Welcome to the Zoom meetings where the district VP and AVPs are available to discuss and answer questions from members about the status of FAA Regulations, AMA Club Programs, Remote-ID, FRIA Sites, Altitude Limits, TRUST, Pilot Registration, Membership, Events, R/C Products, Building or Flying, UAS STEAM Education, Community Outreach/Advocacy, or anything about Aeromodelling.

We welcome club/member input in advance of meetings on any subjects of interest members might like to have discussed. On occasion, Guest Speakers will be invited and announced in the invitations.

Invitations to the ZOOM  Invitations will be emailed to club contacts/ officers or appropriate recipients a week before the meetings.  Agenda items and any reference materials will be included as needed. Within a short time after a meeting, a recap/ takeaways including: PowerPoint and/or PDF documents, Zoom video recordings of the meetings will be posted on this webpage. We welcome all members and guests to attend the meetings to enhance the discussions.  After the meetings we encourage members to share this page link with their club members to review the meeting content and videos with those who could not attend. 

Continue to join us as we try our best to provide you all with accurate and interesting information and news about YOUR hobby in YOUR district and beyond! 

District 1 Zoom Meeting Video Playlist

* Please scroll down this page for all previous meeting "takeaways" and resources including videos of the meetings. 

"as needed" zoom meeting

District 1, Mar 27, 2025 Club Officer, AVP, LM, ADOT

AMA Membership Growth and Retention Meeting

On March 27, 2025 District 1 held it's second in a series of zoom meeting of the new year.  Continuing and expanding on the theme of positive change and "One Community".  This is a series of club visits (live and virtual/ zoom) we have been conducting since Dec 2024.  We are proud to report another good turnout.  Attendance:invitation ratios were 71% of invited club officers/ representatives, Our District VP, Andy Argenio and 50% of invited AVPs/ District 1 Officers, and another special guest- AMA Advertising and Partnership Director, Leader Member and Life Member, Erin Dobbs! (Yes, wife of Tyler Dobbs, Interim AMA Exec Director and our special guest from the last meeting.

Huge thanks to all participants for sharing their wonderful insights.  We collect notes and build on this feedback with every subsequent meeting engagement, always learning something new.  This meeting was no exception.  We highly encourage participation in each meeting for this reason, sharing your concerns and views helps us and the entire organization and hobby.

I want to thank Erin for her participation and supplying some meeting notes.

After a brief introduction and roll call of clubs represented Daren outlined the purpose and flexible agenda of the meeting: to promote the philosophy of "one community", that we are ALL AMA as a member driven, FAA authorized (the first and largest) CBO- Community Based Organization, and to discuss the new Leader Member Program Committee activity to revitalize that important program. Communication, Collaboration, Cooperation, and Consistent messaging continue to be priorities for the Growth and Retention plan of 2025 along with improving all associated resources.

The goal of fostering a sense of community among and between clubs in our district and beyond cannot be stressed enough.  By working as one big team we can strengthen and grow our hobby and AMA.

A brief review of the structure of AMA: Executive Council oversight board: Elected President, Executive VP, 11 District VPs, The Executive Director, and NAA- National Aeronautics Association, and the AMA CFO.  DVPs appoint AVPs- Associate VPs. LMs- Leader Members, CDs/ EMs, Club Officers, and Members at large make up who we are.  All levels have a shared responsibility for the wellness of the organization.

Daren reminded attendees of the proactive engagement of District 1, implementing and supporting many initiatives. Emphasis was placed on the significance of member participation in outreach, growth, and retention efforts.  Followed by a short discussion about the ADOT- AMA District Outreach Team initiative and a promotional video was presented by AVP and producer, Doug Thompson.

Leader Member (LM) Committee Update- Andy Argenio and Erin Dobbs.

Andy gave an overview of the D1 efforts and the revitalization and importance of the Leader Member Program.  He introduced Committee Chair, Erin Dobbs

Erin discussed the importance of volunteerism within AMA and the need to support club members in event planning and community engagement.

• She emphasized the need to bridge the communication gap between VP's, AVP's, and leader members and to provide resources to help clubs attract new members.

• Erin also highlighted various programs and opportunities available to members, including field improvement funds, leader club programs, distinguished service awards, and the Carl Goldberg Award.
• Erin asked some impromptu probing "did you know?" questions to the members.  She was pleasantly surprised at the D1 knowledge of programming most members are unaware of.  We did give full disclosure that Daren also has used the "did you know?" technique with the club visits and at meetings!

Open Discussion

• Bob Mandeville from the Wingbusters club expressed gratitude for Andy's assistance in securing funds for field improvements.
• Erin shared information about a potential robotic lawn mower sweepstakes for clubs in the future.
• AVP Joan Liska suggested LMs be listed in "Club Details" listings which was agreed to be a great idea.

Erin had to leave the meeting.  She was thanked by all for attending and sharing her insights and updates.

Further discussion continued about the LM program and the importance to include ALL levels of volunteer leaders in any guide documents created.  Much like our Member Guide, a "Volunteer Leader Guide" (or appropriate title) could act as a definition of all roles, expectations, and links to applicable support documents/ applications.  This would also allow members who strive to increase their engagement to see what other levels involve in ONE PLACE!

District 1 web resources were reviewed. All members are always encouraged to share the links on their club sites and bookmark them personally for an abundance of information and tools.

Club Finder Evaluation and screenshots presented by Andy, Daren and Doug.

• D1 leadership volunteers have been evaluating the club finder and club details for a few months
• Serious weaknesses have been found in accuracy and filtering data-mining leading                                                 to false "No Results Found" search results!
• Further investigation shows either an IT interface, data entry, or some other issues.
• Club Finder is the primary tool for prospective new members and existing members to connect with our club network.
• "Club Detail" submissions- critically important responsibility of each club along with occasional review
• AMA is in the process of evaluating and consulting for this tool and a complete website retooling.

Open Discussion.

Thank you,

D1 Volunteer Leadership Team 

"as needed" zoom meeting

District 1, Mar 13, 2025 Club Officer, AVP, LM, ADOT

AMA Membership Growth and Retention Meeting

On March 13, 2025 District 1 held it's first zoom meeting of the new year with positive change and "One Community" as an overall theme.  This is a series of club visits (live and virtual/ zoom) we have been conducting since Dec 2024.  We are proud to report some milestone stats.  Our best response to a zoom meeting based on attendance:invitation ratios.  72% of invited club officers/ representatives, 65% of invited AVPs/ District 1 Officers, 100% of invited LMs, and a special guest- AMA Interim Executive Director Tyler Dobbs! Huge thanks to all participants for sharing their wonderful insights.  We collect notes and build on this feedback with every subsequent meeting engagement, always learning something new.

The discussions were very productive and the planned intent to receive feedback, insights, and exchange brainstorming  ideas with grassroots district members, clubs and volunteer leaders perspective to share with HQ leadership and staff was palpable.  IOW- "ONE COMMUNITY" working together as a team.  Combining critical end user needs and impressions with HQ and staff administrative challenges.  This concept has been a challenge to push but we are really feeling the winds of positive, proactive change in the air as we enter a year of continued outreach, adding the new Growth and Retention plan and resources like the Value Proposition Flyers and Chartered Club Toolkit which blend perfectly with previously developed District 1 ADOT team and toolkit materials and resources.  The Growth and Retention plan is designed to evolve with assessments based on real time reactions and results during implementation and use. Being adaptive to much needed resources and best practices, to be added to the online Toolkit, is a cornerstone of the plan's design.  Those evaluations occur best by engaging grassroots districts in the process.  That was made clear at this and other meetings being conducted in District 1.  We strongly encourage anyone interested to reach out to us for more information.  We also highly recommend that other districts begin expanding their unique ways to discuss and implement this plan and concepts with members to spread this initiative nationally.

Takeaways are numerous and are all relevant to "MAXIMIZE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESS".  They will require meaningful collaboration and cooperation throughout the organization to be successful.

CLUB FINDER-Our primary tool to capture new members and serve existing members. Needs attention!- IT improvements to include input from "End- Users" and Districts

• Search fields- By State (staying within district borders), Instructor Ambassadors- IPs and other instructors including disciplines/ location/ willingness to travel with contact info.
  
• Club Details- Clubs must be honest with activities/ restrictions/ limits (no jeopardy, just honest) for prospective new members and those searching to make a successful accurate connection, include better flying site descriptions- type and size of runways, multiple discipline areas (Drone racing, C/L, Heli, etc),
• CONTACTS- Club PR person(s)- The FACE of the hobby, the club, AMA- MUST BE- Responsive (phone/ email response within 3 days max), Welcoming, Informative. Should AMA require in the chartering process a "PR Officer" role?  Contact Field should allow for alternate or additional contacts, for clubs not accepting new memberships to express that in a non-threatening but informative way- we don't want to set up prospective members for a failed connection, Club Contact IS NOT an internal (HQ to Club) contact but a Public and Community contact to clubs.

• 
  

  
  

New/ Expanded Concepts:

• ADOT- AMA District Outreach Team- continues to grow in it's third successful year.  Pooling members with varied skillsets from clubs throughout the district, acting as satellite groups to recruit, assist, and support clubs as well as engaging in large public and educational events to take advantage of the economy of scale to reach the maximum number of people through aeromodelling to "Entertain, Educate, and Engage".

• INSTRUCTOR AMBASSADORS- We need more instructors, instructors provide various levels (Primary/ Intro, Sport, Advanced, Precision, 3D/ Extreme, Heli, Turbine, etc) of teaching- should be searchable.
• TRAVELING INSTRUCTORS- willing to travel to other clubs, flying sites to connect and meet needs of potential students.  Requires coordination and cooperation with area clubs for permissions.
• "AMA REQUIRED"?  Needed?  in Club Details and on Event flyers/ info?  Does this give the impression of "I don't know what AMA is or have that so am I welcome?"  a valid question from the perspective of the "newbie".  Yes, AMA member pilots need to register at events and have their credentials but there is power in "ALL" or "Public WELCOME" we need more "Welcome" in our efforts.

These meetings and discussions are the pathway to making necessary changes in the way AMA operates, Grows, Strengthens and Retains its members.  Acting as "ONE COMMUNITY", walking the walk that we claim to talk.  Working together as a team- EC, HQ, Staff, Committees, District Volunteer Leaders, Clubs, Members sharing different perspectives, getting outside our traditional "boxes", being willing to change, try new methods, fail, adapt, and move on, rinse and repeat.  Be part of the positive, progressive change at AMA and the hobby.  Get involved, Share your ideas with others, and reach out into the public.  There are many opportunities not being fully capitalized on.  Together we can maximize our opportunities for success.

Thank you,

AMA District 1 Leadership Team

December 2022 District 1 Monthly Zoom Meeting

Date/ Time: Dec 28, 2022 07:30 PM Eastern Time

Host: D1 VP Andy Argenio, Co- Hosts: D1 AVP Tom Siwek, D1 AVP Daren Hudson

Happy New Year!  We wish all a happy and healthy 2023. Hopefully we’ll meet up at a club or event somewhere.

We held our 7th Monthly District Zoom Meeting on Dec 28th. This closes out the first full official year of our Monthly Zoom meeting initiative.  We hope you will agree that they have been productive and allowed us to gather more members and club representation in one spot than ever physically possible in the same time frame. We intend to continue meetings Oct- Apr and as needed while expanding to offer topics of your interest and those brought to you by AVPs, CDs, SIG representatives, Club Officers, Members and other guest speakers. We want your participation in this district community communication process.

Attendance at this meeting was good for being placed  in between major holidays. We will always provide a meeting video, resources used and any added information for all to share from this page. Please share it with your fellow members and clubs.  Thank you to all who attended. 

Special thanks to AVP Tom Siwek for presenting a wonderful power point on Youth/ Aeromodelling Cultivation and Promotion efforts.  Also many thanks to our Special guest, AMA Education Director Kyle Jaracz who joined us to discuss the state of AMA Education Programming and plans for 2023.  AVP Daren Hudson introduced the new AMA Youth Advisory Board initiative and encouraged clubs and members to provide candidates 12-18 for this exciting new program.  A large amount of valuable information and resources were presented this month, it is all  available below.

Thank you from your District 1 Volunteer leadership team.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Youth Membership Cultivation/ Promotion-  AVP Tom Siwek

   "Youth" does not only mean youth.  Consider this presentation a checklist for attracting ALL ages to AMA and Aeromodelling. PLEASE share with your clubs!

2. State of AMA Education Department- AMA Ed. Dir. Kyle Jaracz

   AMA has dozens of fantastic programs geared for K- Collegiate student activity. Check them out and PLEASE share with your clubs, fellow members, educators in your local communities and any organizations interested in a productive, effective, safe, and fun activity for learning and recreation. 

*See program direct links below.

3. Youth Advisory Board initiative- Introduction from AVP Daren Hudson

   "Youth leading and teaching youth."  Let's help the youth help us attract them to the many benefits of membership in AMA and our club COMMUNITY! 

4. OPEN FORUM FOR Q&A AND DISCUSSIONS

    Many great discussions in this meeting video.  Use the "chapters" function in the video "Description" section to navigate around the meeting.  One wonderful takeaway brought up by AVP John Yassemedis during these discussions after one of our participants offered a fantastic TESTIMONIAL at  25:28 in the meeting video from Denise, a D1 member's wife, as she describes what modelling has done for her son. We thank her for sharing the inspiring story.  John suggested that we try to collect testimonials (forward  written or video testimonials to your District leaders; VP and AVPs) so we can showcase them in our multi media resources.  Identified or anonymous to honor personal feelings and privacy but to share the inspiration.

*Standing takeaway- Please share what you do as members and clubs in our district community.  Cross sharing on our district multi media resources:  D1 FB Group, Website, YouTube channel and your personal social media feeds allows a greater audience to see your good works through aeromodelling. Your Passion Your Hobby ONE COMMUNITY.  The more we share, the better informed our hobby and general public communities become and the stronger we get to face the many challenges ahead.  Thank you for all you do for the hobby and AMA. Fly Often, Fly safe, Have Fun.  Here’s to an exciting 2023!

November 2022 District 1 Monthly Zoom Meeting

Andrew Argenio, D1 VP, and Daren Hudson, D1 AVP Hosted the scheduled November 2022 Zoom meeting Wednesday, November 30^th, 7:30 PM (ET).  We welcomed 36 members and guests including: AVPs, Club Officers, Leader Members, CDs and EMs and visitors from other districts representing at least 15 clubs.  We welcomed several first time attendees and enjoyed a productive meeting with informative discussions and engagement from the group.  See the agenda, the resource documents and the video of the meeting *Introducing "Chapters" on the YouTube video to jump to your preferred topic.  See "Description" in the video for time links or hover your cursor over the video timeline and click "Chapters" to bring up a chapter list.

Thank you to all who attended.  Please share these resources with your clubs.  As always, if you have ANY questions concerning AMA, District 1 and aeromodeling do not hesitate to reach out to your district volunteer leadership.

TAKEAWAYS: Please share with your club officers and fellow members.

 1. AMA Receives First US FAA CBO AUTHORIZATION- Very optimistic news to celebrate with important benefits:

*Formally Codifies AMA Roles *AMA Safety programming is the Gold Standard * CBO Status Validates, gives Credibility to Safety Programming among Stakeholders and Regulators * AMA gets Formal seat at the table when FAA addresses recreational operations *Opens the door for advocacy efforts, securing altitudes, and creates pathways for FRIAs and *Help members fly as they always have with the same equipment they already use at FRIA sites.  

2. AMA Club Preparation for FAA FRIA.

a) Identifying the Primary Point of Contact (PPOC) club person:  Clubs will determine the best      person for the PPOC position:  Reliable, Tenured, Reachable (email/ phone), pluses- FAA interaction background, club officer, AVP, LM, CD.

*Contact/PPOC email suggested best practice - supply an email address that can also be directed to club officers for redundancy of communications. Servers such as Google Gmail, Dual Rates, and others can provide this functionality.

b) Completing the Initial AMA FRIA Questionnaire/Survey - This is an initial data collection in preparation for a formal FAA FRIA Application Process which will be administered only through AMA HQ on behalf of chartered clubs. Expect communication between PPOC and AMA as the process develops. 

*Note: Members/Clubs are not recognized CBOs and therefore will not deal directly with FAA in the application process.

c) Identifying Flying sites on AMA Questionnaire/survey- Recommended to use “polygon” (via Google Maps) vs radius method (see “FRIA Location” document on “AMA D1 Zoom page of D1 website- below)

Best Practice- We are trying to depict not only the location of our flying sites but the ACTUAL space occupied and airspace used with consideration for any future use (don’t cut your club short with space).  According to the AMA Safety Programming we do not fly over occupied buildings, groups of people, pit areas, or behind our designated flight/ safety lines. Depicting this with a polygon is much more accurate than a simple circle which is not how we operate, generally (few exceptions).

d) Temporary sites utilized for annual or infrequent events should have a process for temporay FRIA status. Examples - Sanctioned AMA Float Fly events at a pond or lake, or Airport outreach events at temporary sites? These will still need to be considered for tempoary events and their flight operations not to require remote-ID. Now that AMA has Authorized CBO status and a “seat at the table” these discussions/requests can take place on a much more productive level. This subject is top of mind for District 1 leadership and AMA HQ.  “Incremental Implementation Process.”  Stay tuned as this develops.

e) Issues for clubs with multiple sites chartered under one location. Example - AMA club sites on large sod farms where the site flight box and boudaries are moved considerable distances as farming of the sod is removed and grass replanted. We are waiting to determine if AMA club site boundaries can be enlarged to encompass mutiple sites within an entire farm/location or if boundaries for each active site can be updated online without having considerable FAA delays to get approved by having FAA pre-approved the entire farm site area locations for flight operations.    

3.  Return of the D1 Sponsored Annual Events – “2023 District Fun-Fly & Airshow Event”- Initial stages are underway to determine a site location and dates. We are currently considering Gardner Airport, Gardner, MA where many different district events have been held over the years as well as other locations offering similar amenities. A district committee has been formed and will be providing progress reports. 

4.   District 1 Outreach Team. Discuss FB Group and increasing interest.  Please contact Daren Hudson or Andy Argenio if interested.  Formed a Private FB Group in Oct to gather interested members and discuss how best to proceed.  For examples of the vision see the 2022 Concord Wings & Wheels event posting recap and these “Reels” at the D1 FB Group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/amadistrict1/permalink/5460532820698280/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/amadistrict1/reels

5.   Takeaways from Safety Risk Management Panels (SRMP) on club flying sites. Contact Daren Hudson or Andy Argenio if you want any further info on the SRMPs.

6.   AMA Documents/Website Resources- Access, Updates- review, demo (shared screen)- Here is the Pitch! - PLEASE CHECK OUT AND BOOKMARK THE DISTRICT 1 WEBSITE AND THE DISTRICT 1 FB GROUP-

https://www.amadistrict-i.org

https://www.facebook.com/groups/amadistrict1

Please refer to the document links and video of the meeting below for more in depth information.  Thank you.

We always encourage members to contact us in advance of scheduled meetings

AMA Govt Affairs FRIA Process Tutorial-

*Note this link requires log in at the AMA website.

October 2022 District 1 Monthly Zoom Meeting 

Wed. October 26th

Andrew Argenio, D 1 VP and Daren Hudson, D1 AVP hosted the scheduled Monthly Zoom meeting on Wed. Oct 26, 2022, 7:30 pm-9:00pm.

Approx. 27 members representing 10 or more district clubs attended this month's zoom meeting, resuming the successful new communication initiative, bringing clubs and members together with district officers and guests to discuss all things aeromodelling and AMA. Participants included: members, club officers, district officers (AVPs: Tom Siwek, Joel Rosenzweig, John Yassemedis, and Daren Hudson) and our guest, District 2 VP, Eric Williams. 

District 1 VP Andy Argenio reviewed the recently released FAA Advisory Circulars, 91-57 C and 89-3, both linked below along with AMA’s Q & A sheet, and Andy’s short summary.   The AMA HQ Round table video is available on the website home page and at your District 1 FB Group.  Participant questions were answered and discussed. Daren Hudson led a short discussion/ recap of District Outreach activities and initiatives.  Members shared club activities including community and educational outreach. The meeting lasted approximately 90 minutes . 

Next Meeting- last Wed of the month: November 30 at 7:30pm. Look for invitation on this page. 

Agenda:

7:30pm- end of discussions
>State of AMA- AC 91-57C, AC 89-3, CBO, FRIA, Remote ID implementation status
>District 1 2022 season activity recap- events, outreach, District 1 Outreach Team!
>Open discussion