[ADXA] Meeting thoughts, annual speakers to invite, DXped donation guidance in bylaws etc
w5zn at w5zn.org
w5zn at w5zn.org
Fri Jun 14 11:50:32 EDT 2019
San -
Thanks for your comments.
I'm glad you brought up an "evening" type banquet for the annual
meeting. The reason we have been "forced" to have a luncheon the past
two years since we restarted a formal annual meeting event is because
these days December is the most horrible time to try to schedule a
formal evening event because groups already have Christmas parties
booked sometimes six months ahead, like right now, and the cost to book
something in the evening is outside what ADXA members would pay. Thus an
excellent reason to consider a different date for our annual meeting.
Regarding DXPedition funding, the decision is made by the membership at
the business meeting. The Executive Committee only reviews the request
and makes a recommendation to the membership at the business meeting
based on the policy currently in place. So it is more than just a couple
of folks making the decision.
Good things to consider going forward !!
73 Joel W5ZN
On 2019-06-14 09:39, HamOP wrote:
> Good posting Joel. Agree that times change and maybe bylaw addendums can cover "new" ways of doing things and clarify others.
>
> * DXpedition donations. More than just one or two people need to make this decision. Suggest maybe putting before the members in a daily ADXA posting any request for a donation from a proposed DXpedition, and let ALL of us members have a chance to consider who the leaders are, rankings of the DXCC entity, experience of the proposed team members, etc. Often 2-3 members of a "team" are inexperienced with prop and pileup handling and have low QSO rates per minute, etc. They are invited because they have the MONEY to go and are not a working person, more likely retired and older. Let us members look and reflect back on team members, leaders and then vote Yes or No on our website. Bet we would get several to vote. Sure can not afford $50-250 per DX trip when 10-12 ask us for funding help. I think a top 30 is better than a top 50 ranking
> * Agree with 3 meetings per year, considering how active and available our ADXA website to discuss anything at any time. A feel a December meeting, perhaps even at night with wives present as in the old days, might be nice and have ONE keynote speaker and a nice dinner. Business meeting would be short and perhaps held in the 1 to 3pm timeframe for an hour or so, giving wives time to shop and us to meet, have conversation and rest or visit someone's shack locally. In the old days some wanted to meet on Friday night to drink a few, chat and lie a bit.. Then Saturday was the brief meeting and nice meal. Most of us would show up for at least part of the weekend, banquet or not. The speaker is a drawing card for sure. I, like Joel, have many DXped friends who would be knockout speakers and be well known in all DXing circles. Some of these friends live outside NA.
>
> Enough for now. Thanks Joel for your candidness.
>
> San K5YY
>
> Sent from Mail [1] for Windows 10
>
> FROM: w5zn at w5zn.org
> SENT: Friday, June 14, 2019 9:44 AM
> TO: adxa
> SUBJECT: [ADXA] Meeting Thoughts to Consider
>
> Greetings to all,
>
> I look forward to seeing everyone who can make our 2nd Quarterly meeting
>
> tomorrow in Hot Springs and having a lively discussion about DX in
>
> general. I know a number of our members have other commitments this
>
> weekend. June is always an extremely busy month for me personally and
>
> working in an ADXA meeting is extremely difficult. I always have the
>
> ARRL VHF Contest and Field Day then there is a professional conference
>
> I'm always required to attend plus Father's Day, which I don't care for
>
> however the family always schedules something then there is HamCom in
>
> Dallas that a number of our members attend. That is, of course, preceded
>
> by May in which I have scheduled activities with Kim (her birthday,
>
> Mother's Day and our anniversary all occur in May) on three separate
>
> weekends and Dayton takes up the other. May and June are my busiest
>
> months of the year to try to fit anything else in and frankly this is
>
> most likely the last June ADXA meeting I will attend simply due to a
>
> schedule overload.
>
> We do not have a formal program scheduled for this meeting however we
>
> will have a couple of recommendations from the Executive Committee
>
> regarding DXPedition funding plus a number of business related items to
>
> discuss. These are for discussion only at this point. I am NOT, repeat
>
> NOT proposing any changes at this time however I do want everyone to
>
> consider these for possible action at our annual meeting in December.
>
> One of the items is our meeting location and how often we need to meet.
>
> Let me first make it clear that I do not subscribe to the position
>
> "We've always done it that way!". Times change and people change so we
>
> need to make sure we are meeting our purpose as an organization as this
>
> occurs. The Russellville hamfest has proven to be an excellent venue for
>
> our March meeting. It is conveniently located close to half way between
>
> the Little Rock/Searcy area and northwest Arkansas. It combines our
>
> members interest in attending the hamfest in addition to attending the
>
> ADXA meeting without taking up two separate weekends.
>
> Beyond that, it gets a bit complicated in trying to be fair to all of
>
> our members with our meeting location. Obviously Russellville offers a
>
> good "half way" venue and would be good location for our meetings but it
>
> has very limited, if non-existing, facilities to host an annual meeting
>
> similar to what we have had the past two years.
>
> I also want us to consider if we need four meetings a year or would
>
> three would work fine. Its not like we never "chat" or discuss things
>
> anywhere except at a meeting. Our email reflector is quite active when
>
> DX matters come up. Obviously, we can only take action on matters during
>
> a formal in-person meeting but do we need four per year?
>
> The Articles of Association state our quarterly meetings will be at a
>
> site and time determined by the membership. Historically we have met on
>
> the third Saturday of March, June and September and the first Saturday
>
> of December. We changed the traditional date of the March meeting to
>
> coincide with the Russellville hamfest and have retained the traditional
>
> date for the other meetings. Aside from the June meeting, the one date
>
> that disrupts my radio life is the annual meeting in December. It falls
>
> on the same weekend as the ARRL 160 Meter Contest that, unfortunately, I
>
> have had to forego the past three years and just to be blunt, I do not
>
> like it one bit. The conflict goes beyond my personal position though.
>
> The past two years I have been able to arrange an outstanding special
>
> guest or two for our annual meeting. This year I have been politely turn
>
> down by four high profile DX'ers for one reason and one reason
>
> only....."I would love to come down however that is the ARRL 160 Meter
>
> Contest weekend and I don't miss that!" It is also the weekend just
>
> after the CQWW CW DX contest, the biggest radio contest in the world,
>
> and some folks are in "recovery" following that.
>
> I realize whatever date we establish will always conflict with some
>
> other activity for someone. I understand that however that should not
>
> summarily moot a opportunity to identify an option that may be better
>
> overall.
>
> Our meeting detail is contained in and required by Article 4 of our
>
> Articles of Association plus a requirement (yes, it says "shall") to
>
> hold regular weekly meetings on the air!! The weekly "on-the-air"
>
> meeting once upon a time fulfilled a very good purpose before the days
>
> of the internet, DX websites and email reflectors however its value and
>
> purpose died when the internet came about.
>
> Among other items, we need to develop a set of By-Laws for our Articles
>
> of Association that capture in writing ADXA's policies. For example, the
>
> current ADXA policy for a request for funding of a DXPedition is that
>
> the location must be within the top 50 most needed. This is an ADXA
>
> policy however where is it recorded? This needs to be captured in a
>
> By-Law.
>
> So let's have, as is said these days, a "conversation" about this and
>
> seriously consider what best fits ADXA today, not 25 years ago, but
>
> today for us to effectively execute our mission. I have thrown out some
>
> of my personal opinions and that is all they are. You may have some
>
> great recommendations that we need to consider so lets do that now and
>
> by December we should have an idea if there is anything we need to
>
> revise.
>
> GL es DX - 73
>
> Joel W5ZN
>
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