AMA's Ultimate Aeronautics Video

I was wondering what the thoughts were of others that received this video.
For those of you that didn't, the AMA sent out a first installment in a video series for preview in hopes that you will give them $9 for it and say keep them coming. It has a couple of scenes from a jet rally and a couple from a scale event. One of the scales they covered was a Hangar 9 ARF. I'm sorry, but competing in scale with an ARF is just pathetic. There are also electrics and heli's interspersed with some VERY basic how-to's.
This seems like wasted effort and resources to me. Job justification maybe? Maybe I'm not the target audience. I won't hold my breath waiting to see if they include controline models in these videos.

Included as a free gift was the first coin in the AMA Collectors Series. "All coins showcase model aircraft in vivid detail, and are absolutely free with this library."
This is the cheesiest looking thing you could imagine. The vivid detail is some circular lines around the prop. It really fooled me. I thought the prop was spinning. Honestly, this thing looks like something out of a gum machine. Who's idea was this? Maybe this cheesy looking trinket is desirable to the type of people entering RC today. They even offer a display case with the next video, "to protect and display these valuable keepsakes." I want to hide mine out of embarrasment.
I hope this venture pays for itself. Whoever thought AMA would be reduced to.........

but wait! There's more. If you act now we'll include this whatever, absolutely free with your paid subscription. You pay shipping and handling, but keep the whatever as a free gift. Cancel at any time.

Oh, is that what I just threw away without opening? Hmmm...

Tools

I wrote them and asked them not to send more questioning their judgement in the whole program. I have belonged to AMA every year since 1949 however and have no plans to quit.
Jon Ramsden
<@_@>

Arian. You got it exactly right. You are NOT the target audience. But consider the 50,000 R/C flyers who eat that stuff up! A CD video costs very little to manufacture, so I'll bet the AMA is doing quite well with their little money-maker.

I would lke to see PAMPA put together a CD video that the AMA might consider distributing. A video disc costs less to manufacture than the postage to mail it! Such a disc might do some good for PAMPA ??

Floyd in OR

50,000 R/C flyers

Um, your under estimating by well over a factor of two!

Less, than 5% of the AMA is UC.

That's 50,000 in California! (just picked a number out of thin air) You can't go by AMA membership; too many R/C people quit after a year or two and they are still counted as members.. AMA license numbers are up in the hundreds of thousands, but who can say how many actually stick with it?

Floyd
AMA #796
SAM #188
LSF #020

20 years or so ago AMA new numbers were around 200,000 now the numbers are around 900,000. If they are issued sequentially that means roughly 30,000 new numbers per year. Best I can determine is that Model Aviation distribution (my measure of active membership) only grows by around 3,000 per year. Sounds like about a 10% retention rate.

When Don Lowe was president I asked him if any contact was done with the people who joined but didn't renew. The answer I got essentially boils down to they'd thought about it but hadn't done it. Don't know if the study has been done yet.