What do Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, FCC’s Special Counsel, ARRL Vice President, Hugh Turnbull, W3ABC (Retired) and Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, ARRL Maryland-DC Section Manager all have in common?

True, they all are licensed Amateur Radio operators but they have something else in common as well. They are all members of The Green Mountain Repeater Association (GMRA). Since 1971 GMRA has provided repeater communications support to the Washington DC metropolitan area.

FCC Special Counsel, Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, addresses the members of The Green Mountain Repeater Association at their Annual Business Meeting and Luncheon. (Photo by CT David, K3GXF.)

Thirty-three years of continuous service to the community is a great milestone. Honorary Life Member of GMRA and FCC Special Counsel, Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, addressed the audience of over 100 club members on this special occasion at The Green Mountain Repeater Association’s 33rd annual meeting and luncheon held in College Park, Maryland just north of Washington DC.

At the beginning of the repeater revolution during the early 1970s when repeaters were sparse, and hams eager to use repeaters (especially auto-patch), The Green Mountain Repeater Association peaked at 300 members. Today the club has 268 current active members. This number of active members has remained steady over the years since the club was founded in spite of the introduction of over sixty new repeaters in the area competing for use.

What is their secret to maintaining an active membership near their original 300 member peak? Let me share with you some ideas that have been successful for GMRA and perhaps it will assist your club in maintaining interest and gaining new members.

VARIETY – THE SPICE OF LIFE FOR ALL TYPES OF CLUBS:

In addition to the repeaters autopatch, audio playback, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) features, and other technical enticements, periodic synthesized and real voice announcements are programmed on the repeater to keep the members informed of special events.

These announcements range from emergency situations such as hurricanes, tornados, severe thunderstorms, Ares/Races nets, and special activities, to monthly and annual social gatherings.

Some of the announcements have been recorded by radio and television celebrity, Ed Walker, N3HFT, who resides in the local area and adds a recognized professional voice to the bulletins. (Ed, by the way, can be heard on National Public Radio Sundays from 7-11pm airing old time radio shows.)

Your area may have a celebrity who may be willing to make a sound bite for your repeater and he/she does not necessarily have to be a ham.

The Association’s Activities Manager schedules visits to local area points of interest such as: The National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Maryland, The Historical Electronics Museum, Linthicum, Maryland, The new Air and Space Museum near Dulles airport, Virginia and The Radio and Television Museum, Bowie, Maryland to name a few. These events provide a variety of activity to maintain member interest. Some are combined with other area clubs.

On the first Saturday of each month members get together at a local mall food court for a social visit. No business is conducted bu Regular social gatherings can be extremely important. Informal gatherings allow for bonding and developing friendships and a chance to meet the people that you talk to on the air. Choose a local restaurant or other establishment that is convenient to get to and has accommodations to allow your group to sit together. Many swap stories about their ham radio activity. There are some mighty big fish stories told during these cracker barrel sessions.

Annually, there is a combined business meeting, sometimes with a well known and respected guest speaker and lots of prizes. In December 2004, there were 34 prizes ranging from ARRL handbooks and directories to CD ROMs and magazine subscriptions. Also among the prizes that were awarded to deserving and lucky members attending the meeting were several VHF handheld radios and a mobile/base station. Over 35% of those attending won a prize.

Regular social gatherings can be extremely important. Informal gatherings allow for bonding and developing friendships and a chance to meet the people that you talk to on the air. Choose a local restaurant or other establishment that is convenient to get to and has accommodations to allow your group to sit together. (Photo by CT David,K3GXF.)

FRIENDLY WORKS!:

The Association, like many ham clubs, is eclectic. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, airline pilots, salespersons, technicians, managers, owners of businesses, mechanics, computer specialists, engineers, students, retirees to name a few. But most importantly they are friendly. Naïve as it may sound in today’s high tech, fast paced, society that does not seem to have much time to smile, it works! They do their best to: (1) talk to someone who comes on the repeater for the first time, (2) help members with equipment and antenna problems, (3) support their county’s emergency ARES/RACES organization, (4) keep the membership informed through weekly Email member information messages (see below) and web site: http://www.gmramd.org/ and (5) provide operating guidance and support to new and seasoned hams ensuring the repeaters are utilized in a manner which reflect the highest standards of operating practices.

Residing near the nation’s capital provides a good incentive to maintaining a good image. Did I mention that our repeaters are located about 6 line of sight miles from the White House and Congress? Regardless of our location, as hams we never know who may be listening to our conversations on scanners so, it is important that these on air exchanges are in the best interest of the Amateur Radio Service.

NEW MEMBERS; A SUCCESS STORY IN ITSELF:

Taking a lead from the advertising world, the Association goes after new members. In 2003, the internet was checked on a daily basis for new hams as well as hams relocating into the area. In that one year alone almost 800 mailings went out to hams in the repeater’s coverage area resulting in 65 new members. In 2004, over 600 mailings resulted in 27 new members.

What is the magic pill? An informative letter about the Association and its features coupled with a copy of the latest Newsletter, application form and self addressed return envelope. That’s it. Keep it simple with no pressure. Of course word of mouth plays an important role.

A reasonably active club and/or repeater that welcomes newcomers and makes them feel comfortable, does not go un-noticed.

(The ARRL has a program that will provide clubs with new hams in your zip code area on a monthly basis. Send an inquiry to: clubs@arrl.org )

KEEPING MEMBERS INFORMED – ELECTRONICALLY AND SNAIL:

Members are kept informed of the Association’s activities as well as other Amateur Radio news through e-mail. Don’t abuse e-mail by overloading the member’s mailboxes with needless communication or attachments. Often one or two messages per week are sufficient to keep everyone informed. The club is fortunate in that over 90% of our membership can be reached via e-mail.

Wherever applicable, photographs may be included in e-mail messages, but as a courtesy to those with dial up internet service, files are kept small to avoid lengthy download times.

An annual newsletter filled with photographs and short stories is mailed via U.S. Postal Service to all members. This newsletter is typically mailed towards the end of the year and includes membership renewal forms. Over time, we have found that the membership enjoys photographic articles as opposed to lengthy text only material. Monthly or quarterly newsletters are even better if you have enough material, time and funds to publish them.

SUMMARY:

There you have it. There is nothing magical about it. Essentially, a number of dedicated people doing volunteer work, coupled with financial support by the membership, technically sound repeaters and rapid response to technical/interference problems and member’s questions is the key to the first thirty-three successful years of The Green Mountain Repeater Association.

A final, but important note; it is learned very quickly that you do not attract nor retain membership through repeater censorship, overly aggressive, self-important control operators and silence day after day when you make a call on the repeater.

Whether you have a club repeater or not, create a friendly atmosphere coupled with activity, variety and a solid information system and you will entice new members and retain your present membership.

That’s our recipe for success. After thirty-three years, The Green Mountain Repeater Association is still going strong and looking forward to many more years of fun, activity and community service.

(The author, Murray Green, K3BEQ, is one of the Founding Fathers of The Green Mountain Repeater Association, and has written numerous feature and column articles for QST and the ARRL Web site. He highly recommends reading the excellent and in-depth ARRL article:” Active Club Online Primer”. He resides in Maryland near Washington DC and can be reached at k3beq@arrl.net )

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