View From HQ - 2011/01
Bringing Modelers Together. I'm sure you've heard that AMA's slogan before. I'm pleased to announce that we have launched a newly designed website that will do that better than ever. As the kids say, "check it out" at www.modelaircraft.org.
Electronic communications are cheaper, faster, and often better. Our website is the hub for all sorts of opportunities for information and interaction. It is a wonderful AMA membership service and value. It is also quickly becoming a window on all things in aeromodeling, or what the IT (Information Technology) folks call a "portal."
What's different besides all the nice colors and pictures? Your website has become more than a dry manual of information. It's now driven much more by stories, photos, and interviews that make it read more like a multifaceted publication.
While we're always trying to improve on the status quo, this new website is easier to navigate. You asked for a better search function, and now we have a customized, Google-driven site search engine.
The back-end architecture has been upgraded so that your website experience will be faster. Programs and membership benefits are no longer buried. The "Documents" section has been reordered with specific disciplines in mind. And the home page is much more friendly to "newbies" and first-timers to our hobby and the Academy.
Features and improvements
- Customized, Google-driven site search.
- Upgraded back-end architecture for faster performance.
- Reordered Documents section with discipline-specific organization.
- Home page designed to be more welcoming to new members and first-timers.
- Greater emphasis on social media (Facebook, Twitter) and AMA TV, AMA's growing library of HQ- and member-produced videos.
- Content-driven pages with stories, photos, and interviews rather than just static information.
- Sections illustrating answers and success stories for common member and club challenges.
- Access to "out-take" photos that AMA has commissioned but never printed.
- Virtually unlimited capacity for words and images compared with our print magazine.
Coming soon
- Improvements in online sanctioning.
- A special government-relations area outlining our advocacy on your behalf.
- Details of in-depth partnerships with other aviation organizations.
- A cavalcade of "history moments" in aeromodeling to celebrate our 75th year.
- Possible development of a mobile version of the website.
In addition, there is even the possibility of a mobile version of our website. I'm not fully sure what that is, but I'm told that it's the future in Internet applications.
Stay tuned! In the meantime, send us your flying stories, your club successes, and opinions about our growing web presence — electronically, of course. AMA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
