Minutes of the Medical Amateur Radio Council 2016 Annual Meeting

Minutes
Medical Amateur Radio Council Annual Meeting

May 20, 2016
Dayton, Ohio

In attendance: Jeff, K6JW President; Rick K9CIV, President-Elect; Marcia Lochner, Acting Secretary; Mary AE4BX, Treasurer; Warren KD4GUA Newsletter Editor; Bruce KM2L Director; Keith N3IM Director; Linda KE5BQK Director; Bobbie W1BEW Director and Assistant Treasurer; Jay AA4FL; Bernie KD5QHV; Chip N5RTF; Art KK1Y and Carl WA3ZZU.

The meeting was called to order by K6JW at 8:14 AM EDT.

Minutes of the 2015 meeting were approved with one correction. Paragraph 6 should read “complimentary membership.”

K9CIV stated that he was looking forward eagerly to beginning his Presidency.

Secretary's Report: Marcia reported that we have 130 paid members and carry 16 complimentary memberships, for a total of 146 members in good standing.

Treasurer's Report: AE4BX presented the Treasurer's report. 

Expenses for the year totaled $3447.78 and are detailed in her report. The largest single expense is for printing and mailing the Newsletter. We had dues income of $3130.00, and our current balance is $11298.86. The report was approved.

MediShare Chair Arnold, WB6OJB was unable to attend the meeting, but his report was presented to the Board by K6JW. MediShare has a balance of $6300.18. We have no currently active projects. A list of donors was given to the President. Per the Treasurer and Secretary as of the time of this meeting, their preference is that donations to MediShare be sent to the Secretary.

KD4GUA presented the Newsletter Editor's report. Publication of the newsletter, while entailing a great deal of work, has gone well. Warren expressed his appreciation for the way that Marcia capably handled the Secretary's role in supplying mailing labels for the Newsletter. The Board collectively thanked her for her good work.

K6JW asked for discussion of the possibility of emailing the Newsletter as the default option, with members who desire a hard copy electing to receive one. AA4FL asked for clarification of the purpose of the Newsletter. Do we use it for recruitment? For other purposes? Marcia stated that she steers prospective members to our Website to look at the Newsletter. KM2L added that we hand out copies of the paper from our Hamvention booth, though these could be printed when needed. KE5BQK stated that she would not go to the Website to read the Newsletter unless prompted to do so, in which case why not just email it? K9CIV felt that maintaining an accurate database of email addresses is difficult. AA4FL suggested that we could encourage people to pass their copy to someone else after they had read it. W1BEW moved that we notify membership via an article the Newsletter of the option to receive it electronically. This motion was passed. AA4FL agreed to write a piece for the Newsletter.

KM2L had no formal Historian's report. AE4BX said that she inherited a box of old bank records from W4DAN and offered them to the Historian. He declined the offer, and due to their age, these records will be destroyed.

Dave, NT8E not being in attendance, there was no formal Webmaster's report.
N5RTF has been unable to provide streaming audio of Grand Rounds from his current place of residence. He asked for help from someone who can hear KD4GUA consistently well. KK1Y is a close neighbor and is willing to work with N5RTF to provide him a good audio source.

Directors reports:
W1BEW reported on an upcoming hamfest in Knoxville, TN.
K6JW noted that the ARRL Southwest Division Convention will be hosted by the Los Angeles Amateur Radio Council in October, 2016.

Old Business:
AA4FL discussed the proposed MARCO-sponsored scholarship fund. He passed out a draft of eligibility criteria for applicants. He plans to work with his contacts at the University of Florida to develop a template for this. He proposes to target pre-med students. The award will be administered by ARRL. Our financial commitment will be $1000 annually to maintain a $500 annual scholarship award. We could end the program at any time. N5RTF felt that our selection criteria should include graduate students as well as undergraduates. WA3ZZU pointed out that most ARRL scholarships are awarded to graduating high school students. N5RTF asked whether we can use the name and photo of the awardee for our own publicity. It seems very likely that this is the case. KE5BQK asked whether there were medical professionals on the ARRL committee that reviews scholarship applications. The answer is probably not. WA3ZZU, after searching the relevant portion of the ARRL Website, suggested that in order to ensure that we receive appropriate credit and recognition, “Medical Amateur Radio Council” appear in the name of the award. After considerable discussion, agreement was reached on this point. It was also decided that we not include reference to MediShare International in the description of the award. AA4FL was asked to prepare a second iteration of our submission to ARRL, and circulate it to the Board. AA4FL moved that we approve the expenditure of $1000 to fund the scholarship. This motion passed.

New Business: 

K6JW ppesented a proposed slate of officers and explained our dilemma with the position of Secretary. Although Marcia has done an outstanding job, she is not permitted to serve according to our by-laws. AE4BX raised the question of nominating an Assistant Treasurer. It was determined that someone could be selected by the Board without formal a nomination. W1BEW suggested that the Assistant Treasurer should live in reasonable proximity to a Wells Fargo bank, as they hold our account. K9CIV moved that nominations be closed, and the slate as proposed was approved. MARCO's officers for 2018-2018 are:

President Richard Lochner, K9CIV
President-Elect Jay Garlitz, AA4FL
Secretary Joe Breault, WB2MXJ
Treasurer Bobbie Williams, W1BEW
Newsletter Editor Warren Brown, KD4GUA

Regional Directors:
1 Robert Nevins, KF1J
2 Bruce Small, KM2L
3 Keith Adams, N3IM
4 Mary Favaro, AE4BX
5 Tom Reilly, W3GAT
6 Paul Lukas, N6DMV
7 Albert Breland, KA7LOT
8 Roger Higley, W8CRK
9 Bill Hargadon, WA9HIR
0 Frederic Simowitz, K0FS

Directors-at-Large:
Harry Przekop, WB9EDP
Arnold Kalan, WB6OJB
Linda Krasowski, KE5BQK
Danny Centers W4DAN
Jeffrey Wolf, K6JW

Marcia reminded us that it is necessary to change the contact information in the Newsletter, our QST ad, and on the Website.

K9CIV announced that the 2017 MARCO Annual Meeting will be held in late April, probably April 28 – 30, in the Chicago area.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 AM EDT.