[arrl-odv:26361] Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators
Good article! http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase... Time to get those membership numbers growing again! 73 David A. Norris, K5UZ Director, Delta Division Sent from my iPhone
As we look to the growing community of Makers and other DIY-interested folk to become hams, we should not forget the cadre of new operators coming to us via emergency communications. Many of the comments of those who do not renew their ARRL memberships seem likely to come from this group. They find QST too technical and yearly membership too expensive. Some will be "converted" to long-term hams, but we don't offer much to entice those who enter with a pure emcomm focus. These people are *already* hams, so the hardest part of getting them to be long-term members is already accomplished. We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need. Hardcore, longterm hams will decry "pandering" or the dumbing-down of ham radio, but we definitely need some bridge to ensure "emcomm-only" licensees become a permanent part of ham radio, and ARRL 73, Greg, K0GW On Wednesday, April 12, 2017, David Norris <k5uz@icloud.com> wrote:
Good article!
http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving- Increase-in-Amateur-Radio-Operators.html
Time to get those membership numbers growing again!
73
David A. Norris, K5UZ Director, Delta Division
Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org <javascript:;> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
Greg and all- This is a marvelous idea and, perhaps, the crux of what we should be doing to focus on, and meet the needs of, the bulk of our newer and future members; Greg wrote,“We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need.” If we don’t look forward now, today, in ten years we will find a Board of 80+ year-olds directing a dying organization of old fogies completely out of touch with reality – whose primary issue will be the decertification of Scarborough for DXCC. Greg – brilliant!! 73 de Mike N2YBB From: G Widin Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 8:42 AM To: David Norris Cc: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:26362] Re: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators As we look to the growing community of Makers and other DIY-interested folk to become hams, we should not forget the cadre of new operators coming to us via emergency communications. Many of the comments of those who do not renew their ARRL memberships seem likely to come from this group. They find QST too technical and yearly membership too expensive. Some will be "converted" to long-term hams, but we don't offer much to entice those who enter with a pure emcomm focus. These people are already hams, so the hardest part of getting them to be long-term members is already accomplished. We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need. Hardcore, longterm hams will decry "pandering" or the dumbing-down of ham radio, but we definitely need some bridge to ensure "emcomm-only" licensees become a permanent part of ham radio, and ARRL 73, Greg, K0GW On Wednesday, April 12, 2017, David Norris <k5uz@icloud.com> wrote: Good article! http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase... Time to get those membership numbers growing again! 73 David A. Norris, K5UZ Director, Delta Division Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
Thanks, Greg and Mike, Diane and the team are working on this very topic at the moment. Expect a full-blown proposal before July. Tom From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Lisenco, Mike (Dir, HU) Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 10:05 AM To: G Widin <gpwidin@comcast.net> Cc: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:26363] Re: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators Greg and all- This is a marvelous idea and, perhaps, the crux of what we should be doing to focus on, and meet the needs of, the bulk of our newer and future members; Greg wrote,“We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need.” If we don’t look forward now, today, in ten years we will find a Board of 80+ year-olds directing a dying organization of old fogies completely out of touch with reality – whose primary issue will be the decertification of Scarborough for DXCC. Greg – brilliant!! 73 de Mike N2YBB From: G Widin Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 8:42 AM To: David Norris Cc: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:26362] Re: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators As we look to the growing community of Makers and other DIY-interested folk to become hams, we should not forget the cadre of new operators coming to us via emergency communications. Many of the comments of those who do not renew their ARRL memberships seem likely to come from this group. They find QST too technical and yearly membership too expensive. Some will be "converted" to long-term hams, but we don't offer much to entice those who enter with a pure emcomm focus. These people are already hams, so the hardest part of getting them to be long-term members is already accomplished. We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need. Hardcore, longterm hams will decry "pandering" or the dumbing-down of ham radio, but we definitely need some bridge to ensure "emcomm-only" licensees become a permanent part of ham radio, and ARRL 73, Greg, K0GW On Wednesday, April 12, 2017, David Norris <k5uz@icloud.com<mailto:k5uz@icloud.com>> wrote: Good article! http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase... Time to get those membership numbers growing again! 73 David A. Norris, K5UZ Director, Delta Division Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org<mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv ________________________________ _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org<mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
Good points, David, Greg, Jim, Bonnie, Tom F, and Mike. Like Tom F. said, we've looked at these issues in the past. Timeto think a bit harder out of the box? Yep, maybe so. Around here, many of the new adult hams enter the hobbybecause they are interested in only emergency communications, nothing elsereally. As far as the kids and teenagers, they don't seem to care about DXingand contesting like years ago but are the Maker Faire generation. Discussion? Maybe we'll hear more from the Entry Level License Committeeand the survey work they've been doing. I'm anxious to hear what Diane and the team can come up within July. 73 Rick - K5UR ... -----Original Message----- From: Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF (CEO), NY2RF (CEO) <tgallagher@arrl.org> To: Lisenco, Mike (Dir, HU) (Dir, HU) <mlisenco@arrl.org>; G Widin <gpwidin@comcast.net> Cc: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org>; Petrilli, Diane, KB1RNF, KB1RNF <dpetrilli@arrl.org> Sent: Wed, Apr 12, 2017 9:55 am Subject: [arrl-odv:26364] Re: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators Thanks, Greg and Mike, Diane and the team are working on this very topic at the moment. Expect a full-blown proposal before July. Tom From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org]On Behalf Of Lisenco, Mike (Dir, HU) Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 10:05 AM To: G Widin <gpwidin@comcast.net> Cc: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:26363] Re: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators Greg and all- This is a marvelous idea and, perhaps, the crux of what we should be doing to focus on, and meet the needs of, the bulk of our newer and future members; Greg wrote,“We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need.” If we don’t look forward now, today, in ten years we will find a Board of 80+ year-olds directing a dying organization of old fogies completely out of touch with reality – whose primary issue will be the decertification of Scarborough for DXCC. Greg – brilliant!! 73 de Mike N2YBB From: G Widin Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 8:42 AM To: David Norris Cc: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:26362] Re: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators As we look to the growing community of Makers and other DIY-interested folk to become hams, we should not forget the cadre of new operators coming to us via emergency communications. Many of the comments of those who do not renew their ARRL memberships seem likely to come from this group. They find QST too technical and yearly membership too expensive. Some will be "converted" to long-term hams, but we don't offer much to entice those who enter with a pure emcomm focus. These people are already hams, so the hardest part of getting them to be long-term members is already accomplished. We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need. Hardcore, longterm hams will decry "pandering" or the dumbing-down of ham radio, but we definitely need some bridge to ensure "emcomm-only" licensees become a permanent part of ham radio, and ARRL 73, Greg, K0GW On Wednesday, April 12, 2017, David Norris <k5uz@icloud.com> wrote: Good article! http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase... Time to get those membership numbers growing again! 73 David A. Norris, K5UZ Director, Delta Division Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
At 10:05 AM 4/12/2017, Mike Lisenco N2YBB wrote:
Greg and all-
This is a marvelous idea and, perhaps, the crux of what we should be doing to focus on, and meet the needs of, the bulk of our newer and future members;
Greg wrote,âWe must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need.â
If we donât look forward now, today, in ten years we will find a Board of 80+ year-olds directing a dying organization of old fogies completely out of touch with reality whose primary issue will be the decertification of Scarborough for DXCC.
Greg brilliant!!
Just for historical input, the Board went through something like this 30 years ago. That doesn't mean we shouldn't take a hard look at it now. Actually, it means we probably have not been doing what we needed to do. The Board considered a serious proposal to create a second publication aimed at newcomers, I think the project was called "silverlake" or something like that. In the end, the conclusion was that the costs to make a new magazine viable compared to the benefit was not significant enough and it was dropped. A lot has changed in the intervening years. But one thing that has not changed is that ARRL continues to do very well with Extra Class licensees and very poor with Technician (and Novice and even General) licensees. Over the years I think we've seen that QST can not be all things to all people - we have too diverse of a population to work with. I'm not convinced that the comments from non-renewers are any different now than they would have been 10-20-30 years ago. But, it's easier to ask them and get feedback now. Maybe we collectively have the sense that change is needed. My guess is that the only thing that works financially will be an electronic publication - but even that is expensive because it requires talented authors, editors, etc. I'm QRV to see what is recommended! -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki@arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444
As part of something for the “emcomm-only” group, there needs to be something that will help them understand the importance of gaining a basic understanding their antenna system options and the value of the general class license for emcomm. Both the East Coast folks, as well as new emcomm hams in the West, don’t always understand the geography of the West and how that changes the needs for disaster communications. Linked repeater systems can only do so much, and when the big one hits off the coast, there is a strong possibility tech licenses will be pretty well useless. The Midwest has a similar possibility with the New Madrid quake. Regular articles in an Emcomm journal can help educate those folks. If they are encouraged to upgrade to General, in order to offer more value to Emcomm, they are more likely to become and remain members. Bonnie AB7ZQ From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of G Widin Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 5:42 AM To: David Norris <k5uz@icloud.com> Cc: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:26362] Re: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators As we look to the growing community of Makers and other DIY-interested folk to become hams, we should not forget the cadre of new operators coming to us via emergency communications. Many of the comments of those who do not renew their ARRL memberships seem likely to come from this group. They find QST too technical and yearly membership too expensive. Some will be "converted" to long-term hams, but we don't offer much to entice those who enter with a pure emcomm focus. These people are already hams, so the hardest part of getting them to be long-term members is already accomplished. We must offer them something to make them stay--things like lower-cost membership and an emcomm-focused journal--that the comments of non-renewers already tell us we need. Hardcore, longterm hams will decry "pandering" or the dumbing-down of ham radio, but we definitely need some bridge to ensure "emcomm-only" licensees become a permanent part of ham radio, and ARRL 73, Greg, K0GW On Wednesday, April 12, 2017, David Norris <k5uz@icloud.com <mailto:k5uz@icloud.com> > wrote: Good article! http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase... Time to get those membership numbers growing again! 73 David A. Norris, K5UZ Director, Delta Division Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org <javascript:;> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
participants (7)
-
Bonnie Altus -
David Norris -
G Widin -
Gallagher, Tom, NY2RF (CEO) -
k5ur＠aol.com -
Mike Lisenco N2YBB -
Tom Frenaye