<<120408.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 31, No. 49 December 3, 2008 -- Covers the period November 23-29. Upcoming Meetings and Events Annual Board Meeting January 16-17, 2009 @ 9:00am in Windsor, CT Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP The FCC has requested Amateur Radio to aid in providing technical information to communities during the DTV conversion. The request came from George Dillon. A plan has been formed using the Section Managers as the primary contact points between FCC, which will provide free information and media supplies, and the clubs in their section. The short timeline for this activity is horrible, but we shall see what can be done in response to their request. The December CONTACT! was published. 95% of the files needed for a new video PSA highlighting the technology of AR have come in and volunteer editing options are being explored. A meeting has been set with CTDLC for possibilities of hosting a coming PR-101 class on their systems. There appear to be 8 Leonard Award nominations either completed or coming in the next few days before the deadline. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The ARRL Diamond Club revenues topped $268,000 in November. Through November 30 this program has realized 72% of its budgeted goal for 2008. The biggest drop in participation is in the first level ($75 - $249) reflecting the conservative mood among donors this year. That mood has carried over to the fall campaign for the 2009 Spectrum Defense Fund. This important annual fund raising campaign is still facing an uphill climb to reach its goal for the year. Revenues through November 30 total $193,105 from 2051 donors....well short of prior years. E-messages have been added to the campaign strategy and have added to the campaign messaging and some revenue as well. We have received one $10,000 commitment to the defense Fund from a Maxim Society donor that should arrive before year end. The planned year end campaign will be more modest this year. Rather than mailing 75,000 envelopes, we will use electronic media to offer a comprehensive year-end giving message with an added bonus for every gift of $25 or more...a $10 off publication coupon. This message will go out December 5. Holiday cards of thanks have been mailed to all major donors. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 27, No. 46, for November 26, 2008. It distributed to 73,240 members. ARRL Audio News will resume December 5. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI Product Review Bob Allison is working on a load test fixture to test AC inverters for Product Review. Bob Allison will be touring the Essco calibration lab the next time he brings our test equipment up to Chelmsford MA for calibration. TIS Statistics 11/24-11/30 Question BA MG EFH ZL AN Totals 01 What rig is best? / Prod Rev 1 1 02 RFI/EMI/FCC issues 1 4 2 6 13 03 How to use equipment 2 2 04 Propagation 2 2 05 Antenna/Feed line/Tower questions 2 1 4 1 8 06 Locate companies, parts or services 6 1 7 07 Software problems 1 1 08 Regulatory questions 0 3 3 6 09 Operating / amateur exam questions 3 3 10 Article photocopy/archive corrections 153 3 16 172 11 Other 1 6 6 12 BPL 5 5 13 PAVE-PAWS 2 2 14 Misdirected 1 1 2 A summary of categories will appear at the end of each month. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R We're pleased to welcome Membership Manager Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF <mailto:dpetrilli@arrl.org> , to the Headquarters staff. Diane comes to the ARRL with more than 15 years of experience in marketing and membership management, including nine years with the Connecticut Bar Association. She earned her Amateur Radio license on her fourth day here! At the end of November, membership totaled 154,334 (start of year 153,535)--a small gain of 82 members over October. November product sales were $234,981. The sales forecast was $275,912. YTD, we are ahead of forecast by $144,057. The month's shortfall was distributed across most of our publication categories, which is untypical. A contributing factor may be the weak economy and poor retail climate. We are following the indicators day-by-day, and ramping-up promotions and incentives. The customer service team is working hard to keep up with the holiday orders, increased phone calls and membership renewals during this busy season. We came out of the Thanksgiving Holiday with 400 online orders (Thurs-Sun), and other 414 orders following a "Cyber Monday" publication promotion. The winter edition of the ARRL Publications Catalog is being prepared. A TravelPlus special upgrade mailing was sent out to 5,000 previous users. The second printing of 50 Years of Amateur Radio Innovation is shipping. We accumulated another 340 orders since the first 500 copies were distributed. The results of our first telemarketing trial are in. The call center spoke with 1,055 lapsed members, and signed 89 applications. We are preparing the second half of this effort, which will involve phone calls to recently licensed membership prospects. The Warehouse crew fulfilled 594 packages for publication and product orders, and shipped 220 free book membership premiums during the short week. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Awards Branch Category Nov 2008 Year-to-Date WAS Cert. (Manual) 16 299 WAS Cert. (LoTW) 18 163 A-1 Op Nominations 14 191 A-1 Op Certificates 17 173 Extra Class Cert. 22 120 WAC Certificates 15 271 VUCC New / Grids 17 / 2,105 126 / 13,987 VUCC Endorse/Grids 13 / 1,386 145 / 8,521 Processing Time Current Current Contest Branch 1,277 logs have been received for SS CW and 1,511 logs for SS Phone. Sean, KX9X, will be making preliminary counts this week for the number of magnets and Clean Sweep brooms we will need to send out, thanks to the donation of Ken Adams, K5KA. Trey Garlough, N5KO, has implemented a matrix for the Contest Robot that will help better deduce a submitted log's category for the 160M and 10M contests. These matrices have proven quite effective for IARU and Sweepstakes and helped reduce the number of logs that end up in an incorrect category. Sean will spend some time this week prepping the Robot for this weekend's 160M Contest. DXCC Branch Credits Applications 2007 Carryover 222,602 1,842 YTD Received 681,792 6,324 Cumulative Total 904,394 8,166 YTD Processed 854,458 7,754 Remaining 49,936 412 Processing Time 4 weeks Logbook of the World Category Nov 2008 Percentage Change Jan - Nov 08 QSO Records Entered Into System 192,108,929 23% QSL Record Matches 16,105,200 37% Logs Processed 744,777 44% Active Certificates 35,212 22% Registered Users in System 22,959 21% Logbook (Email Only) Inquiries 2008 YTD Lost Certificates 1,273 DXCC Status Inquiries 714 Directions Not Followed 584 Additional Certificates 542 Startup Inquiries 406 Total 3,519 Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 12/25 Holiday `` 1/1 Holiday Kathy Allison 12/26 Vacation Bob Allison 12/26 Vacation `` 1/2 Vacation `` 1/2 Vacation Mark Dzamba 12/1-12/5 Vacation Steve Ewald 12/1-12/5 Vacation Steve Ford 12/22-1/5 Vacation Norm Fusaro 12/23-1/2 Vacation Scott Gee 12/8-12/9 Vacation `` 12/24-12/26 Vacation Joel Hallas 12/24-12/31 Vacation Dan Henderson 11/25-12/5 ARI Headquarters Milan/Pescara Convention, Italy `` 12/18-1/5 Vacation Khrystyne Keane 12/26-1/2 Vacation Joe; Kleinman 12/3-12/9 Vacation `` 12/11 Vacation Rose-Ann Lawrence 12/8 Vacation Bill Moore 12/26-1/3 Vacation Dave Patton 12/22-12/26 Vacation Allen Pitts 12/26-1/4 Vacation Steve Sant Andrea 1/2-1/5 Vacation Alex Tara 1/2 Vacation Sharon Taratula 12/24 Vacation