A question has arisen as to why I made the decision to dedicate the entire second day of our 2009 Second Meeting to strategic planning.

Just so we're all on the same page, I did NOT make the decision, the Board did and I completely agree and support the Board's decision.

The decision was made by the board at the 2008 Second Meeting at Minute 29, acting upon a recommendation and motion from the Executive Committee. The rationale for the motion (attached) contained the time line and the motion itself identifies this will occur at the 2009 Second Meeting:


"29. On motion of Mr. Isely, seconded by Mr. Frenaye, it was VOTED that the following resolution be adopted:

WHEREAS, the ARRL Board of Directors is about to embark on a periodic review and update of the association’s Strategic Plan adopted in October 2006; and

WHEREAS, the Board wishes to invite and encourage members’ input on the future direction and priorities of their national organization;

RESOLVED that the Chief Executive Officer is requested to release the Long Range Goals of the current Strategic Plan to the membership and to solicit members’ comments as a key element of the review process; and

FURTHER RESOLVED that the membership input is to be given initial consideration by the Board at its 2009 Annual Meeting with the objective of completing a review and revision of the Strategic Plan at its 2009 Second Meeting."


A question has also arisen as to why the Officer's select a primary topic for Thursday evening's informal session. That is driven from Minute 61 of the 1999 Second Meeting:

"61. On motion of Mr. Olson, seconded by Mr. Metzger, it was VOTED that sixty days prior to each meeting of the Board, the Officers, led by the President, are directed to identify one or more key issues that should be discussed by the Board at its next meeting. When the topics have been selected, the Directors will be notified in a timely fashion and asked to consider each topic from the standpoint of the status of Amateur Radio within their Division. The Second and Third Vice-Presidents are responsible for collecting comment from each Director and writing a summary report for the Board based upon those comments. The summary reports are to be distributed sufficiently in advance of each Board meeting to allow Directors time to review the report prior to the meeting."

While we no longer have a "Third Vice President" and they don't assemble a formal report, we do work at advising you far enough ahead of time to seek your input, and rather than a formal report we use Thursday evening to air the issue. This in no way is meant to direct the discussion away from other topics you may have on your mind, and time has always been provided if other topics deserve discussion. The Thursday evening topic in January varied from this slightly in that it was unanimously directed by the Executive Committee and the Ethics & Elections Committee (not by formal motion but by direct instruction) rather than the officers.

I apologize for any misunderstanding that may have occurred.

73 Joel W5ZN