How do you like to learn?

After the Oakville ARC breakfast, I spent Saturday at PodCamp Toronto 2014, an "unconference" for...well... anyone associated with communicating on the web.

There were some excellent sessions I attended, with topics ranging from engaging with your audience to the depths of Google Analytics. 

i learned a great deal in a short time, and, as I do at unconferences, never in a way I expected to. 

This got me thinking about how I learn and about how other hams learn. Two conclusions: 

1) Personality is as important as content when conveying technical information to a semi technical audience. A big personality opens my mind to absorbing more. 

I think this rule is particularly important in distance education, as I am proposing as one of our Southern Ontario "Moonshots". We need to attract the best instructors, armed with the best content we can lay our hands on. 

I just received additional materials this week from our good friends at Coax Publications to enhance their wonderful Basic Qualification book. We can be very proud of this excellent Ontario publishing team. There are further discussions to be had, but I believe the Coax materials are a great foundation for an Ontario hosted remote learning Basic Qualification course.  

2) I'm beginning to think we should host an unconference for Amateur Radio. Our community is so varied and so talented that the unconference model is a natural. I'll write some additional thoughts on this soon.

Transparency

In my discussions with amateur radio operators in Southern Ontario, one of the themes that is developing regarding their national organization, Radio Amateurs of Canada, is concern about transparency. It's pretty simple, If they pay money, they want to know what's going on with their organization.

Last night I put forward a motion to the RAC Board (which was accepted) to post the minutes of our meetings earlier. Prior to this motion, minutes could only be posted to the RAC website after they had been accepted at the next meeting of the Board, which means that members of RAC could be reading about what's going on two months later. It's a common problem with organizations that meet monthly.

In our new method, following a board meeting we will quickly circulate the meeting minutes electronically and the directors will respond (while it's fresh in our minds) with any corrections. These "tentative" minutes will then be posted on the RAC website. At the next meeting they will be accepted, as is common practice, and the "tentative" label removed.

The point of the motion is that I'd like to see the membership better engage with their regional director. This allows my constituency in Southern Ontario to reach out to me as their director before the next meeting if an issue they are concerned with is being discussed. 

Another area that is opening up is discussion of membership numbers.  In the last three years the organization is doing a better job of categorization of members and tracking those numbers. At the last AGM there was open discussion of the current numbers and since then I've seen a month by month summary of the various categories. 

These sorts of numbers are critical in understanding how well RAC is engaged in the community, the authenticity of our claim to represent Amateur Radion in Canada and the general health of the organization.  The numbers can be thought of as our "marketshare" and should be represented in terms of RAC membership as a percentage of active licenced amateurs - more on this in a future post.

I also believe we need to benchmark RAC performance against both the ARRL and the Radio Society of Great Britain.  Clearly the ARRL is in excellent health, which may be intimidating here in Canada but if we don't aim to continuously improve, what's the point?

These are small steps towards improved transparency, but I believe they are in the right direction. What's next? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Ask Questions, Listen Hard...

Three conversations in 48 hours have led me to reframe my approach to our journey towards a better Radio Amateurs of Canada.

As you have read in previous posts, I care deeply about a national organization for amateur radio in Canada. RAC needs to serve all amateurs and represent the many, many aspects on this hobby.

So with that in mind I'm going to start asking two simple (and very complex) questions of the constituency:

1) What would YOU like RAC to be in 5 years? What kind of organization? What kind of services? What is RAC's place in the the world around it? 

2) What would have to happen to bring about this ideal?

It's important not to mistake this as a theoretical exercise - This sets the very practical compass bearing for where we want to go. It is a journey (It might just be a quest!). I have some ideas, but it is not about "Me" it is about "Us". I need your help as we map this journey out.

Question number one is the heart and soul of our effort. RAC must evolve to provide value to Canadian Amateurs - or it has no reason to exist. That value must be defined in practical terms. (Let's even consider defining value in concrete terms. Let's deliver $200 of solid value for $50-$100 of membership fees, answering the member's question, "what's in it for me?")

Question number two defines some very practical steps along the way. I want to build out a shared view of what we need to do to get to the RAC we envision. Don't worry about who does what, the "who" is not as important and the "what" for the moment.  

I'd love to hear from you individually, but I particularly want to hear from you collectively, at the Club level. I find that there is a certain magic in setting these goals and action plans is small groups. So here is my Challenge to the Southern Ontario club Presidents and Executive - As a club, within the next 60 days, discuss & debate these two questions.

Please Involve me in the discussion and PLEASE involve me in the results.

Contest Club Ontario Winter Lunch

I spent Saturday afternoon with another group of Hams, this time the Contest Club Ontario at their Winter Lunch. 

Beyond a great lunch (and a great value!), the event featured three top notch speakers:

Nick Lekic VE3EY led off the talks describing his recent trip to Trinidad & Tobago's north coast to participate in a contest, "Field Day Style".  Packing up an entire station "within baggage limits", constructing an antenna farm on the beach and operating for 48 hours (with a minor sleep mishap) - all within a weekend - is pretty impressive!

Mike Walker VA3MW went on to describe his remote station at the family cottage. Mike combined smart, detailed and entertaining to produce a terrific primer on how to make operating a remote station a reality, including power, control and software considerations.  I learned that a Christmas tree timer can be an important component of a highly available network...

John Sluymer VE3EJ spoke about configuring his station for Multi Op 2, illustrating the complexity of making things simpler on what I can only describe as an Amateur Radio Campus. While John has the most impressive station many of us will ever visit, I continue to be impressed by the humble and thoughtful manner in which he shares his knowledge and experience. 

Many thanks to the organizers at Contest Club Ontario for another terrific event. I'm really looking forward to the Summer BBQ.

Niagara Peninsula Hamfest (St. Catherines)

I spent the morning working the RAC booth at the Niagara Peninsula ARC Hamfest. These guys run a good show. Many thanks to the organizers for a great job done.

These events are a terrific opportunity to have open and lively conversations with my Bosses (meaning Amateur Radio Enthusiasts like you, RAC members or not), to hear concerns and brainstorm.  

The conversations range from:

"Could we have a level of RAC membership that has Magazine, or services,  but just allows the ham to contribute to the organization?" (Meaning cheaper, Hmmm... Why not... )

"We need to help industry Canada clean up the database of licenced hams... Or I'm never going to get a two letter call..." (I hear you my friend)

"How much for your iPad?" (That I'm running newsletter registrations on... Then again, anything's for sale at the right price....) 

 "We should award extra points on Field Day for contacts on the new 60 metre band" (I'm actually kinda jazzed about this last idea. We need to speak to the ARRL about this as a chance to "work out" our new band!)

Every conversation was light hearted, engaged and respectful. I had a blast chatting with my constituency. That said, not all are pleased. Many are still confused about insurance and other benefits, and about our direction in general. One comment I keep hearing is about the diminishing "relevance" of RAC.

We still have much to do. 

Yet I'm still impressed with my Bosses...they love this Hobby as much as I do, and together, If I listen really hard, I think we can find the right path.