Dick: I generally do not respond to emails of this nature. However, I felt compelled to do so. Increased Costs I disagree with your assessment for the following reasons: a. You left out the CTO b. Travel costs, in my opinion, will be higher not lower as most will be going to New Orleans c. Even though CT is a high cost area, the data provided by Dave shows that New Orleans will be significantly higher BOD Member Access to Staff Personnel to Conduct Personal Business a. I can only speak for myself, but I use this time to solve potential problems or existing problems brought to my attention by members in my Division. I do not consider this as Personal Business b. You speak about employee productivity. I am at a loss because I believe that whether or not they were doing something else, they are responding member concerns brought to their attention through me. Ability to Meet others on an Organized Basis
From personal experience, this has not amounted to much. Only a few showed up even though it was sponsored by a couple of clubs. I can meet far more at a hamfest.
Change of Scenery and Avoiding Winter Travels When I ran for office, I accepted the fact that I would not receive any pay, not many positive comments, the possibility of a lot of negative comments, and the fact that I would have to travel during all seasons of the year including snow, ice, rain and sunshine. So much for the change in scenery! Question? How would you respond to a member's inquiry on why the annual meeting was going to be held in a different location(change of scenery), at a cost of several tens of thousands of dollars more than in CT? How would you justify to them that we were being fiduciary responsible for the Leagues assets? And how we would justify these costs? Respectively submitted, Dennis W4PWF ARRL Director Roanoke Division -----Original Message----- From: arrl-od-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-od-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of dick@pobox.com Sent: Monday, August 22, 2011 12:49 AM To: arrl-od@arrl.org Subject: [arrl-od:2752] Board Meeting Expense Away From CT 21 AUG 2011 - 2348 CDT The issue of the increased costs of having a board meeting away from the mother ship (CT) is a highly variable one. Yes, there will be the travel costs for our CEO, COO, CFO, CDO, Lisa Kustosik (or her equivalent), and a staff member who actually takes the minutes. All the other required people will (as a group) have about the same or slightly lower reimbursable travel costs, depending on the meeting location. Another cost factor is hotel room costs and board meeting room costs. Connecticut is not the cheapest Marriott venue in the U.S. New England is an expensive place to live in and to visit. Some board members have come to depend on twice-a-year personal access to ARRL headquarters. It's nice to visit the staff and be able to conduct personal ARRL business on a virtually instant basis. But I sometimes wonder what our physical presence in Newington does to employee productivity. One of the seldom used side benefits of meeting in other locations is the ability to meet, on an organized basis, more amateur radio licensees. I still have good memories of the reception at the hotel, sponsored by a couple of amateur radio clubs when we met in Houston, TX. a few years ago. I accept the fact that it probably costs a bit more to take our show on road. But the occasional change of scenery and the chance to meet more hams in their local surroundings is worth a few thousand dollars. And this does not take into account the over-all reduction in winter travel difficulties for many of our 34 volunteer officers, directors, and vice directors when the January board meeting site is in a much warmer location. 73 - Dick, W9GIG _______________________________________________ arrl-od mailing list arrl-od@reflector.arrl.org http://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-od