Is your club membership dropping off? Do you have fewer and fewer members attending club meetings? Do meetings seem dull and contentious? One of the sure fire signs that your club is not meeting the needs of your members and the local ham radio community is a slowly declining character of your club meeting. But, alas, there is a sure fired way of reversing these trends and making your monthly club meetings more exciting! .
Make sure you always have a speaker for your meetings! Is it as simple as that…..well not quite but close! You say you do this already? Well OK, but there are some good guidelines for choosing speakers. First, you should plan to always have a speaker at your monthly meetings. Get your members used to the fact that each meeting will have a speaker. Speakers or presenters often provide one of the real needs of local ham radio operators. Our hobby is a highly technical one with many different facets. A speaker who talks on a technical subject will have a bigger draw than no speaker at all.
A club should have a designated person who has the job of securing speakers for future meetings. They should be asked to speak often months in advance. I have found that potential speakers are more willing to speak if approached by the president of a club. Not only should you secure a speaker in advance but also publicize the subject and the speaker in advance of your meeting.
You say you are having trouble locating club meeting speakers? Well there are many sources. I have found that you can look within your club. The key is to be in tune with the interests of the members and convince them they should speak on a topic that has high interest to them. This almost always works…..but it takes effort ! There is also the ARRL EMA Speakers list posted and updated on this web site. This is a fine list of potential speakers who have already given a talk at least once. Use this list! From a speakers standpoint giving the same talk to another ham radio club is easy. You will seldom get turned down. Your members can also be a great source of information and contact points for speakers from other local clubs. The speakers are out there and willing to talk….its your job to make sure you always have one as the centerpoint of your monthly meeting.
Bo Budinger
WA1QYM
ARRL EMA ACC