LEADER TO LEADER
Membership Drive Reaction
by Jim Rice,
Chairman Leader Member Committee
As I write this, it is a week
before Christmas and the final membership numbers
for 2009 are fresh in my mind ... Depressing but
still in my mind. We had a membership drive. A
well-thought-out, but poorly executed drive. The leg
work was done at the HQ level and the advertising
was done in Model Aviation and by word of
mouth via most of the District VPs. Yet the grass
roots level, where the newbie meets the member, it
didn’t happen very well; seemingly no interest in
the growth of the membership by the average modeler
or club.
That should give all of us with a
little concern about the future of our organization
cause to reflect on why we aren’t growing or worse
yet, why we are shrinking.
Everyone who has been a member more than five years
(and that is who this article is targeted toward)
remembers when getting a new member started flying
rejuvenated your own enthusiasm, which was then
expressed and passed on to the newbie, resulting in
his or her rapid infusion into this addictive sport.
The newbie then brings friends and relatives to the
field to try to get them addicted as well. It could
snowball, it should snowball from there, but lately
it hasn’t done that very well!
We keep harping on bringing in more new members but
don’t concentrate so hard on keeping the ones we
already have. If your club brings in six new members
this year but loses ten old ones we have a net loss.
If every club in the AMA lost just three members, we
would be down about 7,000 members before we ever
started to recruit the new members!
So why are we losing them as fast, if not faster,
than we can recruit them?
You may know better than I do but I have some ideas
from personal experience and daily contact with
clubs and members that are having problems with each
other. Following is a list of issues I have seen:
1. Club dues are too high when coupled with
initiation fees and AMA dues and perhaps holiday
spending if the club has renewal at the first of the
year.
2. Club meetings are stagnant, discussing the
same old business with no flair of creativity to try
to encourage the membership to be there for the
fellowship, the modeling exchange, and the
educational experience.
3. Cliquish groups that make it hard for a
newcomer to become a part of the organization—If you
can’t afford an XYZ don’t sit with us; If you can’t
do a double whifferdill with a twist you don’t need
to fly with us; If you didn’t use escapements and
reeds you won’t be able to communicate with us, etc.
4. Old-time members with a chip on their
shoulders about new folks, new styles, and new
ideas. Some old guys (I qualify for that) don’t want
to have their club changed and are not willing to
tolerate anyone who may have a good new idea. The
board of directors ought to change fairly regularly
and bring in new ideas and new blood. I have had
reports of members being threatened by old timers
who don’t want change, even to the point that the
police have had to be involved.
5. Conduct at the field that is unacceptable
for mixed company or families. I have seen and had
reported to me too many incidents of vulgar and foul
language being used so loudly that it made many at
the field uncomfortable. Guys don’t want to bring
their spouses or children out to the field and
subject them to that. For that matter, many longtime
modelers would rather not be subjected to that
either.
6. Safety officers or instructor pilots
treating the membership or new pilot like a stupid
third grader (this assumes the recipient of the
barrage is not a stupid third grader). I had a
couple of guys who were longtime modelers tell me
they joined a club based on my recommendation and
began flying on the first day at the field with no
orientation or advice. The Safety Officer observed
they were not following one of the club’s local
rules and berated them loudly and publicly instead
of quietly explaining the rules to the newbies. They
both quit the club after one day of flying.
Fortunately for AMA they found another club instead
of dropping the hobby.
7. Sometimes spectators come to observe the
activity and are not welcomed and given a
tour/briefing about the club and the hobby. Heck if
you have a closed membership that doesn’t mean you
can’t get someone addicted and send them elsewhere
to fly. Take a minute and brag about your club and
your hobby, you might get us a new modeler and get
yourself a new friend.
8. Competition events aren’t designed to
allow a new pilot to compete with limited skills,
therefore they don’t compete because they don’t want
to be beat up and embarrassed by the experienced
club aces. Design some events that don’t even
require a takeoff or landing so that a guy on a
buddy box can compete. For example, a two-minute
timed flight from the time the instructor hands the
airplane over until the student calls time or the
instructor has to take it back. Or climb and glide
if the student can take off okay but has trouble
landing. The time stops when the student adds power
to abort the landing.
9. Maybe a worse thing in today’s electronic
world is the argumentative nature of many of the
forums that a new or prospective member might visit.
Just observing some of the threads would be enough
to cause some potential new members to look
elsewhere and if they post a question and get beaten
up for their ignorance, they aren’t going to want to
come back for more.
10. Sometimes a club may need to embrace new
technology or styles to try to help the newer
modelers. I saw a sign on a non-AMA club gate one
time that said No Park Flyers or Electrics Allowed.
I went on in and asked if I could fly. I had a park
flyer-sized electric that I designed that flew
exceptionally well. I talked with the guys present
and they agreed to let me fly; evidently the guy who
objected to my kind of airplane was not there that
day. After my first flight they gathered around the
airplane and wanted to know more about it and its
propulsion system. I doubt my visit converted the
field but I think it impacted the thoughts of the
ones who were present that day. If your club doesn’t
have a way to allow helicopters, see if you can do
it. If you don’t have a way to do hi-starts and
winches for gliders, see if you can accommodate
them. Do you have a place to make a CL circle, even
a temporary one until the guys who want to fly CL
can help you make a permanent one?
11. Does your club newsletter grab the
attention of the average club member? Do he see his
name or picture or his friend’s in print? Does the
newsletter make him want to get out to the field or
over to the club meeting? A newsletter editor’s job
may be the toughest on the board. Help write an
article, provide a picture, tell a modeling joke or
provide a building tip. These guys want and need
help and they are the voice of the club and the AMA
for the local guys.
You get the idea I think. As leaders we all probably
have some influence in our local areas and could
help make things more enjoyable for the guys we have
already signed up so that we close the door on
attrition and let the recruiting efforts fill us
back up.
Remind everyone that it is a hobby. We do it to have
fun so let’s have fun! Q
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