In-Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 19 May 14, 2002 Upcoming Meetings June 8th in St. Louis, MO at 8:00am Volunteer Resources Committee Development The Education & Technology Fund campaign has reached $105,000 from more than 2000 donors. The second letters for the Education and Technology Fund are in the mail. Friday, May 17 marks the first donor recognition event for ARRL. 50 guests will be on hand to honor Joe Taylor, K1JT, at the Officers' Club at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Media Relations Jennifer has been working with members of the PR committee to put the final touches on this year's PR forum in Dayton. Everything is on track and we're hoping for a good turnout. The annual PRC meeting will be held on Saturday morning at the Dayton Marriott. Unfortunately, only a few of the committee members could be in Dayton, but we'll plug along nonetheless. Many thanks to Sue Fagan for designing the letterhead to be used for our press materials in conjunction with the UTC grant promotion. It will be full steam ahead on the promotion very soon. The PR reflector should be up and running shortly. The Annual Report is almost ready to go to the printer. Jennifer handled several requests for PSAs. Local clubs are interested in them more now than ever with Field Day approaching. Jennifer is working on the Media Hits section for the next installment of DC Currents, the next issue of QSO/Media and Field Day press materials, among other projects. Publications The 2002/2003 Travel Plus for Repeaters CD-ROM and the 2001 DXCC Yearbook have been released to the printer. Sales & Marketing "What's in a name?"- quite a lot, actually. It identifies who we are. Now...what's in a title? It identifies what we do. Thinking about it, we realized that titles in southeast corner of HQ have been changing faster than the New England weather I have been hearing about. A little explanation is in order to avoid confusion throughout the building. Accomplishing the mission of increasing ARRL revenues and memberships requires the best Marketing, and Sales teams possible using inside and, if necessary outside resources. I found that many members of the sales and marketing staff were responsible for a variety of duties that were unrelated to the primary tasks needed achieve our objectives. After assessment and re-assignment of some duties, I believe that in just a few weeks we have made some major strides toward creating more focused positions that will allow each team member to concentrate on specific areas of responsibility. Once that was in place, some title changes were inevitable. I am very strong proponent of delegation. Although I hold the title and responsibilities of Sales and Marketing Manager, I am delighted that we have people on the ARRL staff with the talent and willingness to work hard to drive an effective revenue generating and customer service oriented effort. Marketing responsibilities for products, membership and advertising are now in the capable hands of our new Marketing Manager, Bob Inderbitzen. Bob now has the latitude to have a true marketing impact over a much wider area that in essence includes the entire ARRL presence. Sales responsibilities, including management of a clearly defined sales staff, are now consolidated under Deb Jahnke, our new Sales Manager. This change allows sales staff bearing new titles that properly identify them as sales professionals to fully concentrate on product and advertising sales and membership. Administration within our group was a tough nut to crack. There are literally hundreds of specific, finite processes, rules and regs, and tens of thousands data entry transactions necessary to successfully meet our member and customer needs. I have asked that Zoe Belliveau take on the responsibilities of Product Fulfillment Supervisor. Kathy Capodicasa is retaining her duties overseeing membership transactions. But now Kathy is also point person responsible for the integrity and streamlining of all data processes as we approach the on-set of implementing a new computer system. Kathy's new title of Senior Fulfillment Supervisor fits these new responsibilities. We are very eager to find the full benefits of our changes and to that end, we are meeting with various other departments and teams to find ways to maximize the overall creative talent within HQ. These contacts are not in anyway intrusive but instead begin a cooperative ongoing culture with the entire League function so that we all benefit from our respective knowledge, creativity and desire to work in an atmosphere of success and optimism. I hope this lessens the confusion factor associated with changes I am bringing to the ARRL. Please feel comfortable calling me direct anytime you have a question regarding my actions. -- Dennis Motschenbacher, K7BV Marketing We mailed twenty thousand new spring/summer ARRL Publications Catalogs to members and customers. Bob contributed to a commercial ad for a project that the Sales and Marketing group is involved in. This project pulled together personnel from Marketing, Advertising and Production. The resulting product of the combining collective wisdom of this team effort resulted in the production of a professional ad proposal that is under consideration by Force 12. Bob also participated in a number of other meetings and teleconferences, as new strategies involving advertising, product sales, and membership begin to develop. Product Sales and Circulation Deb Jahnke participated in our opening teleconference advertising sales strategy call with Rohn Industries. She also took control of our Marketing/Sales group's major effort to entice Force 12 to expand their advertising. Other meetings included attendance at a book selection criteria meeting to put the Book Team, Marketing, and Sales in closer contact at the conceptual stage of new projects. These meetings will now occur on a regular basis. Deb is continuing to familiarize herself with other aspects of Advertising with some on-the-job training concerning advertiser/customer mediation. In fact, Deb sold her first (albeit, small) ad to a previously disgruntled Advertiser. We prepared statistical reports on month-end membership numbers, analysis of March expirees who have not yet renewed, and updated progress reports on our membership mailings. "Continuity break membership" names and addresses were also run and provided to Directors. Since our previously mentioned small e-mail test membership solicitation was successful, we are commencing work on another mailing to a larger group. The Repeater Directories arrived. We filled all back-orders via drop-ships from the printer and shipment from HQ. In addition to making her routine sales calls, Lisa Tardette is working on a project to identify ARRL dealers whose sales levels have dropped over the previous year. Lisa will personally contact these dealers in an attempt to determine the reason for the decline in purchases as well as try to glean additional sales, extolling the many new products debuting this month. Kathy Capodicasa has been in full swing in her new role as Senior Fulfillment Supervisor. She has been working closely with Product Fulfillment Supervisor Zoe Belliveau reviewing publication fulfillment processes. Deb continues to work on the computer conversion project. Congratulations to Danny Sayad, who passed his Technician exam last week and will soon be heard on the air as KB1IIP. Danny has been going full speed so that he would have his call sign before attending the Dayton Hamvention as a member of the sales booth team. On a sad note, Warehouse Supervisor Steve Capodicasa's mother passed away on May 10th. He and his family have our sincere sympathies. Steve will be out of the office for several days. Assistant Supervisor Pam Dzamba will have charge of the Warehouse in his absence. Advertising The Advertising group has been taking calls from various advertisers with questions about the changes at the ARRL. The mood is exciting and our advertisers welcome the readily apparent positive result of the changes. Hanan Rayyashi would like to thank Dave Patton for introducing a representative from Preformed Line Products (a manufacturer of guy wire accessories) to the Advertising group, recognizing that they are a great prospect for our publications. Thanks Dave! We would be delighted to hear from anyone else on staff that wishes to make similar suggestions. Please feel comfortable sharing your advertising prospects with Hanan at extension 0209. Hanan and Joe are already making reservations for the July issue of QST and the July/August issues of QEX, and NCJ. Joe continues working to resolve outstanding member complaints concerning our advertisers. Besides contacting advertisers for confirmations on ad insertions for the July/Aug issues of NCJ and QEX, Joe is making calls to both prospective and past advertisers. This direct contact activity will have immediate as well as long-term impact on advertising revenue. Carol Patton got all adverting invoices in the mail in time to meet our May 10 deadline. This fact alone is not significant but it is a clear indication that the urgency the Sales and Marketing group is placing on meeting critical deadlines is having a measurable positive result. She is currently entering Insertion Orders and preparing production materials for the July issue of QST as well as the NCJ and QEX July/August issues. Membership Services Awards Branch WAS Certificates 46 WAS Endorsements 26 5B WAS Plaques 12 WAC Certificates 28 WAC Endorsements 14 5B WAC Plaques 3 A-1 Operator Nominations 12 Long Term Member Inquiries 5 Code Proficiency Certificates 6 Code Proficiency Endorsements 5 Code Proficiency Returns 1 VUCC Initial Awards 2 Grids (Data Entry) 337 VUCC Endorsements 3 Grids (Data Entry) 621 Backlog Status A-1 Operator Awards 1 week Basic WAS 1 week Specialty WAS 1 week WAS QSLs 1 week WAC QSLs 1 week CP Awards current RCC Awards 1 week OTC Awards 1 week Friendship Awards 1 week Extra Class Awards 1 week VUCC Awards 1 week U.S. WAC Awards 1 week Foreign WAC Awards 1 week For the coming week-WAS and WAC QSL card checking, RCC and OTC awards, Extra Class certificates, and VUCC awards (data entry, award processing, and mailing). DXCC Branch Weekly Report May 12, 2002 Beginning Cards 38,735 Cards Received 16,929 Cards Processed 19,127 Ending Cards 36,537 Applications Pending 249 Backlog Time 1 Week Year-to-date Cards Received 208,993 Cards Returned 282,740 QRP Issued this week 0 QRP YTD 196 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on May 1, 2002. DXCC is currently entering cards received on May 7, 2002. QSL Branch QSL service status: Current. Cards mailed year to date as of 05/12/2002 - 810,125. No cards were mailed this week. Janet Rocco spent 4 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW Thanks to Mike Tracy, KC1SX, for his assistance with a new 160-meter dipole that is intended for install by W1AW's antenna contractor. Scott Gee worked on fast and slow code practice runs for the later part of the month of May. He handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. In preparation of a visit by W1AW's antenna/tower contractor, Joe Carcia rebuilt a four (4) element 2-meter yagi for install, built another 160-meter dipole and prepared a section of hard-line for the satellite tower. He also updated the web code practice files. He also wired up a simple interface box to be used between the AEA DSP-2232 multimode controller and the new Kenwood TS-2000. W1AW telephone sales year to date (2002): $3,816. Field & Educational Services Field Organization/Public Service Team Leona Adams notes that 23 new Field Organization appointees were recorded and had supplies sent to them this week. New ham labels were sent to all Section Managers. An SM nomination petition was received from incumbent Scott Bauer, W2LC, Western New York Section. The petitions for the SM terms starting October 1 are due at HQ on June 7. Steve Ewald worked on the QST "Public Service" column and on the 2001 SET Results article for July QST. Steve and Rosalie met Tom Matisko, N1SKZ, newly-appointed New Hampshire SEC, when he came by HQ for a visit. Newly-appointed SEC of Southern New Jersey, Gary Wilson, K2GW, pointed out that Amateur Radio is mentioned as a volunteer resource for communities in "Citizen Corps -- A Guide for Local Officials." In the document (http://www.citizencorps.gov/council.pdf), it says, "volunteer amateur radio operators serving as reserve communications experts in times of crisis." Rosalie attended the annual Red Cross Partner's Meeting where a presentation was given by FEMA about Citizen Corps. The speaker explained its 5 core groups, but then said all volunteers are welcome -- "for example, Amateur Radio operators." After the talk, Rosalie spoke with the speaker, favorably commenting on radio's mention as a good example of volunteers. Rosalie networked with other government agency reps in attendance. Rosalie and Steve forwarded a request for an SM to assist the Salvation Army in setting up a ham licensing review and exam session at the S.A. North American Training Conference. Regulatory Team John Hennessee worked with a Florida amateur experiencing a difficult insurance claim with the ARRL Equipment Insurance Plan. With assistance from Barry Shelley and executives at Marsh and the parent company, the problem was resolved. It proved that Marsh is responsive to the concerns of their insureds. John worked with the new international coordinator of the International Travel Host Exchange to update US information. This is a program in which foreign amateurs may visit ITHE participants as a means of enhancing vacations. John assisted amateurs with local zoning problems in St. Louis County, MN (NX0X) and Lino Lake, MN (KB0OLI). He also updated a basic presentation for amateurs to use as part of a presentation before a local zoning board; the presentation gives reasons why having an amateur in their community is a real asset. Before going on vacation, Wednesday, Brennan Price received from our OOs, FCC-requested material for a case. He followed up with the FCC on a few ongoing cases. Field & Educational Support Team Gail Iannone sent 9 hamfest approval letters and 1 convention approval letter to the sponsoring committees. She processed 8 label requests and 16 door prize orders and coordinated travel for HQ staff for the following conventions: Dan Miller for the EPA Section Convention held June 8th, and for the WPA Section Convention held September 8th; and Brennan Price for the Kansas State Convention held August 18th. Jean Wolfgang reports that nominee packets were prepared for the ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award and were sent to the VRC for a recommendation. Also, the Instructor award nominee packets have been prepared and sent to the ARRL Educational Advisors for their recommendations. Jean received 3 ARISS school applications this week, and forwarded a total of 7 to the ARISS team. Margie Bourgoin added 7 new affiliated clubs to our records this week, and sent welcome packets to these clubs and accompanying notification letters to the Directors, SMs and ACCs. She also ran the monthly new ham reports for clubs with e-mail addresses, and sent out hard copies for those clubs without e-mail addresses. Mary Lau worked with Jerry Hill and Margie Bourgoin to establish a system to help expedite routine Big Project e-mail queries. Mary also prepared and sent the press release and Web notices that announced the 2002 ARRL Foundation Scholarship recipients. C-CE Steve Blair continued to update surveys from emcomm course drop-outs, and work on updating records on courses. He assisted in mailing letters to Connecticut Mentor/Instructors in relation to the UTC-funded emcomm training. Dan Miller announced that the C-CE Program has produced the first graduate of the HF Digital Communications on-line course -- Lloyd Stallkamp, KA0ADZ. 45 students graduated this week from other C-CE courses. An activity session in West Chester, PA, produced four Level I graduates and one Level II graduate. Another session in Lebanon, MO, produced four Level I grads, two Level II grads, and one Level III grad. All C-CE courses are running smoothly. The Big Project Jerry Hill has spoken to six of the eleven new Pilot Schools, to work out equipment orders for them. He continues to work on lesson plans, and completed six on Basic Electronic Theory, including the national standards and benchmarks for each lesson. He's including a matrix at the beginning of each unit to make them more organized, presenting the information for the entire unit in one or two pages. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List Name Date(s) Reason All Staff 5/27 Holiday Dave Sumner 5/7-5/14 Geneva `` 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Mary Hobart 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Steve Ford 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Dennis Motschenbacher 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Joe Bottiglieri 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Hanan Rayyashi 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Debra Jahnke 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Bob Inderbitzen 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Danny Sayad 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Wayne Mills 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Bill Moore 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Jennifer Hagy 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention `` 5/20 Vacation Lisa Kustosik 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Dan Miller 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Rick Lindquist 5/16-5/19 Dayton Hamvention Jerry Hill 5/16-5/19 Vacation (Dayton) Joel Kleinman 5/16-5/17 Vacation (Dayton) Dave Mello 5/23-5/24 Vacation Scott Gee 5/16-5/17 Vacation Margie Bourgoin 5/15 Vacation Brennan Price 5/8-5/15 Vacation