IN-Newsletter Vol. 35, No. 47 November 21, 2012 -- Covers the period November 11-17. Upcoming Meetings and Events Administration & Finance Committee January 17 @ 8:30am in New Orleans, LA Programs & Services Committee January 17 @ 9:00am in New Orleans, LA Annual Board Meeting January 18-19, 2013 @ 9:00am in New Orleans, LA CEO Office Reported by Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ The ARRL HQ will be closed on Thursday the 22nd and Friday the 23rd in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Sending good wishes your way for a safe and happy holiday weekend! Development Reported by Lauren Clarke, KB1YDD The end of the calendar year is traditionally the busiest time for Development, as donors make gifts for tax purposes and we emphasize our need to make our goals. To that end, Development has several electronic and regular mail solicitations planned with incentives to donors who make contributions. To date: An electronic solicitation for the Spectrum Defense Fund last week has brought in a strong response from donors. Development plans one more issue of Spectrum Defense Matters in December. The Spectrum Defense Fund has brought in $219,424 from a total of 2,272 donors. We are at 59% of goal. Earlier this month ARRL received a gift of 3000 shares of GE stock to be applied to Spectrum Defense. While we will hold onto the stock, the value will be added to the Spectrum Defense Fuund total for 2012. Diamond Club solicitations include the 10th Anniversary promotions, as well as 2013 ARRL calendars to donors who upgrade to $100 or more. The Diamond Club has received $204,385 in contributions from 1,084 donors. We are at 70% of goal. The W1AW Endowment Campaign has received $54,028 in contributions from 875 donors. The Education & Technology Program has received $61,714 in contributions from 635 donors. An additional $109,194 from six donors has been received in support of the Teachers Institute Program. We are at 95% of goal. Activity in the Second Century Campaign is picking up toward the end of the year. A dozen presentation packets are being mailed this week to Maxim Society prospects. The follow up will take place in the next few weeks. Production/Editorial Reported by Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY On November 14, Nancy, W1NCY, and Joel Hallas, W1ZR, gave a presentation on "Amateur Radio in the 21st Century" to the Westport branch of the Philanthropic and Educational Organization (PEO), a nationwide organization that supports education. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, wrote and distributed the November 15 edition of The ARRL Letter and produced and voiced the ARRL Audio News. She also wrote, edited and posted articles on the ARRL website including the results of the Director and Vice Director elections in the Hudson and Northwestern Divisions, the FCC's dismissal of the ARRL's March 2010 Petition regarding ReconRobotics, the new QST iOs app and others, as well as edited and posted columns from ARRL Contributing Editors. The January issue of QST was released to the printer. Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R Promotions and solicitations have been crafted to take advantage of the busy shopping (spending) climate: Thanksgiving holiday, "Black Friday," and "Cyber Monday." These last weeks of November are typically very good for both membership and publication sales. New this year...we have some promotions queued-up to email throughout the 4-day Thanksgiving holiday to help drive traffic to the ARRL website. Jackie Ferreira reports that over 100 orders were received following the "Black Friday Starts Early" publication emailing sent on November 16-and online orders for the entire weekend topped 350, one of the best weekends in a while. A holiday-themed "mini-catalog" mailed on November 19 to a large selection of ARRL members and past purchasers. Bob Inderbitzen presented a membership and marketing update on the digital edition of QST to the Administration and Finance Committee. Thanks to Magdalena Owczarska and Diane Petrilli for their contributions to the presentation-including loads of data and metrics. Since the introduction of digital QST in May, there have been over 9,000,000 QST page views across 2012 editions. 1,108 international members have joined or renewed this year for membership without the print edition of QST. In addition, 1,102 domestic members have opted-in for digital QST only (requesting no printed QST). In the 24 hours following last week's launch of the new QST Apple "app" for iOS mobile devices, there were over 5,000 visits to the digital edition of QST from iPads and iPhones. December QST mailed to members November 6-13. The email notification for the digital edition was circulated to 114,810 members on Wednesday, November 14. Summary of Sales and Marketing Department telephone group (reported by Amy Hurtado): The introduction of the new QST app and December's digital edition of QST drove higher amounts of phone and email traffic during the week-mostly members requiring assistance with website login and passwords. Week of Phone calls Per hour Average wait Complete without transfer 11/12/12 1109 25 41 seconds 88% Summary of warehouse fulfillment activity (reported by Steve Capodicasa): Week of Packages fulfilled Member Premiums 11/12/12 728 487 Congratulations to Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF, on passing her General Class license exam and upgrading. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N W1AW Thanks to Southwestern Division Director Marty Woll, N6VI and Dakota Division Director Greg Widin, KØGW for operating W1AW a few hours in the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes. They made 675 QSOs, with 74 sections, for an initial claimed score of 99,900. Joe worked the early afternoon/night shifts on Monday through Thursday for the vacationing Scott Gee. He also processed one Qualifying Run endorsement. Joe updated the web code practice files. He also assembled an M-Squared 2-meter, 22-element crossed yagi, model 2MCP22, for use at W1HQ. Joe constructed a 160-meter dipole for W1HQ and prepared the rotator cables for the Az/El system (also to be installed for W1HQ). He readied W1AW for the Sweepstakes activity and conducted frequency measuring tests on three (3) of the broadcast transmitters. Field Organization/Public Service Team Leona Adams received a petition from Robert Spencer, KE8DM, of Yuma, that nominated him to run for the Arizona Section Manager position. In addition, Mississippi Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX, and Orange Section Manager Carl Gardenias, WU6D, have been nominated to run for new terms of office that start in April 2013. Petitions for this particular SM election cycle are due at Headquarters by December 7. A radio amateur from Alabama completed certification to become an Official Observer this past week. Chuck Skolaut compiled the monthly Official Observer Summary and sent it to all OOs, OOCs, and Section Managers. Georgia OOs were alerted to monitor for a bootlegged call sign. Jamming occurring on a two meter repeater in South Texas is being investigated by OOs there. Documentation was received regarding interference to a net on 20 meters and was forwarded to Laura at the FCC. Chuck and Steve Ewald conducted four morning code practice runs at W1AW as back-up operators this past week. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Hamfest/Member Contact/ARRL Representative/Meetings/Vacations Holiday 11/22-11/23 Holiday Holiday 12/24-12/25 Holiday Bob Allison 11/19-11/26 PTO Joe Carcia 12/20 PTO Lauren Clarke 11/21 PTO `` 12/26-12/31 PTO Steve Ewald 11/26-11/30 PTO Steve Ford 11/26 PTO Scott Gee 12/21-12/26 PTO Joel Hallas 11/20-11/28 PTO Nancy Hallas 11/20-11/28 PTO Dan Henderson 11/15-11/21 Indiana Section Convention, Ft. Wayne, IN / PTO `` 12/17-1/7 PTO Mary Hobart 11/21-11/26 PTO `` 12/26 PTO Amy Hurtado 12/17-12/21 PTO Gail Iannone 12/21-12/31 PTO Bob Inderbitzen 11/21 PTO Deb Jahnke 11/19-11/21 PTO Khrystyne Keane 12/7 PTO `` 12/14 PTO `` 12/21-31 PTO Lisa Kustosik 11/30-12/3 PTO Maryann Macdonald 11/21 PTO `` 12/26-28 PTO Barry Shelley 11/20-11/21 PTO `` 12/17-12/19 PTO Dave Sumner 11/29 Business Meeting Larry Wolfgang 11/7-11/21 Sick leave