FYI Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 860 594 0220 hkramer@arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/> ________________________________ From: Ewald, Steve, WV1X [mailto:wv1x@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 5:41 PM To: smlist Subject: [smlist:4420] Summary of September SM Teleconference Hello, Section Managers. Just a side note for your information: I will be away from the office on a vacation from September 19 (Wednesday) through October 2 (Tuesday). Chuck, K0BOG (cskolaut@arrl.org) and Leona, KB1PKN (ladams@arrl.org) will be available and at your service at Headquarters during that time. Thanks. I have included a summary of highlights from the September 13th teleconference with the Section Managers of the Pacific Division. Good weekend wishes. - Steve, WV1x Summary of Highlights from the September 2007 Teleconference with Section Managers On Thursday evening, September 13, Membership and Volunteer Programs hosted an ARRL telebridge teleconference with the Section Managers of the Pacific Division. We welcomed SMs Ti-Michelle Connelly, NJ6T (East Bay); Bob Schneider, AH6J (Pacific); Ron Murdock, W6KJ (Sacramento Valley); Bill Hillendahl, KH6GJV (San Francisco); Charles McConnell, W6DPD (San Joaquin Valley); Bill Dale, N2RHV (Santa Clara Valley). Also on the call were Headquarters staff members Dennis Dura, K2DCD, Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG, Katie Breen, W1KRB, and Steve Ewald, WV1X. Are there more ways to effectively communicate with section members? Obviously, the Section Web pages, Monthly Section News Summaries and the e-mail to section member list servers are used frequently. However, what happens when only about a half of the members in one's sections are signed up to automatically receive the section news or e-mailed announcements? This issue was discussed. One idea for effective mass communication via e-mail would be to have the ability to target Section e-mail to a certain segments (geographical, Congressional District) of the section's membership population. In an effort to promote a better response to ARRL elections, there was a suggestion that a neutral source (ARRL's Home Web page?) simply have a visible note or a sign prominently shown that mentions an on-going election in certain division and/or section (no candidate names need to be mentioned). This could serve as a helpful reminder during the election period for members if they happen to live in the section or division where an election is being held. It was stressed that ARRL Section Web pages, or Section News or ARRL sponsored e-mail list servers are not appropriate forums to discuss or mention elections. Some SMs noticed that it is often difficult to get a radio amateur who has passed his or her Amateur Radio Emergency Communications course(s) to become active in the ARES program and/or even consider a local leadership position. Ideas were exchanged to encourage participation. ARRL membership recruitment is on the forefront for many Sections Managers. Some potential strategies and incentives for recruiting were offered in the roundtable discussion. The Section Managers used this opportunity to discuss logistics for the upcoming Pacific Division Convention in San Ramon, California, on October 19-20. 73, Steve Ewald, WV1X Supervisor, Field Organization Team ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 860-594-0265 sewald@arrl.org