<<090308.docx>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 31, No. 36 September 3, 2008 -- Covers the period August 24-30. Upcoming Meetings and Events United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) October 13-17 - ARRL HQ Executive Committee Meeting October 18 @ 9:00am in Chicago, IL Ballot Counting for Director/Vice Director Elections November 21 in Newington, CT Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH The ARRL Diamond Club processed $20,306 in contributions from 174 donors in August, 2008. Year to date, the Diamond Club revenues to $188,921 against its revenue forecast of $321,000. The total number of Diamond Club donors has slipped below 2000 with most of the reduction in the lower levels of giving ($75 to $250 levels). The Spectrum Defense Fund has received Year to Date revenues totaling $118,226, including more than $84,000 in response to the spring Thank You Campaign. The fall campaign for 2009 is planned to mail in mid-October. The Education Campaign was pushed to the summer to accommodate the Defense Thank You campaign. So far the campaign to 92,000 members has attracted more than $10,000 in revenue. A follow up letter to major donors and major prospects is scheduled to mail within a week. The summer campaigns for the Lab Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund have brought in revenue of $2590 and $2805 respectively. During the week of Sept 1 Development has been providing support for public relations activities related to Hurricane Gustav. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Nancy Hallas, W1NCY, will be moving from Educational Services to Editorial/Production as a part-time employee working primarily as a handling editor for various book projects, in addition to her current proofreading work. Nancy will be using a workstation in the composition area. Joel Kleinman and Khrystyne Keane have been working closely with key HQ staff involved with preparations for and response to Hurricane Gustav and TS Hannah to be sure updates are posted to the Web site in a timely manner. Joel and Khrystyne wrote and Joel distributed The ARRL Letter Vol. 27, No. 34, for August 29, 2008. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R August product sales reached $197,000. This month's forecast was $222,002. At the end of August, membership totaled 153,504; 1,246 below our goal for the month. Membership has been relatively flat for the last couple of months. The current membership mailing has returned 352 applications in the first week, with 182 being multi-year memberships (a new strategy). We also acquired one life member from this solicitation. A Labor Day product-themed solicitation was emailed on Wednesday afternoon. The promotion extended Flat Rate Shipping on all orders of $30 or more. Over 500 online orders have been received throughout the period-a nice start to September. A full page ad was prepared for the new Ham Radio Outlet catalog (winter edition), and features the new 2009 Handbook, a book of vintage ham gear, and the General Class Course on CD-ROM. The exhibit kit web pages (www.arrl.org/brochures )have been updated with downloadable PDF's of each brochure. We have also added the membership brochure to the list of offerings. This work is ongoing as we improve the availability of ARRL-branded brochures and other ARRL collateral (literature, signs, supply items, etc.) to the field. The Warehouse crew fulfilled 1,052 packages for publication and product orders, shipped 249 free book membership premiums, and sent September QST mailing supplement. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N The department welcomes Kathy Maldonado to its staff. Kathy will be located in the North Side of MVP in the DXCC area. W1AW Joe updated the web code practice files and their archives. He created the texts for the September W1AW Qualifying Runs. He processed all the current regular W1AW QSL card requests. He compiled text to be used for the 2009 W1AW Qualifying Runs. He updated the W1AW web page with QSL and Qualifying Run information. In preparation for possible station activity due to Hurricane Gustav, Joe temporarily installed in W1HQ an Icom IC-2820 D-Star-compatible radio. He also installed EchoLink capabilities in W1HQ. Joe also worked the Monday and Tuesday late afternoon/night shifts for the vacationing Scott Gee. Scott worked on fast and slow code practice files for the latter part of the month of August and for early September. Field Organization/Public Service Team As Hurricane Gustav moved through the western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and ultimately struck portions of the Gulf Coast on Labor Day, the Field Organization Team joined several other members of the HQ staff in lending assistance to Section Leaders as they prepared for and acted on their plans. Dennis Dura, K2DCD, is serving as lead coordinator for the HQ emergency response. Special ARRL telebridge teleconference calls were conducted throughout the previous week and Labor Day weekend. Three more Section Manager nomination petitions arrived prior to the September 5 deadline. Incumbents John Rodgers, N3MSE (Western Pennsylvania) and Matt Anderson, KA0BOJ (Nebraska) have been nominated. Robert Biamonte, WB2OMW, is running for the New York City- Long Island SM position. Leona Adams reported that, so far, there are four contested SM elections scheduled for this fall. Chuck Skolaut returned to the office from a successful ARRL State Convention in Kansas where 20 new or renewed memberships were obtained. A radio amateur from Illinois completed certification to become an Official Observer. The Hurricane Watch Net was first activated this past week on Wednesday as Gustav began its trek toward the U.S. A report of Spanish speaking stations continuing to interfere with the 7290 Traffic Net was reported, and the FCC has been alerted because of potential interference to hurricane-response traffic. Chuck also handled inquiries while Dan was away from the office. He conducted two tours of HQ as well. Web/Software Development Reported by Jon Bloom, KE3Z On September 2, we released the new ARRL VE Exam Maker software written by Jon Bloom. This software allows VEs to generate and print written exams, and it replaces the now defunct ExamWin program that was written originally in about 1996. Several VEs assisted in beta testing the software before its release, and so far it looks like the program is being well received. One of the improvements this software makes is that program and data (e.g., question pool) updates can be performed directly from the program by accessing ARRL's Web services, which should remove the burden of distributing exam software from the VEC department. Hugh Brower continues to tweak our online credit-card processing system to better support recurring billing. Micah Murray also continued work on new VEC data entry Web screens that will replace the circa 1999 desktop data-entry program VEC is presently using to submit license data. We anticipate that VEC testing of the new screens should commence within a week. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List Jon Bloom 10/4-10/13 Vacation Katie Breen 9/5-5/8 Vacation Hugh Brower 9/29-10/3 Vacation Steve Capodicasa 9/26 Vacation Steve Ewald 9/12-9/24 Vacation Norm Fusaro 9/22-9/26 Vacation Scott Gee 10/3-10/6 Vacation `` 12/23-12/26 Vacation Dan Henderson 10/10-10/13 Michigan Section Convention, Kalamazoo, MI Mary Hobart 9/5 Vacation `` 9/19-9/20 W9DXCC, Chicago, IL `` 10/3 Vacation Bob Inderbitzen 9/19 Vacation Joel Kleinman 9/26-10/1 Washington State Convention, Spokane, Vacation Lisa Kustosik 9/26-10/10 Vacation Rose-Ann Lawrence 9/5 Vacation Steve Sant Andrea 9/2-9/5 Vacation Sharon Taratula 9/5pm Vacation