[VHFcontesting] Fw: SM reports and contest results in QST

[Tim Marek]

Received this Morning RE: No Longer Carring Contest Reslults In QST..

Tim - K7XC/R - DM09ol... sk

----- Original Message -----
From: Gary Johnston <ki4la at arrl.org>
To: GL Division <ki4la at arrl.org>
Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 8:34 AM
Subject: SM reports and contest results in QST


>
> Dear Colleague,
>
> Thanks to so many of you who have responded to the SM reports/contest
> results issue after the proposal to remove the same from QST became known.
> Many of you will be happy to learn that the Board felt that more study,
> reflection and input was necessary before removing these sections from
QST,
> and that the decision has been deferred for reconsideration at the July
2002
> Board meeting.
>
> Meanwhile, Director Walt Stinson has written the following letter that I
> think you will find of interest and that I strongly recommend to your
> attention.
>
> Also, I recommend that you visit the GL Division SM pages on iARRL by
> clicking on one of the following: http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=OH,
> http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=MI, and/or
> http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=KY.
>
> Gary Johnston, KI4LA at arrl.org
> Vice Director
> Great Lakes Division
>
> ****************
>
> January 20, 2002
>
> Dear Fellow League Members,
>
> A proposal to change the way we publish section news and contest line
lists
> was presented by K1RO, QST publisher, and K1ZZ, Executive Vice President
of
> the League, eight weeks ago at a meeting of the Administration and Finance
> Committee, which I chaired. The committee was persuaded by the rationale
> behind this proposal and voted to recommend its adoption at the January
> board meeting. The proposed changes will improve section news and contest
> coverage, free up editorial space in QST for items of greater general
> interest, and save money that can be spent on more pressing matters, like
> protecting our frequencies and our right to put up antennas.
>
> There are many more compelling reasons to support the proposal. However,
due
> to the nature of the changes, the way the information got out ahead of the
> explanation, and the concerns expressed by some members, the board decided
> to wait until July to act on the recommendation. Perhaps by then, people
> will have a chance to cool down, get the information they need, and maybe
> even feel comfortable that this is actually a good thing. In the meantime,
> in a gesture of leadership and commitment, the board voted to relocate its
> meeting minutes from QST to the Web.
>
> Our editors are asking to publish "special interest" information on the
Web
> site so that QST can be a better general interest magazine and be
published
> more economically. Section News and contest line listings consume 176
pages
> per year, enough to fill an entire issue. The marginal cost of publishing
> this information in QST is about $100,000 a year (not including mailing).
> There's no doubt that section news has readers (I am one of them- and I
read
> line scores, too!). That¹s not at issue. The problem is that few people,
if
> any, read the entire section news. Just 27% read it at all. Most read just
> one or two of the 71 section reports. For example, we print 1.7 million
> copies of the Colorado Section News each year for about 5,000 members (as
> well as 1.7 million copies of the Virgin Island Section News for 77
> members!). We print 30 million pages a year lines scores and Section News.
> That's a monumental waste of League resources.
>
> Contest line listings are also of large interest to a small group. There
are
> those who argue that a call listing in QST is the primary means of
> recruiting new contesters. I agree with the QST editorial staff that
general
> interest coverage of contest events is a better way to promote activity.
> Moreover, contesters as a group are already heavy users of the Web.
>
> The board and its management team have set some big goals for the League:
> 1. Attract young people to amateur radio.
> 2. Protect our frequencies from commercial interests.
> 3. Make it easier for us to put up antennas.
> We need your support and encouragement to improve our efficiency so that
we
> can do a better job of funding these pressing issues. We are asking you to
> accept a few changes along the way to help us address the priorities of
the
> organization.
>
> Let me to set the record straight. No one is arguing that section news or
> contest line scores are no longer important, or that these activities will
> no longer be covered in QST. Board level support of these activities is as
> strong as ever. We simply have a better, cheaper and faster way to deliver
> targeted section information and contest score lists than we had 30 years
> ago. To get a taste it, go to the Web, click on your section in the upper
> right, and check out what has already been done already by your section
> manager. To see a bit of the great potential of this new service, check
the
> Santa Clara Valley section. Section Managers now have virtually unlimited
> space to upload timely information as well as photos and data tables.
Also,
> check out our contest results in PDF (with searchable data files on the
> way).
>
> Whether you feel strongly or not, one way or the other, drop a note or an
> e-mail to your division director and let him know your views.
>
> 73, Walt Stinson, W0CP
>
> ARRL Director (RM)
>
>
>
>