IN-PERSON Meeting on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 @ 6:45 PM ET
The March 12th meeting was a big success!
Ed Sich VE3WGO kicked things off with a Hamfest presentation
Ed zeroed in on the need for people to get involved now for September’s Hamfest 2025. The Club will build a team of 2-3 people to start now (6 months ahead) in helping Ed implement his well-established plan for the venue, vendors, and a small army of day-of-event volunteers. Click here to volunteer. Hamfest is an exciting event that combines a trade show, flea market, and live demonstrations, where amateur radio enthusiasts can explore the latest gear, network with peers, and deepen their passion for the hobby.
Small group discussions on OARC activities
Forty-five amateur-radio enthusiasts came out to provide feedback about five of the OARC’s activities and to learn more about them, too. The crowd included members, non-members, new hams, course participants, and returning veterans. Everyone rotated through five small-group discussions.
About 25% of people had participated in any of the activities in the past, with 40% wanting to participate in the future. Auxiliary communications at community events (like CN Cycle for CHEO and the Canadian Ski Marathon) edged out the others for the most popular. Kit building was a close second, just slightly ahead of Radio in the Park / Parks on the Air (POTA), Field Day and Homebrew Night.
People were genuinely engaged and the feedback was top notch.
The aspect of Homebrew Night that participants liked the best was being able to see and hear about people’s DIY projects but fewer felt ready to present. Fair enough! Our technical mini-survey also revealed that lots of people ranked their technical skills as “beginner” level and felt they could use a soldering course. Visit the April 9th Homebrew Night post to see what we’re planning
The kit building table was the one with the most buzz! Everyone enjoyed handling the many kits brought by Wayne VE3CZO and there were lots and lots of questions and answers
Participants around the kit-building table
More participants around the kit-building table
We now have lists of people wanting more information about each activity and we will be following up! All the feedback will be used to help inform the Club’s plans for the coming year.
We could not have done it without our subject-matter experts (SMEs) and notetakers at each table:
- Auxiliary Communications Activities – SME: Lance Peterson, Notetaker: Stuart Hodge
- Field Day – SME: Greg Danylchenko, Notetaker: Ryan Klomp
- Homebrew Night – SME: Mike Kelly, Notetaker: Thane Brown
- Kit Building – SME: Wayne Getchell, Notetaker: Ed Sich
- Radio In The Park – SME: Bill Byrne, Notetaker: Dave Sampson
The amount of planning that went into the meeting was obvious and the people championing each activity were the right fit.
A big thanks to everyone who came out to participate in this little experiment. The Club gathered some of the feedback we need and everyone enjoyed themselves!
Keep watching the OARC website and subscribe to our newsletter to see what your club is doing next.
Original meeting post follows…
Meeting invitation from the president
I’ve heard from many of you that you want our monthly meetings to be more engaging. We miss the conversations between members. The lingering effects of COVID and Zoom hybrid meetings have really impacted us. I think some have stopped coming to our meetings altogether.
We had 16 people at RAC HQ and 33 online for a total of 49 attendees at our January meeting. We had over 80 members in June and there are about 240 registered website subscribers.
We are piloting a new approach for our March meeting. We are inviting everyone to come back to meeting in person. Given that there many viruses circulating this time of year, please feel free to wear a mask. However, mask wearing is not compulsory to attend the meeting.
We are going to move back to Scout Headquarters (see map below), where we have lots of room to spread out and sit at round tables which are more conducive to getting to know each other and sharing ideas. We will still have coffee, water and snacks.
To allow us to arrange seating and bring in an appropriate quantity of refreshments, please register for this meeting (it’s free!) using the button below.
Please arrive by 6:45 PM so we can start promptly at 7:00 PM ET. This will be a workshop discussion, IN-PERSON ONLY; No Zoom and no presentations.
We have 14 new radio amateurs in our club who graduated from our basic course and got their licences in January. We want them to feel welcome and we want them to get some idea of the scope of the sorts of activities that we do in the club so we can help them to become active in our club.
Here are the initial topics for the meeting:
- Auxiliary communications at community events
- Field Day
- Homebrew Night
- Kit building
- Radio In The Park / Parks on the Air
There will be opportunities to suggest other topics during the meeting.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting!
73 Roger VA3EGY
President
Please join us in person at Scout Headquarters for this event. There will be no Zoom feed.
Meeting location is Scout Headquarters (SHQ)
Scout Headquarters is at 1345 Baseline Road, Ottawa. Parking is free in the SHQ lot.
Last Updated on 2025-03-17 by Joannadanna