<<120408.doc>>

IN-Newsletter

Vol. 31, No. 49

December 3, 2008  --  Covers the period November 23-29.

Upcoming Meetings and Events

Annual Board Meeting

January 16-17, 2009 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT

Media & Public Relations

Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP

The FCC has requested Amateur Radio to aid in providing technical information to communities during the DTV conversion.  The request came from George Dillon.  A plan has been formed using the Section Managers as the primary contact points between FCC, which will provide free information and media supplies, and the clubs in their section.  The short timeline for this activity is horrible, but we shall see what can be done in response to their request.

The December CONTACT! was published.  95% of the files needed for a new video PSA highlighting the technology of AR have come in and volunteer editing options are being explored.  A meeting has been set with CTDLC for possibilities of hosting a coming PR-101 class on their systems.  There appear to be 8 Leonard Award nominations either completed or coming in the next few days before the deadline.

Development

Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH

The ARRL Diamond Club revenues topped $268,000 in November.  Through November 30 this program has realized 72% of its budgeted goal for 2008.  The biggest drop in participation is in the first level ($75 - $249) reflecting the conservative mood among donors this year.

That mood has carried over to the fall campaign for the 2009 Spectrum Defense Fund.  This important annual fund raising campaign is still facing an uphill climb to reach its goal for the year.  Revenues through November 30 total $193,105 from 2051 donors….well short of prior years.  E-messages have been added to the campaign strategy and have added to the campaign messaging and some revenue as well.  We have received one $10,000 commitment to the defense Fund from a Maxim Society donor that should arrive before year end.

The planned year end campaign will be more modest this year.  Rather than mailing 75,000 envelopes, we will use electronic media to offer a comprehensive year-end giving message with an added bonus for every gift of $25 or more…a $10 off publication coupon.  This message will go out December 5.

Holiday cards of thanks have been mailed to all major donors.

Production/Editorial

Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE

Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 27, No. 46, for November 26, 2008.  It distributed to 73,240 members. ARRL Audio News will resume December 5.

Lab

Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI

Product Review

Bob Allison is working on a load test fixture to test AC inverters for Product Review.

Bob Allison will be touring the Essco calibration lab the next time he brings our test equipment up to Chelmsford MA for calibration.

TIS Statistics 11/24-11/30

        Question        BA      MG      EFH     ZL      AN      Totals 
01      What rig is best? / Prod Rev    1                                       1      
02      RFI/EMI/FCC issues      1       4       2       6               13     
03      How to use equipment                            2               2      
04      Propagation                             2               2      
05      Antenna/Feed line/Tower questions       2               1       4       1       8      
06      Locate companies, parts or services                             6       1       7      
07      Software problems                               1               1      
08      Regulatory questions    0                       3       3       6      
09      Operating / amateur exam questions                              3               3      
10      Article photocopy/archive corrections                   153     3       16      172    
11      Other                   1       6               6      
12      BPL                     5                       5      
13      PAVE-PAWS                       2                       2      
14      Misdirected                     1               1       2      

A summary of categories will appear at the end of each month.

Sales and Marketing

Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R

We’re pleased to welcome Membership Manager Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF, to the Headquarters staff.  Diane comes to the ARRL with more than 15 years of experience in marketing and membership management, including nine years with the Connecticut Bar Association.  She earned her Amateur Radio license on her fourth day here!

At the end of November, membership totaled 154,334 (start of year 153,535)--a small gain of 82 members over October.

November product sales were $234,981.  The sales forecast was $275,912.  YTD, we are ahead of forecast by $144,057.  The month’s shortfall was distributed across most of our publication categories, which is untypical.  A contributing factor may be the weak economy and poor retail climate.  We are following the indicators day-by-day, and ramping-up promotions and incentives.

The customer service team is working hard to keep up with the holiday orders, increased phone calls and membership renewals during this busy season.  We came out of the Thanksgiving Holiday with 400 online orders (Thurs-Sun), and other 414 orders following a “Cyber Monday” publication promotion.

The winter edition of the ARRL Publications Catalog is being prepared.

A TravelPlus special upgrade mailing was sent out to 5,000 previous users.

The second printing of 50 Years of Amateur Radio Innovation is shipping.  We accumulated another 340 orders since the first 500 copies were distributed.

The results of our first telemarketing trial are in.  The call center spoke with 1,055 lapsed members, and signed 89 applications.  We are preparing the second half of this effort, which will involve phone calls to recently licensed membership prospects.

The Warehouse crew fulfilled 594 packages for publication and product orders, and shipped 220 free book membership premiums during the short week.

Membership & Volunteer Programs

Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N

Awards Branch

Category        Nov 2008        Year-to-Date   
WAS Cert. (Manual)      16      299    
WAS Cert. (LoTW)        18      163    
A-1 Op Nominations      14      191    
A-1 Op Certificates     17      173    
Extra Class Cert.       22      120    
WAC Certificates        15      271    
VUCC New / Grids        17 / 2,105      126 / 13,987   
VUCC Endorse/Grids      13 / 1,386      145 / 8,521    
Processing Time Current Current

Contest Branch

1,277 logs have been received for SS CW and 1,511 logs for SS Phone.  Sean, KX9X, will be making preliminary counts this week for the number of magnets and Clean Sweep brooms we will need to send out, thanks to the donation of Ken Adams, K5KA.

Trey Garlough, N5KO, has implemented a matrix for the Contest Robot that will help better deduce a submitted log's category for the 160M and 10M contests.  These matrices have proven quite effective for IARU and Sweepstakes and helped reduce the number of logs that end up in an incorrect category.  Sean will spend some time this week prepping the Robot for this weekend's 160M Contest.

DXCC Branch

        Credits Applications   
2007 Carryover  222,602 1,842  
YTD Received    681,792 6,324  
Cumulative Total        904,394 8,166  
YTD Processed   854,458 7,754  
Remaining       49,936  412    
Processing Time                  4 weeks       

Logbook of the World

Category       

Nov 2008        Percentage Change

Jan – Nov 08   
QSO Records Entered Into System 192,108,929     23%    
QSL Record Matches      16,105,200      37%    
Logs Processed  744,777 44%    
Active Certificates     35,212  22%    
Registered Users in System      22,959  21%    

Logbook (Email Only) Inquiries  2008 YTD       
Lost Certificates       1,273  
DXCC Status Inquiries   714    
Directions Not Followed 584    
Additional Certificates 542    
Startup Inquiries       406    
Total   3,519  

Sincerely Compiled by,

Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ

Assistant to the CEO

Staff Absentee List

All Staff       12/25           Holiday

    ``  1/1             Holiday

Kathy Allison           12/26           Vacation

Bob Allison             12/26           Vacation

     ``                 1/2             Vacation

       ``                       1/2             Vacation

Mark Dzamba             12/1-12/5       Vacation

Steve Ewald             12/1-12/5       Vacation

Steve Ford              12/22-1/5       Vacation

Norm Fusaro             12/23-1/2       Vacation

Scott Gee               12/8-12/9       Vacation

      ``                        12/24-12/26     Vacation

Joel Hallas             12/24-12/31     Vacation

Dan Henderson           11/25-12/5      ARI Headquarters Milan/Pescara Convention, Italy

     ``                 12/18-1/5       Vacation

Khrystyne Keane 12/26-1/2       Vacation

Joe; Kleinman           12/3-12/9       Vacation

     ``                 12/11           Vacation

Rose-Ann Lawrence       12/8            Vacation

Bill Moore              12/26-1/3       Vacation

Dave Patton             12/22-12/26     Vacation

Allen Pitts             12/26-1/4       Vacation

Steve Sant Andrea       1/2-1/5         Vacation

Alex Tara               1/2             Vacation

Sharon Taratula         12/24           Vacation