Model Aviation Online - View from HQ (June 2007)

Service is the only product
we have here at the Academy.

The Academy of Model Aeronautics is reaching out to the membership in a new way in 2007.
     Keeping watch over the 1,100-acre National Flying Site in Muncie, Indiana, is a formidable task. Borrowing a page from the National Park Service and many successful state park programs, the Academy is seeking retired volunteers to become flying-site hosts.

     Requirements for this position are simple.

• Must possess a love of all aspects of model aviation

• Must own an RV suitable for 30-day stays

• Must have outstanding people skills and a willingness to represent AMA in a positive manner to fellow members and guests

• Must be willing to live on-site for one month during the season—April-September

• Must follow all flying site rules and guidelines

• Must have a familiarity with model-aviation flying sites (norms and customs a plus)

     AMA will provide these volunteers with the following:

• A camping site with full hookups

• Transportation for use on-site

• A cell phone for AMA use

• Caps and golf shirts with an "AMA host" designation

     Duties will include:

• Helping members and guests visiting the flying site

• Helping ensure that the AMA Safety Code is observed on the flightlines

• Helping check in members and visitors at the camping sites

• Communicating with AMA staff concerning conditions of the flying site

     We are seeking two host couples for each month of the flying season. This buddy system will allow a sharing of responsibilities while covering the site most days of the week. Because of the nature of this opportunity, we are asking for couples only.

     If you would like to apply to become an AMA host and hostess, contact Mary Hurn at mhurn@modelaircraft.org or (765) 287-1256, extension 260.

The staff at AMA Headquarters takes our support and service to the membership seriously. It concerns us when we receive a complaint about the lack of response to an E-mail from a member.

     E-mail communication works 99% of the time, but that 1% rises to the surface when a vice president or associate vice president contacts us with a complaint such as, "So-and-so E-mailed you two weeks ago and hasn't heard a thing from the staff."

     Our research into these incidents normally finds that the E-mail was trapped by a spam blocker and delegated to the junk-mail folder. Staff members are instructed to review their junk-mail folders daily to try to catch these messages.

     Unless it has a subject title that jumps out as a member's question or an AMA topic, we seldom open junk mail. I receive roughly 170 E-mail messages a day not including the 30-40 junk E-mails.

     If you E-mail the Academy, please put in the topic line something that indicates that it's AMA-related. There are a number of words that are blocked by the spam blocker. If you use "magazine" rather than Model Aviation, the program will think it is an advertisement for magazines and route it to the junk-mail folder.

     Check our Web page at www.modelaircraft.org/maildir.asp for the department you want to contact. If you don't hear anything from us within 24 hours (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.), then please call the Academy.

     Although the world is moving toward E-mailing everything, I encourage you to call us anytime during or after business hours. Use the extensions listed on our Web site to bypass the recorded welcoming message. Usually a "live" person will respond to your call during business hours, and you can leave a voice mail after hours.

     If you don't receive some type of response within 24 hours, call me at extension 205. Service is the only product we have here at the Academy. I believe you would be proud if you could meet the staff members who are working and supporting our sport and hobby.

     Sometimes things fall through the cracks, and those are what we want to find and correct.   MA

In the spirit of flight.

Jim Cherry, Executive Director

Comments on the magazine?
or call Model Aviation Editorial offices: (765) 287-1256, ext. 224.
(8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays). Fax: (765) 289-4248.
Address: 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302