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

Fri Mar 31 10:18:11 EST 2006

I think raising the proportion of members-only repair clinics would be a good idea.  A lapsed member brought a radio to one of our recent clinics and would have joined up again, but he never made it into the queue.  I think the hands-on education that novice members get is more important than fixing radios for others.  

Rob Flory

-----Original Message-----
>From: David Sica <davesica at juno.com>
>Sent: Mar 31, 2006 10:02 AM
>To: njarc at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: Re: [NJARC] A few thoughts on the repair clinics and the News letter.
>
>Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
>_______________________________________________
>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.
>> 
>> 
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