Progressive Changes at the ARRL

Well I can’t think of a better metric, after all most of the work must consist of handling memberships, member subscriptions, member inquiries and concerns, member activities, and of publishing periodicals and books which I expect correlates to membership numbers and number of hams in the country or region.

What metric would you choose to normalize expenses for comparison between the ARRL and the RSGB to support your earlier assertion?

 

That's just nonsense. Where do you get such ideas?

Have you ANY idea of what it costs to run an organization like ARRL?

 

You will never convince those who love authority no matter what. No wrong can be done in the name of authority.

Only things we can do is starve it and find other ways around. Probably high on that list is forming a grassroots lobby to go before the FCC. Maybe a coalition of groups who already exist. Like the satellite and microwave guys. Open source is another good one with the knowledge and experience dealing with bureaucrats. They have done more in their short time than the ARRL has done in decades.

 

No offense but we are having a discussion. Memes are for 4chan.

 

I guess my question is how much interaction does the average member have with the society? I don't remember the last time I interacted with the RSGB via mail or telephone - it was probably about fifteen years ago when I needed some information from them to support my application to get my licence reissued after I let it lapse. I read the magazine and occasionally browse their web site to get the contest calendar. Membership subscriptions will be computerised and probably outsourced to a specialist eCommerce service provider. There's no difference in the effort required to publish a periodical or book between 10 copies or 100,000 copies - the physical work of printing and fulfilling will again be outsourced to specialist service providers. Yes, the number of enquiries will be proportional to the number of members, but I just don't see why it should be any more that a small fraction of the total number of members.

I've operated contact centres and customer support systems - for very large government agencies. $15m per annum seems like a lot of money to me to run a membership club with a couple of hundred thousand members. And, as someone suggested earlier in this thread, I suspect that a lot of the work is done by unpaid volunteers.

But hey, I'm not American and I'm not a member, so it really does not matter to me...

Martin (G8FXC)

 

The "Pareto distribution" or "80/20 rule" is probably valid also for organised amateur radio. 80% or more of the membership is completely passive and just waits for the society journal to show up in their mailboxes.

Any membership-proportional parts of society operating expenses are mainly concentrated into the printing and distribution of the journal and other printed matter.

Soon 20 years ago I was involved in a new society "start-up", the ESR, and a business model was made to find out on which level the membership dues should be.

It turned out that by working on-line, no physical board-meetings, dispensing with a printed journal, and relying 100% on volunteers for doing the rest of the work, the dues only need to cover expenses such as web-hosting, the Annual General Meeting, essential supplies and travels for participation in regulator working groups, and the awarding of stipends.

No offices, no hired staff, no QSL bureau.

After some iterations, the dues stabilised at 10% of the dues that "the other society" charges.

Most national societies are better at "capital asset management" than they are at representing their membership or promoting the general standing of amateur radio.

73/
Karl-Arne
SM0AOM

 

1. That's just nonsense.

YES, YOU ARE CORRECT..... A LOT OF NONSENSE DONE IN GOOD FUN.

2. Where do you get such ideas........ WAYNE GREEN
HIRAM DID NOT LEAVE THE FOLKS AT THE ARRL IN THE POOR HOUSE.
ROYALTIES FROM HIS PATENT AND ADVERTISEMENTS
ARE FILLING THE COFFERS.

3. Have you ANY idea of what it costs to run an organization like ARRL?

YES I DO...... I SPENT MANY YEARS IN CORPORATE AMERICA AND
MY WIFE ES I NOW ENJOY THE FRUITS OF MY YEARS
WITH A NICE RETIREMENT AND INSURANCES.

THE FOLKS AT THE ARRL HDQTRS ARE PAYING A LOT
OF RETIREMENT BENEFITS AND WHAT NOT. ...PTL...

 

The ARRL operates like a charity.
93% of their income is spent on Administrative expenses and only 7% goes to promoting the hobby.

 

And, in fairness, that is all that most members ever need from the society. I live close to where the RSGB headquarters was located until a few years ago and I popped in one day for something - to buy a book, if I remember correctly... It was a fairly small office building on the edge of a slightly run-down industrial estate - and it was almost empty. There was a receptionist/telephonist sitting in the entrance lobby and a few of secretarial staff in offices off the corridor. None of them were worked off their feet! Yes, they do have access to some fairly highly qualified technical staff, but they are generally volunteers. The RSGB accounts for the year ending 2019 state that they have 850 volunteers working for them... They claim that for that year they had 17 staff and the total wage bill was just over half a million pounds - slightly less than £30k per employee...

Martin

 

It's not "good fun" to spread lies.

A grifter and a con man who never let the truth get in the way of anything he wanted.

More lies.

Hiram Percy Maxim died 85 years ago (1936). His patents and such are long since expired.

Then you know better. Please stop spreading lies about the ARRL. Some folks might actually take you seriously.

And please stop YELLING

 

THANK YOU FOR NOT YELLING.
IT IS MUCH APPRECIATED.

 

You're the one who is yelling, OM.

When someone posts in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS online, it's the equivalent of yelling/shouting.

Yes, on CW most of us copy in capital letters. And 5 level RTTY had no lower case.

But it's not 1950 and this isn't CW nor 5 level RTTY.

Thanks & 73

 

I don't understand the need to post inane memes and colored all caps replies.

 

RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY

 

The current use of the word "progressive" isn't the wisest choice. "Progressive" has become a sugar coated word for socialist BS. Get "progressive" out of there and use another word to describe your new ideas. Otherwise, you sound like part of the swamp.