What changed
Meetings and programs — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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The single best predictor of whether a club grows is whether a first-time visitor sees something
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interesting happen. A meeting that is thirty minutes of treasurer's report and then everyone goes
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home does not survive contact with a newly licensed operator.
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## A meeting shape that works
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- **15 minutes** of arrival, coffee and introductions — say your name and call sign around the room,
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every time, so newcomers hear that they are not the only unfamiliar face.
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- **15 minutes** of business, hard stop. Minutes, money, upcoming events. Anything contentious goes
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to a committee or a board meeting rather than eating the program.
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- **30–45 minutes** of program. This is the reason people came.
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- **Afterward** — a nearby diner. A remarkable amount of mentoring happens over pie.
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Publish the program topic in advance. "Club meeting Tuesday" attracts members; "Building a 20 meter
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end-fed half-wave, Tuesday" attracts visitors.
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## Programs that don't require a famous speaker
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- **Show and tell** — three members, ten minutes each, one piece of gear or one project.
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- **Build night** — everyone assembles the same simple kit; the club buys parts in bulk. See
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[kits and building](/wiki/station/kits-and-building).
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- **Antenna measurement clinic** — bring a NanoVNA and let members sweep their own antennas.
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- **On-the-air demonstration** — work a satellite pass, decode FT8, or call CQ on 20 meters live in
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front of the room. See [satellites](/wiki/operating/satellites) and
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[digital modes](/wiki/operating/digital-modes).
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- **Elmer panel** — three experienced operators answer whatever the newest members ask.
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- **Go-kit inspection** — members bring their emergency kits and everyone critiques them. See
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[emergency communications](/wiki/emergency).
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- **A drive to the repeater site** or a local broadcast transmitter, as a weekend outing.
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- **A skills night** on something concrete: soldering coax connectors, programming an HT, setting up
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Winlink, sending your first CW QSO.
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NARA's [National Presenters Panel](https://usnara.org/presenters) can supply a speaker — remotely or
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in person — when you want a program without building one yourself.
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## Keep it possible to attend
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Hybrid meetings are no longer exotic: a laptop, a USB conference microphone at the front of the room
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and a video call gets shift workers, homebound members and people two counties away into the meeting.
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Record the program with the speaker's permission and post it for members who missed it.
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## Programs are membership work
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Every meeting should end with someone new having been given a job — logging at Field Day, running one
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net, bringing a project next month, greeting people at the door. Members who have a task come back;
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spectators drift. See [mentoring new operators](/wiki/clubs/mentoring-new-operators).