[QCWA] QCWA - The Future

Sat Nov 12 19:02:36 EST 2011

All good points, Bill.

You brought up CQ Magazine, and there is also a cheap method of 
viewing/saving their magazine archives through Buckmaster Publishing. 
Their entire magazine since 1945 (excluding the most recent 2 years) is 
available by subscription at http://hamcall.net/cqcgi. Yes, they are 
nothing more than scanned images, but scanned at two levels of quality 
unless things have changed (both available for the same cost). This 
collection is not for sale as a whole, but it is searchable, and a 
determined downloader could subscribe and save it all for personal use. 
I acquired all the articles of a favorite author using this service.

Obviously, the Journal will not magically convert itself to an image or 
a PDF. It would take either 1) money, or 2) volunteers with adequate 
equipment. Either of these might be solicited from the membership, if 
this idea (to sell back issues on CD) is desired, if it is thought that 
this might make profit for QCWA... and _IF_ all the back issues are even 
available, which is unknown to me. I think of this as a "free" (almost) 
project because the Journal is QCWA property and copyright. It may well 
be that this is a bad idea, and that the CD's would not sell. I only 
know that I would like it and would purchase it.

My experience with Chapter 36 is vastly different from your experience 
with Newsline. We currently have 81 members and guests subscribed to our 
mailing list, and there is only one person I call by phone each month to 
inform of the upcoming meetings. Our eldest is even on Facebook, at age 
87. ;-)

Thinking of "free" solutions is hard, very hard. We know that. I'm sure 
the BoD discusses this all the time. An old saying goes something like, 
"You have to have money to make money." If QCWA is in hunker-down mode 
and won't make expenditures on an unknown idea, I can understand that. 
Maybe it will ride out the economic times, maybe not. We don't know how 
dire the circumstance are... little info like that comes to us. If we 
don't have money with which to make money, we can borrow (though I think 
debt is a bad idea)... or solicit donations, maybe something akin to 
ARRL's "Diamond Club." Well, that's just another rambling thought.

I enjoy everyone's ideas and commentary! I hope that the means to shore 
up our finances are found. Except for discussing various ideas, there 
seems to be little that we can actually do, except to try to get new 
members to sign up, or get expired members to renew. I'm working on that 
too.

73,
Stan Vandiver W4SV

On 11/12/2011 3:28 PM, William Pasternak wrote:
> Ive been reading all of the comments and suggestions regarding cost
> cutting for QCWA, but when you take a step back and look at most they
> either involve an added expense to QCWA, or an action that will
> likely lead to a loss of membership.
>
> Raise the dues rates and those members who are financially sitting on
> the borderline will opt to drop out.  The same if you take something
> traditionally free and convert it to a value added premium.  You have
> to always remember that ham radio is a hobby and when money is tight,
> leisure past times are the first that are set aside and cut back.
>
> Its easy for those of us with computers and high speed access to sit
> back and enjoy the wonders of the www including e-publications.  In
> fact, long before most even thought of it, we at Amateur Radio
> Newsline were defacto e-publishers with both the audio and the text
> versions of our weekly newscasts on-line at www.arnewsline.org.  And
> as a result, the number of those who take the newscast by telephone
> feed has dwindled, but it has not disappeared.
>
> While some 9000+ entities a week download our audio files -- mostly
> for replay on repeaters and nets -- what is apparent is that there
> are still a lot of hams who have no computer or Internet and their
> only way to hear the newscast is via the telephone -- just as they
> did 35 years ago when we began operations as "The Westlink Radio Network."  .
>
> Once in a while I will be sitting here and will do an intercept on
> the phone here in my office before the newscast playback ends.  Ill
> ask the caller why he/she is using the phone rather than garnering
> better audio over the MP3 from our website.  To a caller, the answer
> is something like: "...In ain't got no  (expletive deleted) computer
> and ain't going to ever have one..."  And folks, these are hams calling!
>
> How many you ask?  We release the newscast on Friday morning -- local
> 12:00 a.m. EST.  For the next 4 days the machine here is answering
> around the clock.  As the newscast runs about a half hour, and there
> are 24 hours in a day, thats about 48 a day times 4 days.  Thats a
> minimum of 768 people every week dialing in on the phone here and
> likely an equal number to the only other phone thats still
> operational in the Seattle area.  It also says quite loudly that not
> all hams are Internet savvy and not all hams are interested in the
> www nor do they want it in their homes.
>
> Now apply this to QCWA.  If it were to take away the print Journal
> from those with no Internet access, or charge a premium fee to still
> get the print edition, what reason is there for these people to
> retain their membership?  Likely none and when the membership renewal
> is sent to them it will get tossed in the garbage.  And membership
> will shrink.
>
> Also, from a production point of view, for a traditional "print
> publication," having both an electronic and hard copy print edition
> of any publication is time consuming and an added expense.  Its not
> just a matter of preparing the print edition and converting it to a
> .pdf file to be sent by e-mail.  Electronic publication is an art and
> a business unto itself and hiring an e-publication company (as CQ
> Magazine recently did) can eat up any monies you might save in
> reduced postage.  Unless you can get 100% of your organization to
> immediately accept a publication by electronic delivery or on a
> website, or your intentions are that of investing in the long term
> future and accepting a significant start-up loss, the concept is
> futile.  And for QCWA -- at least going by the stats I remember - the
> membership is simply not ready in total to receive e-publications.  A
> majority are, but a very significant minority is not and likely never
> will be.
>
> My take is that there is no single"magic silver bullet" that can cure
> the financial problems facing clubs and social organizations during
> the time of a recessional economy.  Rather, all an organization can
> do in times like these is to hope that it survives the global
> economic down-turn.  We will all have a better understanding of where
> the global economy -- and that of each of us is headed once the stats
> for holiday 2011 retail sales season are complied and released in
> February 2012.  Lets all hope the results are positive.
>
> As to QCWA:  My view is that there has to be two criteria for any
> suggestions from the membership must take and/or subsequent action by
> the national BoD.  First is that it cannot cost the organization
> anything in initial expenditure outlay and (second) that it cannot
> lead to a loss in current membership.
>
> My advice is to "think whats free" and suggest along those lines.
>
> de
> Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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