View from HQ
Don Koranda, Executive Director
The value proposition: getting real value for your membership.
I've just spent the weekend locked up in a cold, windowless room in a nondescript hotel, discussing important topics with members of the Executive Council (EC) and the AMA staff. Our objective was simple: spend some time thinking about the issues facing our sport, what we currently offer our members, and where we need to go as an organization to do the job they expect.
I didn't particularly enjoy the cold room, but the discussions were enlightening and will serve as a platform for changes, improved membership services, and growth. In the business and association world, this kind of event is known as a strategic-planning meeting. That's a fancy term for long-range planning.
Some companies spend years and millions of dollars preparing for such a meeting, and the outcome can be extremely important to that organization. It may mean a new product and/or direction for the company, the commitment of resources, and much hard work ahead. We didn't have the luxury of committing that kind of time or money to this effort, but the outcome was no less important to us.
Before I go any further, let's admit that while the idea of strategic planning is fundamentally a good one, there is often a big gap between the promise and the reality of planning. As several of the meeting participants noted, there are a number of strategic plans gathering dust on executives' shelves, and AMA is no exception.
One of the first things I did while preparing for this new meeting was to review our last effort. The good news is that we did accomplish some of the major goals laid out by the EC at the strategic-planning meeting in 1998. The not-so-good news is that our focus on these goals was not as sharp and consistent as it should have been. Most planning experts will tell you that this is not uncommon and that we are not alone in this experience.
One of the issues that came through clearly in our discussions was something called "the value proposition." That is a fancy way of asking, "What do our members get out of their relationship with AMA?"
For those of us on the staff, wrapped up in the day-to-day job of serving our members, such a question can feel like heresy. What do you mean, "What do the members get out of joining our association?"
If you dare, ask that question of the staff on the 800 lines who are busily answering member questions; to those producing our magazine, editing our rule book or sanctioning events; or those preserving the history and heritage of our sport. You are likely to get a look of disbelief and then a strong argument defending what they do.
But the truth is, we need to ask ourselves this fundamental question more often. What are we providing to our members, and have the circumstances that created the program changed so much that it no longer represents real value to the members? That simple question will drive our assessment of current programs and will, slowly but surely, steer us toward future programs that add value to your membership in AMA.
Not every program represents the same value to each member, and that's okay. The value proposition doesn't mean everyone will get the same value from a program or service. A new RC pilot is likely to find more value in a magazine article that helps him or her develop new flying skills, whereas a more experienced pilot may assign a higher value to an article on building techniques. Some members will look to our website as a valuable tool, and others may not want anything to do with computers, websites, or the Internet.
The point is that the value proposition differs from program to program and service to service. It is different for each member, and the staff's job is to make sure that each program or service provides a benefit that makes membership in the association worthwhile.
Reviewing all of our programs and determining their value will be no small feat for the staff. There are many factors to consider, including:
- What value should we assign an insurance program designed to protect you in case of an accident?
- Does a program that funds air-show teams really add value to your membership?
- Are there programs we need to drop or modify to improve the value proposition?
- How do all of these programs support AMA's membership goals?
- Do we have enough information about the goals and objectives of each program, and how do we measure the results?
We may not have all the answers to these questions, but one thing is clear: our members expect value for their dues money, and we had better provide it.
Thinking strategically is an important task of the EC. That is why they were elected and, from my viewpoint, that is what they did at this meeting. The task of reviewing these programs is in the staff's hands. It's their job to give meaning to the fancy phrase "the value proposition" and to make sure you get real value for your membership dues.
Safe flying.
Don Koranda Executive Director [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
