Club activities

[990adv]

I was recently elected to my club's board of directors. One of my main goals is to increase activity within the club. What are some of the events/activities that your club engages in? So far I am thinking about asking club members to give presentations on what aspect of amateur radio they have a particular interest in, balloon launches, fox hunts and VHF/UHF challenges. (basically a one hour contest on VHF/UHF simplex freqs)

I welcome all additional suggestions.

 

[stevelton]

one thing Ive learned over the years in all the different clubs Ive been in, if people dont want to do anything, there is nothing in the world that you are going to be able to do to get them to want to be more involved.

Its one thing if you want to try and do the presentations, and see if a few other members follow your lead, but I wouldnt expect to get many results if you go and ask members to do the presentations.

Your club and its members may be different, but thats how hams are around here, the ones in the clubs dont want to do anything, and the ones that do stuff dont want to be in the clubs.

Steven

 

[990adv]

Thanks for the reply Stevelton. It would seem my area is not much different than areas you have described. I will continue to try. Those hams that are active in my area are a great group.

The frustration I feel about this is probably the same as with some other amateurs involved with ARES. I was involved with ARES many years ago. Multiple people have suggested I become active again as I could be an asset to the group.

 

[stevelton]

Now, dont get me wrong, even though I know that the other people in our group wont follow suit, I will still do things to make the meetings a little more interesting and make the club seem more active.

For instance, the other day there was a town festival, and they have a parade that literally only goes 1 block. I wanted the club to have a float in the parade, and everyone thought it was a good idea. The day of the parade, nothing ever got planned, so last minute, I put a few antennas and the club's banner on a truck, and drove it throwing out the "good candy". I was the only one involved, but I had a good time none the less, and the club got some good publicity, because of the snickers, kitkats, and butterfingers I was throwing out to the kids.

So just because no one else will want to do anything, dont let that stop you. Then when someone complaints that the club doesnt do anything, you can chime in and explain what youve done.

Good luck
Steven

 

[zz0468]

What sort of club is it? Many radio clubs were formed with a specific goal in mind. Find out why the members joined, and steer any activities towards that. One thing I've noticed is that the broader interests that a club tries to cater to, the less activity it actually generates.

 

[John_S]

You really have to tailor the activities to the group. It's good when you can have stuff that your more senior members can take part in. Sometimes, that gets a little stuffy for the younger guys though. Field day is still the big event for most clubs, but there's fox hunts, special event stations, running radio comms for bicycle and foot races or canoe races (these are good because they get you some publicity). If you're close enough to Newington,CT, take a group to ARRL Headquarters. Do a group participation in contesting. And there's always the quest to draw in new / young blood...do some education. If you have a healthy club that has a decent balance in the treasury, you can find lots to do. I tried something that could have worked well with the right group... a multi part fox hunt that combined the use of GPS. Had 1 manned fox and 2 unmanned foxes, with the idea being that when you arrived at one, you got coordinates to get you to the next area that you would start to do RF sniffing. Find that one and you would also find another set of coordinates. It was a flop with my group though. And that just reminded me of another activity...Have a group build of the very popular fox hunt antenna...the tape measure beam. Cheap and easy to build and very effective...nice evening activity at a club meeting.

 

[hcpholder]

Wow! So much truth in all of this. I as a new "ham" and club member have see all of this. As Steve stated this is something that every club experiences in one way or another, across the country. I was really looking forward to joining a local club, to learn from the experienced operators regarding proper operation procedures, different equipment, different modes of operation, and anything else I could learn. I've been a member for almost two years now, and have not gained any ground over just what I have read and studied to get my license.

In these past two years I have learned which of the few attending members are dedicated to the amateur radio hobby, but not necessarily club activities. I've also learned who will servve as officers and commit their personal time to the club, and those who have, in the past, given all they have to give and want and need to be recognized for what they have contributed to the club. I guess my real job is to hold up the ones who are doing a great job, and try to raise more intrese in the others to assis the newcomers to the club with their interests. Just don't give up hope!

 

[990adv]

When I read in a ham magazine or something online I try to remember if it is something anyone has ever talked about or used at field day.

Now I have not been to every field day, but I have never seen any digital comms. Mostly just HF SSB. I even put up a 160m dipole even though I knew it would be mostly hopeless(made one contact).

I plan to encourage those that are using other modes and or frequencies to give a presentation on their operating.

I have hope yet.

 

[gewecke]

I was recently elected to my club's board of directors. One of my main goals is to increase activity within the club. What are some of the events/activities that your club engages in? So far I am thinking about asking club members to give presentations on what aspect of amateur radio they have a particular interest in, balloon launches, fox hunts and VHF/UHF challenges. (basically a one hour contest on VHF/UHF simplex freqs)

I welcome all additional suggestions.

......Walk tall and carry a big stick. :twisted:


73,
n9zas

 

[zz0468]

Now I have not been to every field day, but I have never seen any digital comms. Mostly just HF SSB. I even put up a 160m dipole even though I knew it would be mostly hopeless(made one contact).

HF is mostly what field day is about, but there are groups doing well into the microwave bands. As to 160 meters, it can be a tough band to get results on. Don't even bother with it in the day time. Wait till it's been dark for a while, then it can be amazing.

I plan to encourage those that are using other modes and or frequencies to give a presentation on their operating.

I have hope yet.

It's usually easy to figure out who the guys are that are actually doing stuff. Concentrate on those guys, find out what they're interested in, what motivates them, then steer the club in that direction. If the others don't go along, what does it matter? They're not doing anything anyway. are they?

 

[steveh552]

We have a few clubs locally and ours is the most active. Would help to know if your club is more of a repeater club or general purpose and so forth. Our club does several events yearly, usually fiekd day, a special event station, our state qso party and a couple contest, works well for us

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[W7DPS]

In almost every club or group I've been in, 20% of the members get out and do things and 80% of the members sit in the audience "raising issues" (to put it mildly). Others here seem to have had the same experience. One thing I've been wanting to try is to make a big list of amateur radio activities, operating modes, and projects, and then interview each member to see what interests them. Then take the activities that have the most people interested and form a committee with one of the interested members as the leader. For those activities where not many are interested, try to get the most passionate fan of each activity to give a presentation about it at a meeting. Maybe once people learn more about something, they will become interested in it. I'll bet that even the most dedicated couch potato ham in the club has an interest that, if he were given the opportunity to exercise it with like-minded members, he would become active and enthusiastic about the club.

For example, 10-12 years ago our club President was fascinated by APRS, and his excitement infected most of the members. Quite a few of us got APRS home and mobile stations up and running and would chat with each other, build georeferenced maps, and generally have a great time with it. After that guy left the group, the interest level dropped, and people's interest shifted to other things. So there needs to be a starry-eyed evangelist for each activity or people won't stay interested.

Here are some other possible projects/activities:

Volunteer Examiners to run classes and exams
ARES and/or RACES involvement
Amateur radio involvement with your local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT))
Echolink and ILRP
APRS and packet radio
Winlink
Satellite communication

 

[990adv]

Our club is general interest. We have 2m FM and 440 D- Star repeaters. We do a good size Field Day. Every month now we have some sort of presentation. These presentations have covered a broad range of topics including emergency power, dipoles, grounding, propagation, building a line launcher, etc.

Our problem still seems to be that the same core group of guys are the only ones that come out for meetings and events. We do have many new hams that are slowly but surely becoming involved. There is also an idea to have weekend classes/hands on sessions for the new people to help them go from theory to practice. I continue to solicit ideas for presentations while at meetings and on nets.

 

[SCPD]

Monthly meetings

I was recently elected to my club's board of directors. One of my main goals is to increase activity within the club. What are some of the events/activities that your club engages in? So far I am thinking about asking club members to give presentations on what aspect of amateur radio they have a particular interest in, balloon launches, fox hunts and VHF/UHF challenges. (basically a one hour contest on VHF/UHF simplex freqs)

I welcome all additional suggestions.

1. A talk about Skywarn is something that brings out the club members. My club does that every year in the spring.
2. Does your club have a repeater? If so, about every two or three years, have a presentation about it, along with a gentle reminder it takes money to feed and care for it.
3. The club does a foxhunt once a month when it's warm.
4. Something on the space station, and ham radio involved with that is nice.
5. And of course food. The August meeting is in a local park, along with a picnic. December's meeting is a Christmas pot luck, February's meeting is the club banquet. 3 out of 12 meetings are basically an all you can eat buffet, with a short business meeting shoehorned in.
Mention food, and the members will be sure to come.

 

[cyberworldukltd]

Its one thing if you want to try and do the presentations, and see if a few other members follow your lead, but I wouldnt expect to get many results if you go and ask members to do the presentations.

 

[blueml]

That's why you need to read all the pages on this site. It's well rounded. It talks about many different subjects of which they all come into play when managing or owning a bar or nightclub.