+ AA6YQ comments below

This type of group is very common place in online gaming to allow people to vent with very little real interaction from the gaming company or people that can actually do anything.  Most people tire of it and move on to other games or just stop providing feedback.

I agree where are the other directors?  Do they care?  Where it the ARRL staff?  Do they care?  Do they just not have time to look?  The list was dead for weeks, maybe they were never told to look or that this place exists? 

+ I was a member of the ARRL Committee that created these online groups. I suspect that the Directors hoped that forming a Committee to create these groups would stave off demands for live-streaming Board Meetings so that Members could see exactly what their elected Directors do -- and don’t do. In terms of broad and consistent participation from ARRL Directors, Executives, Managers, and Staff, these groups have been a complete failure - despite the best efforts of their volunteer Moderators.

+ Board Meetings should be live-streamed.

        73,

                Dave, AA6YQ

I've seen and received email responses from NA2AA, N2RJ, W1RFI and W5OV on lists and in directed emails.  I think that everyday
interaction here can be good, but frankly it becomes a "bitch and moan" forum with liberal amounts of League bashing thrown in
abundance.  No one really wants to read that kind of stuff because its uncivil, even if rooted in a matter of importance.

+ "Directed emails" don't count, as they can't be viewed by anyone interested.

+ As you might expect, I have carefully monitored 7 online groups since their inception. The only current Director beside Ria N2RJ
that participates in these groups is Mickey N4MB. Greg K0GW, an ex-Director who leads the ARRL-LOTW Committee, participates in the
ARRL-LoTW online group.

I had a suggestion to revitalize and expand VHF+ contesting that adopted some ideas from Field Day.  I put in a reasoned assessment
of the current categories and highlighted some inherent deficiencies. Next came some specific points that could be, one by one,
incorporated into the rules.  It was well received and is under consideration along with inputs from others.  Because of how the
issue was framed, and how the solutions were presented, it  didn't put folks on the defensive, and that was noted and appreciated in
writing. 

+ While we'd all prefer feedback to be positive and constructive, the leaders of an organization must actively solicit critique and
suggested improvements, and accept the responses in whatever form they arrive. Any leader who becomes defensive in the face of
criticism is by definition incompetent; gracefully and effectively handling such situations is Leadership 101.

In a long-term back and forth over an EMC noise and safety issue with W1RFI, we each expanded our respective understanding of both
the problems and the perception of problems, and how they might be addressed.   Again, thoughtful and respectful dialogue are
essential for effective communications.

+ My experience in suggesting a more aggressive approach to stopping Broadband over Powerline (BPL) yielded  a far less constructive
response from the ARRL's staff.


Now there are folks who don't engage members effectively.   Clearly there are changes in the HQ staff that will be for the good.  I
think the members need to consider how concerns are raised in a civil society.  Be persistent, but be polite.  If you need to be
more persistent, then you need to have more facts and be even more polite.  Even if you decide to expand the scope of those who you
inform in order to expand to an effective critical mass, being more polite is key. 

+ The explicit goal of a member organization's management and staff should be to delight its members. During the  ~5 years I served
on the ARRL's LoTW Committee, I saw way too many counterexamples.

+ Several months ago, the ARRL's CEO described "Project X" in a video interview: a multi-year effort to replace LoTW. As you might
imagine, this prompted the posting of many questions to the ARRL-LoTW online group. Not one ARRL Director, Executive, or Staff
member has responded. The message to ARRL members: a fundamental lack of respect.

      73,

             Dave, AA6YQ