President's Perspective: Expo a Success
AMA held its first Modeling Expo at Muncie June 7-8 in conjunction with our three-day Homecoming 1997. Focusing on youth and model hobbies, it was a big success despite weather that was far less than cooperative. The focus was on all forms of model hobbies, airplanes, rockets, boats, cars, and trains, along with kites. We even scheduled hot-air balloons, but the weather washed that out. Some will ask what AMA is doing promoting anything other than model airplanes. The theory is that if we get a youngster into any form of modeling, he or she is much more likely to eventually try aeromodeling. The comments I heard were overwhelmingly positive on this approach.
President's Perspective
It's funny how often I come to the 10th of the month, which is the deadline for this column, and have not only a blank piece of paper, but a blank expression as well. Most often it is getting started that is difficult, and once I figure out a subject and get started, it is easy to fill the column. Sometimes I have some piece of information which I intend to pass on, but it is not enough to base a whole column on, so I figure I'll stick it in at the end. Great theory, but as often as not, I end up filling up the space before I get it in, or I get so into the main subject that I simply forget it.
President's Perspective
There is no question in my mind that the insurance provided with AMA membership is the primary reason most members join, even though the AMA provides the aeromodeler with much more than insurance. A couple of months back, I wrote a column on technological advancement and its effect on aeromodeling. At the end of that column, I reflected on the idea of a tiered membership system as a method of coping with the widening gap between basic aeromodeling and the higher, faster, bigger, aeromodeling made possible by advancing technology. It has been suggested by members for a long time that this would be desirable but, as usual, it is not as simple to do as it is to suggest!
President's Perspective
I don't know anyone who hasn't complained about bureaucracy at one time or another. If it isn't the license bureau, it's the school system, the building permit system, the zoning commission, the utilities board, or whatever agency one must deal with. It seems that the larger the organization is, the more bureaucratic it becomes. Some parts of the government have made bureaucracy into a virtual art form! If there is any governmental agency, at any level, which cannot be considered a bureaucracy, then I haven't dealt with it yet. However, the government doesn't have a corner on the market when it comes to bureaucracy. You may not realize it, but bureaucracy is an inherent part of organizing anything.
President's Perspective
Since the dawn of time, advancing technology has driven us higher, faster, and farther. When man learned how to start, and "control" a fire, a new danger arrived on the scene-burned fingers. I don't think it took too awfully long after the wheel was invented for someone to run over someone else's toes. Sticks gave way to the bow and arrow, which then gave way to the gun. Sails replaced oars, only to be later replaced by steam, diesel, and then nuclear. Time and technology march on, each in its own inevitable way. With each advancement in technology comes different problems and new risks. Sometimes dealing with the risks is a much greater challenge than the development of the new technology.
