This just in from IPMS President Dave Morrissette. The news from the top is a good gauge as to the direction IPMS is taking.
For me, the most troubling item is the cheating that went on at last years Nationals. The good part is that the E Board is, and has taken action to prevent it's reoccurrence. My question is why cheat at a model contest? As I've said before, what we do in this hobby only effects us. Our little corner of the world (Pun intended) has no bearing on events outside our group.
As always, please share this with the officers and members of your chapter.
Semper Fi
Doug
Hi everyone:
Welcome to the latest update from your IPMS E-board. Things are relatively quiet but we are less than five months away from the fun of Atlanta and what promises to be a wonderful 2005 IPMS National.
One serious issue I need to address is the results of the issues that occurred with multiple entries at the Phoenix Nationals. The person involved was Fabrizio Dandramateo from R11 and, unfortunately, all of our efforts to contact him via mail have failed to elicit a response or explanation. We have taken all the steps we could and revoked his membership and he is not allowed to participate as a contestant in any Nationals. This is a very sad situation but let me restate several things. First, we (the E-board and the contest committee) take the integrity of the National contest seriously and try to make it as fair AND fun. Second, the IPMS National contest has rules and we will do everything we can to enforce those rules. That’s why they are published in the Journal, web sites and we have all sorts of communications about it. There are not too many rules but we are adamant about those rules we do have. Basically, you have to be a current IPMS member and do your own work to enter the contest. The rest of the rules are listed in the Journal. If you have any questions, comments, please let us know.
We have one constitutional amendment being passed through the CRB and a ballot will appear later this year to be voted on during the summer. The amendment deals with the chapter recharter fee that has been at $10 for about the last 20 years.
Also, it’s election time. If you are interested in running for an E-board office (President, 1st VP, 2nd VP, Secretary, Director of Local Chapters and Historian/Publications Director), e-mail MJ at the office for the form. We also have a good description of the job duties for each position and can forward those also.
On to the updates-
1st VP- John Noack
· Monitoring the recent flurry of traffic regarding licensing, intellectual property and copyright issues as they apply to the modeling industry. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Rod Lees, a member from OKC, who took it on himself to dig into this area and provide the OEM industry perspective. See Rod's excellent article on the website if you're interested.
* Review products continue to flow into the office, and several new suppliers came on board this month including Jiver Miniatures, Euromodels Plus, Panavise, and ICM. Watch the Reviews section of the website which is updated weekly.
* We're in the opening stages of a dialog with IMMA, the International Model Manufacturers' Association, on how we might work together in future Make and Take events.
2nd VP- Ron Bell
· Atlanta is on course to be a really large show. The initial hotel block was filled and they have added rooms.
· There is only one bidder for 2007.
· Phoenix report is in and is being reviewed. Show was profitable and many good suggestions are coming in from the group holding the show.
Director of Foreign Liaison- Glen Broman
· We have reached an agreement with IPMS UK for a swap of magazine articles. I've been asked to write a specific article on the M1A1 tank for the IPMS UK magazine, which is almost done. We will be getting an article from them in return.
· We received a new batch of foreign IPMS magazines that I am reviewing and I will add them to an upcoming column for the Journal.
Director of Local Chapters- Jack Kennedy
· I have 190 chapters renewed with a few more on the way.
· I will be sending out the "Dropped" letters next week.
Historian and Publications Director- Mark Gustavson
· The only outstanding issue on which I'm working right now is the update of the membership rates in the advert carried in Model Cars magazine. I should have that updated by week's end -- in plenty of time for the next issue.
Office Manager- MJ Kinney
* Total number of journals mailed out in January - 4,481. This is 4 more than the previous issue.
* We had a total of 804 new members in 2004 and 108 to date in 2005.
* The liability insurance policy has been renewed at a cost of $ 6,900.00. Chapters have listened and have been requesting coverage in a more timely fashion this year making the process much less stressful!!
* The D & O insurance policy has also been renewed at a cost of $ 980.00
* The annual registration of the corporation has been done with the State of Georgia
* Lapel pins have been ordered with an expected delivery date to the vendor of 2/22/05. They have been added to the special product sheet sent out with each new member/renewal membership and to the Products page on the web site. The journal order form should be updated in the next issue.
* I am gearing up for processing memberships for the convention - all members need to remember that waiting until the last minute to renew or join could result in them not receiving their membership cards in a timely fashion. I will be taking memberships at the convention located near the convention registration desk. I will also again have a supply of our special products for sale.
That’s all for. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions and comments are always welcome.
Dave Morrissette
President, IPMS/USA
God Bless America
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