[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] FW: Virginia December Section Manager's Report, covering November

[n4asx at cox.net]

-----Original Message-----
From: ARRL Members Only Web site <memberlist at arrl.org> 
Sent: Friday, December 9, 2022 11:57 AM
To: N4ASX at cox.net
Subject: Virginia December Section Manager's Report, covering November

++Safety Note++

Winter weather is coming fast, and at higher elevations there is already the occasional snow and ice on the roads. In the past few weeks, Skyline drive has been closed, and the approach roads up the mountains have had some icing issues. Be extra careful when driving out when temperatures are approaching freezing. Allow for extra time, and make sure that even for short trips you have adequate clothing in case you need to hoof it.
And make sure your communications gear is working, you have the right phone numbers and frequencies for your area, and have fully charged batteries. The best practice is to keep them on charge even while driving.

++Help Wanted++

We continue to need people to fill various positions around the section.
If there’s something you think you could contribute, let us know and we’ll find a match for you. Our communities are looking for us to help with events, training, and education, but we are spread pretty thin. If you have the time and the desire, there’s something for you!

++Affiliated Club Coordinator++

Whew!  97 folks were licensed as new Hams in November!  See atch.  That is just about double the monthly average of new Hams licensed in Virginia in a month.  Suspect the huge increase in new hams in Nov came via a VE testing session for 40+  Thomas Jefferson HS for Science & Technology students. Thanks to the Vienna Wireless Society, and the TJ sponsoring Teacher and new Ham, Kristen, KQ4ECP ... along w/ gaggle of VEs from the Stafford and Arlington Clubs for making the TJ VE session happen.  

At our President’s Roundtable event in November, we talked about recruitment and retention, and a bit on what generates excitement among the Gen Z crowd.  

I had a chance to look at some new member data from one club, and as you might guess, new members are attracted to a club because of a friend’s recommendation, or the Club’s Website is up to date, and interesting. 
A couple of clubs stated they have seen an uptick of membership as they have restarted ham radio licensing classes, and VE testing sessions, post-COVID.  Of course, referrals through the ARRL “Find a Club”
site are mentioned as a source of recruitment, along with (cold contact) direct mailings.  What keeps new members engaged:  Interesting and relevant presentations, active operating events, and the opportunity to learn from others.

The end of the year is often the time for club leadership changes. 
Also, ARRL askes each club POCs to update their club info on the ARRL website annually.  So could you take a few minutes and review your club info – especially updating the leadership team data, as well as your club membership data.  These data are important to me, and would appreciate the data updated this month, if possible.

Check Your QSL Card Status Online!

The 4th Call Area QSL Bureau provides a website that lists not only QSL Card Managers' contact email addresses, but also an online QSL Card Status Check for most single letter and 2-letter prefix callsigns. The website, maintained by the Carolina DX Association and the Sterling Park
(Virginia) Amateur Radio Club has complete information on how to use the incoming QSL Bureau.  Go to https://www.cdxa.org/w4qsl-bureau/  --Evan, KM4SK

ARRL Affiliated Club Officer Training Opportunity

ARRL is embarking on a journey of training for club officers and members, beginning in the new year. The new club development webinar series will include live Q&A, and the live sessions will be available to everyone. The webinars will be recorded and available to ARRL members through the ARRL Learning Center. The purpose of this program is to offer a series of short webinars that offer training for the skills needed to build and run a successful club. Topics will include leadership, activities, finance, and recruiting. Envisioned is a series of 10 or more webinars, all lasting from 20 to 30 minutes. The hope is that club officers and members will view the series as an opportunity to learn from others that have been able to put those skills to use.

Happy holidays, and 73.
Mike, WA8AHZ
Michael Aimone, WA8AHZ
ARRL VA Section Affiliated Club Coordinator

++Section Traffic Manager Report++

Carl W4CAC continues his efforts to gather information on active nets throughout the Section. We’re also working on a calendar that will be visible from the ARRLVA.com site and the emcommwiki.org site. This will include the ability for you to be able to download calendar invites directly into your calendar. 

++Upcoming Events++

+++Hamfests+++

2023 PVARC Mini Ham Fest 02/18/2023
Location: VFW Post 9292 Elkton
13958 Spotswood Trail
Elkton, VA 22827
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/pvarc/home
Sponsor: Page Valley Amateur Radio Club
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.625 131.8
Public Contact: Tim Matter , KM4TGC
611 Williams Avenue Shenandoah, VA 22849
Phone: 540-421-2948
Email: pvarccarrie at gmail.com

There are currently no other hamfests or conventions in the Commonwealth. If any club wants to sponsor the section convention, please get with me as soon as possible so that I can assist you with any resources that I can. Please submit any requests for an ARRL sanctioned event, go to http://arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events and follow the instructions there. Remember that all of the requests go through the Section Manager and the Division Director, so allow for plenty of time for these to be reviewed.

+++Contest Calendar+++

December
10-11	10 Meter
18	Rookie Roundup

2023 January
1	Straight Key Night
7	Kids Day
7-8	RTTY Roundup

+++Virginia QSO Party+++

During the Club Presidents’ Calls and the ARES calls, great interest has been shown toward “filling in the blanks” during this upcoming QSO Party. My personal plan is to fire up the RV and head down to SW Virginia for a week or so, and during the QSO party make it to at least
4 Counties/Independent Cities and get some activity going. If you’d like help out on filling in these blanks, get with me and I’ll work on getting a mailing list together, and we can get those rare Counties/Independent Cities to be a little less rare.

++Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)++

+++Simulated Emergency Test (SET)+++

Despite, or maybe because of Hurricane Ian’s untimely visit, the reports from the field on the 2022 Simulated Emergency Test are very positive. Some areas had exceptional involvement from their emergency management officials and partner Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADS), including active, on-site participation.  Bravo!

For those that did not have that level of success, I have some great news! During Wednesday’s (2022 Dec 07) VDEM/EM/VOAD meeting, many of the groups who have not heard from us in a while expressed their interest in our services, and others that had participation in the SET want more. The EMs heard from VDEM how we have been a valuable asset. We just have to continue on with the good work, and the missions will come.
And with new missions come new volunteers.

+++ARES November Report Summary+++

October showed 75 training exercises, with almost 1050 hours of training benefit to the Commonwealth and our volunteer partners. And they are very impressed with the progress Marty KE4KEW and his team are making.
Remember, the reports are due to Marty (either via the online reporting system or e-mail) on the 2nd of each month. 

Reporting:
D1 - David Elkins KN4LQN, Mark Robinson N4MDR, Allan May, WD4ITE  D2 - Mike Moore K4MVM, Mark Lindsey KD6AKC, Dave Adsit KG4BIR, Scott Larimer KN4RPA, Steve Bowman KN4AOB, John Norman WA4JN  D3 - Mike McPherson KQ9P, David Tanks AD4TJ, Bryan Daniel K4RMY, Rory Griffin W4RJG  D4 - None, D5 - William Siefers KM4YSI, Wayne Rogers N1WR, Terry Buzzard KA8TNF, Jeff Newsome K4JTN, Chris CoursonKC4CMR, Jerry Moats WD4ITN  D6
- Stephen Presti W4SVP, Howard Wood WA4PGI, Darrell Little KI4LLA, Harold De Vuyst K4YNO  D7 - Brendan O'Neill KM4HRR,  David Lane KG4GIY, Richard Corrigan KH7RC.

++Get On The Air (GOTA) For Life Initiative++

Ed KW4GF continues to lead the charge on the GOTA For Life Initiative and has meetings set up for this month. There has been a lot of very good information developed from these meetings, and we’ll soon have tools that we can use to aid us in continuing our efforts of keeping amateur radio operators involved and on the air. You can see his progress at https://emcommwiki.org/index.php/Virginia_GOTA_For_Life

++Section Manager Close-out++

This past month, and this past week, have been a whirlwind of activity.
Too much to fully capture in this report. I will be circulating this month’s report to the VOAD partners that I met, and also to other people in the commonwealth who have expressed interest in our community building initiatives, whether it be direct as in ARES, or through educational opportunities, such as the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts. We have so much to offer, and now that the word is getting out to those outside our community, I expect us to benefit from it in many ways.

Some examples of that is that Mike WA8AHZ and Ed KW4GF have been invited to be members of the ARRL Club Development Webinar program. Another is that county emergency managers across the state have offered to help in planning future exercises, and that the VOADs were asking how they can get their members licensed and trained as embedded ARES operators. This is because of the work you do out in the field. Thank you so much for all you have done!

And a very happy holiday season to you, and a happy New Year!

73,
Jack KE4LWT

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ARRL Virginia Section
Section Manager: Jack R Smith, KE4LWT
ke4lwt at arrl.org
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