"Pat Cook" wrote:

I'd offer it as a point of debate Jim (Curiously of course ). What
*would* your new organization offer that ARRL & the many, many other
worldwide clubs don't already offer, Klystron & Iitoi?


The objective would be to provide an organization to those hams who
wish to make ham radio innovative and progressive (again). By
comparison, the ARRL exists to serve those hams who wish to keep ham
radio retrogressive, insular and xenophobic. Certain technologies would
be championed (digital voice, digital data, e.g.) while other
technologies would be abandoned to their fate (Morse).


I'm a member of one of the local clubs here in Denver. I'm also one of
those hams who IS NOT a member of ARRL itself. It's NOT because I don't
want to be. It's just that, with a fixed income, if I were to go pluncking
down PRECIOUS $$$ left and right for each and every organization covering
each and every interest of mine, I'd not only go insane, but I'd also GO
BROKE. As such, I have to ask myself WHERE DOES IT END? I don't *need* QST
Magazine to keep me updated on the world of Amateur Radio. Besides...Quite
frankly, compared to Newsline and ARRL Audio News & the ARRL Newsletter,
ANYTHING in QST Magazine would be DATED INFORMATION by the time I got it
anyway.

True, ARRL does do some valuable things for the Amateur Radio Service and
since I *am* a validly licensed Ham, they *do* represent me in various
political and legal capacities (For which I am eternally grateful BTW), I
still see a reason to join them if they're going to represent me anyway.
They know my position on various issues because much the same sentiment is
shared by SCORES of Hams like me. And many of those Hams have made their
sentiments public. I don't need to submit what would sound like a broken
record in the eyes of ARRL because they've heard it many times before.


If you look at those organizations that are EFFECTIVE in representing
their members and advancing the members' agenda (NRA, teachers' union,
tobacco lobby, trade associations that represent defense contractors,
etc.), certain patterns emerge, regardless of the nature of the
organization or the type of agenda. Such organizations tend to be
politically astute when dealing with government. They use PAC's, they
organize letter writing campaigns, they advise their members on the
voting records of their elected officials, they can deliver votes in
support of those who help them and in support of the OPPONENTS of those
who oppose them. Further, such constituencies often have MULTIPLE
organizations that pursue their agenda separately and with varying
levels of militancy (you will recall the fiasco when the NRA tried to
pull even with its more militant rivals by speaking of "jackbooted
thugs," which was a rare misstep by private-sector Beltway insiders). By
comparison, the ARRL's approach of being the FCC's lapdog is laughable.
If we haven't lost as much spectrum as we might have, it is certainly
not the result of astute lobbying.


Well...I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. So I ask
again....What *would* your new organization offer that ARRL & the many, many
other worldwide clubs don't already offer, Klystron & Iitoi? I'm really
curious.


Long story short: Once upon a time, hams were viewed as 'rocket
scientists' and were a force for progress and innovation. Now, they're
viewed as cranky old geezers who are living in the past and pounding
Samuel Morse' old telegraph key while whining about young
whippersnappers who don't respect their elders. A new organization would
break free of that past and move forward. It goes without saying that
ARRL types will not want this and will try to stop it.