[NJARC] A few thoughts on the repair clinics and the News letter.

[David Sica]

Thomas,

Remember "The Golden Rule": He who has the gold makes the rules! The club
decides how things will be done. And the club is all of us. So this is
probably a good discussion to be having. To date, we've done it the way
we've done it - perhaps due to carefully reasoned thinking, or perhaps
just because "we've always done it that way". I've not been part of that
decision-making process, but I was an early advocate of the repair clinic
program back when the club was formed and I do have a few (perhaps
conflicting) thoughts on the subject.

I agree that it's at the very least disheartening that a person would
have our club fix a radio for free just so they could sell it at a
profit. I'm enough of an idealist that when I think of people coming in
to take advantage of our repair clinics, I picture warm, fuzzy
Rockwell-esque scenes where the family can now gather around grandpa's
old radio and enjoy... well maybe all they can tune in to is hate radio
on AM these day, but anyway it was a nice mental image while it lasted! 
:-) Hopefully our "open to the public" clinics, along with club displays
and lectures, generate publicity, goodwill and attract new members. It's
not realistic to expect 100% success from any endeavor and although it
really, really irks me when a few bad apples abuse our generosity, if the
big picture remains positive, well, I guess that's life.

If it turns out that we are offering public repair clinics to the
detriment of serving our own members, then we might want to adjust the
percentage of public vs. members-only events or otherwise tweak the
program to best serve the interests of the club. We've already been
discussing ways to do that and the more input the better so your note is
very timely!

I'm not so sure about charging a fee at the clinics. (Although I guess it
couldn't hurt to ask for a donation?) There are a few folks who provide
commercial repair services, and I have to admire them; I can't figure out
how anyone could actually make a living that way. I've always thought
that repairing a radio was a great way to make a million dollars: a
dollar an hour for a million hours!

I can't speak for Marv or the Board, but I think you can rest assured
that the Broadcaster will remain a members-only benefit. We're still
working on the best way to make the current issue accessible only to
members (as it now is when being sent via snail-mail) without making it
inconvenient to access. I don't think anyone ever intended that it would
be made freely available to the public. If anyone did, I'm on record
against that. On the other hand, we ARE intending to continue to make
back issues freely available in our online library, and that's always
been viewed as appropriate. 

The swapmeets being open to the public is perhaps a "mixed blessing" too.
The admission donations collected from people attending our events go a
long way toward keeping our club financially healthy while keeping our
dues reasonable.  And they are good exposure for the club. Our
mini-swapmeets held at many meetings ARE members-only events. Although
(with some notable exceptions) these usually provide only dubious
treasures, parts and junque, our May meeting this year will be a shining
example of club pride at it's best. The Mike Hammer collection was
specifically earmarked by his widow to be auctioned at a CLUB event, to
CLUB members not the public. Although this limited exposure has the
potential to limit her financial return, because Mike was so enthusiastic
and happy to be a member of the club, that's the way she wanted it.

Anyway, I don't know if other folks would agree with any of your concerns
or if any changes will be made to address them, but the type of
constructive criticism you've brought up is what helps make the club
better each year. So, thanks!

--Dave





On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 03:15:48 -0500 "Thomas Lee"
<thomas_v_lee at hotmail.com> writes:
> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> In the two years that I have been a member there was only one class 
> taught 
> to the beginners/new members at the repair clinics.  Can’t a 
> schedule of 
> classes be made for new members and be held at the monthly meetings 
> or the 
> repair clinics?
> Being that the repair clinics are far and in between how are new 
> members 
> supposed to get hands on experience?   I understand the clubs 
> resources are 
> very limited but when you open the clinics to the public at the cost 
> of the 
> members it just does not’t make sense.
> I have been to a few repair clinics  where “the public” have brought 
> in 
> their radios for repair, and most are not interested in joining, or 
> 
> learning.  They just want a working set to enjoy or sell on eBay or 
> some 
> other avenue.  Why should the club support that at the cost of its 
> new 
> members, and that of the old member’s time when its resources are so 
> limited 
> and would have been better served by concentrating on its new 
> members and 
> old ones?
> As for the broadcaster being put online for free then just what 
> would be the 
> advantages of joining?   The swap meets are open to the public.  The 
> repair 
> clinics are open to the public, and you can have your radio repaired 
> for 
> free.  If the news letter can be read online why join when you can 
> get it 
> all for free?
> I think it is all well and good for the public to be invited to the 
> repair 
> clinics, but if they bring in a radio for repair, they should be 
> charged 
> some kind of fee, and those monies collected should either be added 
> to the 
> clubs treasury to fund future programs and or have the member who is 
> 
> spending his time on it compensated in part to discourage people who 
> just 
> want a free repair and then go sell it somewhere.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> NJARC mailing list
> NJARC at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc
> 
>