The mission of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is to serve the interests of motorcyclists by pursuing, promoting and protecting the future of motorcycling. This is the primary reason I went to work for the association in 1994 as its Washington lobbyist.
Although I chose to leave the staff of the AMA in 1998, I continued to promote the interests of motorcyclists and remained a dues-paying member of the association to help ensure that motorcyclists would have a strong and effective voice in the preservation of the freedoms that so many riders take for granted.
Earlier this year, I was named chief executive officer of the AMA. Honored as I was to be entrusted with the leadership of the AMA, I quickly came to realize that I had returned to a much different organization than the one I had left just eight years previously. The AMA’s core mission had become diluted because it had taken on more than it could reasonably accomplish. Today, the AMA attempts to be a rights protector, publisher, member services provider, sanctioning body, promoter, entertainment firm, event management company and sports sponsorship and marketing outfit.
The AMA has never had the appropriate resources or infrastructure to be all of these things.I recently presented a new vision for the organization to the association’s Board of Directors. With the support of the Board, over the course of the next 24 months, the AMA will complete a thorough refinement of its business model as well as a comprehensive restructuring of its resources. The primary objectives are as follows:
Rededicate the Association to Its Core Mission – First, and foremost the AMA is a membership organization. We must provide service to our members in the pursuit, promotion and protection of the future of motorcycling.Strengthen and Improve the Menu of Member Benefits’– This effort begins with being a better partner to the motorcycle industry in general. We must be humble and work harder to develop and maintain relationships. We must be more collaborative and do more to take the needs of our partners into consideration. We must also recognize what motorcyclists want from their association and provide an enhanced menu of benefits that will attract greater numbers to the AMA.
Team Environment and Staff Accountability– Each department and staff member will be responsible for adding value and benefits to the AMA membership. Staff must work together as a team rather than individual departments competing with each other for attention and resources. I have described this to staff as OneAMA. This OneAMA concept provides a unifying theme that will drive staff development. Our members and our partners deserve a unified support team.
Improved Communications – As an advocacy organization, the AMA should have top-notch communications functions. The ability of the AMA to communicate both internally and externally will be enhanced and the organization will consolidate communications efforts so that we can present coherent and consistent messages. During our restructuring you will see major improvements in these areas.
Government Relations – The government relations activity is the marquee benefit of the AMA and must be resourced accordingly. We will be exploring a variety of options to enable the association to be even more effective in protecting the rights of motorcyclists. We hope to expand the size and scope of the Government Relations Department and plan to increase the resources we have on the ground dedicated to our lobbying efforts. This includes establishing a greater voice in Washington, as well as regional and local representation.
Racing Services – We are getting out of the racing promotions business and are already actively searching for series promoters for all race disciplines except for AMA Supercross. We recognize that this transition will not occur overnight. In the future, we will continue to sanction events and provide operational staff to assist qualified series promotions groups in the growth of the sport.
To expand on this last point, success in the AMA’s racing endeavors has proven elusive because the AMA has mingled its role as sanctioning body with its role as series promoter. This has confused and frustrated the motorcycle racing community and as a result, the AMA has regularly found itself at the center of racing controversy. This has caused the motorcycle industry not to support the AMA to the degree that it could. This lack of support has impeded the AMA’s ability to grow to its full potential and has therefore kept the organization from being as effective as it could be executing its core mission: pursuing, promoting and protecting the future of motorcycling.
The entertainment business is inherently very risky and as a nonprofit service organization we do not have resources to risk promoting series and events. Other sanctioning and series promotions organizations have hundreds of staff members to manage only a handful of series. By comparison, our racing infrastructure currently consists of 27 full time staff members who are managing 46 various types of racing activities.
It is important to point out that our plan is not a negative response to a difficult problem but is instead a comprehensive plan for positive change. The decision to get out of the series promotion business is not an abandonment of the AMA’s long racing tradition. It will transition the commercial aspects of racing to responsible groups and companies that will have the required resources and expertise to foster growth.
Over the coming months we will identify and engage partners who have the infrastructure to grow the racing disciplines that we wish to continue to govern as a sports sanctioning body. Entities who are interested in securing the promotional rights to any of our racing series are encouraged to contact us at their earliest convenience.
Now that our objectives have been clarified, we know that others may have insightful ideas that could help us improve our service levels and assist with our future growth. In order to be a better provider of services to motorcyclists, we will be reaching out to our partners in the motorcycling community to seek guidance and input. We have established a special email address for questions or comments and I encourage you to write us at oneama@ama-cycle.org.
I have a great deal of optimism about the future of the AMA. There is a clear realization among the AMA's leadership that change is essential. We are rededicating ourselves to our core mission of serving the interests and protecting the rights of motorcyclists. In doing so, the AMA will transform itself into a world-class member services organization. Challenging as it may be for our staff and stakeholders, the process has already begun. The value of the vision will be determined by its execution.
Ride safe.
–American Motorcyclist Association
