The President, Croft Taylor, VE3CT, called the meeting to order, at 8:05 A.M. on October 16, 2003 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Addison, Texas.

A roll call of the members was conducted with the following officers in attendance: President, Croft Taylor, VE3CT; Vice-President, John Johnston, W3BE; Secretary, Charles Walbridge, K1IGD; Treasurer, Frank Harris, WA4PAM. Directors present were: Harold Chase, W1EES; Jerrel Jones, W5TUU; Alan Pickering, KJ9N; George Roach, VE3BNO; and Ed Yoder, W3YMB. Also present were: Gary Harrison, KØBC, Past President; and Leland Smith, W5KL, President Emeritus. Absent were: Directors Art Kunst, W3WM; Bill McGrannahan, NØZL; Ray Minichiello, W1BC; Leonard Nathanson, W8RC; General Manager Jim Walsh, W7LVN; and Finance Committee Chairman, Tony Hirsh, W8RSH. Guests included: Steve Duby from Western Pacific; Larry McCalvy, WA9JMO, Chairman of the 2005 cruise; Jan Hayter, representing the General Manager; candidates for the 2004 election, Robert Roske, NØUF and Blanche Randles, W4GXZ.

The Board observed a moment of silence for all QCWA Silent Keys, including: Wes Randles, W4COW; Helen Smith, WA5WAR, wife of Leland Smith, W5KL; Frank Schwab, W8OK,; and Jay Strom, W3XQ.

There were two additional items added to the agenda: 12 E, Awards; 12 F, W5YI Report

Minutes of the Kissimmee, Florida meeting of October 24, 2002 were distributed to Board members in November 2002. On a MOTION by Director Pickering, the minutes were APPROVED as presented.

President's Report - President Taylor covered several items in his report. Our electronic voting system using e-mail, with minor problems, continues to work well. The major problem seems to be non-response to some votes. After each vote, the President announces the result. The Board asked that the Secretary also publish the vote of each member and which member did not vote.

President Taylor also announced the following: Tony Hirsch, W8RSH, will be the new Chairman of the Finance Committee; Director George Roach, VE3BNO, will replace Walt Supina, N3WS, as Activities Manager.

Because of declining health, Jim Walsh, W7LVN, will be resigning as General Manager, effective December 31, 2003. President Taylor has appointed Vice-President Johnston to form a GM Search Committee. Mr. Johnston named President Taylor and Past-President Harrison to this Committee. A solicitation for the position will be posted on the QCWA web page with directions for submitting a proposal. Jan Hayter, Jim's current assistant, will continue to work with him on the day-to-day activities in Eugene.

Conventions have been scheduled for 2004, 2005,and 2006. The location for the Board meeting for 2005 is currently unresolved.

Past Director Arch Doty submitted some suggestions for changes to the Journal with the goal to increase its interest to the membership. These have been forwarded to the Journal Oversight committee.

An agreement of cooperation, dating back to 1984, between QCWA and ARRL has been in limbo for several years. As of last year, it was still sitting on a desk at Newington waiting action. President Taylor asked that the Chairman of the External Relations Committee follow up with the ARRL on this item.

Activity during the fall QSO Party was below expectations. There was a conflict with a California QSO Party on the same weekend. After discussion, it was agreed to move the party to the second to last weekend in September. It was also agreed to have separate scoring for the SSB and CW entries. This will take effect for the spring QSO Party.

Vice-President's Report - Vice President Johnston covered several items associated with chapter activities and recruiting. A brochure, used by Chapter 91, that could be used for recruiting was presented. This is available as a MS Word file that can be obtained from Vice-President Johnston.

Vice President Johnston reported that he presented awards to several FCC members that were approved at the 2002 Board meeting.

One of our charter members has indicated that he would offer his call, upon his death, to QCWA. The member is Ralph Hasslinger, W2CVF. Vice-President Johnston outlined the procedure for this in a Journal article. President Emeritus Smith will follow-up on this item.

Secretary's Report - Minutes for the 2002 meeting were presented. There were no additions or corrections. On a MOTION by Director Pickering, it was VOTED to accept the minutes for 2002.

The following items were acted upon since the 2002 Board meeting using the e-mail procedure stipulated in the Director's Guide:

It was MOVED and VOTED to award the Hall of Fame Award to L. B. Cebik, W4RNL.

It was MOVED and VOTED to award the Member of the Year to Carey Alexander, K8DOT.

It was MOVED and VOTED to donate $100.00 to Bill Pasternak to support "The Amateur Radio Newsline".

Treasurer's Report - Treasurer Harris presented a budget for 2004 based on the best information from the 2002/2003 budgets. Although the budget showed a deficit, typically all budget items are not fully spent. On a MOTION by Director Roach, it was VOTED to accept the proposed budget for 2004.

Treasurer Harris distributed a "Charitable Giving Handbook" prepared for the Directors and Officers of the QCWA. It was compiled from a number of sources with details on various tax benefits, charitable donations, annuity trusts, and summary details on various tax laws. This is in response to an action item from the 2002 Board Meeting.

A second action item from the 2002 meeting was the investigation of QCWA's participation in the Infinity Program. This is a program for non-profit organizations to make extra income. By selecting programs of interest to our members, QCWA would receive income from the Infinity Program every time a member participated. Some items in the past have been credit cards (college students) and life insurance (AARP). The Treasurer will continue to evaluate.

General Manager's Report - Jim Walsh's report indicated that our membership has been stable over the last year. The task to convert paper applications into CD ROMs continues. This past year, it became necessary to replace the QCWA computer, used by Ms Hayter, for major data and accounting programs. General Manager Walsh stressed the importance of encouraging the chapters to donate to the Memorial Scholarship Program. Jan Hayter, representing Jim Walsh, answered several questions raised by Board members.

At the 2002 Board meeting, a vote was taken to provide the QCWA member list to a company that would sell it to other companies providing services of interest to our members. Because of negative feedback from the membership, this was never completed. On a MOTION by Director Yoder, it was VOTED to rescind that action taken at the 2002 meeting.

The General Manager reported that two new chapters had been formed and applied for recognition. On a MOTION by Past-President Harrison, it was VOTED to accept these two new chapters, No. 211, Kansas and No. 212, Mid-Ohio.

Files and information from Historian Wes Randles are being shipped to Headquarters.

Two action items from the 2002 Board meeting:

Wayne Green's Journal article received only negative response. He will not be submitting any new material for the Journal.

Dr. William George, W5DUB, has been contacted about submitting articles for the Journal and has been receptive. He has some health problems and will respond when able.

QCWA Web Home Page - The current QCWA web master, Bob Roske, NØUF, presented a report on his activities. His rework of the web page has permitted rapid changes in the material presented on the site. The site has a number of links to other ham radio web sites. This list will continue to expand as members identify other sites of interest.

Several action items were assigned to Mr. Roske: add a list of QCWA awards that have been made over the years and evaluate the possibility of having a pdf new member application that can be filled in on line.

A - Finance - Gary Harrison, KØBC

Past-President Harrison has been acting as the temporary chairman of the Finance Committee. His report covered the first year performance of our three accounts since Western Pacific has managed them. All three accounts have shown growth, over all 11.55%, net of fees. Steve Duby, from Western Pacific, presented a detailed summary of each account. Currently, results of the investments are reported as an internal rate of return (IRR). As contributions are added to the accounts, these get reported in a manner that distorts the performance. To correct this, future reports will be calculated on a time-weighted rate basis (TWB), giving a truer picture of our investments. The fees paid for the service of the financial advisor for all accounts are reported and paid separately but reported as one figure. The board asked that all costs, for each account, be shown with each account report. Western Pacific will make that adjustment in future reports.

B - Chapter Relations - Alan Pickering, KJ9N

Director Pickering reported that the committee has the responsibility for Chapter and Headquarters awards. All chapters are encouraged to review their membership and make awards as appropriate.

Local chapter programs continue to be an important element for retaining and recruiting members. Articles in the QCWA column of World Radio have dealt with this aspect of chapter activities. The chapter reports in the Journal are a good source of ideas for other chapter's programs.

C - Administration - Len Nathanson, W8RC

This committee was tasked with the wording for the ballot question that addressed the reduction of Directors from ten to eight. On a MOTION by Past President Harrison, it was VOTED to have the wording read "Do you approve a change to the Constitution's wording to allow the Directors to change the number of Directors?". This will be further described in an article in the Journal. In the absence of Chairman Nathanson, committee member Ed Yoder was asked to review and reconcile the various Constitution and By-Laws date/time requirements with the publishing schedule for the Journal. The report to be submitted to the Board by December 31, 2003.

Blanche Randles stressed again the importance of our taping program for the visually impaired. Each chapter needs to be made aware that the program exists for any of the chapter's visually impaired members. The program provides the member with a copy of the Journal in an audio format.

D - External Relations - Art Kunst, W3WM

Director Kunst visited a number of chapters this past year, manned several hamfest QCWA tables, sought to revive several central Florida and West Virginia chapters, and search for candidates for Directors' position.

QCWA comments to the FCC's request for technical information, Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket 03-104, Broadband Over Powerlines, was drafted but not submitted. The comments did not include any field strength measurements and would not have added any new technical information.

Due to family health problems, Director Kunst recommends a new Chairman be appointed to this committee.

Larry McCalvy, WA9JMO, presented an update of the plans for the 2005 cruise to the Board and also at several programs during the convention. He also discussed the problems and approaches for recruiting new members.

E - Journal Oversight - Bill McGrannahan, NØZL

President Taylor forwarded Arch Doty's comments and suggestions about changes to the Journal to this committee.

F - Scholarship - Leland Smith, W5KL

President Emeritus Smith presented the Scholarship Committee report. Sufficient funds are available this year to award fifteen scholarships, three for $1,500, and twelve $1,000 scholarships. On a MOTION by Past President Harrison, it was VOTED to accept the report.

A question of changes to the scholarship rules was discussed. President Emeritus Smith recommended no change to the current rules.

New Business

Election of Officers - The list of candidates for the 2004 election of Officers and Directors has been forwarded to the General Manager by the Nominating Committee.

The list of candidates will be published in the winter issue of the Journal.

On a MOTION by Past President Harrison, it was VOTED to present the following awards: Hall of Fame Award to Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President of the ARRL; Hall of Fame Award to Fred Maia, W5YI for his effort in organizing the VE program; Presidential Award to Richard Newsome, WØHXL, for his work with the QSO Party; Presidential Award to WØJOE, Joe Smith for his hosting the QCWA web page; Roll of Honor Award to Jim Walsh, W7LVN for his years of service as General Manager; and Member of the Year Award to Patsy Jones, W5SBF.

With the discontinuance of the W5YI Report, which had been provided to the Officers and Directors, on a MOTION by Director Roach, it was VOTED to have a subscription to World Radio magazine provided to any board member not currently a lifetime subscriber.

Summary of Action Items

The following Action Items were assigned during the meeting:

The Secretary will list the vote of each Officer/Director after the completion of our e-mail voting procedure. He will also indicate who did not vote or respond.

The web master will add the following to the QCWA web page: links to other ham related sites; a list of all QCWA award recipients; the list of Board of Directors' committee and assignments; look into the feasibility of having a pdf format member application on the web page that could be filled in and sent directly to the General Manager.

President Emeritus Smith to evaluate the interest in obtaining for the QCWA Ralph Hasslinger's station call sign in memoriam.

The Chairman of the External Relations Committee to follow-up on the agreement between the QCWA and the ARRL. Past-President Harrison to prepare a draft of a an updated agreement.

The Journal Oversight Committee (Bill McGrannahan) to review suggestions from Arch Doty for possible changes to the Journal format.

Past-President Harrison to prepare an article for the Journal concerning theproposed change to the Constitution.

Director Yoder to report to the Board on December 31, 2003 on various date/time requirements vis-à-vis the Journal publishing schedule.

Attachments

All committee reports are included as attachments and considered a part of these minutes.

Using the e-mail protocol as prescribed in the Director's Guide, a proposal by Wild Rose Chapter 151 to host the 2006 QCWA Convention was approved.

Charles Walbridge, K1IGD
Secretary