Seventy five of the questionnaires sent out to members asking for their opinion and suggestions for the future operation of AMPS, were returned. This gives a fair cross section of members and is about the same number of returns as for Council Elections. The following is a summary.
Not all the questions were answered by all the respondents; in fact not one question was answered by all 75. In the following text the figures in brackets are for the total number of replies received for the particular question being assessed.
FILM SHOWS - 46 (64) considered there were enough film shows, while 50 (67) agreed they would attend venues other than Pinewood. 21 favoured a West End venue followed by west London 8, Twickenham 7, Shepperton 7, Technicolor 4, BAFTA 1, UIP Hammersmith 1, and not-central 1. Thirty replies favoured Saturday evening as the best day and time for weekend showings followed fairly closely by 26 for Sunday morning and 23 for Sunday PM. There were 13 for Saturday afternoon and 1 for Monday evening. 54 (64) agreed that discussions with a speaker connected with the film was a good idea and 56 (65) said they would like to see an occasional classic movie.
ABOUT MEETINGS - 56 (65) were content with Sunday morning at Pinewood for the AGM. From the 9 replies not in favour of Pinewood or Sunday AM, there was no firm opinion of when or where it should be. 53 (57) said yes to having a guest speaker at the AGM, with one wanting the speech to be shorter! 36 (59) would be prepared to stay on after lunch for a film show or demonstration but 23 wouldn't. 47 (55) were prepared to pay for catering at meetings.
With reference to preferred venues for general and technical meetings, out of 69 answers, 27 said a studio, 21 west London, 20 central London and 1 west London to alternate with others. There were 10 suggestions for pub and social meetings, 2 said free beer! Other suggestions were for a quiz night, a celebrity guest eg AMPS Oscar winner, the location should be central London, a west London "transit lounge"-type meeting in the same venue every month - Tuesday or Wednesday, an annual BBQ with live music. One advised avoiding weekends, another was of the opinion that drink drive laws negated the idea of pub meetings and one though it best to "drop the (pub) meetings".
There was a fairly definite no to joining a group costing 250 for an excursion trip to a place of technical interest eg Futuroscope in France - 61 said no, 5 said yes.
For the AMPS 10th Birthday celebration, out of 48 replies, 23 would be prepared to pay 50 per head, 18 - 40/head, 4 - 60/head, 2 - 70/head and 1 - 30/head. Suggestions for ways of celebrating the 10th Anniversary were few and included a booklet of articles and achievements of AMPS and its members, membership certificates, T Shirts and polo shirts, a summer jazz boat outing.
INFORMATION - Of those replying members who are on line for Email, 29 said they would be pleased to accept mailouts in that form, 10 said no, so they must still prefer to have the good old postman call. 33 (50) said yes to attending training courses relevant to their jobs but not all made any decision as to what length courses should be. There was a good list of subjects suggested which will be taken on board for future discussion.
There were 24 suggestions and comments regrading the Newsletter. 9 commented that they thought it was very good. 4 suggestions were for a 'who's doing what' type column. Other suggestions were for a proper (?) letters page, an indepth studio and facility survey, more production mixer's reports on their films, interviews with award nominees, list of forthcoming productions, more how it was done, more equipment reviews, instructional pieces on recent projects, taking ads to pay costs, and finally chill out, more fun. It's a good list and the editors thank the respondents for their comments and ideas. However they point out that most of the suggestions will require greater participation by members contributing articles and supplying information.
PRESTIGE - On the subject of screen credits, 21 said they asked for the letters AMPS after their names but alarmingly 37 admitted they never asked. 5 said they had the request refused but 11 said that they had never had it refused. Of the 57 answers to the question whether AMPS should participate in trade exhibitions, 31 said yes, 26 no, but if a stand were taken 35 (46) were agreeable to help staff it.
Of the 52 replies to the question "Do you try to recruit new members?" 46 said they did, 6 said they didn't, two of whom said it hadn't occurred to them to do so, one of them thinking membership was a merit award.
Suggestions for raising the profile of AMPS were numerous and all excellent. 9 said AMPS should have and participate in awards - the subject of awards has been discussed several times by the council and at the 1997 AGM. The idea has not found favour partly because it's considered there are already enough awards, and more importantly, because the Association is not yet well enough equipped staffwise and financially to handle the organisation necessary to do justice to an award that would be meaningful in the industry. Perhaps in the near future there should be a rethink and an awards scheme reconsidered.
Three suggested that we look for exposure in trade magazines by placing articles about AMPS and writing letters to editors - others suggestions were to speak to Producer's and Director's Guilds - offer helpful advice to production companies - make TV companies aware of AMPS, make town-based post production houses aware of AMPS and recruit members there, more technical papers and guidelines for techniques, discussion groups on movie sound. Invite prominent people to talks and viewings, and make a promotional video. Perhaps the most mentioned was the question of sound credits and certainly every effort should be made as soon as possible to get the position of sound credits further up front.
Sponsoring student scholarships and bursary awards at colleges and universities was another suggestion and while laudable, like technical and merit awards, the Association has not yet got sufficient funding available. In the not too distant future perhaps.
The main suggestions of how to offer more to provincial and overseas members were to lower subscriptions, send more newsletters, tickets to cinemas in their areas, tape transcriptions of meetings including AGM (tapes of the meetings recorded have always been available free on request to members unable to attend).
The imaginative high tech suggestion of staging meetings on the internet with absentee members Emailing in questions should be considered seriously for the not too distant future. However it would be dependent upon the number of members 'on-line'.
FUTURE AIMS - This section produced the largest list of suggestions, all excellent and at least 95% of them being suggestions that the suggester could easily take action on personally - if all members were to do likewise we'd have a great Association. The following is a precis of the suggestions:
IN CONCLUSION - The AMPS Council thanks all those members who troubled to answers the questions and make suggestions. It is reassuring to know that the membership wants AMPS to grow and become a leader in its field. The present Council and surely future councils will do their best to see that the Association does just that.
Members should remember that while AMPS is a professional association it is organised and run without professional help. All the organisation. administration, newsletter production and post-outs are done by the Council as spare time activities. The more ambitious suggestions may have to wait a little but be assured all ideas have been taken on board and every effort will be made to put into practice the wishes of the membership as given in response to this questionnaire
BOB ALLEN