It's time for a change.
The AMOA board has proposed some significant changes for the AMOA membership to consider at it's annual meeting in Atlanta. I realize this is a topic that 80% don't care about one way or the other, 15% are interested and agree that it's time for a change, and 5% are dramatically opposed for various reasons. At least that is the way my phone calls are running.
The AMOA wants to reduce the size of it's board from 48 to 21 members. This is the easy one. We have built in a proposed structure that keeps equal representation throughout the country with the smaller board. The AMOA in a good year has nearly 1,700 members. We have a board seat currently for every 35 member companies. In the transition, no board members lose their current seat, it all occurs through attrition. We will promote that non-board members serve on AMOA committees. This has always been available to non board members. This will be the primary area that the new Board members will be nominated from.
The only objection I've heard to this proposal is that since there is very little expense for the AMOA per board member (they pay their own expenses), why not have the larger board? Simple, the process needs to be streamlined. Can you imagine trying to make a decision with 48 different opinions? It is true that this board has worked well together and accomplished much in the past, but it has always been true that just as 20% of the songs on your jukebox get 80% of the play, that 20% of the AMOA board members do 80% of the work. Today's issue are moving much faster and require a quicker response time. Although being a board member is a voluntary position, there are still savings of up to $100,000 per year by reducing the board size.
The best example I can think of is the process we are going through to get these proposed changes enacted. We have two opportunities per year to vote on these issues, and that is during our two AMOA Board meetings. We have one board meeting in the winter and one in the fall during the AMOA convention. The entire membership convenes once per year, at the convention. If you decide to table an issue, it is six months to one year before you can reconvene to address the issue again. By then most everyone has forgotten the facts of the issues! We can always have fax votes, and conference calls, but it isn't the same. With a twenty-one member board of directors, and a seven member Executive Committee, decisions can be made with all the decision makers having a deeper understanding of the issue, and they can make the decisions quicker and more timely, which is critical as we move our industry into the next century.
We've proposed to change the name of the Association. It has been for many years, the "Amusement and Music Operators Association" (AMOA). We're proposing changing it to the "Amusement and Music Owners Association" (AMOA). Not a dramatic change, but a very emotional change for long time members. This change was proposed and discussed a couple of times in the last five years as a stand alone change. The term "Operator", as used in the term "smooth operator", has no place in an industry hitching it's wagon to state of the art technologies, high tech computer communications, and modern day business management techniques. The term "Operator" never has been the correct terminology to describe the vast majority (there are a few it describes very well...) of our membership. We want to change it to more accurately reflect our industry, while maintaining the name, AMOA.
The big one. The Boards proposal to allow manufacturers/suppliers to serve on the AMOA Board, and potentially ascend to the position of an Officer and even the President of the Association. The reality is that we have 200 members of AMOA in this category currently, but they are restricted in their level of contribution potential. We want the best, and brightest, members of our Association to serve on our board and lead us into the next century. We can't survive with anything less. Sure there will be conflict between the different levels of distribution in our industry, as there has been in the past. Hopefully with our new board members, and our strengthened relationship with the AAMA, we'll be able to work these issues out rather than participate in endless debates in stuffy joint meetings.
These are the key changes the AMOA Board is proposing. It isn't easy leading with your chin. The easy route is to not address these changes because they are emotional and therefore difficult to discuss at times. I know these conversations during our Board meetings were some of the most lengthy and debated issues I have ever seen us address in my fifteen years. I will tell you that it was a very organized and respectfully conducted debate. The leaders of the Association, the Officer's of the Association, Jerry Derrick, Don Hesch, Jim Stansfield, Frank Seninsky, have tackled these issues head on, and deserve a great deal of credit for bringing these necessary changes to the forefront in an aggressive manner. It is necessary, but not always popular, to lead during changing times.