<<060612.doc>>
IN-Newsletter
Vol. 35, No. 23
June 6, 2012 -- Covers the period May 27-June 2.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
Second Board Meeting
July 20-21, 2012 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT
Media & Public Relations
Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP
Field Day support promotional materials are out in several locations including the June CONTACT! and we added something new – a “to-do” calendar of things leading up to the weekend. Daily reminders are being posted to the PR reflector. Some Field Day media hits are already starting to show up. The PR Committee held a special Webinar on May 31st with professionals sharing ideas and insights into creating good Amateur Radio related video. WMV files of it are available at p1k.arl.org/pub/pr/. Special thanks go to Don Carlson, Mark Kraham, Al Petrunti, Bill Husted, Steven Polunsky, Kevin O’Dell and Mark Abramowicz for their participation. McGan Award nominations have been mailed to the Public Relations Committee for their recommendation to the Board’s Program and Services Committee.
Development
Reported by Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD
The W1AW Endowment Campaign has received $49,660 in contributions from 819 donors.
The Spectrum Defense Fund has received $68,700 in contributions from 326 donors.
The Diamond Club has received $98,664 in contributions from 540 donors.
The Education & Technology Program has received $39,552 in contributions from 343 donors. An additional $109,194 from six donors has been received in support of the Teachers Institute Program.
Production/Editorial
Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE
Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed the ARRL Letter for June 7, 2012. Audio News resumes June 14.
Lab
Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI
Product Review
Bob Allison received many emails praising June QST’s Product Review of Inverter/Generators. Many emails came in asking the exact model of line filter to use. A personal reply was given to each member inquiry, with a resulting “thank you!”
Bob Allison experimented with perfecting automatic antenna tuner test methods, following recommendations of Lab consultant, Phil Salas. This new method is only slightly different from our current method, but is an improvement none-the-less. Bob then retested two different automatic antenna tuner models for an upcoming Product Review Article. The new method will be added to the ARRL Laboratory Procedure Manual.
Bob has noticed the total number of views of our Product Review Videos posted on “You-Tube” has reached 187,000; from the period of November2009 to June 2012.
Lab Exhibit
Volunteer Jonathan Allen, K2KKH, has been assisting Bob Allison each week with the new, “ARRL Evolution of Amateur Radio Exhibit”, in the Lab. Each week, historical items have been brought down by Lab staff from the third floor storage room. Jonathan cleaned and inventoried each item. He is also responsible for substantially cleaning up the former film developing room floor and countertop. This week, the room will be painted and storage shelving will be installed for items that will be rotated into the exhibit. This new space will be known as the “Restoration Room”, since it features a well ventilated paint booth, countertop and sink. This new space will allow volunteers, like Jonathan, the proper place to clean, restore and store old equipment for future display. It is hoped that by the end of this summer, all items will be removed from the third floor storage room.
Product Support
Zack Lau has been busy supporting our electronic products. The most common issues are downloads of the TravelPlus GPS product, changing the test options for the Practice Exams (which can’t be changed), and loading the TravelPlus version 16 onto computers (usually an issue with removing a hidden file, as detailed on the Product Notes page).
Sales and Marketing
Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R
May ended with 158,832 members—413 members ahead of April. We continue to be well ahead of the year-to-date forecast; 1,000 members above goal. 73% of May 2012 expirees paid on time (vs. 68% last May).
May product sales ended the month at $339,018, just short of the sales forecast of $347,046. Direct sales were $218,609; dealer sales were $120,409. The sales shortfall is associated with the publishing delay of a new book introduction, The ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook, previously planned to debut in May—but rescheduled for October. Sales at our exhibit in Dayton contributed $66k to direct sales ($67.5k in 2011, $65k in 2010, $64k in 2009). Purchases of 2012 ARRL Field Day gear (shirts, hats, pins, Field Day logbook) totaled $29.4k this month.
Member Service Representatives processed over 3,900 orders in May. It was also a brisk month for membership renewal processing. Phone and email correspondence were particularly busy throughout the month, largely the result of support inquiries for the new digital QST benefit (members requiring assistance with web site registration, login and passwords). By month end, these requests for assistance had returned to more typical levels.
During the last week of the month, the warehouse crew fulfilled 1,159 packages for publication and product orders, 289 membership signing premiums, plus QST mailing supplements.
Part-time Member Service Representative Ally Riedel has accepted an increase in hours to help us meet the growing needs of our members and customers.
Membership & Volunteer Programs
Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N
W1AW
Joe updated the web code practice files. He created the texts for the June W1AW Qualifying Runs and updated various other W1AW web pages. He also participated in a Skywarn training class on Friday.
Sincerely Compiled by,
Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ
Assistant to the CEO
Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations
All Staff 7/4 Holiday
Joe Carcia 6/29 Vacation
`` 7/2-7/6 Vacation
`` 7/13 Vacation
`` 7/20 Vacation
`` 7/27 Vacation
Steve Ewald 6/2-6/10 Tennessee State Convention, Knoxville, TN/Vacation
Steve Ford 6/13-6/15 Vacation
`` 6/21-6/22 Vacation
Scott Gee 6/21-6/22 Vacation
Mike Gruber 6/4-6/8 Vacation
`` 8/27-8/31 Vacation
Dan Henderson 7/2-7/6 Vacation
`` 7/26-7/30 Central States VHF Conference, Cedar Rapids, IA
`` 8/16- West Virginia State Convention, Weston, WV
Amy Hurtado 6/15 Vacation
`` 6/20 Vacation
`` 7/9-7/13 Vacation
`` 7/18 Vacation
`` 7/26-7/27 Vacation
Gail Iannone 6/6/29-7/6 Vacation
Bob Inderbitzen 6/20-6/25 Friedrichshafen Convention, Germany
`` 6/26-6/27 Vacation
`` 7/10-7/17 Vacation
Khrystyne Keane 6/8-6/10 Arkansas State Convention, Rogers, AR
Joel Kleinman 6/21-6/22
Lisa Kustosik 6/7 Vacation
`` 6/20 Vacation
Zack Lau 6/14-6/15 Vacation
`` 6/22 Vacation
Diane Petrilli 6/11-6/15 Vacation
`` 7/23-7/25 Vacation
`` 8/6-8/10 Vacation
Chuck Skolaut 6/19-6/28 Friedrichshafen Convention, Germany/Vacation
Dave Sumner 6/20-6/24 Friedrichshafen Convention, Germany