IPMS/USA October E-mail Update

Hi everyone,
This just in from President Dave.

Semper Fi
Doug

Hi Fellow IPMSers:

Fall is passing and with that comes all the great fall contests and for many, more building time. There is also lots going on in IPMS.

First, both the election for officers is over and the proposed CBL amendment.

The election was unopposed and the winners are (obviously) President- Jack Kennedy, 1st VP- John Noack, 2nd VP- Ron Bell, Secretary- Jim Corley, HPD- Jim Woody and DLC- Dick Montgomery

The amendment passed which allows the residing E-board to change the charter renewal fees. The above mentioned board will have that decision to make during the 2007 recharter.

Thanks to our friends at Finescale Modeler, the word about IPMS went out via there mailing list and you can see the results below- 160 new members in about 2 days. This shows that we need to get the word out more often and if we do, then we can grow even more.

Last for me- remember all those naysayers asking "What's in IPMS for me?" Well, thanks to SAM Publications, you can save about $20 off the subscription to their magazines as an IPMS member. In other words, 75% of you membership fee is back if you go with the offer. If this works, we can look to other magazines and from there who knows. People have been trying to bury IPMS for years and the last year has shown just how viable we are- from our relationship with manufacturers leading to IPMS first reviews to then largest modeling convention in the world (Thanks again Atlanta!!!!!) to our ever growing web site, we are not even close to done. For the rest that just elect to attend our shows, I guess we'll just have to be content taking in their money for our clubs and contests.

Now, on to the updates and there is a LOT!!



John Noack- 1st Vice President


* Dave Morrissette has begun assisting me in industry liaison. Dave will focus on our IMMA relationship, review follow-ups with our suppliers, and new review sources, while I will maintain Reviewers Corps activities, Make-n-Take support, and the Supporting Our Troops program. More later...
* Several new suppliers of products for on-line reviews this time around. Please watch for these on the website. We've continued the multi-supplier reviews (build the basic kit but enhance it with aftermarket details) that allows us to feature multiple products simultaneously and give our members and guests to the website a chance to see the aftermarket stuff actually used on the kit.
* I'd like to take a moment to stress that our online reviews are unique; in just about every case you'll see a BUILD review, not just an in-box review.
* We've been working with Kalmbach Publications for some time trying to find ways we can continue to mutually support our hobby. If you look at FineScale Modeler's content,you'll see a lot of coverage of IPMS/USA events; sometimes even models you see at a contest become feature articles in FSM. Well, I'm pleased to tell you that last month we brokered an arrangement with the good folks at Kalmbach, allowing us to send out a one-time invitation letter to their electronic subscriber database. As a result of this initiative, we picked up over 150 new members in a 2-week period! (See MJ's section for the latest!) We will continue to explore other means and media to reach out to potential members. To those of you reading this who joined us after getting my e-letter, a warm welcome aboard. Please help us make this YOUR Society by getting involved as a chapter member and/or on an individual basis...and have fun, build something!


Ron Bell- 2nd Vice President

* Mailed out bid info for '08 to eastern chapters
* Finishing up first section of Convention How-To project
* Manning IPMS/USA table at Scale Model World
* Featured speaker at IPMS/UK annual banquet

Jack Kennedy- Director of Local Chapters


* Updating Dick Montgomery as to the progress of the charter renewals.
* As of today, 10/22/05, I have 21 renewals with two new chapters.

MJ Kinney- Office Manager


* V17J6 of the journal went in the mail a week earlier than usual and mailed to 4340 members. The post office advised us that there was no mail delivery to zip codes beginning with 369,393,394,395,396,700,701 and 704 because of hurricane Katrina. This involved 31 members - I have heard from 4 with alternate addresses and will send the journal to the other members once I hear from them regarding an address.
* To date this year we have 723 new members. 188 of these have joined since September 23rd when the FSM email was sent out. Of these 188, I estimate that 160 of these are as a result of the email. I have no way to track the exact number, only by the surge in email applications that came in 2-3 days !! We also realized several members that rejoined. This obviously was a great marketing tool for IPMS/USA.
* New member lists went out to the RC's this past week, so they can contact these members and extend our welcome to them.
* For those chapters that would like to avoid the rush - I am taking requests for event insurance coverage for 2006. I will request the insurance January 15, 2006 and should have the Certificates 2-3 weeks after that.
* As always, any questions or concerns are always welcome. And my wish to all for a wonderful Holiday.


Glen Broman- Director of Foreign Liaison


*
We are up to 12 active SIG's. Black Swamp Modelers, Captured Aircraft SIG, Commercial Aircraft SIG, CVN SIG, Fire Bomber SIG, Heavy Haulers, Racing and Record aircraft SIG, SF and Fantasy SIG, TWM: Two Wheeled Modelers, Vacuform and Resin kits SIG, WarWheels: The Armored Car – Wheeled Fighting Vehicle SIG, and the What If? SIG.
*
We are looking for a sponsor for the P-47 SIG and the Fleet Air Arm SIG. We have lost contact with both of them and are looking for a POC or someone interested in restarting them. The Seaplane SIG is currently dormant per the SIG leaders request. He hopes to restart it some time in the future.
*
All of the SIG information and POC's are listed on the IPMS USA web page thanks to Patrick Keenan and Bob Hester. Anyone interested in starting or joining a SIG can contact me at grbroman@aol.com.

Bob Hester- Webmaster

*
New Domain Server- A second server has been activated under the Domain Name ipmsusa2.org. With the addition of this server, our total storage capacity has increased to a total of 7GB (up from our original capacity of 1GB). All graphic-intensive features of the website will be relocated to this server. Associate Webmaster Dick Montgomery reports that all of the “Walkaround” features will be resident on this server by mid-November 2005, and “Event Gallery” entries will be added through the course of their normal rotation. We will be working to relocate all Kit and Product Reviews to this server as well. The net result for IPMS/USA is that we will be able to display a much greater volume of features, and leave them available for longer periods of time.
*
SIG Listings- At the request of the Director Foreign Liaison Glen Broman, a database-driven list and display system has been implemented to publish information for all IPMS-sanctioned Special Interest Groups. This system is maintained online in real time via web browser, currently by Mr. Broman and his designee, Mr. Patrick Keenan. The system displays a public listing of the groups by modeling category, with descriptions & contact information. The administrative functions are password-protected and access is limited to individuals assigned by the Internet Coordinator at the direction of the Director Foreign Liaison. Twelve (12) groups were initially included on the SIG List at the time of its activation on September 10, 2005. This page is linked from the “Member Services” main page and our “Groups and Contests” main menu.
*
2005 Convention DVD Promotion-At the direction of 1st Vice President John Noack, published a promotional feature for a series of DVD’s being produced by Dennis Koleber, from films he took at the 2005 National Convention. A promotional page was posted on the website throughout the month of September 2005; this page included a dynamic, database-driven survey form in which all viewers (not limited to IPMS/USA Members) could submit their name and Email address in order to receive product information from the publisher at such time the DVD’s are ready for production. 134 Viewers responded to the survey, and the data collected was transmitted to Mr. Koleber in MS-Excel and plain text formats. Mr. Koleber has informed us that he will be emailing each of the respondents the product and order information.
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SAM IPMS/USA Promotion-At the direction of 1st Vice President John Noack, the Internet Coordinator published a promotional feature for SAM Publications, featuring their current special discount offer for IPMS/USA Members. The feature is currently linked from the Home Page of our website.
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Dedicated National Contest Committee Area-At the request of NCC Chief Judge Aris Pappas, the Internet Coordinator is developing a new area on the website for NCC activities. The prototype is almost completed. When activated, the initial pages featured will include: “What’s New at the NCC”, “Contest Rules”, “Contest Categories”, “Competition Handbook”, and an “NCC Member Directory”. It is expected that additional pages and/or features will be added in the future.
*
IPMS/USA E-Books- A new “Value Added” feature is currently under development for our Membership. Due to the growing popularity of handheld PDA’s and SmartPhones, the Internet Coordinator has acquired authoring software which will enable the compilation of an “E-Book” library of IPMS/USA Subjects. The files require Palm E-Reader software (a basic version can be downloaded free of charge, a premium version may be purchased online for $9.95) and are compatible with Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds. PC-based versions of the E-Reader software are also available for both Microsoft and Macintosh systems. Access to the E-Books will be limited to current IPMS/USA Members only, requiring the standard Username/Password log-in. The first topics to be released will be 1) The IPMS/USA Constitution and By-Laws, 2) The IPMS/USA Competition Handbook, 3) The IPMS/USA 2006 National Contest Categories and Rules. We are targeting release of this feature for sometime in November 2005.

Dave Morrissette
Presdient, IPMS/USA