[W2CRA] Some thoughts for tonight's meeting

[Michael N Varas, N1MNV]

Ladies and Gentlemen (and everyone else)

 

Our club is populated by retirees and by people very close to being
retirees, including me!

That's not a bad thing, rather it's a very good thing because we can mentor
young people in the hobby.

 

But, but but we've been letting that work against us also, what I mean is
that when it comes to money, it's causing us to be too conservative in our
thinking and planning.

 

In brief, when my father died, he left one hell of a lot of money behind, he
never ever took a vacation and bought clothes when the ones on his back were
falling off and he no longer had enough pins to keep his clothes on.

 

Now when it comes to our personal planning for the future, I can somewhat
understand that. You should be prepared for an uncertain future.

 

But, were talking about a club now, younger people don't understand long
term planning for an uncertain future. Big business and we as parents want
them to enjoy life now (granted, it's for different reasons) so why do you
think we can't attract and retain young people? Don't blame technology, the
internet or cell phones, it's our fault and only our fault. We've done a
poor job of showing them that there's plenty of technology involved,
numerous ways to communicate with far more challenge involved then
remembering an email address or dialing a phone number!

 

Back to our club for a moment and while you're on this journey, think like a
20 something, 30 something or 40 something person.

 

We have in the neighborhood of 10K in the bank, what would happen if we
(tonight) allocated 5K to a project like: the new communication trailer,
updating the field day site or upgrading our repeater system. I'll tell you
what would happen; first and foremost we won't go bankrupt, second, we can
certainly earn the money back and do the next thing on our collective wish
list and thirdly, we would have fun (yes, I said FUN) working on this
project together and with our renewed enthusiasm we will probably attract
new (and yes, possibly younger members) with which we can mentor and support
and one day hand over the reins of leadership with the comfort of knowing
they'll keep the club alive and vibrant!

 

Collectively, let's take a bold step forward and execute a plan to do
something besides meeting one a month and listen to my bad jokes and boring
stories.

Damn it, were not too old to challenge ourselves and have some fun in the
process!

 

>From the nut you call your club president, sincerely I say to you good
health and let's have some fun!

 

Michael N. Varas, N1MNV

7 Decatur Court

Ringoes, NJ 08551