Benefits of membership, SUAVC (US)

[Bartman]

I received an email today in reply to the one I sent out about trying to join the Small UAV Coalition and in the reply it was stated that access to Board conference calls wasn't such a great perk for the money we were talking about spending to join the coalition.

I agree and will work in the coming days/weeks to better define what we can expect as far as access and input for the money that we will be spending.

Part of what we are doing is buying credibility and a better line of communication into the process. Being free to listen in to conference calls is just a small part of that. The bigger benefit is that we're associating with a credible partner that very well may have the ability to influence the outcome of the regulatory process in a way that will benefit us as small business owners and hobbyists.

 

[Rattler]

I agree with you Bart in I'm not to sure about the cost of SUAVC you don't get enough bang for the buck. I have been checking out UAVSA.ORG and Rotor Drone Mag. they seem to have better info for the buck. There is a lot of info on how to get COA exemption. http://www.uavsa.org/faa-exemption-assistance I will probably become a member after the first of the year. I will let you know how it works out and if there are any way for MultiRotor to associate with them.

 

[Bartman]

Rattler, I looked at their site and I see a ton of marketing effort but not much about policy or their involvement in the regulatory process. Their forum Freedomflyers doesn't exactly scream to me that the organization is a serious effort focused on a positive policy outcome.

I received an interesting email last night from a SUAVC member company thanking us for our support and I'm going to try to follow up with that person to get another take on the SUAVC's mission and how that mission has been formulated to include small commercial and hobby users.

 

[Bartman]

As I mentioned in the last post, I've been contacted by a Board Level member of the Small UAV Coalition thanking us for our support. If I am able to get an opportunity to speak with him on the phone what would like for me to ask him?

I'm happy to do a lot of the grunt work but I don't want to be perceived by anyone as the guy making all of the decisions. I encourage everyone to read, listen, contribute, etc. so that the decisions being made can be as inclusive as possible. When the time comes for us to make a decision though we need to all back it up 100% and keep moving forward.

So, what should I be asking in order to get your questions straightened out?

Thanks,
Bart

 

[Bartman]

The questions below were sent to me via email by HoggDoc

#1. Where is a least a summary of what you learned from your contact with Small UAV Coalition.
My contact with the Small UAV Coalition has been limited so far to what I've seen online, in their House testimony and our two phone conversations. In this I've learned that they are funded by and have as their Board Level members several companies that have a heavy and well-vested interest in the hobbyist and small commercial user communities. The Coalition is being run by AkinGump, a large and very successful law firm in Washington, DC that was originally hired by Amazon.com to represent their interests related to their drone delivery plans. The Small UAV Coalition has a stated interest in representing hobby and commercial users of sUAS and will be adding these groups to their activities in the near future.

#2. Who did you talk to there?
Michael Drobak, Executive Director, I also spoke with an assistant of his named Brian whose last name I didn't get. I'm trying to set a time/date to speak with a Board Level member individual whose name I can't discuss at this time but who contacted me last night.

#3. What is that persons interest in the UAV community, hobbyist or commercial vendor?
He's a lawyer (I presume) with AkinGump and his interest is to represent the Coalition's goals in the efforts being undertaken to craft sUAS regulations in the US.


#4. Are there any representatives from the hobbyist community on their board?
3D Robotics, DJI, Parrot, GoPro....are all founding member companies of the Coalition with seats on the Board. All have deeply vested interests in seeing hobby level users represented.

#5. What is the toy Mfg. Parrot doing on this board?
I'd guess they see their business interests at risk if pending legislation isn't receptive to the needs of hobby users.

#6. What is your background that qualifies you to sort through this information and make the determination that MultiRotorForums.com should endeavor to raise the ridiculous amount of $30,000 to join this coalition as an associate member?
Engineering Degree (Rutgers, ME, 1991) **I speak geek**, B-777 Airline Pilot with United Airlines **I speak pilot/FAA **, 4 1/2 yr commercial sUAS operator/builder/designer/website host **I speak sUAS**, lifetime RC airplane pilot/builder **I speak AMA**.......all of this might still not make me the best person for the job of representing everyone involved but that's why we're doing this as a group and why we're putting our collective selves behind the Small UAV Coalition. I'll try to advocate for civil and productive discussions and when we try to make a decision as a group we'll also try to stand behind it.

#7. Have you requested and analyzed the financial statements of this coalition? Without doing so, this would be an unwise investment in capital.
We are working to get a clearer picture as to the risk involved and what the benefits might be but to continue doing nothing isn't an option anymore. We will assess the bigger picture before pulling the trigger on our membership goal and if it looks like it was a horrible idea I'll refund everyone's money. I'm comfortable making decisions and know that I won't try to screw anyone or misrepresent the truth about anything. I'm also comfortable making a decision and then recognizing it was a bad decision as more info becomes available. We've made one decision to get started, we'll make many more decisions as we go and each one will get increasingly more attention as more people get involved. Rest assured, this is about numbers and money. If enough people get behind this effort WE WILL BE HEARD.

#8. In paragraph 5 of your e-mail you use the words contribution and join to describe the monies collected from members of this forum. Are you aware that any organization accepting contributions for any purpose must request and receive A 501(c)(3) Tax Exemption from the IRS? I can almost guarantee that this Group here would not qualify.
I don't think you're right on this one as we aren't claiming tax exempt status or telling anyone to take a deduction based on their contribution. We are pooling our monies to become a part of another contribution as a group.

Now here's my rant; why would I send you an unknown person to me $50. I can barely reconcile sending $48 to the AMA which according to their numbers has 170,000 members. Don't you think anyone looking for a voice in the matter of UAVs would be better represented by A group with those numbers of members and a long history of support for the hobby.
You haven't been to the site in almost a year so I'm unknown to you. Hi, I'm Bart, I own/operate MultiRotorForums.com and for the last four years I've been here every single day, sometimes for hours at a time, helping people to learn and be successful with multi-rotor helicopters. I've advocated for their safe operation and for people to be responsible in how they operate them.

I'm sorry to be critical, but this looks like A revenue-generating scheme and nothing more. If I'm correct shame on you go get a job
On this point you are absolutely, positively 100% wrong. My income comes from my airline job and maybe some day I'll operate this site for a real profit that is proportional to the amount of time I spend here running it. So, no shame on me, as I'm also trying to organize this effort without asking for a dime in return.

The big picture here folks is that, so far, nobody has stood up to offer representation that could actually get access to the process, secure adequate funding for the fight, and maintain a credible organization capable of organizing an agenda and making a meaningful contribution to the process. I believe that the Small UAV Coalition has the muscle, brains, and experience to advocate on behalf of their membership. They are a being run by member corporations though and to get their attention we need to pony up in the form of significant membership commitment (lots of supporting people and Pro sUAS companies) and the cash to buy into their organization. I GET NOTHING IN RETURN, NO COMMISSION, NO NOTHING, except for maybe a better environment to fire up my pro media company again and enjoy the RC hobby.

Or we can do nothing in which case I go back to running the site, raising my kids, flying planes, etc.

Thanks for the questions, all perfectly legitimate. I hope I've answered them to everyone's satisfaction.
Bart