Chris, Without any intent to kick anyone at all in the shins, my take is that we (ARRL) have much to learn as we struggle to become politically effective in and around the Beltway. To the rest of the Board Family, I suggest we make it a priority in our 5-year plan to educate/acquaint all appropriate members of agencies and offices that are critical to our survival with what and who we are and do as amateurs. I realize we've been working toward this, but it seems we may be smart if we make this one of our early goals. Thanks to Kay and Chris for their observations. s Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division ARRL; http://www.arrl.org/ 5065 Bethany Rd., Mason, OH 45040 Tel.: 513-459-0142; E-mail: k8je@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is! MEMBERS: The reason ARRL Is! -----Original Message----- From: W3KD@aol.com [mailto:W3KD@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 9:29 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [ARRL-ODV:11318] Re: FCC BPL Meetings 9/29/04 In a message dated 9/29/2004 11:13:56 PM Eastern Standard Time, K5ur@aol.com writes: Well, interesting observation you made about Jennifer Manner. Begs the question now about our effectiveness. I mean, were our people like Sumner, Haynie, Imlay and others supposed to have already educated those types, or should it have been our lobbyists, or was she and other key assistants just not on the radar? Rick, Jennifer's comment was, I think, not just political. I think she genuinely didn't know what it is that we do, at least with the HF bands. While Kay educated her effectively, she shouldn't have had to. I think it is fair to say that we are not in the Commissioner's faces, and therefore not on their radar. We do so much self-administration, and require very little regulatory attention. Therefore, there are not many opportunities to meet with them. Jim Haynie, early in his presidency, visited each Commissioner, and spent time with them explaining our educational initiatives and made, I think, a very positive impression. As it happened, it was just prior to 9/11 and he had, fortuitously, talked about Amateur Radio's role in disaster planning and relief. He has wanted to see Commissioners since then, but we have had little opportunity to do so, either for constructive things, to brag about our accomplishments, or as an opponent of something. It is unfortunate that we are put on the defensive so often by OET on spectrum issues and perhaps have a reputation among the Commissioners for being a naysayer, since that what they hear about Amateur Radio is largely, these days, from OET. Neither, however, is it a simple matter to get an appointment with Commissioners just to talk about the "good news" of ham radio. They don't have time for non-issue-oriented meetings. So it is a bit of a Catch-22. It strikes me that Kay has a good solution to the immediate problem. Send Jennifer Manner over a nice letter and a Cronkite CD. We are doing that now. But there should be more of a regular presence at least among the 8th Floor staff, if not by in-person meetings, then by sending them stuff about what we do well. It is not satisfactory to have the Legal Assistant to a Commissioner ask what it is that we do in emergency communications. They aren't going to hear it from the Wireless Bureau, and they aren't going to hear about it from OET, for sure. They have to hear it from us. Chris Chris