[WARC] Interesting Numbers

Thu Jun 12 16:04:12 GMT 2008

Is it now my turn?   :-)

I will echo many of Jim's sentiments. Yes I like a good debate too. In
fact....I LOVE a good debate! But the "Leadership" at the meeting needs to
keep things moving along. You just cannot let topics ramble on, and on, and
on............................and on. Nothing wrong with business and a
program. Just get them under control. And that goes back to leadership. 

Also...ask La Crosse or Rochester's ham radio clubs and see if they have a
dwindling membership. And if they do not have one, go and attend a few of
their meetings. What are they doing that WARC is not?

I had a super VP by the name of Sue Brown. She too would assist greatly in
bringing in and scheduling programs etc. Not to mention; her making sure
that it was posted in the newspaper as well (that is probably still done).

As for Dick's cabin. I vote for February there. No bugs! Oh wait....no heat
either. Disregard my last transmission.

Les's Ham Gram is a great asset to the WARC. In fact, I have taken portions
of how he does the Ham Gram and applied it to the EAA 919 Newsletter (good
job Les!).

Perhaps ham radio as a whole is simply dying. (GASP!!!). I hope not though.
The recent tech. class had a variety of students. But a good portion of
those new hams took the class to fulfill a need. And frankly it may not to
have been to make ham radio a hobby and to attend meetings. But more just
for Sky Warm. Or Dive/Rescue. Some for a hobby (the young kids) but others
had a different purpose for amateur radio (IMHO).

Personally I love ham radio. I enjoy using it for emergencies (such as
during the search that I was involved in last weekend at Marshall MN). I
like my APRS...both on the ground and while flying. I too like ATV...not
"slow scan", ATV. I still think the WARC should look into an ATV repeater
for emergencies!  

Programs at meetings are good too. But I believe that they have to be tied
to amateur radio. I wish not to watch vacation programs....unless that
vacation was a ham radio expedition as an example. Not simply a flying
program. But a program showing flying with ATV or APRS. Again...the program
MUST be directly tied to ham radio.

Jim is right. Don't ask those who show up "how do we get more people
involved". Ask those that use to be involved "why they are not anymore". I
am certain too....you won't like some of the answers.

Respectfully submitted,

RLM / N0QK

-----Original Message-----
From: warc-bounces at lists.w0ne.org [mailto:warc-bounces at lists.w0ne.org] On
Behalf Of Jim Brown
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:29 AM
To: 'Winona Amateur Radio Club general discussion'
Subject: RE: [WARC] Interesting Numbers

Seeing I started this thread I will throw in my $.02 worth.

As a former club member I can tell you the meeting format is one of the
major reasons I haven't attended a club meeting in almost 5 years. I
enjoy a lively discussion as much as anyone but let the subject be radio
related. How can a club with so few members have an hours worth of
business every meeting?

Another issue I have is that the focus of the club is not on operating
events. Case in point is Field Day. Other than Len's plea for help there
has been little discussion about Field Day. How much chatter have you
seen about Field Day on this reflector? In the current issue of the
Hamgram the minutes indicated there was so little interest that 8 people
actually abstained from voting on a Field Day motion. There was a time
when the Field day Saturday night dinner attracted 20 plus people. Last
year it was four. Why are the numbers down? One thing I don't understand
is why the club meeting before Field Day is always at Dick's cabin.
Traditionally this is the lowest attended meeting of the year. I brought
this question up at one of the Friday night dinners and I was told
because June is always the month we have the meeting at Dick's cabin.
Hard to argue with that logic. It is difficult to promote an event when
there are only a few people at the meeting. It's great Dick has a
meeting at his cabin but wouldn't a different month make more sense?

Lastly if the club really wants to know why people don't join ask non
members and former members. You may not get the answers you want but at
least you will have the facts.

Jim NØWE

-----Original Message-----
From: warc-bounces at lists.w0ne.org [mailto:warc-bounces at lists.w0ne.org]
On Behalf Of Leslie Hittner
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 5:05 PM
To: Winona Amateur Radio Club general discussion
Subject: Re: [WARC] Interesting Numbers

ELIMINATE THE BUSINESS MEETINGS! Do the club's business a different way.
Concentrate on activities. If people are concerned about the "long"
meetings, why look for a place that allows even longer meetings? A time
from 7-9 is long enough - especially if you want young people to attend.

The "business meeting" answer has been staring us in the face for years.
Let's deal with it. People who "love" business meetings can come to the
board meetings. Keep the rest of the time to ham radio.

-Les, K0BAD

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Jefferson Jarvis" <jj at aprsworld.com>
To: "Winona Amateur Radio Club general discussion" <warc at lists.w0ne.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:11
Subject: Re: [WARC] Interesting Numbers

> On Wednesday 11 June 2008, Dick Lindner wrote:
> > I respond to Len's comments and second his comment on
meetings.  There
> > also needs to be variety in the meetings - some historical,
some "show
> > and tell" for newcomers, and some programs that perhaps have
nothing to
> > do with ham radio - the weather center visit was certainly a
good step.
>
> I'd love to do more show and tell at the meetings. I've
brought a few things
> this year, but haven't been able to show them. With the lights
going while
> the business meeting is still going, it doesn't make it very
easy to do that.
>
> > The "old days" also had hamshack visits.  It would be
unwieldy to have
> > all of the meeting attendees show up at someone's house at
the same
> > time.  But perhaps, if there were 3 or 4 people willing to
open their
> > shacks, and someone willing to coordinate the "round robin"
on the
> > meeting night by clock time, then the groups could be small
enough and
> > everyone could visit all 3 or 4 shacks.  What a kick that
would be!
>
> I would be happy to volunteer a "shack" visit to my work.
Electronics R&D,
> machine shop, and tiny amateur radio installation. And a
meeting run and
> facilities to host a meeting as well.
>
> > I have hopes for new hams to attend Field Day.  Perhaps if
we had a list
> > of names and telephone numbers, some members of the club
could make a
> > personal call to remind/invite the new hams to Field Day.
> >
> > HF and VHF contests used to be run by those interested with
a couple of
> > other hams showing up at a designated "contest station".
WB0HAD and
> > WB0PRK and I think N0BUI and myself did this a few times and
had a good
> > time.  I'm not sure we ever sent in the contest results, but
the whole
> > thing was a good time.
>
> Good ideas, Dick!
>
> -Jim KB0THN
> _______________________________________________
> WARC mailing list
> WARC at lists.w0ne.org 
> http://lists.w0ne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/warc

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