As I sit here looking forward to spending some time in Dayton for the Hamvention®, I’ve been reflecting on my first couple of months as the Chairman of WAR.
We’ve already changed a few things (for the better, I think). One of the things that was done in the past was hold a quarterly board meeting, where the board members would discuss executing the things that the membership has asked of them, as well as deal with the general health of the organization.
We had our first one a few weeks ago, and it was a doozy. It took several hours and covered a myriad of topics. At the end, I felt that we weren’t able to cover any of them very well – the old “inch deep and mile wide” syndrome.
So we decided that it was a much better idea to have more frequent, shorter, and focused meetings. Our next one is May 16th, where we will finally clarify the membership definitions and membership levels. I have set a time limit of 60 minutes to these meetings – not to rush through them, but to make sure we stay on task. Of course, if we need a few extra minutes to finish up, we’ll use them.
I think the other benefit of more frequent meetings is to keep you at the top of our minds. Four times a year (in my opinion) spreads things apart and allows us to get “out of sight, out of mind” with the organization, and good ideas eventually get forgotten. We don’t want that.
As an aside, Dave Karr and I represented WAR at the Illinois Repeater Council’s annual meeting last month. It was very helpful to see how they operate, and hear about their challenges. It’s become clear that now more than ever, the work we do is important, and that neighboring states need to work together. I was excited to find that they elected a new Chairman down there who is an old friend of mine, Greg Buchwald, K9QI. I look forward to working with him in an entirely different capacity than we had in the past (we’re both broadcast Engineers).
So, even though things seem quiet, rest assured that we are working hard to not only improve our service to you in our primary job of coordination, but also in a few other ways that may help the hobby in general. While we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we exist to coordinate repeaters, we
acknowledge that times are changing and we have the unique position of being able to provide some technical education as well. We want to make sure that you’re getting some value from your much appreciated dues.
That’s all for now. As I’ve said before, please feel free to email me about any compliments or criticisms at any time, my address is chairman@wi-repeaters.org. I promise that you will get a prompt reply from me. After all, I work for you.
Thanks and 73,
-Chris, W9JOL