Business as Usual?

Although Scale ModelWorld has now been cancelled, it doesn’t mean that the business of operating IPMS (UK) has ground to a halt. Far from it. If anything, not having Scale ModelWorld to organise means that we can focus on other aspects of the Society year.

Within the next week or so, the next edition of the IPMS (UK) Magazine will be arriving on members’ doormats. It’s nearly a month later than usual but that’s because we had to hold the publication until we could be sure what the status of Scale ModelWorld would be in 2020. Whilst any of you that read this blog and operate online will already know the show has been cancelled, we are very aware that many of our members do not do so and their only regular connection with the news and activities of the Society is through the pages of the magazine. Despite it being an ‘old school’ printed publication, the magazine is the only form of communication that reaches every single member of IPMS (UK).

For some, the cancellation of Scale ModelWorld has meant an immediate change. The Scale ModelWorld Manager and the Competition Secretary for example can relax a little bit but there is still work to do in the background. It is also true that many of us wear more than one hat, so just because one aspect of our activities may have stopped, doesn’t mean our supplemental roles have stopped too. It is the nature of volunteer-run organisations that we rely on the willingness of those volunteers to be flexible and adaptable.

For other roles, the workload has remained fairly constant. The work of the Treasurer and Membership Secretary for example, carries on regardless of whether we hold Scale ModelWorld or not, as do other roles. There may be slightly less pressure than would be normal at this time of year, but the workload doesn’t alter that much.

The biggest impact on the Society at present is our ability to maintain a high profile within the wider hobby. The lack of any shows, not just Scale ModelWorld, means that we are not running membership stands and the many IPMS (UK) Branches that organise their own events are likewise unable to promote themselves by running popular events.

Instead, we are ever more reliant on the published and virtual world to keep the name of IPMS (UK) in the minds and eyes of the rest of the modelling community rather than being able to promote the real value of our community and camaraderie in person. Each and every one of you contributes in some way to the Society, even if you don’t think your contribution is important. Without that constant level of support from individual modellers we would not have achieved what we have over the past 57 years.

We are strong enough to weather the current ‘unpleasantness’ and we will be back in full show mode as soon as we can, but in the meantime take a few moments from time to time and consider what IPMS means to you, what led you to us and what keeps you within our community. It’s worth it and it will remain so for many years to come.

John Tapsell

IPMS (UK) Publicity Officer