President's Perspective
"He was one of the heroes of my youth."
Challenges of the Presidency
One thing about being the president of the AMA is that it makes some demands that cannot be met. It is common to be "required" in two places at once, and not that uncommon to need to be in three! And you can never get as much done as you wish you could.
Sometimes a really great idea comes along, and I would enjoy being able to focus on pursuing it, but setting the other things aside is impossible. It really doesn't matter if it is an idea that the president comes up with, or if it is an idea that comes from a member, a Special Interest Group, or any other source.
I imagine that the presidents of most organizations or companies have the same problem. In most situations, a typical member would think that the president would simply assign a staff member to develop the idea, investigate, plan, or whatever it takes to set it in motion.
That staff member may even come to the conclusion that the idea is impractical, or has unforeseen pitfalls. When he or she brings the results of his or her work back to the president, a decision would be made on how to proceed. If it was a major project, the president might take it to the board for consultation or approval before assigning someone to implement the plan.
AMA's Structure
The structure of AMA is quite different from most organizations or companies. The difference is not so much in the specific structure as it is in the titles associated with that structure.
In most associations that employ a professional staff, the president is a full-time employee. He or she is hired by, or under contract to, the Board of Directors, which is headed by a chairman of the board. While there are a few situations where the president is also the chairman of the board, those situations are not all that common, and the duties of that person in each role are separate.
The president is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in nearly all cases. This is not the case at AMA. We have an elected Executive Council that acts in the legal capacity as the board of directors. We have an elected president, who acts in the legal capacity as the chairman of the board. We have a hired executive director who can't be the CEO because she is not an "officer" of the corporation! The "officers" are the voting members of the Executive Council.
When a document needs to be signed by the CEO, who signs it? Our structure works well in terms of our ability to interface with the membership, but it does become clumsy when it comes to interfacing with the rest of the business and "legal" world. It is amazing how often I am required to sign "routine" documents used in the course of AMA doing business.
Administrative Oddities
An example is that I have to sign the application for a temporary business license to allow us to sell supply and service items at the AMA/IMS Convention in California. (I really don't know why at this one, and not all of the other shows. It has nothing to do with our ownership of the show.) It is not at all unusual for the executive director and me to discuss who should sign what documents.
The worst part is when they require me to include my legal address. This does not sound like a big deal, but guess where future notices come!
I also had to sign a matching-donation form from a company that had an employee submit his donation to the AMA to his employer for a matching donation. Don't get me wrong, I love to see this type of thing. Having to sign all of the paperwork for a $20 transaction just seems funny to me! Ah yes, the trials of being "Da Boss!"
Considering Change
Should we consider some changes in the structure of the AMA? I think we should, even if all it does is make the interface with the "real world" easier. I am sure that whatever we do would be viewed by some as reducing the "power" of the membership, but in many ways it might empower them. It might give us a better chance to get going on some of those good ideas.
In Memoriam
I have one of those duties that I hate to do. AMA lost two more of its greatest supporters this month.
Keith Storey, AMA #9, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Keith was a very young man when he was the AMA president from 1953 to 1956. He was one of the heroes of my youth, as he is generally credited with creating the Control Line Racing events. Keith was the prime mover for the Control Line facility included in the original Disneyland theme park. I got to know Keith well since I became president, and his advice, wisdom, and his ability to argue will be sorely missed. Keith occupied a unique position in the history of AMA.
The very next day I received word that Wally Simmers was killed in an automobile accident. Wally was the "silent majority" of Midwest Products, K&S Engineering, and a few other companies in our industry, and was a silent benefactor to the AMA.
Wally never wanted to be recognized for his contributions to the AMA, but those contributions were very large indeed. Wally's love for rubber-powered models will live on with those famous models he designed, the Gollywock and the Jabberwock.
I am sure that I express the sentiments of all modelers in offering condolences to their families.
Dave Brown AMA president dbrown@dbproducts.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
