[arrl-odv:23261] Follow-up on HR-4969 Letter Generating Program
We used the letter generating program during the Shelby, NC Hamfest, and it did work flawlessly. A few comments: Apparently there has been a policy decision that only the involved division portion of the ARRL member database is included in the zip file provided to a division to generate letters. Since the use of the program was for the Roanoke Division, only those members were included in the program. So, entering the call for a Roanoke Division ARRL member did the same thing as the program used at the centennial.. It would automatically generate the Representative's name and address, the number of licensed hams in their congressional district, and the ARRL member's name and address. If there was an out of division member, we would need to input their name, call, address, state and zip code. The zip code would bring up the Representative's name and address. If there were two representatives for a zip code, two letters were produced. My only concern is that the program used at the centennial with the full ARRL database would automatically screen for members vs. non-members. If you were a member, a letter was produced. If you were not a member, a letter would not be produced. With the current program, There is the potential to generate letters for non-members by adding their name, call, address, etc. As we are prohibited to solicit political support from non-members due to our 501(c)3 status, I was a bit concerned. Every individual at our Hamfest was asked if they were a member prior to us producing a letter. Confirmation, however, was not automatic. I know that the ARRL is not mentioned in the letter, but it is pretty obvious where the letter came from. That being said, we generated about 150 letters which will be delivered to HQ by Steve Ewald. Thanks to everyone on the ARRL staff who made this possible! '73 de JIM N2ZZ From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of James F. Boehner MD via arrl-odv Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 9:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:23248] Deserved thanks! Barry spoke about the letter generating program for HR-4969 a few days ago. I have worked with John Proctor K1JMP (ARRL HQ IT) over the last few days tuning up the program. I mentioned on the board list yesterday that the letter it was generating was similar to the one on the www.arrl.org/HR-4969 website, which was accurate, but not quite as compelling as the letter that Mike and Chris gave as an example on their webinar. The program had a few kinks, such as superimposing the generated number field (for number of ham constituents in a district) on the text, which garbled the sentence. Additionally, due to the way HQ computers deal with the current date, the program would originally not run for me. I am pleased to say that John sent me the updated zip file today, and as far as I can tell, it is working flawlessly. It is using the webinar letter template and is properly inserting the number field in the text. FYI, the unzipped file is 10 MB. The zipped file is only 2 MB. It e-mails fine. The Shelby, NC Hamfest is this weekend, and we expect a good turnout. Steve Ewald is coming down as the ARRL HQ rep, and John arranged for Steve to bring an ARRL HQ laptop to the Hamfest. We have a printer, and now it is just a matter of hooking them both together and have the drivers load. I'll send a report as to how everything worked once the Hamfest is over. I definitely want to send KUDOS to John Proctor for his work on this project! '73 de JIM N2ZZ
Some clarification of the rules governing lobbying by the ARRL as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization may be in order. There is not an absolute prohibition on grass roots lobbying. There is a limit to the amount we can spend on lobbying. There is a much lower limit on the amount we can spend on grass roots lobbying. However, we are a long way from hitting either limit. What we do need to bear in mind is that we have an obligation to keep rather detailed records of our expenditures for lobbying and grass roots lobbying so they can be accurately reported on Schedule C, Part II-A of our Form 990. Dave K1ZZ From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of arrl-odv Sent: Monday, September 01, 2014 4:50 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:23261] Follow-up on HR-4969 Letter Generating Program We used the letter generating program during the Shelby, NC Hamfest, and it did work flawlessly. A few comments: Apparently there has been a policy decision that only the involved division portion of the ARRL member database is included in the zip file provided to a division to generate letters. Since the use of the program was for the Roanoke Division, only those members were included in the program. So, entering the call for a Roanoke Division ARRL member did the same thing as the program used at the centennial.. It would automatically generate the Representative's name and address, the number of licensed hams in their congressional district, and the ARRL member's name and address. If there was an out of division member, we would need to input their name, call, address, state and zip code. The zip code would bring up the Representative's name and address. If there were two representatives for a zip code, two letters were produced. My only concern is that the program used at the centennial with the full ARRL database would automatically screen for members vs. non-members. If you were a member, a letter was produced. If you were not a member, a letter would not be produced. With the current program, There is the potential to generate letters for non-members by adding their name, call, address, etc. As we are prohibited to solicit political support from non-members due to our 501(c)3 status, I was a bit concerned. Every individual at our Hamfest was asked if they were a member prior to us producing a letter. Confirmation, however, was not automatic. I know that the ARRL is not mentioned in the letter, but it is pretty obvious where the letter came from. That being said, we generated about 150 letters which will be delivered to HQ by Steve Ewald. Thanks to everyone on the ARRL staff who made this possible! '73 de JIM N2ZZ From: arrl-odv [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of James F. Boehner MD via arrl-odv Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 9:51 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:23248] Deserved thanks! Barry spoke about the letter generating program for HR-4969 a few days ago. I have worked with John Proctor K1JMP (ARRL HQ IT) over the last few days tuning up the program. I mentioned on the board list yesterday that the letter it was generating was similar to the one on the www.arrl.org/HR-4969<http://www.arrl.org/HR-4969> website, which was accurate, but not quite as compelling as the letter that Mike and Chris gave as an example on their webinar. The program had a few kinks, such as superimposing the generated number field (for number of ham constituents in a district) on the text, which garbled the sentence. Additionally, due to the way HQ computers deal with the current date, the program would originally not run for me. I am pleased to say that John sent me the updated zip file today, and as far as I can tell, it is working flawlessly. It is using the webinar letter template and is properly inserting the number field in the text. FYI, the unzipped file is 10 MB. The zipped file is only 2 MB. It e-mails fine. The Shelby, NC Hamfest is this weekend, and we expect a good turnout. Steve Ewald is coming down as the ARRL HQ rep, and John arranged for Steve to bring an ARRL HQ laptop to the Hamfest. We have a printer, and now it is just a matter of hooking them both together and have the drivers load. I'll send a report as to how everything worked once the Hamfest is over. I definitely want to send KUDOS to John Proctor for his work on this project! '73 de JIM N2ZZ
participants (2)
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James F. Boehner MD -
Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ