April 21 2018 Minutes

Meeting began at 8 a.m.

1. Opening Business

a.  In attendance: President Rich Hanson, Scottsdale AZ, Fishers IN; EVP Randy Cameron, Springfield MO; CFO Keith Sessions, Burlington KY; District I Andy Argenio, Smithfield RI; District II, Eric Williams, Schenectady NY; District III Mark Radcliff, St. Marys WV; District IV Jay Marsh, High Point NC; District V Bob Brogdon, Powder Springs GA; District VI Gary Himes, Kansas City MO; District VIII Lawrence Harville, Hurst, TX; District IX Jim Tiller, Custer SD; District X Lawrence Tougas, Fairfield CA; District XI Bryan Wood, Meridian ID District XI; Executive Director Dave Mathewson; Greg Principato, NAA, Washington, D.C.; Felix Gora, AMA Legal Counsel, Felix Gora, Rendigs, Fry, Kiely & Dennis.

Others in attendance: Rusty Kennedy, District IV AVP; Paul Frankum, AMA Foundation Board; Jim Rice, AMA Safety Committee; Paul Bretson, Harry A. Koch Co.; Chuck Davis, District II AVP; Gary Fitch, EVP Emeritus; Dan Bott, AMA Foundation; Dean Palermo, AMA Foundation. From AMA Headquarters: Chad Budreau, Government Affairs; Bill Pritchett, Education; Jeff Nance, Marketing; Ilona Maine, Safety and Member Benefits; Eric Bachman, Information Technology; Tony Stillman, Flying Site Assistance; Duane Hauser, Information Technology; Rob Kurek, Publications; Mandee Mikulski, AMA Foundation; Shawn Grubbs, Membership.

Additions to the agenda: Proposal to dedicate the 2018 Pattern Nats by Mark Radcliff. Proposal for an Aero News Network documentary and additional collaboration proposed by Dave Mathewson.

Additions to Final Flight list: Bill Carpenter, Wyoming; Don Madison, California

A moment of silence was observed.

2. Consent Agenda (Appendix II)

1. January 15: Mark Radcliff appointed as Nominating Committee chairman.
2. February 19: To allow a one-year exception to the LTMA-2.
3. March 16: Approve recommendations of the ED Search Committee.
4. March 20: To appoint Chad Budreau as the interim AMA Executive Director.
5. Approve the January 8, 2017, Executive Council Minutes.

Motion to approve. Approved by acclamation.

3. President’s Report (R. Hanson)

• Presented to Tim Jesky (VII), AMA Distinguished Service Award for his six years of service as District VII Vice President on the AMA Executive Council.
• He thanked the Government Affairs team of Chad Budreau, Tyler Dobbs, and Angie Martin for all of their hard work.
• He attended an NAA presentation in Washington, D.C.
• He will institute a standing EC call, once a month, on Thursday evenings for the purpose of sharing information with the council.

4. Executive Vice President's Report (R. Cameron)

• EVP attended AMA Expo East and West. He spoke with several vendors who were impressed with the plans for Expo West, including the new venue in Paloma CA, and date.
• Recently participated in a third- and fourth-grade Take Flight program.
• He discussed a Flying for Good program in which clubs could share activities in which they participated in hopes that other programs could get ideas for similar activities.

5. Chief Financial Officer's Report (K. Sessions)

• Conducted a financial review with the AMA Finance Committee.
• 2017 was a good year investment-wise for AMA. Interest rates are expected to increase in the coming year. Membership numbers were slightly down in 2017, however membership revenue was within 1.43% of budget.
• The economy is still strong, so he feels the decrease in membership numbers might be because of the 12-month membership cycle instituted roughly two years ago. Also a consideration is attrition because of “one and done” members and those who have passed.
• He cautioned about unbudgeted, approved expenses by the EC such as lobbyist costs in Washington, D.C.

6. Executive Director’s Report (D. Mathewson)

• AMA is still receiving funds from the Best Buy initiative.
• He suggested an increase in the AMA per diem rate. Discussion ensued including a graduated per diem based on location of travel. Change will affect EC members and AMA staff. The staff is required to submit all receipts including those that fall under the IRS floor for receipts. Rich commented that per diem allowances are there for expenses when traveling (gotta eat anyway), and any expenses submitted not part of per diem should be deducted from the fixed per diem allowance.
• Motion I: Motion made by G. Himes (District VI), and seconded by R. Cameron (EVP), to raise the per diem rate to $60, effective immediately.
  Motion passed: 11 yes, 2 no (Districts X and XI).
• Rob Kurek, Director of Publications, discussed the current advertising program. Ad revenue is down in print and digital media. He feels we have outgrown our current advertising company. The Publications department is currently going through a request for proposal (RFP) process with a May 4 deadline to consider a replacement company. Rob is also considering an in-house person to coordinate in-house needs, including Education and the AMA Foundation, possibly to supplement an outside agency.
• Rob and Dave discussed the digital studio and equipment and furnishings needed. The hope is to have it up and running by June 1. The studio is shared by others on staff when needed.
• Multirotor supplement to Model Aviation: The focus on new content rather than repurposed material. It is a one-time publication. Rob credited Matt Ruddick and Jay Smith with determining the content. He passed out a flyer for the publication. The digital version will be free. Print version will be $1-$2.
• A. Argenio (I) asked about a former discussion concerning redesigning Park Pilot to include more multirotor content. Per Rich, the matter should be referred to the Publications Committee.
• Motion II: Motion by A. Argenio (District I), seconded by J. Marsh (District IV), to direct the Publications Committee to look into the possibilities of including drone content in the current Park Pilot publication.
  Motion passed by acclamation.
• Dave discussed Abila and the new association management system. It is on schedule. Training is being planned.
• There was a surplus in the 2017 operating budget. Dave thanked K. Sessions for all of his work and thanked staff for remaining on budget. He expects a significant net revenue for 2017 and noted that non-dues revenue is up 21% over expectations.
• Dave introduced Duane Hauser as the new Information Technology director. Duane spoke of his experience with bringing new computer systems to companies. He has good expectations for AMA’s new system. He and his staff are being trained to make modifications to the new program to keep it current.
• Dave had a parting gift to EC members. He feels AMA does well in informing new VPs and AVPs of what we do, but he believes we can do more to explain what is expected of a board member of a nonprofit organization such as AMA. He passed out a book, Board Fundamentals, which outlines roles and responsibilities of a board member.
• Rich thanked Dave for his service and Dave received a standing ovation from the board and guests.
• Chairman of the AMA Foundation, Dan Bott, introduced the new Foundation board members Paul Frankum (GA), Rusty Kennedy (VA), Terry Fleenor, and Dean Palermo (FL). Dan is glad of the support. In the past year, the foundation has made great progress. Donations have increased tremendously, mostly through the small-donor market and the work of Mandee Mikulski. Current plans are to pursue the large-donor market and increase the endowment. Dan asked that AMA complete its Long-Term Strategic Plan so that the Foundation can move forward. Discussed naming rights possibilities (such as name the lake in front of the building) to raise funds.
• Mandee Mikulski thanked the new Foundation board members, and thanked the EC for its support and sharing the Foundation’s mission on social media and at events. She stated that every penny that comes in counts. If we continue to let donors know that, they will continue to donate. She discussed a fly-in to be held in September at AMA Headquarters/the International Aeromodeling Center. She attended an international fundraising conference and learned a lot.
• The naming rights issue will be added to AMA site plan project headed by Jim Tiller (IX).

7. NAA Report (Greg Principato)

• Greg spoke of conferences and events that he attended. On May 16 will be NAA’s Memorable Records recognition ceremony, honoring the world and national record attempts tracked by the NAA.
• He had a meeting with T. Jesky (VII) concerning FAI.
• The World Games will be held in 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama. The 30 events that will be contested are those that are not included in the Olympics, but are international contests. Air sports will include swooping and drone racing.
• In 202, the World Air Games will be held in Turkey. There are international concerns with the location, primarily safety concerns.
• Changes at NAA include outsourcing accountant and staff financial work to an association accounting firm. The NAA now has staff of three.
• FAI Sporting Licenses: The NAA offers free FAI licenses to those AMA members 18 and under. The organization has created a similar program with AMA youth because AMA is the largest sport organization within NAA and currently the only one that sells FAI sporting licenses. Sporting licenses will soon be available electronically through the NAA website. Greg suggested discussing NAA being the only one to sell the licenses because it would be more efficient.

8. Government Relations (Chad Budreau)

• Chad Budreau spoke of the government relations initiative. He mentioned the importance of a “social piggybank,” or community goodwill. New developments include creating an amendment in South Carolina that keeps Section 336 in place with some small changes. The 5-mile airport radius has become 3 miles. He discussed automated remote ID. The amendment tasks the FAA with identifying what a community-based organization (CBO) actually is. Chad feels that AMA is in a good place concerning 336, but large commercial entities (such as Amazon and Google) do still oppose it.
• With most recent request to members to contact lawmakers, roughly 18,000 have done so (within the first week), sending approximately three letters per person. He mentioned a number of organizations that support AMA’s position. After both the House and Senate pass their respective bills, the two will have to get together in conference committee and hammer out a single bill to be signed into law.
• G. Principato (NAA) spoke of his experience as a lobbyist and with getting bills signed into law. He feels AMA is doing a good job.

9. Committee Reports

10. New Business

Motion XI: Motion by Randy Cameron (EVP), seconded by G. Himes (District VI), that the Academy of Model Aeronautics move forward with the development of the Affiliate Partnership Organization concept, which allows the creation of contractual agreements with organizations external to AMA. Any agreement with an Affiliate Partner requires Executive Council approval before the contract is executed.
Motion passed unanimously.

Mark Radcliff (District III) read a brief history/obituary of Ron Van Putte.

Motion XII: Moved by M. Radcliff (III), seconded by Tim Jesky (District VII), to dedicate the 2018 Pattern Nationals to Ron Van Putte.
Motion passed by acclamation.

Dave Mathewson (ED) spoke of a proposal by Jim Campbell of Aero News Network, to make a documentary about AMA. Rich foresees it as possibly a valuable tool for AMA. Jim is a strong supporter of AMA and has given us a lot of press in Aero News Network and The AMA Drone Report. AMA would need to supply some video. AMA will be able to tailor it to the end purpose. Expected timeline is approximately 3 months. In addition to the documentary, Campbell wants to create an aggregate service, working with AMA staff, to be able to put out an almost instant message/video. According to Dave, AMA will have 100% control of the project. Dave expects the funding to come from the outreach program funds. Much of the video will be from what we have on file (most filmed by Jay Gerber) and new video.

Rich questioned the current status of the government relations work and its current costs. There was much discussion about the quality of Campbell’s work and his support of AMA. The documentary project will be AMA’s intellectual property.

Motion XIII: Moved by R. Cameron (EVP), and seconded by E. Williams (District II), to give the ED the authority to negotiate with Aero News Network concerning the prospective documentary project to be funded out of the Government Relations line item.
Motion passed (11 yes, one no VIII).

11. Awards

Next Meeting

July 14, 2018 Muncie IN

The meeting adjourned at 4:45 p.m.