[QCWA Hotlist] Changes taking place in QCWA

[n1cc at qcwa-hq.com]

Hi Guys:  Just to get some numbers straight.  I have another reply that I am
still mulling over before I send it.

QCWA has 5,839 active paid/Life Members today.  The final Journal will be
mailed to 4,851 that are in the USA and have not already opted out of the
print Journal.

Right now, since the collection effort began in May of this year, we have
2,490 members with email already in the database.  The other print-eligible
2,361 folks MIGHT have email.  However, in May Webmaster N0UF asked all of
the chapters to report their member list with email addresses.  Very few
Chapters replied.  Chapter 123 -- as used in your example actually shows 39
active members, 26 on your list DO have email, only because we have the
email in our list.  That is just about 79%, not 67%... Now, if I go to
QRZ.com I find seven (7) more with email listed... that makes you there with
33 out of 39 members or 85% who have email access.  

>From experience this past year I know that of the 6 folks left 1 or 2 might
not even consider using email for anything.  The other folks may have email
and just not want any email.  How hard is it for them to get access to the
eJournal?  Well, the locations of those 6 folks are a "tell"  ... I would
suggest that http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/e/enrich-ia/erfr/EI08 will
give you a list for the state with free access to the computer on the
internet in the library... this program is available at Fairbank, Spirit
Lake and Urbandale IA.  In Hinton, I can't help ya... even more remote than
I am here 15 miles from the nearest facility.  As for your out-of-state
members in Moline IL and Midland MI ...Moline's best lead is the Clinton
Township Library, and Midland MI looks like Midland County Council on Aging
has several points of access.

Now, aging.  I am 71 and Linda NE5LL is 72.  We both have vision issues, and
we both use 32" HDTV LCD sets as our computer monitor...they are under $240
now... paid a lot more than that not too many years ago for glass 17" sets
that were all there was to have... we also read the eJournal on our Kindle
Fire tablets and I read it on my Droid 4 Motorola SmartPhone too.  There are
unlimited ways to adapt to change, and it's worth it.  I talked a 93-year
old member through renewal online.. reply later was he was so happy to be
able to blow the view up and really see and read the Journal. 

Printing a Quarterly Journal is costly, that's 64 pages of print and the
Quarterly eJournal has more content, so it is 72 pages.  The Monthly
eJournal will probably average 24 pages ... if you print that in B&W it will
cost you between $2.40 and $6.00 to have a local shop print it out for you.
If you want color it gets pricey, average across the USA small and large
markets for 24 color pages is $12.00 to $25.00 to print a copy.  Our Journal
run for the Winter final edition of 64 pages is going to cost about $1.45 to
print and mail -- $7,000.  Mailing a single copy using USPS First Class
costs $1.95 including the envelope and label.

Oh, the IEEE - I have a QCWA volunteer who was on the Governors Board when
the move to digital was made... they got the same static... and less than a
1% dropout.  Is 1% too many, yes it is... will we have that many or more
that will drop out, probably so ... disappointing as it sounds, I fear that
change is going to happen no matter what we think.

And remember this, your "elected" representatives made this decision.  Read
the meeting minutes when they are posted.  I did not have a vote.

73, Jim N1CC Outgoing GM.