January 2008 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

RE: Board meeting agenda, SM question
by Joel Harrison 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Brian, I can appreciate that the new NM SM probably has extensive experience with board meetings and agendas but I would respectfully note that along the same lines as Paul Simon's famous song "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" there are also "50 ways to conduct a board meeting". None of them are more right or more wrong than the others, there are just many acceptable ways to conduct business. This is just that our way and it has worked extremely well over the years. The process of using a committee structure to perform the leg work then reporting the results to the general body for action is an age old proven way of efficiently and effectively conducting business and that is why it is utilized by over 90% of businesses and organizations today. 73 Joel W5ZN _____ From: Brian Mileshosky [mailto:n5zgt@swcp.com] Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 7:29 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: Board meeting agenda, SM question All - First, does anyone have an agenda for the last board meeting in electronic format? If so, can someone please send it to me? We had a swapfest today and I was talking with New Mexico's newly elected Section Manager. He commented that 'a lot' of Section Managers were angry that they didn't know what was on the agenda for the board meeting in advance so they could provide input. I explained that the agenda is pretty general, and the meeting is predominantly committee and officer reports, which then result in motions depending on the discussion that takes place. I don't know of a single motion (at least in my time on the board) that have been prepared in advance of the meeting, much less specific topics of discussion (outside of committee reports) such as the regulation by bandwidth topic - which was promoted as being a topic of the board meeting in advance. After offering this explanation his comment was to the effect of "that's not a good way to run a board meeting." Now, he's a great guy, brand new to the section manager job, not aware of how board meetings are conducted, and probably getting opinions from other opinionated section managers. As for his "that's not a good way" comment, I don't know any better way to conduct our meetings unless we have a separate pre-meeting to cast things in concrete before we have the real board meeting. Does anybody have a better explanation I can provide him? I'd like to share our agenda with him so he sees how general it is, with nearly nothing on it for advanced discussion other than the scheduled discussion of reports. On a separate note, I think offering the SMs a summary of board decisions was a wise move, and we should consider giving them a heads up of what's to occur at future board meetings - as is appropriate, depending on the topic, and depending on if we ODVers know what's to be put on the table - so they don't feel isolated. Thanks and 73, Brian N5ZGT

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RE: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency
by Joel Harrison 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Whenever you want. You know what can and cannot be made public and I have no restriction on when you can begin letting members in the Great Lakes Division know what went on. It is always good, though, to wait until we see and informally agree on the minutes before we do a very much as that is our official record and keeps us focused on what we actually did. Joel _____ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:27 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency Joel, In, as Rod calls it, our new emphasis on transparency, when do you prefer we begin discussing details of the Annual Meeting with our members? The SMs have received the highlights and the minutes have been approved by e-mail. Tnx, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is!

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RE: [arrl-odv:16407] Re: ZF2BJ QRV
by Joel Harrison 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Bruce, Your sig was very good on 160..tnx for the Q. I don't know why you didn't get a good run going as you were the only ZF on during the contest and were spotted on the cluster a couple of times. Joel _____ From: Bruce Frahm [mailto:brucefrahmk0bj@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 11:00 PM To: arrl-odv Cc: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16407] Re: ZF2BJ QRV Finally figured out to use the dipole, NOT the inv-L, and to use the tuner. Still, can't really get a run going. Fun nonetheless and 6 was open from Orlando to NM but in a thin N/S band. I am not in this seriously, but don't show up mid-contest at a shack you were at a year ago if you expect to rock 'n roll :-) My ears were semi-OK on the flights so think scuba will work OK too. Cliff, I worked "our" contest station (JPL/Dayton). Caught K1KI on too. 73 ZF2BJ On Jan 26, 2008 9:53 PM, Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ <dsumner(a)arrl.org> wrote: Bruce, K0BJ just checked in on 160 meters as ZF2BJ. Dave K1ZZ

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RE: Board meeting agenda, SM question
by Joel Harrison 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

The draft agenda was distributed in arrl-odv 16318 on January 9. Joel _____ From: Brian Mileshosky [mailto:n5zgt@swcp.com] Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 7:29 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: Board meeting agenda, SM question All - First, does anyone have an agenda for the last board meeting in electronic format? If so, can someone please send it to me? We had a swapfest today and I was talking with New Mexico's newly elected Section Manager. He commented that 'a lot' of Section Managers were angry that they didn't know what was on the agenda for the board meeting in advance so they could provide input. I explained that the agenda is pretty general, and the meeting is predominantly committee and officer reports, which then result in motions depending on the discussion that takes place. I don't know of a single motion (at least in my time on the board) that have been prepared in advance of the meeting, much less specific topics of discussion (outside of committee reports) such as the regulation by bandwidth topic - which was promoted as being a topic of the board meeting in advance. After offering this explanation his comment was to the effect of "that's not a good way to run a board meeting." Now, he's a great guy, brand new to the section manager job, not aware of how board meetings are conducted, and probably getting opinions from other opinionated section managers. As for his "that's not a good way" comment, I don't know any better way to conduct our meetings unless we have a separate pre-meeting to cast things in concrete before we have the real board meeting. Does anybody have a better explanation I can provide him? I'd like to share our agenda with him so he sees how general it is, with nearly nothing on it for advanced discussion other than the scheduled discussion of reports. On a separate note, I think offering the SMs a summary of board decisions was a wise move, and we should consider giving them a heads up of what's to occur at future board meetings - as is appropriate, depending on the topic, and depending on if we ODVers know what's to be put on the table - so they don't feel isolated. Thanks and 73, Brian N5ZGT

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[arrl-odv:16414] You Have To See This
by Andy Oppel 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Gummy Bear meets Potassium Chlorate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txkRCIPSsjM Reminds me of a couple of election-related e-mail exchanges... Andy Oppel andy(a)andyoppel.com andy_oppel(a)alamedanet.net

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RE: [arrl-odv:16411] RE: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency
by K8JE 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Dave, also Tnx for getting the minutes posted so quickly. I think this is great. Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 11:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:16411] RE: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency Tnx Dave. You've answered my question for all practical purposes. Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 8:44 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16411] RE: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency Jim, Not presuming to answer for Joel, but just a data point: the minutes will be available to members on the Web site sometime tomorrow morning. Dave K1ZZ _____ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Mon 1/28/2008 1:26 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency Joel, In, as Rod calls it, our new emphasis on transparency, when do you prefer we begin discussing details of the Annual Meeting with our members? The SMs have received the highlights and the minutes have been approved by e-mail. Tnx, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is!

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RE: [arrl-odv:16411] RE: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency
by K8JE 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Tnx Dave. You've answered my question for all practical purposes. Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 8:44 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16411] RE: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency Jim, Not presuming to answer for Joel, but just a data point: the minutes will be available to members on the Web site sometime tomorrow morning. Dave K1ZZ _____ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Mon 1/28/2008 1:26 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency Joel, In, as Rod calls it, our new emphasis on transparency, when do you prefer we begin discussing details of the Annual Meeting with our members? The SMs have received the highlights and the minutes have been approved by e-mail. Tnx, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is!

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[arrl-odv:16411] RE: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Jim, Not presuming to answer for Joel, but just a data point: the minutes will be available to members on the Web site sometime tomorrow morning. Dave K1ZZ ________________________________ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Mon 1/28/2008 1:26 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16410] Transparency Joel, In, as Rod calls it, our new emphasis on transparency, when do you prefer we begin discussing details of the Annual Meeting with our members? The SMs have received the highlights and the minutes have been approved by e-mail. Tnx, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is!

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[arrl-odv:16410] Transparency
by K8JE 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Joel, In, as Rod calls it, our new emphasis on transparency, when do you prefer we begin discussing details of the Annual Meeting with our members? The SMs have received the highlights and the minutes have been approved by e-mail. Tnx, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is!

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RE: [arrl-odv:16405] Re:Board meeting agenda, SM question
by K8JE 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Rod, In addition to your comments, the most significant thing about one of our agendas is that it doesn't typically contain the detail of any topic that will be considered. We as well paste them on the walls of restrooms all over the country. This would really confuse everyone. Ya can't tell the players (actual topics) without a program (the reports). I like it this way, myself. :-) In all sincerity and goodwill I will now tell you to "go dry up." 73, Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Rod Stafford W6ROD [mailto:w6rod@comcast.net] Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 10:19 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16405] Re:Board meeting agenda, SM question Brian I have some comments and observations regarding the comments made by the New Mexico SM. Since he's apparently just been elected maybe he can be excused for not being aware that the ARRL Board meets the 3rd Friday and Saturday EVERY January and July. I would be very surprised if an Annual or a Second ARRL Board meeting snuck up on any SM and took them by surprise. That having been said, it seems to me if an SM has a particular issue to bring to the attention of the ARRL Board then they certainly should know who to contact, i.e. their very own director. I have to chuckle a little about the comment that "a lot" of SMs were upset because they didn't get the agenda before the meeting. SMs have never got the agenda before the meeting! Maybe they've been upset all these years and didn't say anything. ;) That's not to say I agree they shouldn't get it. It just hasn't been done. If the agenda has something on it related to the Field Organization, it usually doesn't get as far as the Board meeting without the SMs giving input. You might also point out the minutes of all the ARRL Board Meetings that can be seen on the ARRL web site. As a part of the minutes, the agenda for the meeting is always set out in general terms. I would point out to him that the nearly identical pro forma agenda varies very little from meeting to meeting. That will give him an idea what will be on the agenda for July. We talked about Long Range Planning this past meeting including the original LRPC came up with "cabinet meetings" where the director gets the SMs and Asst Directors together a couple of times a year just before the Board meetings to discuss the upcoming meeting and issues that might arise. I know since the early 80's that's been going on in the Pacific Division and I think Bob Vallio still does that. I believe quite a few of the directors do the same. Sorry if I'm a little testy, I've been stuck indoors for days with continual rain. I'm getting cabin fever. hi hi 73, Rod W6ROD p.s. The more I think about it I'm getting upset because I wasn't given an agenda before the Board meetings when I was an SM. Damn! Come to think of it, if I had brought that issue up to my Director when I was SM he likely would have said, "when we want your input, we'll ask for it." At 05:29 PM 1/26/2008, Brian Mileshosky wrote: All - First, does anyone have an agenda for the last board meeting in electronic format? If so, can someone please send it to me? We had a swapfest today and I was talking with New Mexico's newly elected Section Manager. He commented that 'a lot' of Section Managers were angry that they didn't know what was on the agenda for the board meeting in advance so they could provide input. I explained that the agenda is pretty general, and the meeting is predominantly committee and officer reports, which then result in motions depending on the discussion that takes place. I don't know of a single motion (at least in my time on the board) that have been prepared in advance of the meeting, much less specific topics of discussion (outside of committee reports) such as the regulation by bandwidth topic - which was promoted as being a topic of the board meeting in advance. After offering this explanation his comment was to the effect of "that's not a good way to run a board meeting." Now, he's a great guy, brand new to the section manager job, not aware of how board meetings are conducted, and probably getting opinions from other opinionated section managers. As for his "that's not a good way" comment, I don't know any better way to conduct our meetings unless we have a separate pre-meeting to cast things in concrete before we have the real board meeting. Does anybody have a better explanation I can provide him? I'd like to share our agenda with him so he sees how general it is, with nearly nothing on it for advanced discussion other than the scheduled discussion of reports. On a separate note, I think offering the SMs a summary of board decisions was a wise move, and we should consider giving them a heads up of what's to occur at future board meetings - as is appropriate, depending on the topic, and depending on if we ODVers know what's to be put on the table - so they don't feel isolated. Thanks and 73, Brian N5ZGT Rod Stafford W6ROD Photos: www.flickr.com/photos/rodstaffordphotography

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