WC publicity?

I just read a post on RC Universe stating that there were no signs at Muncie recognizing the CL World Champs. Was this indeed the case?

Most of the people within 1 mile know of the AMA site. Any further and they know nothing, not even directions. The hospital knows when the racers and CL guys are there tho, wonder why???
I did not go there this year so dont actually know of the current lack of signage
MM

I checked he local Muncie paper every day from the opening of the contest till Saturday and never saw any mention of the events.

I found this lack of advertising very interesting.

I attended the WC in Sebnitz in 2002. There were posters and banners, for the event, throughout the surrounding Kreis (county).

Noone in the city knew that such an event was taking place. There were no signs in the city or any mention in the local paper.

If this displeases you, I hope you will so inform our AMA President and your AMA District VP.

Jim (and other interested parties),

I am curious as to whether or not any of the media were notified that this WC was being held. Having seen the Cow Chip throwing contest and the WC Pancake race on National TV, I believe that on summer weekends, even the Big four networks are scrambling for something to present.

Back to my curiosity: Did anyone from AMA or PAMPA notify the media (local or national) that this event was being held? Inquiring minds want to know.

How well could the organisers have handled volume of uninitiated spectators?

I had wondered beforehand whether it was preferable to take this opportunity to promote the cause or to remain relatively anonymous for the sake of a smooth and unhindered event.

A.

Since I could not attend the WC or the Nats this year, I can only assume that the above is true.

I had mentioned to Bill Lee a year ago that since Europe made a big deal about the WC, there should be coordination with Muncie officials and newspapers and television about this. He had said that this was up to the AMA officials (unfortunately). He even had trouble convincing AMA that, unlike the RC world, the awards banquet is a big thing! So definitely blame the AMA for any lack of publicity & good will to the town of Muncie.

The last time I was at a Muncie Nats, I was shocked to know that not only was the town unaware of the Nationals, but most local people I talked to did not even know what went on at the AMA site... It is unbelievable that AMA is so inept at public relations... so don't be surprised if the CL World Championships didn't exist!

Sounds to me as if it's business as usual in the AMA. I have never seen such wooden insensitivity to promotion as the various pooh-bahs who are paid to run the place exhibit. A few years ago I visited Muncie with just this topic in mind and spoke with the executive director, and while I said my piece, I never got a hint that any listening was going on.

As I understand it, individual events' operators are responsible for their events' publicity. The national organization contributes nothing and impress me as actively avoiding anything that looks like work. It sure seems to me as if the national organization does nil to make news folks even aware that the hobby, and AMA, even exist. Then when an event does come 'round, it's a cold call to generate coverage.

During my conversation with said E.D., I suggested he take a little ride to Wisconsin late in July and look in on an organization of roughly the same national membership as the AMA, with a roughly similar dues structure. There be a few differences in how each group values publicity. I coulda' come off a flying saucer.

>I just read a post on RC Universe stating that there were no
>signs at Muncie recognizing the CL World Champs. Was this
>indeed the case?
>
>Jim

Jim,
Why does it matter if there were any signs or not? Are you hoping that somehow if there were signs of the contest, people would flock to the site and somehow get very excited about the sport and become active modelers? When your first saw two guys vigorously cleaning the ice in front of slowly moving oversize hockey puck during last winter olympics, did you think to yourself "Wow! Ice cleaning, now that's something I want to do!"?

The reality of the situation is that no level of advertising will attract enough people to our hobby. In the age of consumerism(is that a word?) few people are interested in creating. The only way we can increase our ranks is through education of the younger generaration.

Sorry if I sound upset about this but this is a sore topic for me. We(as in CL modelers) like to complain about lack of attention to our sport while doing nothing to grow it. There may be 10,000 adult CL modelers in the United states. How many of those 10,000 actively try to involve kids in building and flying control line models? I bet it's in single digits! But did you know that all three F2B pilots representing Russia, for example, teach kids to build and fly control line models? Not one but every one of them is a part-time educator doing it on their own time!

Until we can claim the same, we have no right to complain. Instead of asking what others can do for the sport, ask what can YOU do to grow it.

I myself was disappointed that the event got no coverage. I was dissapointed in myself for failing to get at least ONE kid interested in the sport.

P.S. I apologize to anyone who may have gotten offended by above message. I'm just venting my frustration about the state of our sport and hoping that there may be others who feel the same way.

I understand your point of view. This subject came up here a while back. At that time several of us voiced the opinion that this should be the perfect time to push for some media coverage. What better way to prove the credibility of what we do, than to let the public know that there is actually a World Championship every two years. This year it was here, and we missed our chance. Again.

Steven, you make some valid points. What effort is being made to grow CL, not only CL but all modeling, is being done at the local level. And much more could and should be done.

To establish my own bonafides to gripe about the AMA; over the years I have gotten a dozen or so stories about modeling published in local newspapers. The high point was a full-page photo spread on a Thermaleers indoor freeflight contest in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

I have three trainer airplanes. Over the last year about fifteen nonmodellers have flown them successfully. Last Sunday Gene Hempel and I, instead of our customary flying session, spent the afternoon at an assisted living facility helping a slightly autistic man learn to fly. Turns out he is a natural. He put up three smooth flights on one of my trainers and we got the engine on his Skybaby broken in enough that he will be able to fly it at our next session. Most of the people who flew my trainers will probably never become active modelers, but at least they have flown a CL airplane and had a positive experience. Couldn't hurt.

If you look at how national organizations for other leasuretime activities promote their sport, they do it with publicity about competitions. They do this even though most who are participants in the sport are "sport fliers". I believe that the AMA, as our national organization to promote model aviation, ought to do the same. To say it will be ineffective when it has not been tried is a baseless and defeatist opinion. I say the AMA should try it and, if it is ineffective, then we can admit that all the naysayers are right.

Jim has done way more than his fair share in promting c/l. From judging to teaching he has signed up and showed up. Would it have been to much trouble to at least put up a "welcome" sign at the entrance. Mike Krizan

I in NO way was trying to chastise Jim. I am sure he's an outstanding gentleman. His posting made me think and I posted my thoughts on the topic, that's all.

I agree with you Steve. I too have tried to get younger people to fly and have seen the need to get some simpler planes for them to get started on. I sell only 2 or 3 kits of these smaller simple building type kits a year and noticed that one of them flew in this years Nats and placed 3rd! I have also noticed that this forum pretty much covers only the expert stunt flyers and see rarely the coverage of the younger generations in this hobby. Why is that? If we all want to get young people to fly and learn the hobby, then we should be giving the same coverage to the novice and biginner flyers of this hobby and give them credit for their accomplishments as we do the experts. If the younger people could see their efforts are rewarded, then they might even pull others their age into the sport or hobby.

I think letting a kid hold onto a handle is a start which should be followed by the other major aspect: building! Until they build and fly their own model, chances for a kid sticking with it is 1 in a million.

Last year I approached my brother-in-law about that. His response was: "Let's setup an afterschool building class!". He has setup a successfull Rythmic Gymnastics school and would have loved to help me run the shop. He had a room for a workshop, means to advertise and fill the class.

The plan was to run 2 classes of 5 kids each(8-12 years of age). There would be one 2.5 hours building/learning class during the workweek and a 3 hour flying session on the weekend where both classes would meet. The means were there. The problem was the legal one. Liability insurance was prohibitively expensive.

Until I can figure out the legal aspect of it, this is just a pipe dream.

Getting all the kids AMA membership ($1 each) wouldn't cover it? Let us know if you get this solved - I'd be interested in the details.

According to AMA insurance documents, they only cover flying activities. Injuries received during building process are not covered.

>I just read a post on RC Universe stating that there were no
>signs at Muncie recognizing the CL World Champs. Was this
>indeed the case?
>
>Jim

I wrote AMA competitions, Steve Kaluf, about this and this is what he wrote back: "Hi Tom, actually we too were disapointed with what the local and state press did as well. We ran more than 75 radio spots, ads in the papers, and press releases/packs to all network TV and so on. However, it still seems that aeromodeling is just not big news even at this level in the US. Dave Brown and I have already talked about this and hope to work to try and figure out why this constantly happens. On a positive note Discovery Channel was here and shot for their Monster Nation program. Hopefully this will once again raise a level of awareness." Steve Kaluf, Technical Director

So, all of you that have denigrated AMA about this need to think of a way to make amends and then get out there and raise awareness as a lot of clubs do about CL aviation. Here in Northern VA, NVCL constantly is involved in community outreach with schools, churches, government and civic groups, local media and the National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy, at Dulles. We have put on two static and one flight demo at the Udvar-Hazy with more to follow. We have handed out hundreds of parent's guides and have zip, zero, nada to show for it. Most of our new membership comes from recycled Baby Boomers. We have done this to the detriment of the enjoyment of our flying.

So, AMA is not to blame, and I wish I knew the answer to state of affairs as they exist now.

I got a call last night from Mac Ryan, the Father of our local rep at the WC, Todd who flew both in Speed and in Racing. Mac told me a long story about how the TV people interviewed Todd and others. When I asked about signs etc he wasn't too sure, but noted there were few spectators at the sites, mostly other flyers.
When we twice held the Nats in the Tri-Cities WA I was still in the news business and spent hours setting up local coverage which was fairly inclusive and in depth. Result...few spectators. After I realized that only two members of a local RC club attended any events at all (nerly 80 members) I did some searching and found that the major reason nobody went to the Nats was the events were held during the week! With that there might be a good reason for lack of spectators.
Just a thought (no pun intended) but then I am not an expert.

Joe Just

Tom,

Many thanks for going the "horse's mouth" as it were. I am not a big fan of AMA but giving the "Devil his due", I am very pleased that the effort was made. It appears that AMA did make a concerted effort and spent quite a bit of time and resources to advertise the WCs. I applaud them for that effort. Don't really know what more they could have done.

It is sort of like the effort that a lot of us ol' F**ts put forth at local fields. Someone stops by, asks about planes and what we are doing. One can spend all the time, be most gracious, answer all the questions,let someone get on the handle, give them your phone number, offer to help if they want to pursue the hobby. I and many other people I'm acquainted with have done this many times over the years. Number of people I've got involved in the hobby over the past ten years? ONE! Number of people I've done this with? Don't keep a log but easily 100+.

I have no answer as to how to keep CL alive and well for the next generations. I do know that right now we are growing because of retirees and baby boomers. Obviously that won't carry the sport/hobby for the next 100 years. All I know to do is keep on making the knowledge available both on this forum and at the local field. You make the effort and that is all you can do. How it plays out is yet to be determined.

Edit: Corrected a "senior moment"

I did not see any signs on the streets or highways around Muncie advertising the Controline World Championships. There weren't even any signs by the front gate of the AMA.

Elwyn Aud has already said that there was no mention of it in the local newspaper. It seems like signs and newspaper advertisements would have helped the attendance.

Tom:
I would take issue that our AMA was not to blame....there are NO....ZERO...NADA signs on the highways or byways in Muncie pointing to the flying site, nor was the WC or Nats mentioned along any of the mile of road frontage that we own on the way to the site....

There was all sorts of coverage for the triathelon that was help last weekend....about 400 participants for a couple of days.....all skinny and probably not spenders.

I say shame on the AMA....and would tend to believe that Steve, while a terrific guy, isn't the guy that does the promo...he is Director of Competitions...............

Very poor.

See Ya

>Tom:
>I would take issue that our AMA was not to blame....there
>are NO....ZERO...NADA signs on the highways or byways in
>Muncie pointing to the flying site, nor was the WC or Nats
>mentioned along any of the mile of road frontage that we own
>on the way to the site....
>
>There was all sorts of coverage for the triathelon that was
>help last weekend....about 400 participants for a couple of
>days.....all skinny and probably not spenders.
>
>I say shame on the AMA....and would tend to believe that
>Steve, while a terrific guy, isn't the guy that does the
>promo...he is Director of Competitions...............
>
>Very poor.
>
>See Ya
>
>Peabody

So, he is the Director of Competitions. Does that make him any less knowledgeable about what AMA did to advertise the event? The answer to the rhetorical question is "No!" All of you that complain about the lack of signage are only complaining about form not substance. If you have a suggestion that could benefit the sport of model aviation, tell AMA. Complaining about it here is a waste of O2.

The public would actually BE more interested in the pancake Race and the Cow Pie toss than in the Control Line event.
Let's face it. It may be of mild interest to lots of people but the passion for this sport is only with the people who participate.
Here are two young new participants as of this past weekend. Both are nephews and both loved it. The orange trainer is a scratch built and the plane heading for the ground is a Magician (it missed).
I know at least one of these guys will be looping before the summer is over.

Hi folks, a view from afar if I may.

Publicity requires much more than issuing a press release and if a press release is used, it must be interesting.

My PR is always geared to a publication and customer focussed. I often fight with clients who want to be the hero in the PR that they pay for. I always make the product the hero and I tailor the intro to make the release relevant to each publication. Consequently, I expect to see 85% of my PR in print in a prominent position. There is a need to step outside the square.

Several years ago, there was a story in Stunt News about somebody in the US who put in the hard yards with a major regional newspaper and got a story published wheich I think was titled Ballet on Strings.

I, for one, would find a properly explained stunt contest involving the top pilots much more interesting than golf, tenpin bowling or snooker if, as I said, each manoeuver were fully explained, the errors, if any explained and the scores displayed on screen in real time.

Some of you guys are suitably eqqipped to make a short video. Why not try making your own video that could be shown to news and sports editors at local papers and TV stations. It might work.

As for developing new participants, in NSW, all junior high school students must do some manual arts/industrial technology. Boys and girls all have to do a project in wood, metal, plastic and textiles over two years. I have the principal at my son's high school interested in having building and flying a CL model as the woodwork and metalwork project. Build the model, break in the engine, make the tank and landing gear, fly. A local, a keen combat flyer, has agreed to show the kids how to cover with film so I am expecting some success with this. We will have to see.

Cheers, Geoff

It's a brand new school—only opened this year—so stepping outside the square is not a hihg priority this year. However, by the beginning of next year Justin will be flying his own models and able to demonstrate what we are about to his school peers so we are expecting some success

Geoff,

How are you addressing the liability insurance? Are you covered by school's insurance or did you have to make some kind of arrangement?

Good question Steven

We are covered by the school's insurance while it is an official school activity and we will fly on their playing field.

Outside of that, we will join those who want to fly regularly as juniors with the MAAA and they will be insured just like the rest of us. At this point, Oz is not as litigious as the US--not quite.

I saw the Discovery Channel people filming the WC. They were at stunt, and there were people taking pictures looking down at combat from a cherry picker.

We went to an out-of-the-way restaurant in Muncie. The place was pretty full, and everybody there was a toy airplane flyer. I don't know if the restaurant folks knew about the AMA or the contests.

They know us at the 12th Street Cafe. We have a reputation as big tippers. I recommend the fried mush there.

I always wondered about the "mush" sign up front...

If anyone manages to tape footage of the WC off the air, I'd be willing to pay for a copy of the video tape..

Geoff's post suggesting a video is a good thought. With the high quality of consumer camcorders and the ease of editing software many of us are making pretty decent hobby videos.

Has anyone submitted CL tapes to your local public access cable tv station? There's a series titled 'Scale Aircraft' that runs on many community cable channels in Oregon. It's done by a retired fellow who likes going to rc scale contests with his camcorder. He also throws in visits to aviation museums around the world. It's not network quality, but no one expects it to be. His show really raises the level of awareness of rc modeling with the viewing public.

Most community access stations will allow you to place programming on the cable tv system for free, and many hold classes in video production and editing. You can reserve a camcorder if you don't have your own if you use it to make programming for the channel. Here's a long list of community tv centers in the US. It takes a moment to load... http://world.std.com/~rghm/alpha.htm

I found a few articles about the WC. An airshow guide had it on their calendar too. The Travel Indiana Bulletin does have The AMA facility listed as one of the sites of interest in the state. Also the Muncie Indiana Visitors Bureau had the WC listed in their events section.
http://www.newslinkindiana.com/news/00000002597.html

http://www.wmdh.com/community/CommunityCalendar.asp?DATE=7/4/2004

http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/asgcal/usjul.htm

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/CNHItravelindiana3.pdf

http://www.munciecvb.org/calendar.asp