IN-Newsletter [cid:image003.jpg@01D1EF0C.358E2890] Vol. 41, No. 28 August 3, 2016 - Covers the period July 24-30. Upcoming In-Person Meetings and Events CEO Office Reported by Tom Gallagher, NY2RF Alli Barbieri's last day is today. As Digital Content Coordinator has been a great asset to this organization and will be truly missed. Please join me in wishing this talented young person good luck in all of her your future endeavors! The first phase of ETP's new middle school teaching curriculum was delivered Thursday for editing and implementation. This project is scheduled to complete by 9/1/16. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Diane Petrilli reports that July ended with 167,167 members, 193 members ahead of the year-to-date goal. This represents a loss from July of 1,158 members; a loss of 883 was forecast. The on-time renewal rate for July (July expirees who renewed by end of July) is 70.20% vs. 72.06% last July. The ARRL website and targeted emails contributed the largest share of new member acquisition this month. Jackie Ferreira reports that July publication and product sales were $232,742, short of the sales forecast of $247,502. The majority of the shortfall is attributed to the discontinued TravelPlus for Repeaters software product, which was included in the 2016 forecast. Direct sales were $128,736 ($124,862 in 2015); dealer sales were $104,006. Year to date sales are $1,864,808, $48,948 ahead of forecast. It was another strong month for royalties earned on sales of our Kindle e-books; $8,424 ($54,928 year to date, and ahead of forecast). Upgrade postcards mailed to Technician and General Class members featuring the General and Extra Class license materials contributed over $21,795 in sales this month. Sales of the current edition Repeater Directory are $2,403 higher through July than during the same period last year. Yvette Vinci prepared a reminder emailing to members with a summary of "What's trending" in August QST, taking advantage of some early analytics shared by Alli Barbieri. The notification was sent to 121,545 members on Tuesday, July 19. An ad introducing the 2017 ARRL Handbook and 11th edition ARRL Operating Manual was finalized for September QST. The new editions will begin shipping in October. The books are being promoted with the current edition ARRL Antenna Book as companion titles; three books every radio amateur should have: The Power of 3. There are also plans to introduce the Operating Manual as a Kindle e-book in two parts covering four volumes. Bob Inderbitzen authored an opinion piece<http://www.arrl.org/news/editorial-radiosport-vs-pok-mon-go> comparing the current Pokémon phenomenon with Amateur Radiosport. He has received some nice comments from members about the editorial. Effective immediately, a custom Life Membership plaque will be offered as an optional add-on when an individual qualifies for Life Membership by making their paid-in-full or final payment. Existing pledgers will receive an included plaque, but the economics of continuing to fulfill new plaques at no charge has become costly-reducing the revenue collected to service the membership which includes QST for life. New Life Members will continue to receive a membership card indicating their life member status, a brass life membership pin, and window decals. Bob Inderbitzen, Steve Ford, Barry Shelley, and Tom Gallagher met with RFinder owner Bob Greenberg, W2CYK. RFinder is a web and app-based online directory of repeaters worldwide. ARRL has had a licensing agreement with RFinder since February, and we promote the service as our preferred source for online repeater listings<http://www.arrl.org/shop/RFinder-The-World-Wide-Repeater-Directory/>. Member Services Representative Cassandra Parkman, KB1WQY, has decided to leave the HQ staff. Her last day was July 29. Summary of Sales and Marketing Department telephone group, reported by Yvette Vinci: Week Ending Calls Answered Calls Per Hour Total Talking Duration Average Speed of Answer 7/29/2016 775 17.2 27:05:28 20 seconds 7/22/2016 802 17.8 25:07:22 10 seconds 7/15/2016 848 18.7 25:54:53 9 seconds 7/8/2016 (4 days) 668 18.5 21:35:26 10 seconds Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity, reported by Steve Capodicasa: Week Ending Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 7/29/2016 971 335 7/22/2016 782 412 7/15/2016 896 471 7/8/2016 (4 days) 1,078 208 Field Services & Radiosport Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N DXCC Paper/Fieldcheck Processing Time 3 Weeks Logbook Processing Time 1-2 Days W1AW It was a rather busy week at W1AW. Each day saw participants involved in the ARRL Teachers Institute. A number of these teachers were licensed hams and spend a good amount of their free time operating W1AW. Joe Carcia updated the web page containing the weekly QST sources for code practice. He also had to recover the web code practice 20 WPM archive for 2016 (and a portion of 2015). In addition to hosting the teachers, he and Bob Allison also spend most of the week filming training videos to be used with the ARISS Go-Kit. Scott Gee worked on slow and fast code practice texts for the two upcoming weeks. He processed a number of VUCC certificates and endorsements. Field Organization/Public Service Team Radio amateurs and ARRL members from Indiana and the Los Angeles Section completed their requirements to become Official Observers this past week. ARRL Headquarters received thanks for researching antenna zoning information for a member who planned to send it to the editor since it brought him good results from his local city officials. Chuck Skolaut provided the North Carolina Section Manager information on how to establish a Local Interference Committee. A Kansas radio amateur forwarded a report of what appears to be an Over the Horizon Radar that's being heard on 40 meters. Questions this week dealt with operating overseas, proper identification while using a repeater and using APRS. Chuck also monitored ARRL sponsored webinars on "Contesting as Training for Public Service" and "Hurricane Season." Chuck, Steve Ewald and Ken Bailey administered a Volunteer Examiner Test Session for attendees of the ARRL Teacher's Institute that was at Headquarters between July 25 and 29. Leona Adams reports that Joe Shupienis, W3BC, has been nominated to run for the next term of office as Section Manager for Western Pennsylvania. Nominations for this particular Section Manager election cycle are due at Headquarters by September 9, and the new terms of office begin in January, 2017. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations All Staff 9/5 Holiday Bob Allison 7/29-8/8 PTO Steve Capodicasa 8/22-8/26 PTO `` 9/19-9/23 PTO Steve Ewald 8/4 PTO `` 8/26-9/6 PTO Norm Fusaro 8/5-8/7 Texas State Convention, Austin, TX `` 8/19-8/21 West Virginia State Convention, Weston, WV Tom Gallagher 8/12 Hicksville, NY `` 8/14-8/17 APCO, Orlando, FL Mike Gruber 8/22-8/26 PTO `` 9/26-9/30 PTO Ed Hare 8/31-9/9 PTO `` 10/14 PTO Dan Henderson 8/31-9/6 NC State Convention, Shelby, NC/PTO `` 9/21-9/27 W$DXCC Convention, Pigeon Forge, TN/SEDCO/PTO Gail Iannone 8/22-8/29 PTO Debra Johnson 8/29-9/4 PTO Zack Lau 8/24-8/25 PTO Dave Patton 8/4-8/8 Northwest DX Convention, Portland, OR Diane Petrilli 8/5-8/12 PTO Chuck Skolaut 8/21-8/29 Kansas State Convention, Salina, KS / PTO Maria Somma 8/22-8/26 PTO Yvette Vinci 8/19-8/26 Southeastern Division Convention, Huntsville, AL/PTO