Welcome to the 2022 January Board Meeting - and another round of dealing with COVID-19. This guide is intended to help set your expectations for the trip and help you understand where you may or may not need to be masked. ARRL HQ ARRL HQ is open to visitors, but they must be masked at all times, and their visit is limited to the lobby. You should be aware that staff is very sensitive to the current state of COVID in the area. During our Orlando meeting today, everyone wore masks out of respect for those who are concerned. On Tuesday, Jan 18, we will be conducting the New Director Orientation at HQ in the large conference room. Attendees are to arrive at HQ wearing a mask. Once in the conference room, masks may not be required depending on who they are meeting with. Attendees are not permitted to move about the building unaccompanied and are required to be masked while on the building tour and visits to the rest room. On Wednesday or Thursday, Jan 19-20, if you need to meet with staff, an appointment must be setup in advance. We do have a few conference rooms where meetings can be conducted. HQ meetings with staff require masks at all times. If you are meeting with Diane or me in the Exec Offices, masks are not required, but if you are more comfortable with us being masked it is no problem. In keeping with tradition, the 17 managers were invited to Thursday night's dinner. Due to concerns about COVID-19, 11 of the 17 have chosen not to attend. ARRL W1AW During your stay, I know that a few of you have indicated an interest to visit W1AW. We request that you coordinate any such visit with Bob Naumann. While at W1AW you are required to remain masked the entire time. Marriott Board Meeting / Town of Windsor The governor of CT has directed COVID policies be decided at the city/town level. We have been watching Windsor to see what they might do. As of today, they have not imposed mandatory masking in public buildings. We expect that the protocol for this meeting will be the same as July. We can go unmasked if fully vaccinated, otherwise masks should be worn and everyone should make every effort to keep socially distanced where practical. Local Towns (especially West Hartford) Locally, due to COVID policies being set by each individual town, before you choose to visit a public place (like a restaurant), you may want to see what their local policies are at that time. West Hartford has placed a strong mandate on wearing masks in public places where they go so far as to indicate multi-family gatherings in a home are considered a public gathering. The situation is quite fluid and you can expect to see various levels of mask rules if you move about the Hartford area. COVID Protocol Questions? Please contact Diane if you have other questions not answered in this update. Hartford Weather If you are travelling on Monday, you may be met with delays due to weather in the Hartford area. Monday - Rain and snow before 2pm, then a chance of rain between 2pm and 5pm, then a chance of rain and snow after 5pm. High near 40. East wind 8 to 13 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Monday Night - A chance of snow before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22. West wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. The rest of the week is forecast to be clear of rain/snow, but will be cold. As you would expect! Thanks, and safe travels. David