Resolutions to share our hobby
Money Matters by Keith Sessions, Chief Financial Officer
Happy New Year! I hope that the holidays brought you wonderful memories of family and friends. If a new radio or turbine found its way into your stocking, your year is off to a great start.
As with any new year, it is the time for resolutions. Most of these revolve around plans to be better at something that is a weakness of yours.
After reviewing the 2017 budget and our 2016 membership numbers, I have a resolution for us to work on. In 2016, we saw membership grow to an all-time high. There was a slight decrease in Senior members, which can be attributed to many factors such as the dues increase, easy conversion to Park Pilot membership, low interest rates and investment performance impacting discretionary spending, and an aging group of people.
The category that I feel we need to work on is Youth membership conversion. As you know, youth receive free AMA memberships. When they reach age 19, they qualify for full Adult membership. The conversion rate from Youth to Adult membership is not as high as one would hope.
I thought about this for a while and reflected on my own experiences. I started flying RC during the 1970s at the age of 8, with a lot of help from my dad. I was active throughout high school. When I got into college, I did not fly much RC. I was busy with school, work, a fraternity, and some full-scale flying.
My son has followed a similar path. He started flying at 10. He was active in RC throughout high school, competing in International Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) and even attended John and Tina Schroder’s IMAC Summer School. After graduating from high school, he went to college. He is a sophomore and maintains an academic scholarship, works, and is active with his church and fraternity. He loves to go to Joe Nall Week, but this is likely the only flying he gets to do all year.
Many young people follow a similar path. They turn 18, graduate from high school, and then are off to the military, a college education, trade school, their first job, or starting a first business. As their early adult years progress, they focus on career advancement, starting a family, and living the life of an adult. They also typically do not make much money and live paycheck to paycheck. Even if they worked during high school to pay for RC activities, they now have to pay rent and utilities. Model aviation gets put on the back burner until they can come back to it.
In my case, I started flying again after a promotion and move to a new city. Full-scale flying was too expensive, but model aviation helped to fill my love of flying. The importance of introducing our youth to model aviation is not lost.
I often tell people that at the age of 12, two of my favorite things were airplanes and motorcycles. They still are and will be for many years. I feel that we do a great job of attracting youth and getting them involved in model aviation. My question is how do we reconnect with the young adult who has left modeling in his or her 20s?
I wish I had a great answer for this, but I do not. My challenge to the 23 regular readers of my column is to bring this subject up at your next club meeting. I’m sure many great ideas will be shared.
Try to stay warm this winter. I look forward to seeing many new projects flying in the spring.
