IN-Newsletter
Vol 26, No. 14
April 8, 2003
Upcoming Meetings
April 12th in St. Louis, MO at 8:30am
Volunteer Resources Committee
April 26th in Kansas City, MO at 8:30am
A&F Committee
Production/Editorial
The May/June 2003 issue of QEX; a new title, YASME: The Danny Weil and
Colvin Radio Expeditions, and the new edition of The ARRL's Tech Q&A
have been released to the printer.
We checked page proofs for the new edition of Now You're Talking!
Sales & Marketing
Product Fulfillment Supervisor, Zoe Belliveau reports there are almost
1,500 copies of Now You're Talking, 5th edition, on backorder. This
includes Dealer and Individual customer orders. Steve Capodicasa and
his staff conducted a quarterly physical inventory the week of April 1.
No orders were shipped during two days of this activity but we are happy
to report that we are back up to date with order processing.
We have mailed 260 letters through the US mail to June membership
expirees who have signed up for our Annual Auto renewal Program
notifying them that their credit card expiration date has passed. Last
month we emailed this information to May expirees. We are trying US
mail this round to determine if the response will be better using postal
mail versus email notification or if it makes any difference at all.
Deb Jahnke provided member mailing return statistics for the January and
February membership mailing. The mailings thus far have performed
approximately as expected. However, the analysis was taken a step
further and all recipients of the mailing were checked against our
database to determine if, after the mailing had been received, they had
joined through other mechanisms. In both mailings, a significant number
(over 100 from each mailing) of individuals opted to join on the Web,
forgoing the premium book offer.
The Advertising staff (Deb Jahnke, Joe Bottiglieri and Carol Patton) met
with Graphic Designer/Production Specialist Diane Szlachetka and
Marketing Manager, Bob Inderbitzen to further streamline the process
from insertion order to finished ad. We found several ways to
consolidate paperwork and better safeguards to ensure that all
individuals who need to see ads in progress are in the loop.
Bob Inderbitzen and Dennis Motschenbacher attended the AES Superfest in
Milwaukee over the weekend. There was one big lesson confirmed at this
event: At a small show, we will not take many memberships unless the
folks working the booth ask for them. Bob was rather aggressive - in a
pleasant way -- asking nearly each visitor to renew or join. The effort
paid off: Year 2003, 41 memberships (19 new/lapsed and 22 renewals),
Year 2002, 24 memberships (23 new/lapsed and 1 renewal). The event was
significantly smaller than in previous years. There were just over 800
attendees this year, vs. the 1200 to 1500 in the last couple of years.
Still, we took more memberships simply by asking. Dennis
Motschenbacher, Director Dick Isely, W9GIG, and SM Don Michalski, W9IXG
all helped out with staffing the exhibit and meeting with members.
The exhibit was spiced up a bit and looked good in the eyes of our
members and the show sponsor. There were many nice comments made about
the video, Amateur Radio Today, which has been well circulated and used
in the Milwaukee area. Folks are using it at club meetings, ARES
demonstrations, schools, civic meetings, etc. We had the video playing
at the booth--and there were always a couple people watching it from
start to finish. Reactions to the video were always excellent. The
most frequently made comment about the video..."it's just the right
length."
Dick Isely had some parting words for Dennis and Bob as the show wrapped
up. He said, "Gee...come back again. You guys make this easy--I didn't
have to do anything!" meaning he had plenty of time to take care of the
many challenging duties of being an ARRL Division Director.
Staffer RoseAnn Lawrence has a new job function with a front lobby
location. The goal of moving her to the lobby is to provide more
one-on-one contact with visitors to increase book and ARRL product
sales. Since the duties have taken on a much heavier sales emphasis,
she will be reporting to Sales Manager Deb Jahnke.
With the speedy assistance of Diane Szlachetka, a special
attention-getting postcard listing the reasons for advertising in June
QST, the Field Day issue, is going to our advertiser list. The postcard
features a great design, including the Field Day Logo. The card also
will inform advertisers of new reservation and materials deadline dates.
Kathy Capodicasa and Deb Jahnke spent a portion of last Friday afternoon
beta testing the Siebel version of a web store. Numerous comments were
passed to developers.
During the week, Deb also teleconferenced with our Ingram Service Rep
and Ingram's promotional representative. Our volume with Ingram, a
national book distributor, has been steadily increasing and several of
our titles will be included in the Fall/Winter 2003 issue of PTR
(Professional, Technical Reference) publication. Ingram distributes this
publication to libraries as well as various technical schools, colleges
and technical organizations.
On a sad note, Membership Fulfillment's Cathy Stepina's brother passed
away last week. Our sympathies go out to her and her family.
Membership Services
Awards Branch
WAS QSL Cards Checked 100
WAS Certs. (1200 QSLs F/C) 24
WAS Certs. (650 QSLs ES/C) 13
Was Certs. (Replacements-No QSLs) 2
L/T Member Inquiries 4
A-1 Operator Nominations 7
A-1 Operator Certs. 5
VUCC Initial Apps. 3
Grids 403
Awards Mailed 21
HF Awards Mgr. Appt.: John Dunnington, G3LZQ for RSGB. Also ordered the
latest batch of 50- and 60-year member plaques. Processing Status:
Current or up to three weeks. For the coming week-WAC QSL card
checking, ship 5BWAS plaques, compile the latest VUCC award recipient
list for June QST, RCC, OTC, and Extra Class certificates, mail out
awards processed this week, continued VUCC awards processing/mailing,
and on-going training on Siebel to update members records for long term
member awards.
DXCC Branch
Weekly Report
April 6, 2003
Beginning Cards 130,888
Cards Received 12,040
Cards Processed 22,286
Ending Cards 120,642
Applications Pending 1,081
Processing Time 7.8 Weeks
Year-to-date (2003)
Cards Received 137,156
Cards Returned 222,658
QRPs Issued this week 1
QRP's Issued total 290
DXCC is currently mailing applications received on February 10, 2003.
DXCC is currently entering cards received on February 18, 2003.
Contest Branch
Wrote and prepared for Production the special article for June QST
regarding the new Class F station. January VHF Logs Received page was
finalized. Data entry for DX Contest paper logs continued. The
160-meter results article was finalized and sent to Production and Web
Services.
QSL Branch
QSL service status: There is a delay of one week due to staff absence.
Cards mailed year to date as of 04/06/03 - 411,900. No cards were
mailed this week. Thanks to HQ Staffers who filled in as Tour Guide in
Heather Dzamba's absence. Heather has returned to work on light duties
only.
W1AW
Joe Carcia had to replace a crashed hard drive on a PC in Studio Three.
He continued processing regular W1AW QSL card requests. Joe also did
some studio wiring maintenance to improve on the PC networking for
contesting/logging.
Scott Gee worked on slow and fast code practice files for the month of
April. He continues with assembly of the donated Elecraft K2 QRP
transceiver. Scott also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5
PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2003): $4,303.
Field & Educational Services
A successful QSO was held at the National Space Centre in England.
Rosalie and Steve reviewed the current NWS MOU, and asked Chris for his
thoughts. She and John compiled some public service reports for use in
lobbying in California for PRB-1.
EmComm Grants
Dan Miller ran a forum on grant-sponsored emergency communications
courses at the ARRL Maryland State Convention, and attended another
forum for ECs, which provided exposure for the courses. CNCS graduates
now total 1041 with 1798 enrolled. We announced that April Level I
registration opens Monday. Dan helped at the Connecticut Public
Television Science Expo ham booth, and says the Amateur Radio Today was
shown, along with CW and technical demos. John Hennessee also worked the
booth.
Field & Education Support Team
Mary Lau prepared and forwarded documents to permit Merrill Lynch to
make signee changes to our EMA account. She also notified a grant
applicant on status of their request, and forwarded scholarship
information updates to the web sites and registries of: the State of
Delaware Department of Education; State of Alaska Department of Labor
and Workforce; and, the College Planning Center of Rhode Island at
Warwick.
Margie Bourgoin added 12 new EC-approved affiliated clubs to our
database sent them follow-up letters and certificates. She reports a
heavy volume of club paperwork. Margie is covering for Linda Mullally
during her absence and also subbed for Leona Adams for several days, to
insure that new SM appointee records would be filled.
Jean Wolfgang received a total of 40 nominations for the annual awards
she handles for F&ES. She is collecting support information and
profiles for each nominee. Since a new crew will soon be on the ISS,
Jean expects to handle several new ARISS applications the next few
weeks.
Gail Iannone requests: "If you haven't done so already, return your
Dayton Marriott hotel reservation form to me as soon as possible." She
sent 7 hamfest and 3 convention approval letters to the sponsoring
committees confirming the Division Director's approval for the events to
be "ARRL-sanctioned", processed 20 door prize orders, 3 label requests,
and sent 5 hamfest handout packages for upcoming events. She also
coordinated travel for Margie Bourgoin, KB1DCO, to be the HQ rep at the
Louisiana State Convention to be held on November 14-15, 2003 in Monroe.
Amateur Radio Education & Technology Project
Jerry Hill gave details to the Editorium for a story about his work at
the NSTA teacher's convention. He prepared for the final teacher's
conference of the year - sponsored by the National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics -- and leaves next week to set up and staff that booth.
We have partnered with NASA at all three conferences. He wrote a news
release about the Connecticut Science Fair for Jenn to use in creating
hometowners for our winners.
Field Organization/ Public Service Team
Steve Ewald is planning for the trip to the Amateur Radio session at the
National Hurricane Conference and for the VRC Meeting. The "Public
Service" column in QST is being worked on. Steve says over the past
week, 7 different SMs have sent out 11 e-mail newsletters /
announcements via the relay service.
With help from the OOCs and others, Chuck Skolaut is investigating
interference cases on a 20-meter DX net, on 14.275 MHz, and 75 meters.
He's also helping newly appointed OOCs and OOs as they come on board.
Regulatory Information
John Hennessee completed the index for the new edition of The FCC Rule
Book. He assisted K1TEO, of Trumbull, CT, and WF3H of North Whitehall
Township, PA, with local government zoning problems in their towns.
CCE
VHF/UHF course beta-testing has concluded; Howard Robins assembled all
changes and transmitted these to our Web host. With help from Paul
Lappen, Howard compiled graphics for the RF Propagation course. He
created mentor certificates; Dan will take some to Dayton, and others
will go to mentors with their stipends. The stipend process was
revamped; data will now be transmitted electronically to produce checks,
letters and envelopes, and it will be monthly, not quarterly. Thanks to
Jon Bloom for helping. Our Web host requires our class start dates to
go to Tuesdays now.
Jerry Ellis has processed results from several field exam sessions
received recently. His other activities included responding to routine
telephone and email inquiries. CNCS and UTC grads were mailed printed
certificates, ID cards and refund checks. Jerry also printed and mailed
the mentor stipend letters with checks.
73,
Sincerely,
Mark Wilson, K1RO
Chief Operating Officer
MW: lk
Staff Absentee List
Name Date(s) Reason
All Staff 4/18 Holiday
Dave Sumner 5/1pm-5/6 Vacation
Lisa Kustosik 4/11-4/14 Vacation
Mary Hobart 4/7-4/9 Vacation
Dan Miller 4/17-4/21 Vacation
Howard Robbins 4/11-4/21 Vacation
LouAnn Campanello 4/11-4/15 Vacation
John Proctor 5/1-5/12 Vacation
Sreve Ford 4/14-4/18 Vacation
Bob Boucher 4/11-4/18 Vacation
Steve Ewald 4/11-4/16 VRC meeting & National Hurricane
Conference
Rick Lindquist 4/25-4/28 Vacation
Joe Carcia 4/11pm Vacation
Ann Figat 4/10 Vacation
