Minutes of 2009 Annual Meeting

Minutes of the 2009 Medical Amateur Radio Council Annual Meeting

The 2009 MARCO Annual Meeting took place on June 12, 2009 at 950 West Lake Street, Chicago, IL. In attendance were Harry Przekop WB9EDP (President), Ellen Przekop KC9ARN, Danny Centers W4DAN (Secretary), Lou Wiederhold WA1HGE (Treasurer), Warren Brown KD4GUA (Newsletter Editor/Net Control), Arnold Kalan WB6OJB (MediShare Chair), Linda Krasowski KE5BQK (President-Elect), Chip Keister N5RTF, Paul Lukas N6DMV, Mary Favaro AE4BX, Bernie Krasowski KD5QHV, Bill Hargadon WA9HIR, Sun Jili BD2CM, and Bruce Small KM2L.

The meeting was called to order at 8:45 AM CDT by WB9EDP, who announced that June 13, 2009 had been declared MARCO Day in the city of Chicago.

An invocation was provided by WA9HIR.

WB6OJB read the minutes of the 2008 meeting, and they were approved with minor corrections.

WA1HGE presented the Treasurer's Report. Comparing calendar year 2007 with 2008, cash inflows were down $3007.01 and outflows were up $6102.26. There was a large one-time expenditure for the MediShare Sri Lanka project. Also, substantial dues payments have been received since the first of the year. Administrative expenses for 2008 were below those of 2007. As of June 9, 2009, our assets were $11, 638.45 and liabilities were zero.
The Treasurer's Report was approved.

W4DAN presented the Secretary's Report. Most of the discussion dealt with promoting the organization and prompting existing members to pay their dues in timely fashion.
Our advertisement in QST has not been very productive, but it was felt to be necessary. We should explore means of obtaining free publicity in QST and CQ. WB9EDP suggested creating the print equivalent of sound bites, that is, short, interesting bits of information about MARCO, its people and activities. When these have been submitted in the past, they have usually been ignored. WB9EDP thought that tie-ins with FEMA or Homeland Security might be more likely to be picked up. He will try to use his connections with people in ARRL to further this cause.
N5RTF suggested that we write up a piece for eHam.net and inquire about placing an ad on their Web site.
N5RTF also inquired as to whether MARCO could accept dues payments through PayPal. W4DAN indicated that he has received inquiries about this and also credit card payment of dues. The advantages of PayPal are that it facilitates “impulse” shopping, cuts several steps out of the process of joining or renewing membership, and saves postage. The disadvantages are cost to MARCO and possible additional administrative overhead. After some discussion, the details of information flow between Secretary and Treasurer were clarified, and it was decided to explore the feasibility of setting up PayPal.
MARCO currently has 48 lapsed members still receiving the newsletter. This is a typical figure. The membership expiration date is printed on the mailing label, but some people do not look for it. KD4GUA has been stamping “Courtesy Copy” on the newsletters mailed to lapsed members. It was suggested that the stamp be changed to something less subtle, such as “You Membership Has Expired.”
The Treasurer's Report was approved.

KD4GUA presented a Newsletter Editor's report. Each copy of the newsletter costs $0.92 to produce and mail.
Warren has deliberately planted typographical errors in the paper and invited readers to report them to him. He found a suitable trophy and will present it to the reader who has detected the most errors, Louis Lyell WA5MYK.
N5RTF will provide the proper url for downloading the Grand Rounds audio.

WB6OJB presented the MediShare report. Several substantial donations have been received, including those from WB9EDP/KC9ARN and Gene and Judy Hoenig N3HG/N3MBW. Additional donations are encouraged.
MARCO stickers were passed out to those in attendance.
MediShare has received a few proposals for funding, but none meet our criteria, so there are currently no active projects.

KM2L presented the Internet Committee report. The Web site was migrated to Godaddy.com in September 2008. The email list moved from University at Buffalo to Google Groups, and after a few initial problems has been working smoothly.
WB9EDP commented that some of the members' links on the Web site are stale. He also mentioned that a few of his coworkers have listened to the streaming audio of Grand Rounds and have been inspired to obtain their amateur radio licenses.
It is desirable to make audio of Grand Rounds available as podcasts. N5RTF will work on this.
N5RTF also reminded the group that we have the ability to provide email aliases for all members in the form of XXX@marco-ltd.org.
WA1HGE has not received a bill from Godaddy.com. AA4FL set up this account, and will be invited to submit a request for reimbursement.

KM2L presented a brief report on Dayton Hamvention. The booth was busy. In addition to current members, we met several prospective members and a few former members who promised to rejoin. N6DMV's Dr. Pepper satellite model drew by far the most interest at the booth. Although KM2L spent very little and went home virtually empty-handed, the same cannot be said for N5RTF or N3IM.

New Business:

Bob Nevins KF1J has asked to step down as the 1st call area Director. Ted Figlock W1HGY will be asked to serve.

Duane Wyatt has informally requested assistance from MARCO for his efforts to produce compact short wave listening stations for placement in children's health care facilities. While we believe that the idea is a good one, it is not relevant to the mission or purpose of MARCO.

N5RTF proposed that the organization consider purchasing a 1.5KW amplifier for use by the Grand Rounds Net Control station. The consensus was that the idea had merit. WA1HGE suggested that the choice be determined by a committee. WB9EDP offered to discuss our need with Ray Novak, a personal contact at Icom. W4TAD (SK) was KD4GUA's neighbor, and had an Alpha amplifier. Warren will in quire about its availability.

BD2CM was asked to say a few words about himself. Jili is a surgeon from northeastern China, where he founded a small hospital. He is currently living in Chicago while pursuing an MBA degree at University of Illinois – Chicago.

WB9EDP raised the possibility of MARCO staging a special operating event for publicity purposes. We could use WB5D as a call sign.

KD5QHV recommended that we use every opportunity for 1:1 personal contact with ARRL staff, whether at Dayton or visiting League headquarters.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 AM CDT.