- Details
- Written by: Doug Pilcher
- Category: Club Business
Present: Mike Karnes, Charles Youngblood, Phil Vance, Samantha McKinney, Rusty Fried, Michael Verzwyvelt, Doug Pilcher, Steve Sides, Ron Graham, Brad Davy, and Adi Kochav
Guests: Clark Hymas, Charles Lewis, Gil Major, and Jeff Maruschek
Meeting began at 9:02 p.m. EST.
2018 Worlds – Steve Sides
Steve posted a forum to get the opinions of the judges on time spent in the judging chair. We had 3 judges per class at the 2014 Worlds. By doing that now, we need 24 judges, which we currently only have 12. Many of the judges said that it was too long. He received an answer of anywhere between 1 to 4 hours to still be effective. Steve believes that we need to come up with a way to give the judges a break to keep them effective. Pilots will be flying single sequences, with at least 25 pilots per class. Ron questioned if this varied between classes when effectiveness came into question. Steve suggests that we at least give them a break in the middle of each class, around 5-10 minutes. Then, we would possibly stagger the start times, such as 30 minutes, before the judges have to be back in the judging chair.
We need a minimum of 24 judges to run 4 lines for 4 days. This means that there will be 3 judges per class. Steve says we currently have a few international judges. He isn’t pushing too hard until he finds out which teams are committed to the Worlds. Currently, we have a conflict with some due to wanting to fly in the 2018 Worlds. Steve believes that we will get a judge from Italy and Adi is working on a judge from Israel. It was suggested to have a few on “standby” just in case a committed judges cannot make it.
We will pay the judges for the 2018 Worlds. The judges will be paid the same as the 2014 Worlds, $1,000 for an international judge and $800 for the U.S. judges. International judges were paid cash on site for there weren’t any currency exchange issues. Steve believes that all judges should be paid the same amount. the last Worlds had a total cost of $17,200 for judges. The entry fees collected was just over $29,000.
Last time there were 22 judges. Steve would like to have help from the RDs for the folks that he doesn’t know. He would like to have input from all regions on qualified judges for the 2018 Worlds. Steve will send a list of judges/volunteers that have confirmed for 2018. The list won’t be finalized until we know who makes the team.
Steve has talked with Phyllis Youngblood about being head scorekeeper. There will be Rhonda Vance, Terri Foster, and Jenna Youngblood is also available as scorekeepers. Phyllis has also been asked to be a judge, if it is absolutely necessary. Steve will talk with Phyllis about the rest of the scoring team.
Steve would like to start sending out team invitations in January 2017. He will have the invitation letter updated and out on the forum for the Board to approve before it goes out. Adi has been helping out Steve with the International contacts. Steve had a question on where to send the invitations for the International countries. Adi mentioned that they had seen the letter on the website and then called the BOD to tell them if the country was coming. Wayne handled all the invitations last time, so Steve is going to follow up with Wayne. It was recommended to post to the IMAC website and the Worlds website.
Steve would like to have permission from the BOD to approach IMAC members via email for donations. He would like to have permission to go to all the AMA clubs to ask for donations. It was the consensus of the BOD that this is a good idea. Steve would like to add to the World website that will list the AMA club as a sponsor of the Worlds. Mike says that we can add a page to the magazine for the list of AMA club sponsorship. Steve is going to ask the RDs for help in contacting their local AMA clubs. The BOD is in agreement on this approach. Steve is going to create a brochure to send out as an email attachment. The BOD will approve before it is sent out. Adi mentioned if we would want to use PayPal or a “Donate me” website, such as a GoFundMe page. You can use PayPal or credit card. There is a link on the Worlds website that is linked to the PayPal account. The GoFundMe page is very popular and people know it. The brochure can be included on this page. Adi will find out how to setup the page. Currently, the registration is set up to send a check to Phil. We need to make sure that PayPal is still linked on the Worlds page. Adi mentioned doing both, PayPal and GoFundMe page.
Steve will need to know when money is sent in to IMAC. GoFundMe is attached to an account for funds to be deposited. This will only be used for donations or sponsorships. There is about an 8% overhead. It was discussed about mixing the funds between the Worlds and the General IMAC account. It must be kept separate. Last time, no IMAC treasury funds were used. The incoming money was kept in the general fund, but was kept separate in the accounting books. It was suggested to keep everything separate to know exactly what was spent on the Worlds. Ron made a motion for the “accounting of the Worlds be kept separate from the IMAC budget or any IMAC money and that there will be regular accounting of that.” This was seconded by Steve. By roll call vote, motion passed unanimously.
Charles questioned how we would initially fund this account. One fee has already been paid for the initial costs of the website. Phil is going to check with the bank to see how much it costs to open up a new account. We could possibly be out a few hundred to open the account, which will be paid back to IMAC.
The 2014 Worlds brought in a total of $54,328.16, which includes entry fees, donations, etc. The entire expense of the Worlds was $47,394.24, which left a profit of $6,933.32. Phil doesn’t foresee any upfront costs before receiving fees/donations in the account. How will the expenses be covered, if any? We may have to borrow funds from the General IMAC account and have to pay back once funds are received from the Worlds, but his will only be done if approved by the BOD. Ron raised the question that we cannot use money from the IMAC to fund the Worlds because the line could get blurred. Phil said once money starts coming in that he will not need any IMAC funds. Phil has already paid bills for the Worlds, which includes the website cost. Phil will look into setting up the account for the Worlds and see how much money is needed in the account before the Worlds. Phil doesn’t believe that there is a monthly service charge on the account.
Marketing IMAC – Mike Karnes
The BOD has been discussing marketing of IMAC a couple of months ago. Brad gave Mike the name of the company that AMA works with. Mike is going to contact this company and will get ideas from them on a survey. It has not been forgotten. Ron said that Spark has contacted him about a response on their marketing proposal. We will send them a letter with our decision.
National Judging School – Doug Pilcher
Everything is in place. Doug had to fill out extra paperwork for the extended insurance that the college required. The only thing he has left is getting arrival/departure times from everyone to get his transportation schedule finished. As of now, we are going to use one 15-person van. The cost of the van rental should be around $420. Many of Doug’s guys are willing to shuttle everyone. The flight field for the practical could possibly change to a different field that is closer to the college. The hotels are directly across from the campus. We have two classrooms available, if needed. Doug would like to have the RDs contact their participants for Friday portion that they are sending with arrival times and gates that way he can get all the transportation lined up.
Treasurer Report – Phil Vance
October Balance: Checking - $ 2,754.65
PayPal – $36,365.94
Total - $39,120.59.
Total income for the month was $1,506.19 and total expenses of $1,854.42.
November Balance: Checking – $ 1,416.66
PayPal - $37,472.41
Total - $38,889.07
Total income for the month was $1,156.46 and total expenses of $1,387.98
Balances reported up through November 30, 2016. Phil will be moving funds out of PayPal to cover expenses for the National Judging School. Phil and Mike are currently working on the 2017 IMAC budget. Once completed, Phil will send to the BOD for review. The allocation of the regional funds issued per members will be done on January 1. Phil will get the regional reports sent to the RDs this week. Mike reported that the RDs are still trying to get all their members to complete their profiles for the region can be allocated the money for that member. Doug recommended that city and state needs to be added as a “required field” in the profile process. Phil is going to ask Roy if we can get a paper registration form to be added to the website cause there are still members that are paying registration fees through the mail.
Regional Issues – All RDs
SC is currently working on 2017 judging schools. Mike asks that the outgoing RDs to please work with the incoming RDs. Doug will be working with the incoming RDs on Live Writer training and Event Manager. SE is going to have their CDs provide callers at their contests for advanced and unlimited unknowns. He has also asked for the CDs to take a few minutes to discuss a particular rule for the first few minutes of the pilots’ meeting. The SE currently has judging schools setup in North Carolina, Triple Tree, Clover Creek, and South Florida.
Brad mentioned that in a forum, the members are questioning the cost of the “old website” compared to the current website. He wanted to know if we should respond to this question, due to not being able to make a valid comparison because of the change in technology. He has researched the prior BOD forums and meeting minutes that he has found and has not found any information. Phil will send out an email of the costs of the “old website.” Phil mentioned that on the 2015 Financial Statement the monthly maintenance fees of $300/moth ($3,600/year) was included in the website costs. For 2016 financials, he is going to split this out separately to give a more accurate cost of the development of the website.
IMAC Forms – Mike Karnes
Mike wanted to make sure that the BOD approved the IMAC forms for the 2017 year. Many had already approved on the forum. The Contest Standards Guide and the CD Checklist had some changes, whereas the Regional Point Series and the Seniors Points had no changes. Mike has sent the webmaster the AMA rule book to be posted to the website, along with the updates to the scoring program for the 2017 sequences. A motion was made to approve these forms by Doug and seconded by Steve. Motion passed unanimously. Mike will send these forms to the webmaster to be posted to the IMAC website.
Meeting adjourned at 10:46 p.m. EST.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Pilcher
- Category: Club Business
Back in August of 2016 the Board of Directors under the power given by
the By-Laws to create a new region had moved forward in regards to
the "International Population of IMAC". For some time the International
members were voicing their request for action to be recognized as a
region. If we are to become truly an International Organization, then
now was the time to let them have a voice on the BOD. A motion was
made to create an International Region and would have an “RD” assigned
to said International Region and also have a seat on BOD. Motion was made
and passed unanimously.
For the past 3 months since the creation of the International Region, the BOD has looked at appointing someone to this first time RD position. To have a place on the BOD, and have a say on the future of the International Region and how to possibly expand it.
We felt this candidate had the passion for IMAC not only in his country, but was also willing to travel to other countries to share his knowledge and promote IMAC. He has also traveled several times to the USA to complete and learn what Scale Aerobatic is about.
The BOD is happy to appoint Adi Kochav to be the first International Regional Director.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Pilcher
- Category: Club Business
Present: Mike Karnes, Charles Youngblood, Samantha McKinney, Doug Pilcher, Brad Davy, Michael Verzywelt, Steve Sides, Ron Graham, and Rusty Fried
Absent: Phil Vance
Guests: Gil R. Major, Jeff Marsuchek, Clark Hymas
Meeting began at 9:07 p.m. EST.
2018 World Championships – Mike Karnes
Brad asked to have this special meeting at the last BOD meeting just to discuss the 2018 World Championships. Wayne Matthews has pulled out of almost everything, including the 2018 World Championships. Mike feels that we cannot cancel the Worlds. We need to get everything in order and start with all the volunteers and workers to see if they are willing to come back on board to do their job. Every country that comes must send one judge, but we also must make sure the judges available. We must review the sponsorship list from 2014.
Doug and Steve agree that we need to go ahead with the Worlds. Doug mentioned it should not be a “if we can do as well as 2014, but that we must improve on 2014 and Wayne’s success.” Wayne has sent the BOD all of his files from 2014 and what he had started for 2018. Wayne had bounced many of his ideas off of Mike and Mike knows exactly what Wayne was up against. Mike has mentioned that he will need as much help as possible, especially with the Worlds planning. This will take a lot of delegating to get all the jobs done. Steve was wondering if Wayne would help with some of the contacts. We do know the 2014 Worlds that was a huge success, so the success of the first Worlds needs to be mentioned to all the sponsors.
The Worlds website information has been emailed to Mike and Gil. It is currently all set up; the administrative controls have been given to Mike and Gil. What needs to be done is to take everyone’s ideas and implement them. Wayne has sent Mike the magazine, which Mike helped him create.
Michael believes that we should go ahead and create subcommittees to start putting all the different areas in place.
Canada is putting together a smaller team then before; currently 18. We have several other countries that have showed interest and will be sending a team. Team invitations have not been sent yet. We do not have the invitations updated for 2018. Mike has not seen a final copy of the rules thus far to put before the BOD for review. Steve offered to contact volunteers to see who is willing to come back and do what they done in 2014. Once this is figured out, we can fill begin to fill in the positions that are needed.. For judges, we need to look at all the United States judges first, to make sure that they are not interested in trying and make the USA competitive team.
Gil wanted everyone to remember that the BOD are looking at IMAC International and we are also the IMAC USA BOD currently. We don’t control how each country picks their teams.
We currently don’t have a nominee for an International Regional Director and Liason. Wayne has not given Mike any information regarding this. Gil has some contacts in South America and the Middle East that he can reach out to. They cannot leave within the United States or Canada. Ron wanted to know if the International RD would have similar powers, such as paying them to come to the National Judging School. Currently, the International region does not have any regional funds. Gil mentioned that we are going to have to get policy going for this.
Steve will contact all the volunteers and judges. Mike’s biggest concern right now is the sponsors; making sure that we have the revenue. There were actually only 30 sponsors that donated prizes of cash. It was estimated around $35,000 for 2014 Worlds was raised. Ron thinks that we should put more emphasis on sponsorship. It will probably take a year to get a commitment from them. Once they are committed, there must be a follow up.
Everything was shipped to the AMA; stored in the farmhouse; and everything was waiting on the event staff. Most vendors have set or are setting their budgets for 2017 and will influence their 2018 budgets.
Jeff volunteered to help Rusty who volunteered with contacting the sponsors. Steve mentioned we could also divide up the list between the BOD members. Gil mentioned that we do not need to limit ourselves to just R/C vendors. A presenting sponsor level was not available in the 2014 sponsorship levels. Mike said that he can make the changes on the sponsorship brochures and we can start getting them out to vendors. Rusty believes we should do one-on-one contact with the vendors that we know, instead of mailing them the brochure.
Charles wondered about r/c clubs that support IMAC. We could have a listing of clubs that donated to support the Worlds. The website had a donate button, but not for sure how much money was donated in that way. We could list them in the magazine as “Sponsoring AMA clubs” by state. We could include points of contact, etc. with the information.
AMA gave us all the tents without charge; took care of all the planes that got shipped to them. They took care of golf carts and radios. We are hoping to get Curtis Cozier back as Event Director.
We get one free 1/4 page ad a year in Model Aviation. Steve mentioned about the gentleman that writes IMAC articles to advertise about the Worlds. Mike will contact him to see what can be done. This article is only done every other month. We could also include a link back to the website. Doug also thinks a link from the IMAC Website to the Worlds Website needs to be on the main menu bar of mini-iac.org and not in the photo show slide pictures.
Jeff mentioned to talk with Flying Giants to see if we can get a banner ad that links right to the Worlds website. Steve mentioned about a Facebook page. Curtis has started a Facebook page for the Worlds. Doug says there is an World’s IMAC 2018 Facebook page. Gil mentioned that we need to figure out who has admin rights on the page, which they believe is Curtis. Jeff will check with Curtis to see if he still wants to run it, or if he would like to add some additional admins to help with the page.
Gil wondered if anyone had looked at the budget that Wayne had started. Mike will send the master lists to Jeff, Clark, and Gil. Steve mentioned that we need to establish deadlines to have things accomplished. Steve said that he would try to get everyone talked to and get back to the BOD as quickly as possible.
Charles said that we need to consider possibly getting a major TV station to cover the event. Gil also mentioned Red Bull. Gil mentioned possibly going outside the R/C industry to sponsor the event.
Mike will talk with Roy and get a forum setup for volunteers, workers, and BOD to discuss the 2018 Worlds.
Meeting adjourned 10:06 p.m. EST.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Pilcher
- Category: Club Business
Present:
Mike Karnes, Charles Youngblood, Samantha McKinney, Phil Vance, Brad Davy, Steve Sides, Ron Graham, Doug Pilcher, Michael Verzywelt, and Rusty Fried
Guests:
Pollyann Falk, Ann Marie Holder, and Gayle Ireland with Spark Strategic Ideas
Meeting began 9:01 p.m. EST
Marketing Strategies – Ron Graham and Pollyanna Falk
Ron Graham has spoken with Pollyanna Falk with Spark Strategic Ideas on what we can do to address the membership drop and contest participation levels. Mrs. Falk is with Spark Strategic Ideas. Ann Marie Holder, CEO of
Spark Strategic Ideas, and Gayle Ireland, Research Partner, helped present the proposal to the BOD.
Spark Strategic Ideas is a full service agency in Charlotte, North Carolina. They research who the organization really is, their strengths and weaknesses, and goals for the future. Once all this information is collected, they can then coordinate a plan that helps the organization. The IMAC organization has different perspectives from the BOD, members, former and prospective members. We must first understand the environment. By understanding all of this, it helps the organization grow. If the IMAC organization asks why, the information received may be just what they want to hear, but a third-party would receive real responses. Spark has worked with several non-for-profit organizations with their marketing strategies.
Mrs. Falk presented the proposal to the BOD. With the membership drop, the problem is that it cannot be pinpointed to just a few reasons because there are multiple. Spark is recommending to do the research to see what the main problem is and then come up with a solution to fix it. They will be conducting a survey with three groups, current, former, and prospective members. Each contact will have a 10-12 minute survey. Currently, there are 5,000-6,000 emails available to reach out to for the survey. Spark’s goal is to receive 300 responses. They will follow up with contacts until they reach 300. Spark will manage all phases of the data collection process. They also recommend to include an incentive for filling out the survey, one grand prize of a $250 VISA gift card, and 2 one-year IMAC memberships. Everyone who fills out the survey will be included in the drawing for these prizes.
Questions that Sparks recommend include for current members but are not limited to: why are you participating; reasons for joining; why are you continually renewing your membership; any challenges, changes, or improvements; perceptions; or competitive options or alternatives. Questions for past members but are not limited to: reasons for joining and leaving; any challenges, changes or improvements; perceptions; and competitive options or alternatives. Questions for prospective members but are not limited to: how did you hear about IMAC; level of interest; reasons for interest; motivators or barriers to join; expectation for membership; perceptions; and competitive options or alternatives.
The BOD will receive a detailed written report to see what Spark has learned from the survey. This will be a two-phase, 7 week process. The proposal submitted is $9,500 and $350-400 for incentives.
Gayle, research partner with Spark, would like to emphasize the importance in having a third-party involved. This is important to past and prospective members that aren’t able to access the website. This insures people the anonymity and real honest answers. The question arises if we are delivering the correct information to the correct audience.
Ron says that he sees this as a return on investment. What will the survey include, multiple-choice, open-ended, or both? Yes, some of them will be lists that can rate, rank, or select. There will be options to enter answers to questions or their own comments. Questions that are answered with “other” are taken very seriously. This will be an unbiased survey and have the option to put in their own responses when needed.
Brad wanted to know Spark’s experience and id they have worked with another organization that has the same structure of IMAC, such as geographical issues, and was it successful. Gayle says geography is no longer an issue due to modern technology. If there are geographical issues, their survey is built to address and see what these issues are in different regions. One case study in the real estate market. They had offerings to buy in a community. One offering was not receiving any interest. There offering wasn’t appealing to the right audience. The survey identified the correct audience and then changed their offering and sold out the community. It was extremely successful.
The BOD will review and get back to Mrs. Falk. The BOD thanked Gayle, Ann Marie, and Pollyanna for their proposal, taking an interest, and accommodating their time for the meeting.
Samantha forwarded Spark’s proposal to the entire BOD. Mike suggests that the entire BOD review the proposal, gather their thoughts, and any ideas that they have. Currently, the cost of the survey is 40% of our membership income. Ron recommends that we get other bids submitted for a marketing strategy. Brad has mentioned it to his daughter to see if her company is interested to submit a proposal within the next couple of weeks. Brad agrees that we should have the information gathered by an unbiased, third-party. This proposal is only gathering information; it is not providing the solution. Ron believes that this would be an investment for IMAC.
Website Issues – Charles Youngblood
Charles brought up that he thinks the website is not working and functioning like it should. Many on the BOD have not had any issues. Brad has tried to duplicate some of the problems and the only way he can is if he uses the .com for the old website. Brad and Doug say they both use Internet Explorer. Ron has also received a lot of questions and issues about the website. Some members who are still having problems registering for the website need to email Samantha and she will forward it on to be taken care of. Membership issues need to be forwarded to Phil. Rusty says that the older generations are having the most problem with the website. Rusty gave an example of many couldn’t find the forums because the name was changed to “The Hanger.” Doug has an outside forum for the website navigation question and answer. Steve gets questions about why the membership list is no longer available, forums are hard to use, or about the new features compared to the old website. Many members would like to see the member search back on the new website. The member lookup is not available because of all the information of each member that is connected to their profile. It is a huge opportunity for information to get out to marketers. When you click on a message posted from a member, click on the name and then user profile. There is a “pm” button where you can send that member an email. We are also supposed to be using our names for our profile, instead of an alias. Ron says that he would like to see the articles that are written, such as on the NC page, to be tagged into a forum for all members to view. Currently, they can only be view on NC regional page.
Charles also brought up the issue of people logged into the website using an alias. He believes a previous board voted years ago and members were told that their login would be changed to their correct name.
2017 Sequences – Mike Karnes
The Unlimited sequence is still being worked on. Mike has posted the Basic, Sportsman, Intermediate, and Advanced, including the alternates, for the BOD to review and vote. These need to be reviewed as soon as possible for they can be posted to the website for the members. Unlimited will hopefully be posted within the next week or two.
2017 BOD Elections – Mike Karnes
Right now, the only contested race is the SE and SW regional directors. Please get a bio written up and sent to Roy to be posted.
Flying Giants Post – Mike Karnes
Many of the BOD has read the forums on the Flying Giants website on the membership drop. There is also a poll on the membership drop. Many ideas have been posted on the membership drop such as, not scale enough, limiting plane size, inconsistent judging, contests too far away, etc. The BOD reviewed the poll based on the results as of September 19.
2017 National Judging School – Doug Pilcher
The hotels are narrowed down to two options. One is across from the school itself. Doug’s wife is trying to get the best deal between the two hotels. She is trying to get them to include breakfast and airport transportation for pickup and drop off. There is no room guarantee and you can cancel within 24 hours without no penalty. As of now, we are not ready to start booking rooms. Doug will put the hotels on each region’s page with a link. Doug has several vehicles available if the 15- passenger vans do not work out. The companies do not want to commit to a price this far in advance. Phil is going to send the BOD a report of a complete run down of expenses from the 2015 National Judging School. Each region can send 2 members, up to $1,400 per region at IMAC’s expense. Any additional will come out of the region’s fund. Mike is also going to get a current list of our National Judging Instructors to send to the RDs.
Treasurer’s Report – Phil Vance
Phil emailed the regional funds report to the RDs. We have received our check for the participation at the NATS. We also received funds for the Horizon Hobby Airplane Auction by Charles Lewis. Phil will get the BOD a report for the NATS, when he sends the one for the Judging School. The current balance as of September 19:
Checking |
$ 5,505.95 |
PayPal |
$33,360.77 |
Total Cash |
$38,866.72 |
The NATS expense has went down since we use contestant judging and the McCullough Center for the banquet. We also will be having the judging school and possibly a marketing cost as expenses within the next year. The marketing costs would be a significant expense. The National Judging School will cost between $8,000-10,000.
2018 IMAC World Championships – Mike Karnes
The BOD is aware that Wayne Matthews has pulled out of the World Championships, International Liaison, and all the committees. Wayne has emailed all the documentation that he has started to all of the BOD and certain members. Doug believes that we should contact the 40 plus volunteers to see if they are still willing to help. If not, we need to start finding replacements. The BOD also discussed the financial sponsorships and donations received for the last Worlds. The last Worlds finished in the black, with around $6,000. No money came out of IMAC funds. It was the consensus of the BOD to review all the documentation that Wayne sent and to have a meeting around the first of October to only discuss the future of the 2018 Worlds.
Regional Issues
No regional issues to report.
Meeting adjourned 11:42 p.m. EST.
Addendum post meeting: Mike followed up with webmaster on Charles concern over use of aliases on the website. There was no record found nor did the webmaster recollect any such change of alias user names to proper names. However the BOD does ask/suggest that members do indeed update their entire profiles to include real names. This is not a change to an alias on forums but only in your user profile. At this point there is not a motion nor a vote passed to exclude aliases. This also provides consistency to the RPS system and ability of users and contact between users on the site.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Pilcher
- Category: Club Business
Attendees: Mike Karnes, Charles Youngblood, Samantha McKinney, Phil Vance, Rusty Fried, Doug Pilcher, Ron Graham, Steve Sides, and Brad Davy
Absent: Michael Verzywelt
Meeting began: 9:15 p.m. EST.
2016 Board Elections – Mike Karnes
Nominations for the 2016 Board will begin on September 1, 2016. Mike will post in the forums to the general membership that nominations will be open. Elections will be in December.
Forum Issue – Letter to RD – Ron Graham
One of our RDs received a letter from an anonymous IMAC member concerned about the membership drop and other issues in our organization. The BOD discussed this letter and took it under review.
Forum Issue – Membership drop – Mike Karnes
The BOD discussed the forum thread on the membership drop.The question was raised on what we have to offer new members. Many members have ideas, but not very many step up help. Brad raised the question if we were too wrapped up in the numbers because there are other factors involved. Ron completely disagreed. Many different ideas were discussed on why our membership is dropping: “cliques,” disposable income, plane size, website issues, judging issues, etc. It was under agreement that “cliques” are not the reason for the membership drop. Each pilot at contests make everyone feel welcome, and are more than willing to help each other and new pilots that are beginning IMAC. Brad feels that the issue is more with disposable income. Many pilots use their disposable income to fund this sport. When the disposable income drops, this sport is the first to be cut. Many of heard that a smaller plane couldn’t compare to a big airplane on how well they can compete. Many of the BOD members mentioned several instances where a pilot with a smaller plane is very competitive, but its not the plane, it’s the pilot.
Some RDs mentioned that some new members mentioned that the website is too much of a hassle for them, especially when trying to register for contests and the forums. Some of the older members are not as familiar with computers and it is harder for them to navigate the new website.
Another issue mentioned for the membership drop was favoritism being played with the judges, or the judges not being experienced enough to judge certain classes. Some CDs put judges in the chair that don’t know how to judge or have a fellow pilot flying in that particular class. Many of this is due to the numbers that attend the contests. This leads to subconscious bios. The South Central region does not normally have the CD create the judging matrix. Most of the time it is the RD or the ARD’s that create the matrix. Most of the time the RD and 2 or more ARDs are at their contests. It was mentioned to have the names of judge one and two for each round be submitted with the scoring. South West region has put experienced scribes with unexperienced judges to give them someone to discuss judging with.
Mike mentioned that we could get a testing software for the judges, but it has a cost with it.
Ron mentioned that we need to have some individual classes for the CDs to help them become better prepared to host a contest. There are some CDs that have attended judging schools and cannot run a contest. IMAC does not currently qualify the CDs, AMA does. IMAC has never had qualifications for CD. The closest thing we have is the Contest Standards Guide. The CDs provided the field and the weekend, and there are several members that are willing to help them run the contest.
Phil presented the membership numbers from the following years: 2007 – 845; 2008 – 906; 2009 – 1,127; 2012 – 983; 2014 – 899; and 2016 – 778. Many BOD members pointed out the rise in members in certain years, particularly the year of the World Championship qualifying year.
Forum Issue – Limiting aircraft size in lower classes – Mike Karnes
An issue has been raised that we need to limit aircraft size in lower classes, due to the drop in membership and unfair competition. In both of these cases, it goes against IMAC. The Basic class can fly what they want. It was suggested to keep points and acknowledge the pilots flying with smaller plane. This would create more to keep with up for the CD and the scorekeepers. Several of the BOD agrees that the problem isn’t the equipment. The BOD members named off several pilots that won several competitions in their classes with smaller planes. The pilot choses what he/she wants to fly. This isn’t the overriding problem.
Forum Issue – Use of gyros in lower classes – Mike Karnes
Gyros were mentioned in forums as a possible advantage to lower class pilots. He wanted to the RDs to let the CDs know to look for this type of equipment as it is not allowed. Currently, there is no BOD support for gyros being used in the lower classes.
Forum Issue – Advertising loss – Mike Karnes
Mike informed the BOD that we lost Hobbico as one of our advertisers due to not enough hits on the website. We currently use the advertising income to pay the monthly maintenance fees on the new website.
Forum Issue – International Region – Mike Karnes
The International members are wanting their own regional page on the website and RPS listing. The only thing that the International community receives from IMAC is the knowns and unknowns. They would like to be able to post their contests and a place to post their scores for their members can view. A motion was made to create an International region on the website for these contests can be posted and scores can be viewed and would have an “RD” assigned to the said International Region and also have a seat on BOD. Motion passed unanimously.
Electric Request for Action (RFA) – Mike Karnes
An RFA (request for action) was sent to the BOD for allowing electric aircrafts to fly a sequence, land and change batteries, and then proceed to the end of the line to finish their round. Currently, this RFA is actually an RCP and the BOD will forward to the Rules Committee for review for the next Rules Change Cycle. The BOD agreed that as of now, it will be left to the CD’s discretion at each event whether to fly all single sequences or the normal 2 sequences per round.
Marketing IMAC – Mike Karnes
A few BOD members mentioned that we don’t market IMAC very well. It was raised to hire an outside professional to help market IMAC. Mike gave an example of how the North Central region pilots schedule is to why we have trouble helping promote IMAC. The North Central contest schedule is nonstop from the first contest to regional finals. These pilots are going to every contest possible to get their points and compete. There is a contest almost every weekend. It is hard for some of the North Central pilots to balance work, family and IMAC. Currently, our line of communication with new members is contests and the website. With the website, a pilot can create a profile without being an actual member, but they cannot register for contests. Some members believes that our website is confusing and complicated. When registering, Phil must create and send the IMAC number; the computer doesn’t automatically generate it. Forums are not user-friendly. Many that are not familiar with a computer have a hard time finding the forums.
The question was raised if we could afford an outside professional to help promote IMAC. Brad and Ron has spoken to a couple of people who work for marketing companies. They said that we would need to contact their companies and ask them to submit a proposal. The companies would present a couple of proposals for the BOD could review. Ron asked the BOD to write the top 5 ideas that they think will promote IMAC and bring in new members. A motion was made by Ron to move forward on getting proposals from outside professionals on what we could do for marketing and advertising IMAC to help the membership drop, as well as putting a dollar amount to said marketing and seeing if viable to add to IMAC budget. Motion carried unanimously.
National Judging School – Doug Pilcher
The registration for the 2017 National Judging School is on the South Central Region page. Registration is for Saturday and Sunday only. The RDs will appoint who will attend on Fridays. As of right now, hotels will possibly be between $80-90. Doug informed the BOD that they are nice rooms. These hotels are close to the school and about 20-25 minutes away from the field. Doug has an unlimited pilot lined up to fly for practicals. The reimbursements for individuals is $700 per person, up to $1,400 per region.
Meeting adjourned at 11:49 p.m. EST.