On February 11, 2025 AMC President and CEO Nicole Zussman and Scartlet Batchelor, Vice-President and Chief Growth Officer, gave a presentation titled New York Growth Strategy wherein they laid out a multi-faceted plan of action to increase the club’s presence in the greater New York area. Here is a summary of my notes from the meeting; there may be inaccuracies on certain points.
Most importantly, the club is hiring one full time person and two part-time employees to manage many or most of the items on the action plan. Among their responsibilities will be to organize and programming in the New York area, specifically in the five boroughs and at Harriman State Park, and which will include several dozen staff-led hikes, urban walks and bicycle rides.
Six “speaker series” events (public presentations) will be organized.
A 40-person Coach bus will be hired to transport hikers from New York City to Harriman State Park from May through October.
The visitor’s center at Reeves Meadow will become the central hub for AMC operations.
Reeves Meadow may include a “gear library” of equipment for loan to the public as part of the club’s mission to foster equity in the outdoors.
New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Baltimore will be the areas to focus on going forward. The growth plan for the greater New York City area will be model used in these other cities; this is not a “pilot” program.
AMC is virtually unknown in the New York City area, and we’ve got to change that. We’ll spend $50,000 for online advertising (Google and Bing).
Earn local media recognition, whether through the New York Times of local outlets: we need to let people know who we are.
New York-North Jersey chapter precipitous decline over the past 25 years: membership declined from 20,000 to 8,500. More importantly the number of leaders declined from 325 to 106. Goal is to add 1,770 members to the New York chapter by the end of the year.
Board of Directors believes increasing the number of easy and relaxed activities will increase participation and membership. (Query how was this established?)
New York has been surprisingly difficult to fund raise within; a tight-knit donor community. We must do more to partner with local groups, including the Bronx Zoo, Parks and Trails New York, New York-New Jersey Trails Conference, others. We must do more to network in spaces where elected leaders and society influencers exchange ideas and connect. We must show up consistently and repeatedly to build our reputation and establish that AMC is a organization to be trusted. We can’t simply show up and expect other organizations to work with us when we have not put in the spade work to establish our bone fides. The work we do on the trails in New Hampshire and our conservation work in Maine is not enough; we must get boots on the ground and establish our street credibility with these organizations.
Our Mission Messaging is key:
Our target audience will be (A) 20-something outdoor enthusiasts; (B) young families, and (C) outdoor seniors, who represent a significant segment (12.5%)
We’re hiring more staff to engage state and local government on issues at the core of our mission.
Although giving up Baker Camp in Harriman State Park was a disappointment, we’re still committed to owning or operating new facilities and developing our footprint. Any new facility must be within a one hour drive from an area with a population of at least one million, and no more than 20 minutes from public transportation.
