President
David Lockhart
My name is David Lockhart, and I am running for IPMS/USA President for 2024-2025.
I am currently one year into my 2-year term as president. I have thoroughly enjoyed this role and would like to continue for another term to complete the goals I’ve set. In addition to being president I have served 3 years as DLC and 2 years at RC for Region 3.
Over the years I’ve gotten to talk with many of the IPMS/USA members. That’s the best part of the job, getting to know fellow modelers. Once the paperwork is done, I always ask, “What are you currently working on at your bench?” Discussions can last for hours!! Sharing this great hobby with others is the best part of the job.
I have also been president of two IPMS chapters, IPSM Marietta Scale Modelers in Marietta, GA and IPMS Atlanta Scale Modelers in Atlanta, GA.
I have given seminars at each national since 2016, one of running an IPMS/USA chapter and another “Building Plastic Ship Sailing Models”. I was also chair of the seminars for the 2019 Nationals in Chattanooga.
As president of IPMS/USA I would like to continue the communication between the national organization and all the chapters. We are looking forward to a full, open schedule in 2024-2025 for chapter events. IPMS/USA is currently working on a new website which will make it easier for members to renew their membership, schedule events, etc. There is much we can all share to make our experiences even better. I will continue to practice the policy of ‘my door is always open’ and look forward to hearing from you so we can all make IPMS/USA even better.
Your support and vote would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
1st Vice President
Phil Peterson
Hello fellow IPMS members. My name is Phil Peterson and I am the current 1st Vice President. I am currently serving my 2nd term in this position and am running again for a third. My role is Industry Liaison and leader of the Reviewer Corps. This involves working with companies that support the hobby whether they are kit manufacturers, distributors, aftermarket companies or in the publishing trade.
The Reviewer Corps helps these companies by doing reviews of their products on our website and soon they will also be in the Journal. I have been a member of the Corps for many years and was the Shipping Clerk before I was elected to the 1st VP position. If any of you are interested in in joining up, please contact me at ipmsusa1stvp@ipmsusa.org.
I have been building since I was 6 starting with aircraft as my Dad served in the Air Force. I now will build pretty much anything but I do prefer things in 1/72nd scale.
My past IPMS history includes time as a club Chapter Contact, Webmaster and President. I am also a local and Nationals Judge as well as the Head Judge for CoMMiESFest.
I have enjoyed serving the Society and hope you will vote for me so I can continue in that capacity.
Thank you.
2nd Vice President
Len Pilhofer
As a life-long scale modeler one of my favorite things to do is attend local IPMS model shows and contests and even more so, the annual IPMS/USA national convention and contest. As someone who is intimately familiar with the planning and management of a national convention, I wish to take that experience and put it to work for the larger IPMS/USA membership. As Second Vice-President for IPMS/USA I feel that I will be able to improve the experience for all members and grow the convention to an event recognized around the world as one of the best scale modeling shows one can attend.
If elected, I will approach the office of 2nd VP with a view of how to improve the planning, management, and execution of the national conventions. I will take the fantastic work done by the current 2nd VP, John Bonanni, and guide the growth of a larger convention management enterprise. This will be an enterprise that members and local chapters can lean on as a source of information and support for executing a convention at the local level.
In 2022 the IPMS/USA Executive Board established the National Convention Steering Committee (NCSC). This committee’s mission is to standardize the planning, management, and execution of future national conventions. As a member of this committee, I have first-hand knowledge of the work that has been done to date as well as a solid understanding of the goals ahead of us in 2023 and beyond. There are many aspects of the national convention that can be streamlined and taken on by the national executive board and the NCSC. This will decrease the burden on local clubs and in-turn, hopefully increase the number of clubs willing to step forward to host a convention. There are many parts of the country that have not seen a convention in many years and some that have never hosted one at all. I, along with other members of the executive board, will take a deep look at what can be improved in this regard.
Thank you in advance for your support and I look forward to serving the members of IPMS/USA as your Second Vice-President.
Len Pilhofer
IPMS/USA #49932
Secretary
Rob Booth
First I’d like to extend my thanks to the membership that elected the current E-Board to office in 2021. We all appreciate your trust and support in allowing us to hold the reins for the past couple of years. I hope all of you feel we have made good on our promises to be transparent to the membership and work together to initiate programs to improve the IPMS/USA membership experience, grow the Society and stimulate discussion on all things scale modeling.
Since IPMS/USA began in 1964 we have evolved from a relatively small group of hobbyists interested in sharing hints, tips and new kit information, to a thriving Society of scale modeling artisans nearly 5,000 members strong. Long-time members will tell you that that journey has not always been easy, but through the years our collective love of the hobby has bridged any growing pains we have had to endure. During the past year and a half this E-Board has put forth several initiatives to act on input from the membership to build on and add to the programs passed on to us by previous IPMS/USA leadership.
Over the years, one of the key benefits of IPMS/USA membership has been to attend the IPMS/USA National Convention and participate in our National Model Contest with other members. The National Convention has been the annual focus on scale modeling in the US, and most of us have made life-long friends we’ve met at this geographically rotating event. Leading up to the pandemic in 2019-2020, participation and interest in attending had begun to plateau, if not decline. This board made the decision to charter a National Convention Steering Committee to provide strategic planning and leadership to allow for a continuous improvement of the convention experience for members and guests alike.
We also made the decision to provide for a comprehensive review and recommend changes to the IPMS/USA Constitution and By-Laws to help take the Society into the next 50 years in a more structured and planned manner. Those efforts should be presented to the membership very soon, if they haven’t already.
Lastly, in keeping with our pledge for transparency, we’re listening to the membership.
Many of you have written in with feedback and commentary on a myriad of subjects, including the C&BL Review, the judging discussion paper, the Journal and it’s contents, the National Convention, social media, and a host of other topics. We appreciate hearing from you, the members, and do our best to respond and act on your feedback and suggestions.
I would appreciate your vote this summer to return as the Secretary of IPMS/USA for another two years, and work together with the rest of the Executive Board and our sub-committees to continue making the IPMS/USA membership experience something that is valued by all members and participants in this great hobby of ours.
Director of Local Chapters
John Figueroa
I was in the US Navy for over 20 years, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. After retiring from active duty, I spent 25 years supporting the Navy and US Coast Guard in a variety of senior roles to include Command and Control, Intelligence, Communications, Ship Building, and Refueling of Nuclear Aircraft Carriers. During this time, I returned to college and received my bachelor’s in Computer Science and Master’s in Software Engineering. During my working life I concentrated on interpersonal communications for mission accomplishment. I have been an IPMS Chapter Make & Take Coordinator, Secretary, Vice President, President, and Regional Coordinator. In January 2022, I was very fortunate to fall into the IPMS Region 4 Coordinator position where I met incredible people from across the region. In October 2022 I was selected by the IPMS/USA Executive Board to fill a vacancy as the Director of Local Chapters. I believe that I have leveraged my previous experience to be responsive to the IPMS/USA Membership in this role. If elected as the Director of Local Chapters, I would continue to build a responsive organization that will bridge the IPMS/USA Membership with the IPMS/USA Executive Board.
IPMS Historian/Publications Director
Ro Annis
I am a member of the Chicago Sprue Stretchers and currently its treasurer. I am also the Advertising Manager and Publications Director/Historian for the IPMS/USA. In this capacity I manage various tasks for the IPMS/USA Journal. This ranges from managing communications with advertisers and clubs, sending out invoices, making sure event ads get placed in the right issue, pestering members to contribute articles, sending out PDF’s to folks from the archive and creating graphics as needed for the organization.
My background is essentially a creative one, I graduated with a Fine Arts degree and I work as a toy and game inventor. I am fluent in both 2D and 3D design. I work closely with Chris Bucholtz and John Heck to make sure the IPMS/USA Journal reaches your mailbox.
Last year I focused on finding more members to submit articles, which seems to have worked. I am also working to make sure we are printing articles that will reflect the growing diversity of modeling genres within our society. I still build models, right now I am on hiatus from military kits and building Gundam, Sci Fi and Mecha Musuem. I think I have brought improvements to the Journal and hope you will consider voting for me to be the Publications Director/Historian for another term.
Retention and Recruitment Secretary
David Knights
My name is David Knights and I am running for Retention and Recruitment Secretary. I am 61 years old and have a wife and two daughters. I am a practicing attorney in Louisville, KY I also act as IPMS/USA's pro bono legal counsel as needed I have been a member of IPMS/USA since 1982 or 83. I have attended 26 IPMS/USA national conventions. Since I have taken on the position of Retention and Recruitment Secretary IPMS has gained somewhere between 33% and 50% in its membership. The organization now stands at approximately 4700 members and I believe that it can get to over 5000 within the next two years. I have enjoyed my time on the Eboard and am in awe of my fellow members who give up their time to engage in the mundane and thankless work that needs to be done to keep the organization running. I do bi-weekly modeling podcast with Mike Baskette called Plastic Model Mojo.