RCFlightDeck needs your help to keep it around for clubs and event organizers in our hobby.

A BIT OF BACKGROUND

Michael Kranitz, co-founder of RCUniverse and founder of RCPilot Magazine, started RCFlightDeck in 2012 in order to consolidate events in our hobby into a single place where pilots, spectators, fans and vendors could all easily locate and register for events.  As the service grew, members of our hobby who participate in other sports and hobbies began to ask whether we could make the software accessible to those industries (e.g. archery, bodybuilding, fitness, golf, etc.). 

From late 2012 through 2014, Michael launched nearly a dozen new sites, each catering to a different sport, hobby or market.  In 2015, Michael and COO, Joe Conti, entered the corporate planning market and formed Eventsquid LLC (Eventsquid.com) to serve as the parent company for all of our sites.  Since then, our corporate business has grown significantly and we've taken on investors, who have asked us WHY we keep RCFD going. The site has been kept alive solely through contributions from Michael and the support team at Eventsquid. Notwithstanding Michael's 45-year history in the hobby, the company, Eventsquid, cannot justify keeping the site in operation without support from the hobby's largest actor, the AMA.  

Since 2013, RCFlightDeck has handled nearly 18,000 pilot registrations and helped generate more than $860,000 for clubs and RC event hosts. We currently have more than 15,000 registered members. The service is world class but without marketing or other funds (we do not have the resources to devote to selling ads, etc.), the small bit of revenue we earn on each registration (around $1.50/registration on a paid event) is far too little to rationalize our devoting the resources to support it.

We have been in discussions at every level of the AMA for years but our belief is that the AMA does not appreciate the value that RCFlightDeck provides to clubs, pilots and event organizers.  So, we've reached the end of our runway.  As much as we would like to keep the site going for a hobby, Eventsquid has investors and employees to answer to.  The only way for us to rationalize continuing this service is to have the AMA license the software from us and offer it as a member benefit.  They can re-brand it as they wish and keep any revenue they generate by operating the site; we just need to demonstrate to our investors that the site is worth keeping alive.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

By signing this petition, you are telling the AMA that you believe RCFlightDeck is not only essential to your organization’s events but also that you believe that RCFlightDeck’s core offering is highly complementary to the AMA’s membership offerings and extremely beneficial to our hobby.  

Your signature is your way of asking the AMA’s executive council to sit down with RCFlightDeck and figure out a way to continue this service for our hobby. 

Thanks for your support!  I believe that given a real opportunity to sit down with the AMA armed with the will of the most active members in our hobby, AMA and RCFlightDeck can continue to provide the great service you've grown to rely upon over the years.