[NCC] From K1ZZ

[Tim Duffy K3LR]

NCC-ers,

Here is a memo from K1ZZ that explains the QST
Contest Result situation in greater detail.

It comes via W9GIG (Central Div. Director and
SMC member) via the SMC reflector.

  - Pat
    N9RV

-----Original Message-----
From: dick@pobox.com [mailto:dick@pobox.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 5:27 PM
To: smc@qth.com
Subject: [SMC] ARRL Cost-Cutting Proposals; More Info 


9 JAN, 2002 - 1620 CST

ARRL Executive VP, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, has written the following which
he is using to answer inquiries about the proposal to move Section News
and Contest Score Reports from QST to the ARRL web site.  He gives more
background information than I have.  I have permission to publish it
on this reflector.

73 - Dick Isely, W9GIG
=====================================================================
January 9, 2002

Two major trends are changing how the ARRL can best convey information
to
its members.

One is the growth in members' access to the Internet. As of December
2000,
92% of ARRL members had computers and 89% had access to the Internet.
Both
percentages no doubt are higher today. More than 94,000 members are
registered to use the members-only portion of the ARRL Web site. Tens of
thousands do so on a regular basis. Every week, the ARRL Letter is sent
electronically to more than 61,000 members and is passed along to
countless
others. Impressive as those numbers may be, the Internet is also
effective
in reaching smaller groups with specialized information. It is not an
exaggeration to say that very nearly every active radio amateur uses the
Internet in some way to enhance his or her Amateur Radio involvement.

Every month, some portions of the print version of QST are made
available in
advance to members via the Web site. For example, February 2002 QST is
just
being printed but members who are interested have already been able to
read
the Product Reviews of the ICOM 756 PRO II and the Yaesu FTV-1000
6-meter
transverter and the results of the August 2001 UHF Contest.

We can say with pride that the ARRL is in the forefront among national
membership associations in making effective use of the Internet. Our
commitment of resources has kept pace with its growing importance.

The other major trend is in the economics of print media, particularly
as
they apply to QST. Three things are working against us: postage and
paper
increases that far exceed the general rate of inflation and a softening
of
the advertising market, not only in Amateur Radio but industry-wide.

The ARRL Board and management are keenly aware that most members regard
QST
as the principal tangible benefit of membership. In July 2000 the Board
took
two actions that underscored this. The first was to direct that QST be
printed in full color. This was accomplished beginning with the December
2000 issue. The second was to direct that QST be a minimum of 176 pages.

The 176-page minimum was reasonable if one assumed that paid advertising
would continue at then-existing levels. Unfortunately, that has not been
the
case and there is no reason to believe that the situation will improve
any
time soon. The decline in paid advertising means revenues are down, but
we
can't adjust printing costs accordingly by reducing the page count.

Therefore, at its meeting January 18-19 the Board will be asked to
remove
the 176-page minimum. The ARRL budget plan for 2002 that is being
considered
for ratification by the Board at this meeting calls for a substantial
deficit, but assumes that the minimum will be removed in order to avoid
enlarging the deficit by approximately another $100,000. Because the
economics of magazine production require that pages be printed in
multiplies
of 16, we anticipate that in 2002 there will be some issues with 176
pages
but that most will contain 160 pages.

But if QST is to be smaller, what will be reduced? From member surveys
we
know what in QST is popular and what isn't. We certainly don't want to
reduce the content that's popular, such as feature and technical
articles
(according to the surveys we could never have enough antenna articles)
and
popular columns. We also realize that some QST content that is not very
popular serves an important organizational purpose; its value cannot be
measured by popularity alone. Finally, we also recognize that for some
QST
content there are better delivery alternatives than for some other
content.

An example is the Annual Index of QST articles in the December issue,
which
typically takes eight pages. Today there is an on-line QST index on the
Web
site that is much easier to use than the print version. So in this case
we
have a QST feature that takes a lot of pages and, while no doubt useful
to
many, is low in popularity and can be delivered in a more useful form to
the
vast majority of members. Accordingly, we are not planning to print the
Annual Index in December 2002 QST.

There are two QST features that require substantially more space and can
be
delivered more usefully to members electronically: Section News and
contest
line scores.

Each month, between six and seven pages of QST is devoted to Section
News.
The space available to Section Managers to report activities in their
sections has always been limited to a certain number of lines based on
the
number of members in each section. Communication between Section
Managers
and the volunteers within the section field organization is extremely
important, but it is clearly not efficient to print 170,000 copies in
order
to communicate with members in sections having memberships ranging from
a
high of 6,600 to a low of 73. Today, thanks to the Internet and the Web
Section Managers are able to reach their members with more information
on a
far more timely basis, and with photos, links to other Web sites, and
other
capabilities that have never been available to them via QST.
Accordingly,
the budget plan for 2002 calls for Section News to be moved from QST to
the
Web. Plans are in place to make the Web version of Section News a far
more
effective communications medium than the print version has ever been.

Contest results are already available to members via the Web prior to
their
receipt of QST in the mail. From feedback we know that many of the
members
who are interested in the contest results take advantage of this. We
also
know from survey after survey that contest rules and results are the
most
disliked content in QST; when we ask what members would like more of,
and
what they would like less of, in QST the contest results and rules rank
dead
last. Even so, encouraging operating skills and station performance is
an
important part of the ARRL's mission. In short, while the contest
community
is a significant constituency within the ARRL membership, the amount of
QST
space committed to reporting of line scores and detailed rules is out of
proportion to the overall interests of the membership. At the same time,
we
can provide much more in-depth coverage of contest results via the
Internet
and the Web than we could possibly provide in QST. For example, we can
provide band-by-band contact and multiplier information for each
entrant,
not just for the high scorers. We can let contesters download the data
so
they can perform their own analysis. With some of the space freed up by
moving line scores to a more appropriate medium we plan to expand
editorial
coverage of contest activities in a way that we hope will be more
favorably
received by the members who are not themselves contest participants. As
a
more broadly based activity, Field Day results will not be affected.

While we plan to implement these changes in ways that will enhance the
affected programs, change is seldom easy. We realize that while there
are
fewer all the time, some members still do not have easy access to the
Internet and the Web.

The budget plan has been approved by the Administration and Finance
Committee and is now before the Board for ratification at its January
18-19
meeting. There is a great deal of healthy discussion going on among
Board
members. Whatever the Board ultimately decides, it will be an informed
decision.

73,
David Sumner, K1ZZ
Executive Vice President 


+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
SMC Web Site:  http://www.w9smc.com
List FAQ:  http://www.w9smc.com/SMC_list_FAQ.htm
Submissions:  smc@QTH.com            Problems:  paul@k9pg.com
Unsubscribe:  list@QTH.com  (in message body type: leave smc)

--
Submissions:              ncc@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  ncc-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-ncc@contesting.com