"Focus on Education" Column
Model Aviation Magazine
December 2004

This column is a departure from the normal job-well-done articles that have appeared in the “Focus on Education” space in the past, but this is still an education column.

Many people in our membership are qualified to write about their areas of expertise. I have received quite an education since I have worked for AMA and I would like to share some of the lessons I’ve learned. It’s time for a little reality check. There are still those people who are giving their all and promoting our sport, but none of us can afford to work in a vacuum. We could all benefit from a little self examination.

Slightly more than four years ago, I started working at AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana. Before that I was a person whom I would consider an average AMA member. I paid my dues, flew at least three or four times a week, looked through Model Aviation for cool pictures, thought I was a better pilot than I really was, and I was generally oblivious to the workings of my organization.

I never thought about what “the AMA” did for me (except for providing insurance), or how “the AMA” worked, or even who “the AMA” was! “The AMA” was whoever answered the telephone at Headquarters when I called. “The AMA” was whatever committee made some recommendation with which I didn’t agree.

“The AMA” was my district vice president (VP) whom I didn’t like because one of my flying buddies didn’t like him. I certainly didn’t vote for him! Wait, I didn’t vote for anyone. Come to think of it, had I ever voted for anyone for any elected office within my organization?

I knew the name of the president of “the AMA,” but I knew nothing about the man. I knew nothing of his background, his skills, his contributions, or even his vision for the future. I came to the realization that I really didn’t know much at all.

It’s a sickening feeling when you realize that you are not only clueless but you haven’t been involved in your own destiny. How could I complain about this decision or that regulation when I hadn’t even participated in the selection of the people who were to help make these decisions in my stead?

I had seldom missed a local government election, I knew who my state representatives were in Washington, DC, and I always voted in the presidential election.

Recent numbers indicate that only 15-20% of AMA members vote in their district elections and only 10-15% of all members vote in the AMA presidential election! Why was it that I was unable or unwilling to vote for elected officials of an organization that I chose to join? Why didn’t I participate?

It was because I really didn’t know what “the AMA” did! I didn’t understand the scope of its efforts. Not only that, but I didn’t realize who “the AMA” was! Was “the AMA” the roughly 55 people who worked at AMA Headquarters? Was “the AMA” the president or the members of the Executive Council?

Have you been wondering why I have been repeating the words “the AMA”? I can’t count the times that I’ve said or heard other AMA members say “the AMA,” as if they were talking about someone or something with which they had no affiliation!
Who is “the AMA”? I think that after four years here, I am beginning to understand that “I” am “the AMA,” and “you” are “the AMA.” “We” have to take care of our organization. “We” have to be involved in its elections, its responsibilities, its promotion, its representation, its reputation, and its future.

We can’t hide our heads in the sand and avoid giving our input then complain about the results. We can’t lament about youth and family participation and then be too busy to be personally involved in a local make-and-take event. Our clubs can’t fail to get involved in community activities and then wonder in amazement when club fields are lost.

Why didn’t I understand this sooner? Maybe that’s because I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed! Or maybe it’s because we AMA members aren’t as good as we should be at tooting our own horn!

Let’s take a look at AMA Headquarters. Approximately 55 people work at the headquarters. These are the people who implement the policies, answer the telephones, and generally perform the grunt work of our organization. They maintain a 1,100-acre, multiuse flying site and RC car track, organize the Nats, publish a world-class magazine, operate and maintain the world’s largest model aviation museum containing more than 10,000 artifacts, maintain the Model Aviation Hall of Fame program (as well as a number of others), and operate a retail store in the museum.

They run a custom merchandising facility offering engraving, screen printing, banners and signs, etc., operate a member supply-and-service department, maintain all headquarters information systems equipment, manage two Web sites, maintain membership and insurance records for more than 170,000 members, provide local and national education outreach, attend 10-15 conventions and trade shows yearly, provide flying-site support, schedule events at the International Aeromodeling Center, provide FCC and Federal Aviation Administration representation, represent AMA to the international FAI, and so on.

These people are the caretakers of our organization, not just their organization.
To be quite honest, the number of modelers at AMA Headquarters is far fewer than the number of nonmodelers. Is this a problem? I could argue both sides of that issue. I believe that my job requires someone with modeling skills, but does the accounting department manager need those skills?

These people aren’t rich or famous. They are normal people who come to work everyday and do the best job they know how to do. Do they always make the right decisions? Nope. Do you?

A zero-tolerance policy is great for many issues in the workplace; however, it should not be confused with a zero-defect policy. (Lucky for me we don’t have that policy yet!) The headquarters personnel will make mistakes from time to time—we will try to keep it to a minimum—and we will all just have to realize that we are mere humans with the imperfections that go along with being a carbon-based life form.
Let’s take a look at the Executive Council. Why would anyone in their right mind want to be a district VP? They are usually the ones who bear the brunt of the criticism for all of the evil deeds, missed opportunities, and outright failures of AMA, as are so aptly pointed out by our general membership. That is the same general membership of which only 10-15% actually vote!

Some of the VPs might be rich or famous or both, but they certainly didn’t get that way from being district VPs. They are volunteers. Volunteers! They receive no pay for the many hours they put in for the love of our sport, but they still do it. Some of them even run for more than one term!

If you have problems with the way they serve their districts, you should tell them about it, but you would have a lot more credibility if you voted either for or against them. The same logic follows for associate vice presidents, CDs, Leader Members, and all others who are willing to serve our organization at some higher level.

We have all heard the saying, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” Maybe we just didn’t understand it.

                                                                      —Jack Frost
                                                                     E-mail: