Greetings,

As you know, traditionally Thursday evening after our group dinner has been reserved for a gathering of the Officers, Directors and Vice Directors as well as invited guest to discuss any informal issues outside of the formal board meeting time.

Thursday evening has been used to great benefit at times and wasted on others, sometimes just in pursuit of something to fill the time. For the 2007 Annual Meeting I intentionally avoided lining up a guest speaker.

The Federal Register publication of the order in WT Docket 05-235 should happen any day, which will start the 30-day clock ticking toward about 200,000 Technician licensees having HF privileges for the first time and toward some thousands having (or planning soon to have) General and Extra class licenses.

After consultation with the Vice President’s, we believe the best use of the Thursday evening time would be to focus our group's thinking on the challenge of assimilating the new HF operators.

We need to grasp a sense of urgency in this matter, as this challenge will determine the face of Amateur Radio for years to come and it is our duty as stewards of the Amateur Radio Service to manage this situation properly.

The HQ department heads have been invited to join us for dinner and the informal session.

That is our topic. Come prepared to ask questions, offer comments and be a part of the most significant change in the Amateur Radio Service in decades!

73 Joel W5ZN