I recently came across the October 1948 issue of CQ Magazine. In this issue, Herb Brier, W9EGQ (later W9AD), who wrote for both CQ and Popular Electronics, and for whom the ARRL Instructor of the Year Award is named, write about how to make radio clubs work. It’s amazing to me how much of his advice is still good today.
For example, he writes about the importance of a suitable meeting place and gives several suggestions about how to find one. This has certainly been true for our club, ARROW. We’ve met at the Red Cross, at the local community college, and now, under the aegis of a couple of members who are university employess, in a room at the University of Michigan.
Herb also writes, “What names interesting meeting depends on a number of things…Entertainment and refreshments are the principle ingredients. If both can be supplied, so much the better, but light refreshments, like coffee and doughnuts, or ice cream and cookies, are often better pullers than routine entertainment.”
By entertainment he means presentations. He gives a few suggestions for presentations, including getting club members to give talks on their projects and demonstrations of new equipment. Being responsible for scheduling speakers for our club, I took these suggestions to heart.
There are also a few cautions, too. For example, start meetings on time. Herb says, “Late starts often tie in with uninteresting meetings.” Also, don’t make the monthly meetings business meetings. “Most members have no more interest in such details than in the minutes of the Ladies’ Aid Society,” he writes.
Taking this advice to heart, we start our meetings now with the featured speaker and take care of any club business afterwards. Members who don’t want to stick around for the boring business meeting are free to leave.
There are also several paragraphs on sustaining member interest. Field Day is number one on Herb’s list. It’s a great way to mobilize the troops.
Another suggestion Herb makes is to have a picnic. I know some clubs regularly hold their meetings outside in the summer. We’ve done that in the past here, and I think that this summer, we should try to do that again. Who wants to be cooped up in a stuffy room when you can get outside and enjoy the summer weather?
So, all told some good advice. I would also add two other bits of advice: teach classes and organize a Volunteer Examiner team. For a club to survive, it needs to continually add new members.
At the end of the article, there was an unrelated, but interesting item on a recent change to “Part 12 of the Rules Governing the Amateur Radio Service.” The change itself wasn’t so extraordinary, but my question is when did the amateur radio rules change from Part 12 to Part 97?
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