The Enid Amateur Radio Club

This is to propose that REVISION OF THE EARC BYLAWS should have high priority in 2008.

However, I am thinking that revision of the club bylaws should be secondary to an item that is not even on our current list---namely, the development of a clear statement of the EARC MISSION. While bylaws can define the who, what, where, when and how of the club's internal functions, they depend upon a mission statement that says what the club exists to do.

I would put these two items, MISSION STATEMENT and BYLAW REVISION, atop our 2008 list because, without some clearly stated long-term purposes and relevant guidelines, all we will have is—a list. I want to argue that the list of projects we want to do and the events we want to host this year should contribute to what we want the club to become in the years ahead.

The EARC constitution stakes out a broad view of our purpose, saying that we intend to further the art of amateur radio, promote goodwill, to provide information to increase knowledge concerning amateur radio, to plan and execute communication aid during local and/or national emergencies, and to serve as a catalyst of brotherhood among individuals interested in the amateur radio arts. (I have also found a separate amplified version that says essentially the same.)

Are these purposes still okay? Should at least one of them have top priority? Should we add, eliminate, or redefine? Should our 70th Anniversary activities include a careful examination of how our EARC purposes fit with those of the ARRL?

Okay, you get the idea—which is that I believe a clear MISSION STATEMENT and REVISED BYLAWS are essential to the extended life of our club.

Now I will try to give a pertinent example of how the list we generated at our January meeting might fit in with a long-term scheme. Notice that while several of items imply the goal of training and most contribute to the goal of socializing, only one item on the list is itself a goal. Namely, MEMBERSHIP—which we all take to mean, "to increase our membership." A good goal, it seems.

In order for our mission statement to address clearly the goal of membership, we need to ask a few questions. Such as "What kind of members?"---what ages, backgrounds, what level of experience with ham radio?

Should we attract and maintain membership by providing opportunities for prospective new hams to get their first good look at our hobby? If so, perhaps our CLUB ROOM should be a place for newcomers to experience ham radio in action. I became intriqued with the hobby at the age of 14, standing behind Ray Miller as he talked to hams on 75 meters from a station the club had set up at the Garfield County fair

Or, should we boost membership by convincing a greater percentage of the several hundred hams already in the Enid area to join EARC? If so, then we should be thinking of value-added activities—perhaps a series of PRESENTATIONS—that will draw these folks out and into the club.

Or maybe we want to build membership by raising all the boats, meaning that we should focus on finding, teaching and testing new hams into the hobby, hoping that they will come into the club.

Now extend this same kind of thinking into other purposes and goals of the club, such as educating the general public about---what? About what amateur radio is? How important it is in an emergency? How to get a license? How to induce one's son or daughter to get a license?

The whole point is, EARC should have a clear mission. The things our club chooses to do should fit within a plan. And the goals and objective and strategies we choose will directly influence the content and tone of our Bylaws.

Which is why is propose that REVISION OF THE EARC BYLAWS should have high priority in 2008.

Thanks for reading all this. Now back to you.

DE K5ECI.

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