SANCTIONED EVENT CHANGES MADE


In The Air Membership News & Updates from AMA As seen in the FEBRUARY 2020 issue of Model Aviation.
In The Air Membership News & Updates from AMA

IF YOU regularly check the "Sanctioned Event Calendar" in the back of this magazine each month, you might notice that the event listings are now shorter than in the past. Starting with this issue, all printed Sanctioned Event listings will be pared down to only dates, title, location, and contact information.

AMA and Model Aviation will continue to promote events in print, but we are expanding our efforts to satisfy a growing demand for digital and online access.

Before the latest magazine redesign, we conducted magazine readership surveys. Readers were asked what content they read or wanted, and the Sanctioned Event Calendar was rated in the bottom half or third. That didn’t reflect a lack of interest in events! Instead, members wanted more robust features online and in our digital event calendar, which can be found at www.modelaircraft.org/event-calendar.

Although the online event calendar had a rocky launch, it has tremendously improved. We were on pace to receive 250,000 views in 2019, validating that members are demanding more digital access to events. We are also beginning to promote more events through email, social media, and in our videos, as requested by members.

In addition to modifying the length of the event listings, the frequency and prices have changed. Events will be published in two issues of the magazine instead of three. The cost for supplemental black and white event advertisements has increased to $50. An optional full-color ad can be purchased for $75.

AMA officials have also decided to increase the cost to sanction an event to $35 and the cost to publish nonflying events to $20. This decision was partially driven by increased printing and shipping costs since we last raised the sanctioning rates more than a decade ago. Additional expenses include editorial fees, staff resources to edit and design the magazine calendar, and a sanctions team to process each sanction.

The $10 rate increase and print changes will not offset these losses, but AMA’s mission is to promote the hobby and events, so we will continue to absorb many of these expenses. We want to invest in you and your events—the core of our hobby! Additional information about supplemental ads can be found at www.modelair-craft.org/events/competition-resources/supplemental-ad-information.

To sanction an event online, contest directors and event managers can visit www.modelaircraft.org/events/sanctions and log in. If you have questions, contact AMA’s Competition department at (800) 435-9262, ext. 252.

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1 comments

AMA is on target to price itself out of my life soon. As AMA goes, so go the "pilot fees" and "landing fees" to participate in events, fees which I gladly handed over to support the association and the hobby. Frankly, I'm losing interest.

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