IN-Newsletter Vol. 39, No. 35 December 9, 2014 - Covers the period November 30-December 6. Upcoming Meetings and Events Vice Director Orientation January 14 in Newington, CT LoTW Study Committee January 14 @ 9:00am in Newington, CT Administration & Finance Committee Janaury 15 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Programs & Services Committee Janaury 15 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Annual Board Meeting January 16-17, 2015 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Production/Editorial Reported by Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY When you receive your January 2015 issue of QST, you may notice that the cover is an illustration, rather than our customary photograph. The "fantasy schematic" on the cover of the January issue is the work of our very own Senior Technical Illustrator, David Pingree, N1NAS. Thanks and congratulations to David for the striking and unique artwork. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Jackie Ferreira reports that November product sales were $301,840. Year to date gross sales are $2,761,156; ahead of forecast by $212,895 and $250,000 higher than 2013. Direct sales were $95,542 dealer sales were $206,298. Sales were very strong throughout the Thanksgiving holiday and "Cyber Monday". There were 692 orders (576 in 2013) placed on "Cyber Monday"-a great one-day take, considering the 4-day Thanksgiving holiday had already contributed over 684 orders (800 in 2013). A follow-up 2015 ARRL Handbook mailing is being sent to 58,000 members and past purchasers who did not respond to the initial mailing. Diane Petrilli reports that November ended with 164,889 members, putting us 936 members over goal year-to-date. The on-time renewal rate for November is 70.07% vs. 70.21% last November. Yvette Vinci completed "reminder letters" to 373 members making quarterly payments toward Life Membership. Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 12/5/2014 1,924 448 11/26/2014 (short week) 607 225 11/21/2014 906 514 11/14/2014 715 505 Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 3-5 Business Days Logbook of the World Category November 2014 QSO Records Entered Into System 629,941,650 QSL Record Matches 99,375,418 Logs Processed 6,961,480 Active Certificates 107,142 Registered Users in System 71,870 Education Services Reported by Debra Johnson, K1DMJ License Instruction Author Ward Silver N0AX is beginning work on the next revision (8th edition) of the General Class License Manual, which will be published next spring to reflect changes in the General Class license pool to be finalized by the NCVEC in the next few weeks. Plans are underway to develop instructor materials for General license instruction that will coordinate with the new pool and study manual. These materials will be published for sale as a combined Technician/General instructor publication. Education & Technology Program We received 10 grant applications for this school year. The applications have been reviewed and recommendations sent to the Executive Committee. We are working on developing the schedule to hold 3 sessions of the introductory Teachers Institute (TI-1) and one session of the advanced Teachers Institute (TI-2) next summer. ARISS The ARISS US management team has hosted 4 information sessions for schools/organizations interested in submitting a proposal to host an ARISS contact during 2015. The proposal window will remain open until December 15, 2014 for contacts to be scheduled in 2015. For details visit www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact<http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact>. Scheduled contacts will resume December 15 when Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF will be interviewed by two Italian schools. The next contacts scheduled with schools in the US will be in mid-January. During late October and November the ARISS team supported 8 contacts internationally, which included contacts with schools and educational venues in France, Canada, Germany, Bulgaria, Kuwait, , Russia, Malaysia and Japan. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 12/25-12/26 Holiday Bob Allison 12/17 Jury Duty `` 12/22-12/24 PTO Steve Capodicasa 12/12 PTO Joe Carcia 12/12 PTO Lauren Clarke 12/24 PTO Jackie Ferreira 12/15 PTO `` 12/29-12/31 PTO Steve Ford 12/22-1/2 PTO Scott Gee 12/24-12/29 PTO Dan Henderson 12/17-1/6 PTO Gail Iannone 12/19-1/2 PTO Bob Inderbitzen 12/29-1/2 PTO Debra Johnson 12/19 PTO `` 12/24 PTO `` 12/31-1/2 PTO Harold Kramer 12/18-12/29 PTO Sean Kutzko 12/12-12/19 PTO Maryann Macdonald 12/22-12/29 PTO Diane Petrilli 12/12 PTO `` 12/22-12/24 PTO `` 1/26-1/30 PTO Becky Schoenfeld 12/24-12/30 PTO Dave Sumner 12/24-12/31 PTO Yvette Vinci 12/29-12/30 PTO