Clubs

If your club owns a repeater, or has access to one, your club should have a weekly net. These nets inform members about club events, provide a forum for club members to get help with any technical problems they may have, build camaraderie among club members, and are just fun. At least they should be fun.

Too often, these nets turn out to be a drudge-fest. Net controls slog through a list of check-ins, who dutifully say when called upon, “No traffic.” If your net is like this, you’re missing an opportunity.

When I’m net control, I like to get personal to get people talking. When I call a station, I’ll say things like, “Next is W8ABC. How’s life in your part of town tonight, Joe?” or “What are you up to tonight, Sam?” or “How’s that antenna project coming, Don?” or “Worked any DX lately, Steve?” If someone has joined the net from outside our local area, I’ll say something like, “K8XYZ, you’re our DX station tonight. How are things in your part of the world?”

Often, I’ll continue a conversation  by asking a question about a topic brought up by a previous station. For example, if one guy says that he’s having tacos for dinner, I’ll ask the next person what they’re having for dinner or what kind of tacos they like.

To get people to show up in the first place, make sure that your club members know about the net. An announcement should be in every club newsletter, and if your club has a mailing list, send out an email announcement every week. People are busy, and things like this can often slip through the cracks. After the net, reply to the announcement email with a list of who checked in and what you discussed. If someone sees that their buddy checked in to a net, they are more likely to check in the next week. Similarly, if they see that a topic of interest was discussed, they might join the net next week to chime in on the topic.

You might try doing some different things, too. For example, before this week’s net, one guy asked if he could try sending an SSTV image over the repeater during the net. What a great idea! I, of course, said yes. On his first transmission, this guy mentioned that he was going to try this at the beginning of the second round and then pointed people towards an app—Robot36—that they could download to their Android phones. I downloaded Robot36 to my Android phone, and on his second transmission, I was able to copy the image. That was something different and fun. I’m thinking that we might even try RTTY or some other digital mode in the future.

I think you get the idea. Making a net fun will draw members, and more members means more fun. I think it’s working here in Ann Arbor. Last Monday’s net had 17 check-ins and a run time of 70 minutes.

Now, tell me how you make your club net fun.