I don't think there is much of a question that we are PERCEIVED negatively by a majority of hams who have no specific beef against the League.
I don't know of any evidence to support that statement. Jim, look at the 2003 Readex survey summary and especially this sentence on page 16: "In order to reach out to the constituencies underserved by the organization, the needs of beginners and less sophisticated amateurs will need to be addressed." Further on you'll find that ARRL performance is not rated negatively -- but there is a large number who don't feel they know enough about ARRL performance in specific areas to rate it. If we target the dissidents -- who are a small but vocal minority, and many of whom remain members anyway -- we'll miss the boat. What we need is to reach the newer, younger, less committed amateurs. It's a problem that virtually every mature membership organization is facing, and it's really hard to solve because it involves generational, cultural shifts. Dave