the Executive Council had
previously voted for: giving 50% credit to
those individuals who meet the requirement
or no credit at all. Of those responding in
... send me your
E-mail address!
Joyce Hager Executive Director
View from HQ
Happy flying,
Joyce Hager
Executive Director
[email protected]
favor of the action of the Council, most felt
that they had taken on the role of the contest
director to support the hobby/sport and
didn’t mind donating the time to this effort.
Others suggested that we consider another
type of recognition.
Some who responded made
recommendations about how to address the
issue, and still others indicated that they had
not taken the earned membership in the past.
These Leader Members either did not return
the required paperwork or donated their
membership fees back to AMA.
Those who opposed the issue felt that it
was a slap in the face and a small price to pay
for the amount of work involved in running an
event. The motion that was passed at the
October 2002 meeting in no way meant that
we do not appreciate our volunteers; we knew
that a large increase was expected in the
insurance premium and were looking at ways
to reduce expenses.
Here is another interesting piece of the pie.
I had one of the employees review the Contest
Director Reports for 2002 and she developed
the following pie charts. I find them
interesting.
If you haven’t provided AMA with your Email
address, please do so. You never know
when another push E-mail will be needed! MA
Number of Events Hosted by Contest Director
Number of Fliers per Contest Director