August 9th, 2025

IPMS/USA ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order on August 9th, 2025 at 9:00am EST by Phil Peterson for the purpose of reporting to the membership the actions of the Executive Board over the preceding year, the current status of the Society, and goals for the ensuing year.

 

Welcome and Introductions

President Phil Peterson welcomed everyone and introduced the members of the Executive Board and Staff.

Executive Board Reports

• Phil Peterson, President, gave his report highlighting the continued success of the Ralph Forehand Scholarship, noting that three scholarships were able to be awarded this year. A data manager has been added to the staff in order to help use the data accumulated to better grow and improve the society. Accomplished goal of posting the duties and responsibilities of all board positions on the website for members to see. Plans to help transition any new Eboard members into their roles and hopefully build more models.

 

• John Noack, 1st Vice President, reported the review program continues to grow and be successful with 357 reviews completed for the year as of July 25th. Eduard is rejoining the program and AMMO is joining. Hopes to add Mecha/Gundam suppliers to the review process as it continues to be a growing field in the hobby.

 

• Scott Hackney, 2nd Vice President, gave his report. A National Convention Website has been created so that host chapters will no longer have to create their own. A Special Edition Convention Journal has been created for those attending the Convention, this issue is in addition to the regular issues and will not count towards the six yearly issues members receive. General and Class Specific rules have been updated this year, will be reviewing feedback from the after action review survey on these updates. New Class IX introduced for Gunpla and Mecha models as this section of the hobby continues to grow. Judges were once again wearing their ribbons this year to help ensure that only judges were present in the room during judging. The awards show has been revised to improve the flow of the program and reduce the time in response to feedback received from the previous convention. Question was asked if the data collected from the convention registration was preserved to which Scott Hackney responded that yes it is.

 

• Mike Oberholtzer, Treasurer, reported on the financial status of the society and his activities stating that the financial status of the society continues to be strong. The modeling industry has stepped up and sponsored a lot of the convention which has helped a lot. The 60th anniversary membership special converted many members to three year memberships. Membership is our most important income source. The finances of the society were presented for those present to review. In 2025 we will lose some money due to the 60th anniversary giveaway however this was expected, we will be close to breaking even and our reserve fund remains strong.

 

• Joe Terry, Secretary, reported on his activities since being brought on last September. The majority of which being spent on learning the role and working with the other Executive Board members. Focusing on raising awareness for IPMS Special Interest Groups (SIGs), has worked with Eugenie Taylor Ray on ways to promote SIGs using social media to let those not currently in SIGs know of their existence.

 

• Bob Delaney, Director of Local Chapters gave his report next. Assumed the role following the resignation of John Figueroa. Currently have 215 active chapters, gained three new chapters and three more are in the process of forming. Drafted a new Chapter Startup Tips document for the use of those interested in starting a new chapter.

 

• Ro Annis, Publications Director and Historian, reported that the Journal is now back on schedule thanks to the work of the volunteer team that’s been assembled and is using a collaborative system that has been implemented. Journal staff hold video meetings weekly to go over all aspects of the journal. Journal advertising invoicing is also up to date.

 

• Eugenie Taylor Ray, Director of Social Media, gave her report. Focus has been making our social media platforms a positive place for people to interact as well as for the organization to receive feedback. Facebook is currently our primary platform for social media engagement. Currently need more content for YouTube which can come from volunteers who send in videos on their local shows and other events. Wants to make use of other social media groups and communities that are already established to promote IPMS/USA amongst those communities.
• David Knights, Recruitment & Retention Secretary, reported on the current status of membership for the organization. Wants to reach 6,000 members in the next year. Has been evaluating ways to reach modelers who are not currently IPMS/USA members.

 

Staff Reports

• Nancy Kennedy-Hackney, National Office Manager and Event System Administrator, gave her report. Recently assumed the National Office Manager position upon the retirement of Marie in April. Has been working on an inventory of past journals and IPMS merchandise for possible online sale. Has also been documenting procedures for the position for those who assume the position after her. As Event System Administrator, has setup numerous convention related events, sent out announcements and reminders as well as invoices and reminders for payment and trained registration personnel for pre and walk in registration. Highlighted the importance of email and having a correct and up to date email in the system.

2026 National Convention Presentation

John Figueroa, Chairman of the 2026 National Convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana presented on the status of the convention and planning that had been done so far.

Q&A Session

Q: A lot of local chapters have members that are not members of IPMS/USA, how do we encourage them to become members?

A: David Knights answered that it would be great if local chapters would encourage their members to be IPMS/USA members and that he has been encouraging local chapters and regions to offer discounts at their shows for IPMS/USA members.

Q: Have we considered advertising at local events or sending out materials to be displayed at local and regional events to recruit IPMS/USA membership?

A: David Knights answered that he has sent some chapters a package of old journals and membership applications to be displayed at their show but there is no current program.

Q: The deadlines for when to submit event dates to the journal are not easy to find. Can these be put in the journal somewhere?

A: Ro Annis answers that yes that can be done. Previously the focus was simply getting the journal back on schedule and they can now start working on these issues.

Q: Have there been any thoughts to increasing the seed money provided by IPMS/USA for regional shows?

A: David Knights answered that it is certainly a subject up for discussion.

Q: Is the registration system through Wild Apricot capable of being used by local chapters for their shows?

A: Mike Oberholtzer answered that it has not been looked into at this time and that we will look into it. Scott Hackney informed everyone that some potential issues could be that WA consists of IPMS/USA members and a lot of local shows have non-IPMS/USA members entering. Also that the model registration system database has to be built for each event, and one person is currently doing that work but we are looking at ways in which this can be remedied for local use.

Nothing Further the meeting was adjourned at 10:17am EST.

Following the business meeting the 2027 National Convention Bid was presented by Curt Haskell on behalf of Huntsville Plastic Modelers Society in Huntsville, Alabama. The Executive Board voted unanimously to approve the bid.

These meeting minutes are submitted on 8/14/2025 by Joe Terry, IPMS/USA Secretary