[arrl-odv:19905] Contacting Staff
Dave, Not long ago, there was a string of e-mail messages concerning how an SEC or other appropriate person can contact our EmComm Director in the event a major emergency arises about which he should advised. I can understand the somewhat sticky nature of developing a resolution to this situation; however, I have personally run into a somewhat similar situation that I feel should be addressed. This situation relates specifically to Maria Somma. Over this past weekend I talked to quite a number of members at two hamfests. One of the members is a VE from Ohio who is very tuned in to the need for VEs to demonstrate a high level of integrity in fulfilling their duties. As a result, he very vigorously reported what he considers to be apparent, continuing misconduct by a VE team leader (and, therefore, team) in West Virginia. Other than to say that I contacted Director Bodson to keep him aware of my follow-up with the Ohio member on his complaint, I will not address the specific problem reported to me. What I wish to address in this memo is my concern at being unable to reach Maria or at not being advised she was away from the office for an extended period. I telephoned HQ and after exchanging a few pleasantries with Penny, I asked to be put through to Maria's phone. I reached Maria's machine and left a message asking her to telephone me. I indicated I would like to get background on the situation with the VE team in the involved area. This was in early afternoon on Monday. Late Tuesday, I had received no return call from Maria so I put in another call to her. The results were the same. After receiving no reply to either of the two messages, I began to suspect she was on an extended absence. This assumption was confirmed when I received an automatic reply to an e-mail I had sent her. The reply indicated she would not return until next week. I received the e-mail after close of business on Tuesday. I am disappointed that as the head of our VEC, she failed to indicate in her outgoing message she will be out of the office for an extended period and similarly that she did not recommend someone to call for assistance. I can understand why someone in a lesser position than Maria would not think it appropriate to leave such a message, but as a member, I would expect someone at her level in the organization would have shown the courtesy as well as an obligation to the organization to provide this information. Is there a policy at HQ that governs notification of absences by key people? If not, should there be? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040; Tel. 513-459-1661 ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio
Hi, Jim and all. Although it's not available to regular members, I do use Lisa's IN-News as a tool since, among other things, it lists scheduled staff absences both on the clock (e.g., conventions) and off (e.g., vacations). This can be helpful when I respond to a member who contacts me to say they can't reach someone at HQ. I just went back over the last three issues (4/13, 4/20 and 4/27) and noted that Maria's absence is not noted in any of them. Also, Mike Corey's recent absence, which was the subject of an earlier ODV e-mail exchange between Bill Edgar and Harold Kramer, is not noted in any of those issues. Was there something unique about these two absences that resulted in their not being included in Lisa's reports? 73, Marty N6VI ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Weaver K8JE To: ODV Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 6:45 PM Subject: [arrl-odv:19905] Contacting Staff Dave, Not long ago, there was a string of e-mail messages concerning how an SEC or other appropriate person can contact our EmComm Director in the event a major emergency arises about which he should advised. I can understand the somewhat sticky nature of developing a resolution to this situation; however, I have personally run into a somewhat similar situation that I feel should be addressed. This situation relates specifically to Maria Somma. Over this past weekend I talked to quite a number of members at two hamfests. One of the members is a VE from Ohio who is very tuned in to the need for VEs to demonstrate a high level of integrity in fulfilling their duties. As a result, he very vigorously reported what he considers to be apparent, continuing misconduct by a VE team leader (and, therefore, team) in West Virginia. Other than to say that I contacted Director Bodson to keep him aware of my follow-up with the Ohio member on his complaint, I will not address the specific problem reported to me. What I wish to address in this memo is my concern at being unable to reach Maria or at not being advised she was away from the office for an extended period. I telephoned HQ and after exchanging a few pleasantries with Penny, I asked to be put through to Maria's phone. I reached Maria's machine and left a message asking her to telephone me. I indicated I would like to get background on the situation with the VE team in the involved area. This was in early afternoon on Monday. Late Tuesday, I had received no return call from Maria so I put in another call to her. The results were the same. After receiving no reply to either of the two messages, I began to suspect she was on an extended absence. This assumption was confirmed when I received an automatic reply to an e-mail I had sent her. The reply indicated she would not return until next week. I received the e-mail after close of business on Tuesday. I am disappointed that as the head of our VEC, she failed to indicate in her outgoing message she will be out of the office for an extended period and similarly that she did not recommend someone to call for assistance. I can understand why someone in a lesser position than Maria would not think it appropriate to leave such a message, but as a member, I would expect someone at her level in the organization would have shown the courtesy as well as an obligation to the organization to provide this information. Is there a policy at HQ that governs notification of absences by key people? If not, should there be? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040; Tel. 513-459-1661 ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org http://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
Marty, I'm too lazy to check to see if I already responded to your excellent suggestion. In case I haven't, I, too, use Lisa's In-News to help determine if someone is scheduled to be out of the office. I recognize that not all "outs" can be anticipated and placed on the list; however, I, doo have observed a number of instances in which the "out" appears to have been planned well in advance but still not given to Lisa to be listed. This seems to be most unfortunate in that much of the time devoted to developing the In-Report seems to add little value to facilitating operations at HQ nearly so much as the out-of-office list could. Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is _____ From: Marty Woll [mailto:n6vi@socal.rr.com] Sent: 05 May, 2011 1:19 AM To: Jim Weaver K8JE; ODV Subject: Re: [arrl-odv:19905] Contacting Staff Hi, Jim and all. Although it's not available to regular members, I do use Lisa's IN-News as a tool since, among other things, it lists scheduled staff absences both on the clock (e.g., conventions) and off (e.g., vacations). This can be helpful when I respond to a member who contacts me to say they can't reach someone at HQ. I just went back over the last three issues (4/13, 4/20 and 4/27) and noted that Maria's absence is not noted in any of them. Also, Mike Corey's recent absence, which was the subject of an earlier ODV e-mail exchange between Bill Edgar and Harold Kramer, is not noted in any of those issues. Was there something unique about these two absences that resulted in their not being included in Lisa's reports? 73, Marty N6VI ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Weaver K8JE <mailto:K8JE@ARRL.org> To: ODV <mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 6:45 PM Subject: [arrl-odv:19905] Contacting Staff Dave, Not long ago, there was a string of e-mail messages concerning how an SEC or other appropriate person can contact our EmComm Director in the event a major emergency arises about which he should advised. I can understand the somewhat sticky nature of developing a resolution to this situation; however, I have personally run into a somewhat similar situation that I feel should be addressed. This situation relates specifically to Maria Somma. Over this past weekend I talked to quite a number of members at two hamfests. One of the members is a VE from Ohio who is very tuned in to the need for VEs to demonstrate a high level of integrity in fulfilling their duties. As a result, he very vigorously reported what he considers to be apparent, continuing misconduct by a VE team leader (and, therefore, team) in West Virginia. Other than to say that I contacted Director Bodson to keep him aware of my follow-up with the Ohio member on his complaint, I will not address the specific problem reported to me. What I wish to address in this memo is my concern at being unable to reach Maria or at not being advised she was away from the office for an extended period. I telephoned HQ and after exchanging a few pleasantries with Penny, I asked to be put through to Maria's phone. I reached Maria's machine and left a message asking her to telephone me. I indicated I would like to get background on the situation with the VE team in the involved area. This was in early afternoon on Monday. Late Tuesday, I had received no return call from Maria so I put in another call to her. The results were the same. After receiving no reply to either of the two messages, I began to suspect she was on an extended absence. This assumption was confirmed when I received an automatic reply to an e-mail I had sent her. The reply indicated she would not return until next week. I received the e-mail after close of business on Tuesday. I am disappointed that as the head of our VEC, she failed to indicate in her outgoing message she will be out of the office for an extended period and similarly that she did not recommend someone to call for assistance. I can understand why someone in a lesser position than Maria would not think it appropriate to leave such a message, but as a member, I would expect someone at her level in the organization would have shown the courtesy as well as an obligation to the organization to provide this information. Is there a policy at HQ that governs notification of absences by key people? If not, should there be? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040; Tel. 513-459-1661 ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio _____ _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org http://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1209 / Virus Database: 1500/3616 - Release Date: 05/04/11
Jim, Dave is on vacation this week, so I will respond to your email in his absence. Maria was out of the office for a few days unexpectedly. I believe that her young daughter was ill. She also had some other medically related unexpected absences. Nonetheless, I believe that you have raised three issues here. First, with regard to VEC questions and inquiries, there are other VEC staffers who can answer VEC inquiries besides Maria. Perry Green is also very knowledgeable and so are the other staff members about VEC issues. If either you or a member needs to discuss a particular issue, I am confident that any of these other VEC staff members could assist. If you cannot connect with another VEC staffer or Maria, you can always contact me or Dave and we will follow up for you. I very rarely get any complaints about lack of response from that Department. Usually it is quite the opposite, most people I speak with believe that our VEC Department provides exemplary service. Second, , Maria's phone was set to roll over to the VEC staff after a certain number of rings if she does not answer the call to her direct line. For whatever reason, that system was not always working correctly. The problem has been corrected and her phone will be forwarded to the next available VEC staff member. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Third, I will remind the department heads who work for me to make sure that their voice mail is changed and/or provisions are made for someone to answer their phone when they are out of the office, whenever possible. I will also have them review the absentee telephone answering procedures for their respective departments. There is a policy that anticipated absences should be reported to the appropriate Manager and to Lisa for inclusion in In-News. However, as I am sure you realize, some absences cannot be anticipated but we'll check to make sure the proper processes are in place. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B ARRL Chief Operating Officer 860 594 0220 From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Jim Weaver K8JE Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:46 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:19905] Contacting Staff Dave, Not long ago, there was a string of e-mail messages concerning how an SEC or other appropriate person can contact our EmComm Director in the event a major emergency arises about which he should advised. I can understand the somewhat sticky nature of developing a resolution to this situation; however, I have personally run into a somewhat similar situation that I feel should be addressed. This situation relates specifically to Maria Somma. Over this past weekend I talked to quite a number of members at two hamfests. One of the members is a VE from Ohio who is very tuned in to the need for VEs to demonstrate a high level of integrity in fulfilling their duties. As a result, he very vigorously reported what he considers to be apparent, continuing misconduct by a VE team leader (and, therefore, team) in West Virginia. Other than to say that I contacted Director Bodson to keep him aware of my follow-up with the Ohio member on his complaint, I will not address the specific problem reported to me. What I wish to address in this memo is my concern at being unable to reach Maria or at not being advised she was away from the office for an extended period. I telephoned HQ and after exchanging a few pleasantries with Penny, I asked to be put through to Maria's phone. I reached Maria's machine and left a message asking her to telephone me. I indicated I would like to get background on the situation with the VE team in the involved area. This was in early afternoon on Monday. Late Tuesday, I had received no return call from Maria so I put in another call to her. The results were the same. After receiving no reply to either of the two messages, I began to suspect she was on an extended absence. This assumption was confirmed when I received an automatic reply to an e-mail I had sent her. The reply indicated she would not return until next week. I received the e-mail after close of business on Tuesday. I am disappointed that as the head of our VEC, she failed to indicate in her outgoing message she will be out of the office for an extended period and similarly that she did not recommend someone to call for assistance. I can understand why someone in a lesser position than Maria would not think it appropriate to leave such a message, but as a member, I would expect someone at her level in the organization would have shown the courtesy as well as an obligation to the organization to provide this information. Is there a policy at HQ that governs notification of absences by key people? If not, should there be? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040; Tel. 513-459-1661 ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio
Harold, Thanks for your proactive comments in regards to HQ absences, and proper notification! We had a recent thread about HQ using an answering service for emergency after-hours calls. I called the main number at HQ on April 22nd (Good Friday). The message I received basically said that ARRL HQ was closed for the Easter weekend, and that was it. There was no reference for Emergency calls to hold to be routed to the answering service, or a separate number to call. So, I do not know if there is a written policy for HQ absences, or if one is in the works. If so, hopefully the handling of emergency calls to HQ after hours could be addressed in the same document. Thanks, and good to see you at the NC State convention! '73 de JIM N2ZZ ARRL Vice Director Roanoke Division ARRL, the national association for Amateur RadioT From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Kramer, Harold, WJ1B Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 11:30 AM To: arrl-odv@arrl.org Subject: [arrl-odv:19907] Contacting Staff Jim, Dave is on vacation this week, so I will respond to your email in his absence. Maria was out of the office for a few days unexpectedly. I believe that her young daughter was ill. She also had some other medically related unexpected absences. Nonetheless, I believe that you have raised three issues here. First, with regard to VEC questions and inquiries, there are other VEC staffers who can answer VEC inquiries besides Maria. Perry Green is also very knowledgeable and so are the other staff members about VEC issues. If either you or a member needs to discuss a particular issue, I am confident that any of these other VEC staff members could assist. If you cannot connect with another VEC staffer or Maria, you can always contact me or Dave and we will follow up for you. I very rarely get any complaints about lack of response from that Department. Usually it is quite the opposite, most people I speak with believe that our VEC Department provides exemplary service. Second, , Maria's phone was set to roll over to the VEC staff after a certain number of rings if she does not answer the call to her direct line. For whatever reason, that system was not always working correctly. The problem has been corrected and her phone will be forwarded to the next available VEC staff member. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Third, I will remind the department heads who work for me to make sure that their voice mail is changed and/or provisions are made for someone to answer their phone when they are out of the office, whenever possible. I will also have them review the absentee telephone answering procedures for their respective departments. There is a policy that anticipated absences should be reported to the appropriate Manager and to Lisa for inclusion in In-News. However, as I am sure you realize, some absences cannot be anticipated but we'll check to make sure the proper processes are in place. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B ARRL Chief Operating Officer 860 594 0220 From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Jim Weaver K8JE Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:46 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:19905] Contacting Staff Dave, Not long ago, there was a string of e-mail messages concerning how an SEC or other appropriate person can contact our EmComm Director in the event a major emergency arises about which he should advised. I can understand the somewhat sticky nature of developing a resolution to this situation; however, I have personally run into a somewhat similar situation that I feel should be addressed. This situation relates specifically to Maria Somma. Over this past weekend I talked to quite a number of members at two hamfests. One of the members is a VE from Ohio who is very tuned in to the need for VEs to demonstrate a high level of integrity in fulfilling their duties. As a result, he very vigorously reported what he considers to be apparent, continuing misconduct by a VE team leader (and, therefore, team) in West Virginia. Other than to say that I contacted Director Bodson to keep him aware of my follow-up with the Ohio member on his complaint, I will not address the specific problem reported to me. What I wish to address in this memo is my concern at being unable to reach Maria or at not being advised she was away from the office for an extended period. I telephoned HQ and after exchanging a few pleasantries with Penny, I asked to be put through to Maria's phone. I reached Maria's machine and left a message asking her to telephone me. I indicated I would like to get background on the situation with the VE team in the involved area. This was in early afternoon on Monday. Late Tuesday, I had received no return call from Maria so I put in another call to her. The results were the same. After receiving no reply to either of the two messages, I began to suspect she was on an extended absence. This assumption was confirmed when I received an automatic reply to an e-mail I had sent her. The reply indicated she would not return until next week. I received the e-mail after close of business on Tuesday. I am disappointed that as the head of our VEC, she failed to indicate in her outgoing message she will be out of the office for an extended period and similarly that she did not recommend someone to call for assistance. I can understand why someone in a lesser position than Maria would not think it appropriate to leave such a message, but as a member, I would expect someone at her level in the organization would have shown the courtesy as well as an obligation to the organization to provide this information. Is there a policy at HQ that governs notification of absences by key people? If not, should there be? Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040; Tel. 513-459-1661 ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio
And also, shouldn't a list of of current (scheduled and unexpected) staff absences been available to Penny? Sent from Gary's iPad 2. On May 5, 2011, at 6:51 PM, "James F. Boehner MD" <jboehner01@yahoo.com> wrote:
Harold,
Thanks for your proactive comments in regards to HQ absences, and proper notification!
We had a recent thread about HQ using an answering service for emergency after-hours calls.
I called the main number at HQ on April 22nd (Good Friday). The message I received basically said that ARRL HQ was closed for the Easter weekend, and that was it. There was no reference for Emergency calls to hold to be routed to the answering service, or a separate number to call.
So, I do not know if there is a written policy for HQ absences, or if one is in the works. If so, hopefully the handling of emergency calls to HQ after hours could be addressed in the same document.
Thanks, and good to see you at the NC State convention!
'73 de JIM N2ZZ
ARRL Vice Director
Roanoke Division
ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio™
From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Kramer, Harold, WJ1B Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 11:30 AM To: arrl-odv@arrl.org Subject: [arrl-odv:19907] Contacting Staff
Jim,
Dave is on vacation this week, so I will respond to your email in his absence. Maria was out of the office for a few days unexpectedly. I believe that her young daughter was ill. She also had some other medically related unexpected absences.
Nonetheless, I believe that you have raised three issues here.
First, with regard to VEC questions and inquiries, there are other VEC staffers who can answer VEC inquiries besides Maria. Perry Green is also very knowledgeable and so are the other staff members about VEC issues. If either you or a member needs to discuss a particular issue, I am confident that any of these other VEC staff members could assist. If you cannot connect with another VEC staffer or Maria, you can always contact me or Dave and we will follow up for you. I very rarely get any complaints about lack of response from that Department. Usually it is quite the opposite, most people I speak with believe that our VEC Department provides exemplary service.
Second, , Maria’s phone was set to roll over to the VEC staff after a certain number of rings if she does not answer the call to her direct line. For whatever reason, that system was not always working correctly. The problem has been corrected and her phone will be forwarded to the next available VEC staff member. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Third, I will remind the department heads who work for me to make sure that their voice mail is changed and/or provisions are made for someone to answer their phone when they are out of the office, whenever possible. I will also have them review the absentee telephone answering procedures for their respective departments. There is a policy that anticipated absences should be reported to the appropriate Manager and to Lisa for inclusion in In-News. However, as I am sure you realize, some absences cannot be anticipated but we’ll check to make sure the proper processes are in place.
73,
Harold
Harold Kramer, WJ1B
ARRL Chief Operating Officer
860 594 0220
From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Jim Weaver K8JE Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:46 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:19905] Contacting Staff
Dave,
Not long ago, there was a string of e-mail messages concerning how an SEC or other appropriate person can contact our EmComm Director in the event a major emergency arises about which he should advised. I can understand the somewhat sticky nature of developing a resolution to this situation; however, I have personally run into a somewhat similar situation that I feel should be addressed. This situation relates specifically to Maria Somma.
Over this past weekend I talked to quite a number of members at two hamfests. One of the members is a VE from Ohio who is very tuned in to the need for VEs to demonstrate a high level of integrity in fulfilling their duties. As a result, he very vigorously reported what he considers to be apparent, continuing misconduct by a VE team leader (and, therefore, team) in West Virginia. Other than to say that I contacted Director Bodson to keep him aware of my follow-up with the Ohio member on his complaint, I will not address the specific problem reported to me.
What I wish to address in this memo is my concern at being unable to reach Maria or at not being advised she was away from the office for an extended period.
I telephoned HQ and after exchanging a few pleasantries with Penny, I asked to be put through to Maria's phone. I reached Maria's machine and left a message asking her to telephone me. I indicated I would like to get background on the situation with the VE team in the involved area. This was in early afternoon on Monday. Late Tuesday, I had received no return call from Maria so I put in another call to her. The results were the same. After receiving no reply to either of the two messages, I began to suspect she was on an extended absence. This assumption was confirmed when I received an automatic reply to an e-mail I had sent her. The reply indicated she would not return until next week. I received the e-mail after close of business on Tuesday.
I am disappointed that as the head of our VEC, she failed to indicate in her outgoing message she will be out of the office for an extended period and similarly that she did not recommend someone to call for assistance. I can understand why someone in a lesser position than Maria would not think it appropriate to leave such a message, but as a member, I would expect someone at her level in the organization would have shown the courtesy as well as an obligation to the organization to provide this information.
Is there a policy at HQ that governs notification of absences by key people? If not, should there be?
Jim
Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director
ARRL Great Lakes Division
5065 Bethany Rd.
Mason, OH 45040; Tel. 513-459-1661
ARRL, The national association for Amateur Radio
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participants (5)
-
Gary Johnston -
James F. Boehner MD -
Jim Weaver K8JE -
Kramer, Harold, WJ1B -
Marty Woll