Trip Report

Communications Academy

Seattle, Washington March 31 – April 1 2007

Harold Kramer

It may have been April First, but the attendees at the Communications Academy held at Seattle-Pacific University in Seattle were no fools. They were smart, engaged, and enthusiastic about amateur radio emergency communications.

WWA SM Ed Bruette, N7NVP and Director Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF invited me to the conference. The conference stopped taking registrations last week when it reached its capacity of 400 attendees. I was told that this was double the number of attendees compared to last year. The registration limitation was based on the size of the facility. Along with Ed and Jim, Doug Rich, W7DVR, Idaho SM was also there. Many field leaders and appointees from the Pacific Northwest attended the conference. ARRL badges were abundant!

The attendees were a mixture of experienced EmComm ops and newer ops. It was especially rewarding to talk to the many new licensees who were there. We do need to update our publication on ARRL member benefits. I’ll look into that one. We also need a simple publication on how to obtain your amateur radio license.

We may have been preaching to the proverbial choir, but one of the most rewarding aspects about this conference were the positive comments about the ARRL that I received. There were no negative comments about the Bandwidth Petition or the No-Code. There were, as always, many suggestions and comments that I duly recorded and will follow up on. Although it was not our focus, Ed, Jim and I signed up about 15 new members and 25 renewals, including a Life Membership.

The Academy itself consisted of two days of workshops and sessions on Emergency Communications. There was no flea market and no vendors. We had a small table along with a handful of other local agencies that also had small displays. Icom had a small table because they were local. The Keynote speakers began each day’s session. Saturday’s keynoter was John Cline, W5USN, former San Diego SM and Idaho SM. John’s professional background is Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security. He gave an energetic and insightful presentation.

I was the keynote speaker on Sunday morning. I spoke about what the ARRL is currently doing and what we will be doing in the EmComm area, particularly with respect to the NERPC Committee recommendations and increased EmComm activities at HQ. I would estimate that about 250 – 300 people attended each keynote session. I had lots of positive response and comments after my presentation. Although we took quite different approaches, John and I both emphasized the changing role of amateur radio in emergency communications. We both stressed that leadership, flexibility, training, and preparation will be requirements for amateur radio emergency communications operators in the future.

After my presentation, folks told me that they did not realize that HQ was doing so much for the EmComm community. I have attached a copy of my PowerPoint presentation for your information. Please feel free to use it completely or in part, as needed. I would like to extend a special thanks to Kay who did the original work on the NERPC Committee presentation that she delivered to the Board in January. My presentation was based on much of her and the Committee’s work. Ed Bruette, a member of the NERPC Committee, also gave a comprehensive presentation on NERPC at one of the workshops. Ed and I coordinated our presentations in advance so that our message was consistent.

After the keynotes, The Academy ran four concurrent workshops in the morning and afternoon sessions on both days. The workshops were all packed. Topics were oriented towards emergency communications, particularly in Washington State. These sessions covered topics such as “Interoperability Efforts in Washington State” and “Disaster Recovery in Puget Sound.” However, many of the sessions had broader appeal. These included Ward Silver’s standing room only workshop on Antennas 101 and seminars on Airmail, APRS, “Telephones, Cell Phones and Sat Phones’ and generator safety and usage. A surprisingly popular seminar was “Intro to Radio Communications” which was a well done mini-course covering radio fundamentals such as frequency and wavelength. The course mix between EmComm specific topics and more general topics was about 50/50. This was a well thought out and balanced curriculum by the organizers.

This was an excellent conference. It was the second one of this type that I have attended that focused solely education and training. The other was in Estes Park, Colorado. One commonality that I have observed is that active amateurs are life long learners. Although there should be some of the latest and greatest topics, a workshop on fundamentals, presented in an engaging and informative manner will also attract and interest attendees. Based on my experience, this conference-only type of hamfest that is well planned, actively promoted, and well organized will always be successful.

Again, special thanks to Ed Bruette and Jim Fenstermaker for inviting me and for their hospitality while I was there.

73,

Harold

Harold Kramer, WJ1B

Chief Operating Officer

ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio

225 Main Street

Newington, CT 06111

Telephone: 860 594 0220

email: hkramer@arrl.org

web: www.arrl.org/