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 Previous: QRP Community: DXing--A Guide for Success Using QRP (Part 1 of 2) |  Next: In Brief |
 After President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, announced the instant availability of the new Amateur Radio Today CD, featuring narration by Walter Cronkite, KB2GSD, he had to fend off a pile-up of meeting attendees wanting a copy of the six-minute public service video. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 22, 2003 -- The ARRL Board of Directors met January 17-18 in Connecticut to discuss a wide range of topics including a timeline for future strategic planning, increasing League membership and raising the level of awareness in Washington, DC, of Amateur Radio issues at the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-03). ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, said a good cooperative spirit was shown and the overall mood of the meeting was upbeat.
Last summer the Board created an ad hoc committee on
strategic planning, which developed a set of recommendations for a new
strategic planning process and brought them to the Board meeting last week. Coy
Day, N5OK, West Gulf Division Director and chair of the committee, presented
the recommendations, noting that the last strategic plan was developed in 1994.
The Board will meet in a special leadership seminar in July, and in September
will convene for a special strategic planning retreat.
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ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, said strategic planning, especially in embracing new technologies, is vital for the League's health. "We're interested in planning for the League on a long-term basis to ensure that we're on the right track 5 to 10 years from now," he said. "We have to keep up with emerging technology. The High-Speed Multimedia working group, and the digital and software-defined radio committees have come up with some blockbuster ideas that I'm really excited about."
With a closer view in mind, a new ad hoc committee was
created to focus on the recruitment and retention of members. "This committee
is for the near term to explore ways to entice people to join the organization,"
Haynie said. "What can we do to make the ARRL more attractive to potential
members? The committee will explore the various avenues to answer this
question."
 ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, and President Haynie happily display the latest donations to the Amateur Radio Spectrum Defense Fund, presented by Dakota Division Director Jay Bellows, K0QB (right). The checks--$500 for the Spectrum Defense Fund and $500 for the ARRL Education and Technology Program (aka "The Big Project")--were from the estate of the late Thor Lyford, W0QIK. Lyford's sons asked that his equipment be sold and the proceeds donated to the League. |
ARRL International Affairs Vice President Rod Stafford, W6ROD, chairs the Recruitment and Retention Ad Hoc Committee. Members include Dakota Division Director Jay Bellows, K0QB; Midwest Division Director Wade Walstrom, W0EJ; West Gulf Division Director Coy Day, N5OK; Dakota Division Vice Director Twila Greenheck, N0JPH; Delta Division Vice Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q; New England Division Vice Director Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF and Hudson Division Vice Director Stephen Mendelsohn, W2ML.
The Board also spent a fair amount of time discussing
strategy for pursuing Amateur
Radio's interests at WRC-03, to be
held in Geneva, Switzerland from June 9 to July 4. The hottest topic concerning
ham radio is 7 MHz and the objective of a worldwide 300 kHz harmonized amateur
allocation. Sumner said the immediate need is to get the government side of the
US administration to support realignment of the amateur band and the shortwave
broadcasters in ITU Regions 1 and 3, which the FCC has already agreed to. "The
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA, which
oversees the federal government's use of radio spectrum) thinks that Region 1
and 3 administrators should take the leadership role on this issue and that we
[in Region 2] should make no proposal. We're trying to change that view. The US
has a responsibility to represent the interests of its amateur licensees whose
operation in the 40-meter band is severely impacted by the high-power
broadcasting stations in the other Regions. The US did so in 1979 and 1992 and
should do so again in 2003."
 Newly elected Great Lakes Division Vice Director Dick Mondro, W8FQT (left), and recently elected Great Lakes Division Director Jim Weaver, K8JE (center), receive Director's certificates from ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, during a session of the board meeting. |
In other governmental arenas, the Board updated ARRL's legislative positions for the 108th Congress. ARRL will work for a re-introduction of HR-4720, The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Consistency Act of 2002. The bill was originally sponsored by Rep Steve Israel (D-NY) and co-sponsored by Rep Greg Walden (R-OR), WB7OCE, and Rep Pete Sessions (R-TX). The legislation, which will receive a new number upon re-introduction, would require private land-use regulators--such as homeowners' associations--to "reasonably accommodate" Amateur Radio communication consistent with the PRB-1 limited federal preemption. PRB-1 now applies only to states and municipalities.
In other business, the Board:
 Members of the Hospital Disaster Support Communications System of Orange County, California, were awarded the ARRL National Certificate of Merit for 23 years of service to the community. Since 1980, the group, which supports 35 acute care receiving hospitals in Orange County, has responded to 75 communication emergencies and gone on stand-by for another 65 incidents. [Photos by Fried Heyn, WA6WZO] |
| Previous: QRP Community: DXing--A Guide for Success Using QRP (Part 1 of 2) | Next: In Brief |
