Minutes of MARCO's Annual Meeting, March 20, 2015

MARCO Annual Membership Meeting

March 20, 2015

The annual Membership Meeting of the Medical Amateur Radio Council was held on March 20, 2015 at the Western Museum of Flight in Torrance, California.

Present were Malin Dollinger (KO6MD), Arthur Kahn (W6NJY), Jay Garlitz (AA4FL), Bernard Krasowski (KD5QHV), Linda Krasowski (KE5BQK), T. "Chip" Keister (N5RTF), Bruce Small (KM2L), Joe Breault (WB2MXJ), Paul Lukas (N6DMV), President Jeffrey Wolf (K6JW), Newsletter Editor Warren Brown (KD4GUA), and MediShare Director Arnold Kalan (WB6OJB).

The meeting was called to order at 9:05 AM, PDT.

Those in attendance introduced themselves.

In the absence of the Secretary, the minutes of the last meeting were read by N5RTF and approved.

The Secretary's report was presented by Jeff due to the absence of Secretary Marcia Lochner. The report included three donations to MediShare. There are 221 members of MARCO, including 20 with complementary membership. We have 124 paid up members. The President does not have the names of those who are in arrears. The Secretary has reserved a block of rooms for MARCO during Hamvention at the Clarion in Dayton.

The Treasurer's report was presented by Jeff due to the absence of Treasurer Mary Favaro (AE4BX). Due to Mary's efforts, MARCO's funds were transferred from the account formerly managed by the late WA1HGE to a Wells Fargo Bank near Mary's home. MARCO's principal officers are all now signatories. MARCO's General Fund balance as of March 6, 2015 was $11,600.73. The Medishare account balance as of March 6, 2015 was $6074.18. AA4FL clarified that the disbursement to him listed as “expedition” was, in fact, reimbursement of the fees for hosting our web domains. WB6OJB indicated that his figure ($775: see below)) for member contributions did not agree with the amount reported. It was not clear what fiscal year was used in the Treasurer's calculation.

The status of the Secretary was discussed. Our by-laws specify that officers must be regular members of MARCO. Marcia, the current Acting Secretary, is not a licensed amateur radio operator, and thus is not eligible. She was informally appointed Assistant Secretary last year and has filled the role since the resignation of W4DAN from the Secretary's position. A motion to formally appoint Marcia Lochner as Assistant Secretary was made, seconded, and carried. At the MARCO Membership in 2016, it will be necessary to elect a Secretary who is a regular (i.e., licensed) member.

N5RTF moved that we appoint N7NLN as Director for the 7^th call area. This motion passed. K6JW indicated that he would contact him to be certain that he would accept the position.

MediShare report: WB6OJB reported that since the last meeting, donations to MediShare totaled $775.

Aether and Grand Rounds Report: KD4GUA would like more radio-oriented submissions to the newsletter. He will recognize those donating $100 or more to MediShare in the Newsletter, although will not list the specific amounts donated. Those receiving the .pdf copy of the Aether gave it a positive review, and he will continue to mail it via our email list. KE5BQK suggested that one issue per year contain an envelope for members to use to donate to MediShare. KD4GUA was concerned that this would increase our postal cost. The issue was deferred and left unresolved. K6JW recognized Warren for his reliable, high-quality work in producing both the Newsletter and Grand Rounds.

Web Committee: The MARCO Website is edited and managed by Dave NT8E, and KM2L should not be listed as “Webmaster” in MARCO's publications. Discussion ensued over the listing of a Webmaster as opposed to the Web Committee. The issue was not actually resolved, and it appears that KM2L will be listed as Webmaster until resolution can be obtained. The Web Committee has, over the years, received misdirected email intended for Medi-Share, a health insurance company. AA4FL set up an auto-forwarding response, so that these communications go to the proper recipient without our intervention. The software also sends notification of the forwarding to the original sender. So far, this has worked well. KM2L continues to maintain MARCO's blog.

Radio-Internet Coordinator report: N5RTF provides streaming audio of Grand Rounds when he can hear net control. Bobbie W1BEW acts as an alternate receiving site. KM2L also hosts a Skype conference call and patches in the audio of the lecture as heard at his station. N5RTF also acts as net control for the CW net that precedes Grand Rounds. He states that there are usually about four check-ins.

Old Business: None.

New Business:

WB6OJB relayed a request for support by MediShare from “Shoulder-to-Shoulder.” This organization runs a dental clinic in an underserved area of Honduras. MARCO Director Roger W8CRK will be volunteering there later this year, and initiated the request for support. It was moved by AA4FL and seconded by KE5BQK that we donate $250 to support W8CRK's effort, with a request that he provide feedback after his return. The motion was carried.

AA4FL shared a number of his thoughts about the organization's future. He stated that it is important to attract younger membership, and that our weekly on-air lecture series may not be appealing to this group. Medical/Dental DXpeditions may be a way to introduce younger practitioners to ham radio. Jay may be involved in a 2016 expedition to Kiritimati along with a Brazilian group and Pacific Medical Aid.

Another thought is to involve MARCO, perhaps through ARRL, with academically-affiliated hospitals to assist in developing emergency communications capability.

AA4FL also recommended that MARCO become involved in social media. He moved that we establish a Facebook group, to be maintained by the Web Committee.. This motion was passed.

N5RTF moved that MARCO establish a $500 scholarship for licensed ham operators who are applying for graduate-level training in the medical arts. This would be run through the ARRL. This motion was passed. AA4FL will contact ARRL on this matter.

N5RTF suggested that we set up a Paypal button on our web pages for MediShare donations. The details will be worked out by the Web Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 PDT on KD5QHV's motion.