Is IPMS/USA Dying?

by Michael Benolkin

(IPMS #17256)

Background

The International Plastic Modelers' Society was originally founded in the United Kingdom in 1963 as the British Plastic Modellers' Society. It didn't take long for this fledgling concept to spread across the world! Jim Sage founded the first US chapter in Dallas, TX a few years later.

The motto 'By Modellers, For Modellers' was created by IPMS/UK as the rallying cry to gather scale modelers of all scales and interests together to share experiences, techniques and otherwise fellowship in a world that even today views scale modeling as 'playing with toys'. This motto and charter carried across the Atlantic as chapters sprung up all across the United States. By the time I joined IPMS in 1982, there were over 17,250 people who had been or were still members of IPMS/USA.

One of the significant benefits of IPMS/USA membership back then was that outstanding magazine. Before the days of the Internet, Fine Scale Modeler, specialty publishing houses, as well as the many of the outstanding modeling reference magazines that come from the UK, there was a significant lack of decent subject reference material. In the pages of these early IPMS/USA Journals were excellent “'how-to' articles and loads of color & marking profiles that shared members' research and/or first-hand observations of a given subject. While sometimes crude by today's standards, these profiles nevertheless armed numerous IPMS members with knowledge that was otherwise unavailable to the average modeler. Unfortunately, about the time I joined IPMS/USA, the national organization was on the brink of financial disaster. That fantastic reference publication went away and what replaced it is essentially the magazine we have today.

When the new magazine format came out, it featured hobby news and reviews (as well as the occasional reference) and it was still ahead of the pack in providing the IPMS modeler with previously unavailable insight into the activities within the hobby industry. Without this knowledge, new releases from the model companies as well as products from the then-fledgling aftermarket industry would have gone unnoticed. Most hobby shops in the 1980s (and even some still today) didn't feel the need to keep up with new products. It was only after IPMS members would flock to their local retailers to demand the new stuff did the transformation of the hobby industry begin. Before IPMS/USA began spreading the word on new product releases, manufacturers and distributors would have to sell hobby shops on carrying a new product line. As the ranks of informed modelers grew, so did their influence. Today, manufacturers and distributors inform the modelers of new products through reviews and advertising and they let demand take care of the hobby shops.

With this newfound influence, IPMS became the de facto voice of the modeler to the hobby industry and many of the products that have appeared on our shelves and workbenches have been a direct result of that influence. When Company X would release a stinker of a kit, the reviews would reflect its shortcomings and impact on their sales. IPMS has helped to raise the standard on quality and detail in today's kits. This area of influence can also be seen if one compares the Aurora and Hawk kits of old with the Accurate Miniatures and Tamiya kits of this era.

Perceptions

So what is happening with IPMS/USA today? Ask a dozen modelers and you'll get 15 opinions. Nevertheless, there are some common threads amongst the ranks of current and former IPMS members.

  1. The IPMS/USA Executive Board (E-Board) is out of touch with the membership and with the hobby industry. (I'll admit that I felt this way as well until I did the research for this article – more on this later.)

  2. The IPMS/USA magazine publishes out of date reviews and little substance.

  3. The IPMS/USA National Conventions are no longer ‘'fun' to compete one's models due to the degree of nitpicking amongst some of the judges (I'm sure you've spotted the dental mirrors and flashlights). What is even more frustrating is when some of those nits being picked are not based on accurate knowledge of the subject. I recall a friend's Israeli Spitfire being tossed at a National a few years back because the Star of David was supposedly placed incorrectly on the fuselage. The modeler was later proved correct. IPMS/USA Regional Contests are heading in that same direction. At a recent regional attended by our former chapter president, the judges were scrutinizing his tank and he overheard them say that his weathering must be hiding a flaw so they decided to drop his model from further consideration.

There are other issues and/or perceptions in the minds of the membership, but I believe these capture some of the high points. Let me also state for completeness that there are many members within the organization that sincerely believe that there are no problems whatsoever. And while this may be true within the bounds of their chapters, IPMS/USA is growing smaller.

According to the Business Meeting held at the 2002 IPMS/USA National Convention, membership has dropped by almost 20% in the last four years. The number of IPMS Chapters that renew their annual charters have also dropped by nearly 20% over the same period of time (and the issue here isn't money – the chapter renewal fee is only $10 USD). There is a requirement to maintain at least five current IPMS/USA members in the chapter in order to become/remain an IPMS chapter, and this can become a challenge in the smaller chapters given the decline in member retention.

I recently became the president of our own local IPMS chapter and was facing some of the same breadth of opinions over renewing our own chapter charter. I was surprised by the number of people in our club who favored leaving IPMS. I decided to contact the IPMS/USA President, David Morrissette, and discuss some of these issues with him.

A Chat With The President

David was very open and frank about the health and status of IPMS/USA. I was surprised that he shared most of the same perceptions discussed above. Here are some of the key points of our discussion:

  1. The E-Board is not out of touch, they are bogged down in utter nonsense. When this new E-Board took office, David and his team were ready to take on some of the key issues affecting the future of IPMS/USA. Instead, David has become all-too-acquainted with the IPMS/USA lawyer. It seems that a few folks have succeeded in bogging the system.

    In one case, a handful of folks waged a successful campaign to either ban or partition off sexually explicit figures from public model contests. Given that we're trying to recruit new generations of modelers into our ranks, there was no need to add sex education to the curriculum of modelers' clinics. Rather than declaring victory and getting back to the business of modeling, these folks have now extended their campaign to include any sort of 'unacceptable' nose art. They have engaged in a variety of tactics to force IPMS to adopt their strict moral code, and while not successful in this latest round, it nevertheless consumes valuable time.

    In another case, a gentleman showed up at an IPMS Chapter Meeting and was allegedly loud, disruptive and abusive. At the end of the meeting, he tried to join the club and his membership was rejected due to his behavior. Shortly afterwards, a lawsuit was filed against IPMS for discriminating against a Vietnam Veteran.

    So if you believe that the E-Board is out of touch or unresponsive, there's more to the story than you might think. Also remember that none of the E-Board members are getting paid for their time and troubles. As with your local chapters, the E-Board members are volunteers who still have day jobs and families to care for. This sort of nonsense would definitely take the fun out of any hobby.

  2. The IPMS/USA magazine is out of date. The E-Board is working on another format change to address this. They recognize that in the days of old, the IPMS Journal was the source of news inside the hobby industry. Nevertheless, the news information contained in the IPMS Journal was usually three-to-four months old. Since that time, publications like Fine Scale Modeler, SAM, SAMI, etc., have cut that time down to two months. With the advent of the Internet, online publications like Internet Modeler would cut the time for hobby news to get to the modelers down to mere weeks. Now with sites like Hyperscale, hobby news gets out in a matter of hours. This revolution in time compression leaves the current IPMS Journal in the dust.

  3. Judging at Regional and National contests is getting too nit picky and David doesn't even enter his models any more. When he called together the Contest Committee to look at alternatives, they were adamant that the judging system is fine the way it is today. While there are always perceived anomalies in judging, the problems are not as widespread as rumor would indicate. The senior judges have a great deal of experience and tend to keep an eye on the new judges. Despite these checks and balances, a growing number of modelers are not finding this type of competition fun and statistics are beginning to reflect this.

  4. The average age of the IPMS/USA membership is approaching Social Security levels (ouch!). The recruiting and retention of younger modelers is not very successful. Regional Coordinators are being tasked to work closer with their local chapters to help with retention.

  5. The IPMS/USA Website is expanding and the current and former webmasters have done a terrific job of getting IPMS/USA into cyberspace. The site is now growing to provide the membership with greater insights into national organization including the posting of the E-Board Meeting Minutes.

  6. The E-Board has selected a seven-member committee from across the country to identify key issues and recommend changes to the organization. Their charter calls on them to find out what's on the minds of current and former IPMS members and how IPMS/USA can be improved to keep them actively involved with the organization.

The Next Step

If you are interested in voicing your thoughts and feelings about the condition and direction of IPMS/USA, here is your opportunity. I have been asked to be one of the members of the IPMS review committee and I want to hear from you. What I need from you are your thoughts on the following questions:

  1. Are you currently or were you previously an IPMS/USA member?

  2. Which IPMS/USA Chapter(s) do you/have you been a member?

  3. What do you like/dislike about the IPMS/USA Journal? What would you do differently?

  4. What do you like/dislike about the IPMS/USA Website? What would you do differently?

  5. What do you like/dislike about the local chapter contests and what would you do differently?

  6. What do you like/dislike about the IPMS/USA national contests and what would you do differently?

  7. Do you feel that you are getting your moneys worth out of your annual dues? If not, why not?

  8. If you are a former IPMS/USA member, why did you leave and what changes would you like to see for you to come back?

  9. What other aspect of IPMS/USA would you like to address, good or bad?

Please email your responses back to tacair@tacair-press.com and I will share your thoughts with the review committee.

Conclusions

Is IPMS/USA dying? Not yet, but the decline in members and chapters is not healthy and now is the time to identify and make those course corrections needed to get the organization growing once again.

When I started this article, I had my own opinions about what was wrong with IPMS/USA. As I mentioned earlier, my own IPMS chapter was also considering withdrawing from the national organization. After talking with David Morrissette, I have a new-found respect for our E-Board and the levels of pain they go through to keep our organization moving. After reporting back to my chapter about the status and direction of IPMS/USA, the chapter has agreed to renew with the national organization for another year. Perhaps some of this insight will be useful to you as well.

I would like to thank David Morrissette for his candor and wish him and the entire E-Board my own thanks for what they endure and accomplish.

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