Why NOT IPMS/USA?

[Tim Holland @timh]

The President of IPMS/USA, Dave Lockhart,  published a letter, as he always does, in the latest Journal.  His message is usually positive and naturally promoting the hobby, but this time the first half of the letter landed with a thud.  If you follow the usual groups on the FB, you’ll already know something is amiss.

I’m not sure what his message was meant to be…but the message that was broadcast was, “if not a member of IPMS/USA, then you’re freeloading off paid members.”  Excuse me?!?  For starters, growing membership isn’t done by telling non-members they are freeloading.  He needs to remember that the VAST majority of plastic modelers are NOT IPMS members, for various reasons.  Secondly, every modeler who enters a model into a contest PAYS to enter that contest, none of them are entering models for free.  Finally, not all IPMS members can participate in a local chapter, either due to proximity, life, or timing of meetings.

He should have titled his letter, “Why not IPMS/USA?”  Now ask the 5 “why’s” regarding why so many modelers are NOT members of IPMS/USA, or if they are, why they don’t participate in local chapters.

So I’ll put that question to YOU — Why are you NOT a member of IPMS?  And I really do want to know.  Regardless of how mundane or emotional the answer may be.  “Old codgers running it”, “lack of change with the times”, “1-2-3 only competitions”, “too many rules/business instead of modeling”.  Or whatever. 

Please share your reasons.

[Dan YakelParticipant @dano]

That individual needs to be removed from his position immediately.  He is clearly delusional and full of himself.

As far as being an IPMS member, not a chance.  I’m just another “Freeloading Off-Paid member.”

I choose AMPS due to the fact that they foster brotherhood no matter the skill level.

 

[Don ManningParticipant @donm]

I thought that was a weird approach at best. I’ve been a member since the 2000 because it at the time was mandatory for a club I belonged to in VA Beach. Not sure if that is still a thing there…

[Bill BriertonParticipant @billb]

I used to be a member of IPMS USA.  I let my membership lapse and really never worried about it.  I attend club meetings when my time and schedule permit.  Quite frankly I don’t really see a need to be a member of IPMS USA when I enjoy going to the local club meetings and supporting them when they have their local shows.

[GerryParticipant @gw8345]

If I may pose a question, why should someone join IPMS and what are the benefits for joining?

For someone who doesn’t enter contests and is a (lose) member of a  club doesn’t require membership to attend meetings I see no reason to join.

So (this is directed to the IPMS/USA President), instead of why not joining IPMS, why should someone join?

IMO, Mr. Lockhart is a freaking idiot if he could not see that his  editorial would not be taken as inflammatory and elitist. He has done more harm to the organization with that editorial, it really shows incompetence of the top echelon of IPMS/USA. IPMS is the “pinnacle of the modeling community”, non-members are “freeloaders” and “if you build models you should be a member just proves how out of touch the top echelon is with the main stream modeler. What they really should be thinking is “you’re not a member, well here’s the benefits of being a member” and building/improving/selling those benefits, not you simply need to be a member because you build models.

IPMS/USA needs to do a little bit of soul searching and house cleaning if they want to attract new members because their current thinking isn’t going to attract new members.

There’s an old saying, If an organization thinks like that, I don’t want to be part of it.

There’s an old saying “mediocracy is fueled by the thought of status-quo” and right now, IPMS/USA is following the status-quo line of thinking.

[Bill SuggsParticipant @bene]

Back in the mid-70s when I was a kid there was a “join IPMS-USA” flyer that was inserted into kit boxes.  I badgered my dad into signing me up and paying the $5.00 fee.  Got a letter back rejecting my application because the fee had been raised to $6.00.

Fast forward to the mid-80s … I joined on my own dime and kept my membership through high school and USNA … even attended the ’87 Nats in DC.  A year later there was a scandal because some members of the Executive Board embezzled funds from the IPMS treasury.  That was pretty much the last straw for me.  I dropped my membership and I haven’t seen anything since from IPMS-USA that would make me reconsider.

[Joe HegedusParticipant @joeh]

I used to be a member, back when I was interested in entering contests.  If one wished to enter the nats, it was required to be a member.  But I let my membership lapse quite a few years ago, partially because I could only make it to the convention once every 6 years or so (had to be within day-trip driving distance), partially because I just got burned out on the whole “competition” thing, but mostly because there wasn’t any tangible benefit.  Yeah, you got the Journal, and I contributed quite a number of reviews for it while I was a member, but in general the magazine wasn’t providing anything that I couldn’t get somewhere else, in a more timely manner (I dropped my FSM subscription for mostly the same reason).  There just wasn’t any value received for the membership fee IMO.

 

Joe

[Andy WhiteParticipant @whitey]

Typically I would renew if I planned on attending Nats. The last couple of years I’ve retained a membership for that reason, and to maintain our club’s charter (minimum 5 IPMS members)…which covers our liability insurance for hosting a contest. That seems to be the only tangible benefit to being an IPMS member/charter.

I’m glad IPMS exists but it needs to catch up, and it needs to reevaluate it’s mission. There are people within the organization working to do that…but quite honestly it seems they need to wait until a few guys die off.

Someone on another forum suggested they get rid of the “Journal” due to the effort to publish it and its cost. With the money saved, perhaps dues could come down (ha hah ahaha haahahaha), and that might attract new members or maybe the money can be put to better use.

[Paul WarrenParticipant @wpwar]

I joined about two years ago.  My membership is still active.  When I started building models again I jumped in with both feet.  Joining our club was the greatest decision I made in the hobby.  The guys have helped me become a better modeler, I really enjoy the meetings, and all the great builds have inspired me.  Naturally, I figured an IPMS membership would bring all those qualities but in a bigger scale.  I’m starting to think that’s not the case.
It’s unfortunate the President made those freeloading remarks.  Hard to imagine a comment like that would bring in new members.  If I decide not to renew it will have nothing to do with the Presidents poor judgement.  It will be the lack of delivering the experience I already get from the So MD group.

[Jake KiddParticipant @jakek]

I joined for the first time this year, because I plan to go to Nats and see if it’s as much fun as everybody says.  If it turns out to not be that fun for me, I doubt I’ll renew my IPMS membership…unless the club needs numbers to stay, well, to stay a recognized club.   I’m still new though, so I plan to wait and see. It’s not a huge cost, and having a website to go find clubs and show calendars isn’t all bad.

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