Here is an update from Sean Kutzko on the status of our Contest Branch.

 

 

 

Mike DeChristophner, N1TA, resigned as ARRL Contest Branch Manager six days ago.  A team of ARRL staffers was formed and met on Friday, January 24 to assess the immediate needs of the Contest Branch. Staffers are:

 

Dave Patton, NN1N – Membership & Volunteer Programs Manager (overseeing the Committee)

Harold Kramer, WJ1B, COO

Sean Kutzko, KX9X, Public Relations Manager and former Contest Branch Manager 2007-2013

Dan Henderson, N1ND,  Regulatory Affairs Manager and former Contest Branch Manager 1998-2006

Sharon Taratula, MVP Operations Manager

Kathy Allison, KA1RWY,  MVP Awards Specialist

 

Also in the group is Ward Silver, N0AX, QST author and editor of the bi-weekly ARRL Contest Update e-newsletter.

 

Since the initial meeting five days ago, the following items have been completed:

 

·         Awards certificates printed for 2012 September VHF Contest, 2012 CW Sweepstakes, 2012 Phone Sweepstakes, and 2013 RTTY Roundup.

·         Plaques ordered for 2012 Phone Sweepstakes

·         All voicemail to N1TA has been answered

·         Backlog on N1TA email is being processed by NN1N and distributed to the Committee for reply. 50% caught up.

·         Database processes related to creating and importing Contest results tables for 2013 August UHF, 2013 IARU, 2013 September VHF

·         Assessment of status and needs of our contest results authors.

·         Responded to several Members who have loudly complained about poor service from the Contest Branch in recent weeks and addressed their needs directly.

·         All contest databases have for all events from RTTY Roundup to September VHF have been uploaded in .CSV format

·         All QST editions of 2013 contest articles have been uploaded to www.arrl.org/contest-results-articles

 

General assignments moving forward:

·         Day-to-day management of the Contest Branch is now being handled by Dave Patton.

·         Sean Kutzko – Awards fulfillment, customer service/satisfaction

·         Dan Henderson – Contest database management and results tables creation

·         Ward Silver – Management of results authors

·         Kathy Allison – Data entry, data research/investigation

·         Sharon Taratula -Awards processing/mailing Management

 

I also wish to recognize the following employees for their willingness to step up and assist at this time:

·         Sabrina Jackson, ARRL Awards Specialist

·         Sani Zanovic, ARRL Data Entry Specialist

·         Sabrina and Sani have been processing of the backlog of awards certificates and preparing them for mailing.

 

Sean is updating the Contest Branch Awards Processing Status page again on a weekly basis and has been promoting it to the Membership. It can be found at:

http://www.arrl.org/plaques-and-certificates

 

Targeted dates for award shipment:

 

·         2012 Sweepstakes certificates: January 31

·         2013 RTTY Roundup: February 7

·         2012 September VHF: February 7

·         2012 Sweepstakes Phone plaques: February  21

 

Awards fulfillment will continue at an accelerated pace until the backlog is completely eliminated.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Sean Kutzko, KX9X

Media and Public Relations Manager

 

ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio

225 Main St.

Newington, CT 06111

860-594-0328

skutzko@arrl.org

Web: www.arrl.org

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