[QCWA Hotlist] An Open Letter in response to K1ER and WA9ENA

[Vic Culver]

RE:  Changes taking place in QCWA

Open Letter to John Peters, K1ER, and to Dale Svetanoff, WA9ENA, and to 
others who align themselves with the thinking expressed by these fine 
gentlemen.  (Hi, John -- Vic here (W4VIC, ex-K4JNM!!) Been a long, long 
time, John.  Hello again.)

This response to you gentlemen is my own work, not 'authorized' by my 
fellow QCWA Officers and Directors, but whom, I believe, all share my 
thoughts.

As an Officer in QCWA I suppose I'm about as responsible as anyone for 
the present status of QCWA as an organization, although I was 
more-or-less dragged, kicking and screaming, to my present reality and 
understandings.  I fought long and hard (yes, long -- thechanges you, 
Dale, and many others are concerned about did not come about overnight, 
as it must seem to so many who have been so far removed from national 
governance in QCWA for so long).  The changes you see (and object to) 
are truly the only possible alternatives available to us if QCWA is/was 
to survive past the end of this year, or possibly next year).  It took a 
lot of involvement in several different aspects of the organization by 
myself, as a member of different Standing Committees over several years, 
before the realization of the present hard reality hit home.  The 
ultimate choice, unadorned by wishful thinking, was to make the 
decisions taken, or to declare QCWA to be bankruptand to turn over our 
Scholarship Program (which itself is very healthy) tosome other 
organization, and cease to be the Quarter Century Wireless Association.

Those conditions that have brought us to this present impasse are the 
very factors you cite as reasons why we should not have taken the 
decisions we have taken to keep QCWA alive.  You have cited these 
conditions in your messages:  The lack of participation by the vast 
majority of our members, beyond those few who are currently paying the 
way for our operations; the failure of our membership to embrace current 
technologies, including the ability to fulfill the basic function of an 
amateur radio operator -- to maintain a station and get on the air; to 
keep up with technology (both you and Dale have expressed the view, 
coincident with our own knowledge, that not many of our older members 
have, or even care to have, a computer that would give them access to an 
evolving QCWA organization, let alone to the modern world); and your 
point that not many of the Chapters appear to be doing anything at all. 
Too many members wear their badges only as a sign of longevity, and even 
so, not many are interested even in attending meetings. These factors 
you have identified are probably the root causes of the problems that 
QCWA faces today.

Let's look at some very rough numbers -- QCWA currently has about 6,000 
'members', about 4,000 of them Life Members. Life Members do not pay 
dues to support the Journal, or any other aspect of the operation of 
QCWA.  Because of historical decisions that were not at all sound 
business practices, the 'dues' paid by Life Member applicants were 
deposited into the operating account of QCWA since the Life Member 
program was begun.  There was no interest bearing account created, so no 
income from those Life Member dues help to support current operations -- 
the dues money was all spent to cover ever increasing operating costs as 
we went along. Thus, there was no provision for continued support by 
those members to the large costs of QCWA operations, by far the most 
expensive of which is the cost of preparing and mailing the print 
Journal.  We have (all too belatedly) fixed that situation, but 
basically today you have 2,000 members supporting all 6,000 QCWA 
members.  It is not rocket science to see that the crushing cost of the 
print Journal, exacerbated by the historical poor accounting practices, 
have finally brought QCWA to the brink of extinction.

Rescuing QCWA has not been an easy proposition. There are many of us who 
have accepted leadership positions in QCWA who are working very hard 
indeed to save the organization. We have eliminated all costs that could 
be eliminated, and the Board of Directors, each one of us, have taken on 
serious work loads and are working long hours to fulfill the 
responsibilities contingent upon operating QCWA as a going concern.  We 
have implemented sound accounting principles to provide for the 
continued operation of QCWA, albeit as a quite different operational 
status than that with which our members are familiar. As a result of 
these actions taken, it is just possible that our 2013 Budget will be 
balanced!  The large annual deficitsmay well be on the way toward 
extinction.

If we are to succeed, then our members are going to have to adapt to 
these present realities.  We do not wish to make it impossible, or even 
to make it difficult, for anyone to remain in the QCWA organization. But 
our members are going to have to meet us half-way! Those who can will 
have to pick up some new skills, learn to operate the most basic of the 
inexpensive tablet computers so that they can read the TWELVE DIGITAL 
JOURNALS per year we will be providing -- not four, but TWELVE! Our 
Chapters are going to have to pick up some responsibility for helping 
their own Chapter members to acquire those skills, or to help them in 
some other way to stay connected to the organization. Membership in QCWA 
is a shared responsibility -- the Officers and the Board of Directors, 
together with other volunteers will provide the makings of the 
organization, and the Chapters will have to accept some responsibility 
in helping with the operations of the organization.  Our members will 
have to step up and become at least active enough to count as bona fide 
members.  If our members want to allow QCWA to continue as the fine 
organization we all want it to be, then they are going to have to become 
active supporters of that organization.

We must have ACTIVE members, not the passive individuals who take OUT of 
the organization and put nothing, to very little INTO the organization. 
If your circumstances are such that you can only put enthusiasm into the 
organization by your membership, then we can live with that -- others 
will have to 'cover' for you.  With the hard work of your President 
Oelke, VE3AFO; Vice-President McCalvy, WA9JMO, and the other Officers 
and the Directors of the organization, together with volunteers 
providing vital service to QCWA, we should have success in accomplishing 
this rescue mission.  But the outcome is uncertain at this point -- 
without the support and cooperation of our members, our efforts may 
prove to be too little, too late to save this magnificent organization 
which we have known and loved for so long.

I cannot imagine my relationship to Amateur Radio without QCWA, nor do I 
want to think of that possibility. I pray that there are many, many 
others who share this sentiment, and who will step up and allow QCWA to 
become healthy once again, a vibrant leader among the other amateur 
radio organizations. Please redirect your thinking to the positive 
strategies that will help us to survive.

Thank you for your contributions of positive ideas and for your support 
toward rebuilding QCWA.

Sincerely, Vic Culver, W4VIC, Secretary, QCWA Inc.