_____ From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 9:21 PM To: 'arrl-odv' Subject: Trip Report - New England Division Convention Greetings, This weekend I attended the New England Division Convention in Boxborough, Massachusetts with Director Frenaye and Vice Director Raisbeck. Also attending on their own were Director Fallon and Treasurer McCobb The convention was held at the Holiday Inn - Boxboro which is a very nice convention hotel located on I-495 just west of Boston. This location is approximately 90 miles east of Hartford, so there was a number of HQ staff in attendance in either an official or unofficial capacity that included: Dave Sumner, K1ZZ and Linda, KA1ZD Harold Kramer, WJ1B Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Katie Breen, W1KRB Dan Henderson, N1ND Bill Moore, NC1L Steve Ewald, WV1X Rick Lindquist, N1RL and Jean N1MJC Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG Penny Harts, N1NAG Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA Norm Fusaro, W3IZ Section Managers in attendance included: EMA SM Michael Neilsen, W1MPN WMA SM Ed Emco, W1KT NH SM Sterling Eanes, AK1K RI SM Bob Beaudet, W1YRC CT SM Betsey Doane, K1EIC NYC-LI SM George Tranos, N2GA AL Greg Sarratt, W4OZK Non-ARRL "notables" attending were: Bob, K9EID, and Sarah Heil QCWA President John Johnston, W3BE Chip Margelli, K7JA I drove from Hartford to Boxboro Friday morning in the pouring rain, hooking up with Tom just before noon to attend a previously scheduled luncheon with a potential major donor from the area. Friday afternoon I strolled through the vendor area where Bob and Katie were setting up the ARRL booth that was located in a great corner location; one booth space for membership/sales and an adjacent booth space for chatting up whoever came by. Friday evening I attended a banquet hosted by the New England DX Association. Fortunately, the program was not "The 3Y0X Experience", which I previously mentioned I had now seen four times, but was on the recent K7C DXpedition to Kure Island..which I've now seen twice! The program was presented by Ann Santos, WA1S who was a member of the DXpedition team. Also in attendance at the banquet were Bob and Sarah Heil who I had the pleasure of being seated with. Bob spoke to the group for about 10 minutes and was in his usual entertaining mode. This was a very nice banquet with a nice meal and program and proved to be an enjoyable evening. On Saturday morning the convention began and the weather was great. The vendor area did not open until 9:00 AM so I strolled out to the flea market with Chip Margelli. I didn't see much of a variety of "new" equipment in the flea market however I was impressed with the amount of vintage gear that was available. It was probably good that I flew rather that drove. Chip and I spent some time discussing a very nice Collins KWS-1 that was for sale and how that would look very nice next to my 75A4. When Chip told how nice his looked in his shack sitting beside his 75A4 I made an attempt to tell him that hurt and he wasn't a very good comedian! The vendor doors opened promptly at 9:00 AM to a very large awaiting crowd. Business at the booth was brisk. The only complaint I addressed was a member with a zero call that was upset we didn't slash the zero all the time on things he receives from HQ. In order to ensure I remained in the booth area, Tom surprised me with a very large bag of Peanut M&M's (my favorite candy) that was available only at the ARRL booth. 40 forums were scheduled in five separate meeting rooms Saturday & Sunday covering every topic imaginable. Notable forums were Bob Heil's "It all starts at the microphone", the YCCC meeting, the Northeast Weak Signal Society (NEWS) meeting and technical forum, Winlink 2000, D-Star, Wire & Cable, AM, Six meter propagation, a power pole workshop, baluns & ferrites, Skywarn and Slow Scan TV on ISS. The full slate can be viewed at https:\\www.boxboro.org. The highlight of the day was meeting Harold Chase, W1EES. Harold is 90 years old, a Diamond Club Member and has been an ARRL member continuously for 74 years. He wanted to shake my hand because he lays claim to being the only known person to have shaken the hand of every ARRL President (yes, including Hiram!). I tried to explain to him it was more of an honor for me to shake his hand. Harold is a QCWA Director who is retiring this year. Quite an interesting individual. There are two ARRL forums at this convention, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The Saturday forum began at 10 AM with a crowd of approximately 50 attending. Tom chaired the forum and made comments about a number of items of importance we are currently involved in. Notable issues raised during the forum were: * The movement by state governments to outlaw the use of electronic devices while mobile and what impact this could have on amateur radio, and why manufacturers aren't producing any "hands-free" device for amateur transceivers * The Hello Campaign - How successful has it been? Are there any metrics in place to track its success? * I was asked to comment on my perception of "Main Street USA" * How many new hams were there in New England last year? * The Walter Cronkite Video - Get someone younger next time. Today's young people don't know who he is. Tom and Frank Fallon explained the purpose of that video was not to recruit new hams/young people but to use as an intro to congress who does know who he is! The point was well taken, though. * Don't just focus on recruiting young people, recruit people of all ages and don't forget people of retirement age that have time and money for hobbies * Tom presented a 75 year club affiliation plaque to the Falmouth Amateur Radio Club On Saturday evening a banquet was held that featured a buffet dinner and a four piece band and a dance floor. I delivered the key-note address on "Amateur Radio's Crystal Ball". Vice Director Raisbeck was the MC and did an absolutely fabulous job of facilitating the event. I had the pleasurable opportunity to meet his wife, Susan, as well as their two sons Andrew and Daniel. Sunday morning the doors to the vendor area opened at 10 AM. Before hand I had a chance to stroll through the flea market one more time. It was much smaller than Saturday as expected. The crowd inside was good for a Sunday and action at the ARRL booth began with a person who signed up for a Life Membership. The second person in the door came up to me and said he had not been a member for 36 years and wanted to renew because Wayne Green told him it was imperative that he do so! I wanted to tell him that wouldn't get him a discount but instead very quickly told him Wayne was a Life Member and we were very pleased that he was joining! He said their discussion had centered on BPL and he was pleased with what we were doing to protect amateur radio and wanted to lend his support. What else could I add to that other than to say "Thanks!". Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, stopped by for a nice chat and another member stopped by to compliment the HQ staff. He said on occasion he has called HQ regarding a variety of matters and he is always treated "politely, professionally and efficiently" and even when he had to leave a voicemail he always received a callback. N1IN, who is very active in MARS, came by and said he sensed that we were of the opinion that MARS is in competition with ARES and was disappointed that MARS never seemed to get any publicity in QST. The Sunday ARRL forum began at 12 Noon and was attended by about 30 people. Tom again chaired the forum and began by asking how many had attended the Saturday session. Only one person raised their hand so this session was beneficial to those in attendance. Topics from the Sunday forum included: * ARRL Emergency Communication Courses Level I, II and III are not compliant with Department of Homeland Security ICS. We were not quite sure of the ICS requirements but basically our EMCOMM courses were structured toward amateur radio and not so much government requirements. * There were some other questions and positive comments about our EmComm courses * A question about ARES/RACES - how do we combine the two so there isn't two amateur radio points of contact for the same effort * Comment from KB1LQC, a member of the Chelmsford High School Radio Club (that Mike Raisbeck started), stating that from their experience it was easy to get kids into amateur radio but they loose interest in VHF FM quickly, but what really retains their interests is HF activity. This supports our conclusion which was the basis for our license restructuring proposal. It was very good to hear this from a high school student that has had current experience in this area. The Sunday forum concluded just past 1 PM and convention activities, except the main prize drawing, were winding down. I headed back to Hartford for my flight home. It had just started raining again, so I had the pleasure of driving back in the pouring rain. I'm in Atlanta at the moment awaiting my connecting flight to Little Rock that is over two hours. I'm schedule to arrive in Little Rock sometime around 1 AM which should put me home around 2 AM. I don't think I'll be at 8 AM Monday! I do not have any attendance figures (Saturday estimate was around 2200) or results from the ARRL booth but if you're interested I'm sure they can be provided later. My thanks to Tom and Mike for great accommodations and hospitality. Mike was the General Chairman of the convention and I congratulate him on a very successful event. It was an enjoyable weekend. 73 Joel W5ZN