BasicMed renewal question

[WaynePierce]

I'm contemplating giving up my AOPA membership for a number of reasons. My question is; Can you take the renewal "quiz" without being an AOPA member? I've been BasicMed since the beginning but I've been a member of AOPA as well.

The're raising their rates this year for administration costs, has no real benefit for me with the exception of BasicMed is not appreciated. I may start a membership with EAA for the government lobbying efforts. I watched a video with Mark Baker this morning and see he's buying a Staggerwing. (maybe that's the administration cost, Mark needed a raise for his Staggerwing. Beautiful aircraft and I would fly one as well if I could afford one and afford the upkeep...)

[Steve0715]

https://basicmed.mayo.edu/
 

yep, an option

[Fly Boomer]

23 minutes ago, WaynePierce said:

The're raising their rates this year for administration costs,

Baker's predecessor was making in the neighborhood of $600,000.  I'm guessing Baker is making at least that.

[neilpilot]

To answer your question, i.e. "Can you take the renewal "quiz" without being an AOPA member?".

The answer is YES

[Marauder]

Baker's predecessor was making in the neighborhood of $600,000.  I'm guessing Baker is making at least that.

This is why I dropped AOPA. Baker’s salary is more than many Fortune 500 CEO salaries.




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[Marauder]

I'm contemplating giving up my AOPA membership for a number of reasons. My question is; Can you take the renewal "quiz" without being an AOPA member? I've been BasicMed since the beginning but I've been a member of AOPA as well.
The're raising their rates this year for administration costs, has no real benefit for me with the exception of BasicMed is not appreciated. I may start a membership with EAA for the government lobbying efforts. I watched a video with Mark Baker this morning and see he's buying a Staggerwing. (maybe that's the administration cost, Mark needed a raise for his Staggerwing. Beautiful aircraft and I would fly one as well if I could afford one and afford the upkeep...)

Great question. I’m coming up for renewal and dropped my AOPA membership.


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[Fly Boomer]

12 minutes ago, Marauder said:

This is why I dropped AOPA. Baker’s salary is more than many Fortune 500 CEO salaries.

That is astonishing.

[Pinecone]

However those Fortune 500 CEOs have golden parachutes and stock options.  Their salary is NOT what they make.

[exM20K]

1 hour ago, Fly Boomer said:

That is astonishing.

truly.  it appears this organization has become a vehicle for enriching the top employees.  

mark Baker's bio from AOPA website:

Prior to his appointment at AOPA, Baker served in numerous senior executive roles, including chief operating officer at Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, president and CEO of outdoor outfitter Gander Mountain Company, and chief merchandizing officer and executive vice president for The Home Depot. Most recently, he served as CEO of Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp., a leading retailer of home improvement and garden products.

Ok, fine.  these are for-profit companies with, i'm sure, well-established performance metrics. Quite a bit different from AOPA.

 

He uses his extensive business experience to help AOPA build value for its members, with a special emphasis on aligning association resources with member priorities.

Uh Huh.  Show your work.  This is NRA-level astonishing. I serve as president of our State dealer association with my compensation approximately $1,628,359 less than Mr. Baker's.  I must be doing it wrong.

Thanks for posting.

-dan

 

[exM20K]

Regarding Scott's Miracle-Gro... The former owner of the company owned a Bravo that I frequently saw at KBED when I worked up that way in the early 2000's.  It was painted Miracle Gro yellow and had a tail number ending in MG.  (there: Mooney Content!)

[GeeBee]

Lobbying is not as easy as it looks. Ask ALPA

[carusoam]

I used AOPA to help get through my health issues…

The how to… getting a Class III SI…

and their meds list…

Still read the mag…

I appreciate their work in Washington… Basic Med.

I also use electronic bill pay… so I don’t spend much time thinking about the costs of flying….  
 

PP thoughts only, not a finance guy…

Best regards,

-a-

 

[Marauder]

However those Fortune 500 CEOs have golden parachutes and stock options.  Their salary is NOT what they make.

AOPA has golden parachutes and deferred compensation for retiring executives. They are reported differently since AOPA is “non-profit”. You need to dig into their IRS filings for the details. AvWeb did an article a while back on it.

Take a look at the “retirement package” for Boyer in the article below. He clearly made at least $3.4M as part of his retirement package. Probably more since Fuller refused to answer what Boyer’s retirement compensation was for 2010 and beyond.

Fuller made $582,000 in 2010 according to the filed Schedule J. I sure would love a job where my salary tripled in 12 years as it has for the AOPA CEO.

https://www.avweb.com/news/an-inside-look-at-aopa-expenses-and-salaries/

As someone who was considered an “insider” by the SEC, I got to see a fair amount of executive compensation data. When I casually looked at AOPA’s, my view of what this organization was changed.

On the other hand, I saw EAA as much as an advocate for GA. And when I looked at their compensations, they look aligned with what I would expect for companies/organizations of that size. Plus, they put on a pretty nice event every year.




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[carusoam]

Why does the CFO work an extra 2.5hrs per week…

First guy in the door, last guy out?

I bet Mr. Pelton doesn’t stop working after 35hrs… 

Best regards,

-a-

[Marauder]

Why does the CFO work an extra 2.5hrs per week…
First guy in the door, last guy out?
I bet Mr. Pelton doesn’t stop working after 35hrs… 
Best regards,
-a-

Someone has to figure out where to spend all that membership dues.


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[rbp]

“non-profit“ does not mean “low compensation”

[MikeOH]

On 1/25/2023 at 2:39 PM, Pinecone said:

However those Fortune 500 CEOs have golden parachutes and stock options.  Their salary is NOT what they make.

Well, golly gee, and good for them.

Has no effect on my rather low opinion of how much the AOPA oligarchs are making!  The magazine is of far lower quality than in the past, and they even went 'newsprint' cheap on the paper a few years back.

We shall see when my renewal comes around next August, but after 45 years of continuous AOPA membership I may be done with them.  I joined EAA a few years ago and am much happier with their pub (still cheap paper!) and organization.

[Fly Boomer]

21 minutes ago, MikeOH said:

The magazine is of far lower quality than in the past, and they even went 'newsprint' cheap on the paper a few years back.

I first joined in the 1960s, and I can assure you the magazine is better now.

[MikeOH]

34 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

I first joined in the 1960s, and I can assure you the magazine is better now.

Well, I joined in 1977 and I can assure you the magazine is worse now.

You do realize that both of us are expressing opinions, right??  My or your 'assurance' doesn't make it a fact.

[PeteMc]

13 hours ago, MikeOH said:

and they even went 'newsprint' cheap on the paper a few years back.

The paper and printing costs for any magazine is exorbitant.  I'm continually surprised they don't actively promote people changing to the App for the electronic version of the magazine. 

 

[Fly Boomer]

22 minutes ago, PeteMc said:

The paper and printing costs for any magazine is exorbitant.  I'm continually surprised they don't actively promote people changing to the App for the electronic version of the magazine. 

 

I suggested an "electronic only" subscription at a lower cost.  The "electronic only" thing would be easy, but the "lower cost" is not going to fly.

[MikeOH]

1 hour ago, PeteMc said:

The paper and printing costs for any magazine is exorbitant.  I'm continually surprised they don't actively promote people changing to the App for the electronic version of the magazine. 

 

Oh, it’s only a matter of time before Baker forces electronic only… and we get, “your dues would have gone up even more if hadn’t taken away the print version”

As @Fly Boomer says, it won’t be lower cost!

[exM20K]

54 minutes ago, MikeOH said:

Oh, it’s only a matter of time before Baker forces electronic only… and we get, “your dues would have gone up even more if hadn’t taken away the print version”

As @Fly Boomer says, it won’t be lower cost!

I don’t know about that.  They have been sending me AOPA Pilot for years after I let my membership lapse.  No doubt their advertising rate card is influenced by how many copies go out.

I recently listened to a very interesting podcast from Sporty’s with the new owner of flying magazine.  His business model is interesting as explained…. Big content library, which is worth something for sure, but also a focus on subscription revenue rather than advertising.  He intends to do this with more expensive subscriptions in return for high quality content.  I hope he succeeds.  I will update with a link if I can find it.. 

 

edit:  https://www.sportys.com/blog/episode-42-why-ga-is-experiencing-a-renaissance-with-flying-magazines-craig-fuller/

-dan

[Fly Boomer]

3 minutes ago, exM20K said:

He intends to do this with more expensive subscriptions in return for high quality content.  I hope he succeeds.  I will update with a link if I can find it.. 

My observation is that 99% of the populace buys based on cost alone.  His "quality is everything/damn the cost" business model is unlikely to succeed.  Although, as I type this, I have noticed that their content is more and more aimed at the corporate biz jet market which doesn't seem to care about cost, so it might work.  I'm never going to own (or ride in) a biz jet, so I dropped my subscription.

[EricJ]

3 hours ago, PeteMc said:

The paper and printing costs for any magazine is exorbitant.  I'm continually surprised they don't actively promote people changing to the App for the electronic version of the magazine. 

This is why Flying magazine's transition to Bigger, Glossier, Slicker with even more, heavier paper has puzzled me.   It seemed like it became more about glitz than folksy or informative articles about flying, so I cancelled my subscription.   Given the current transition is to more electronic distribution, the format change just seemed inexplicable to me.