In response to one of my latest blog posts, We need better data to really figure out how to grow amateur radio, a reader wrote:
I’ve been thinking about this issue of late. Your post helped keep that fresh for me. In particular, since I’m a fairly new ham (2+ years now), and along the way I befriend the folks at a local contesting and DX club. The majority of the folks are 70+. Typically about 15-20 show up fairly regular at meetings. All good souls.
I have attended numerous meetings over the last year and have received some outstanding coaching and Elmering along with getting to work a couple big damn stations. I’m generally one to reach out and meet folks (as you know) so I have been willing to just keep plugging away until someone will work with me and help me learn about contesting and how to be a good op in general.
Here’s the rub, though. They are tired. At the last meeting, there was a club vote about whether or not support the local annual hamfest in Austin. The club decided they did not want to support the event anymore. I was amazed.
I think this is the beginning for the club. In many ways, it’s the end of an era. In a way, it’s painful. As you keep saying , younger hams want mentoring and more contemporary challenges, but the older generation doesn’t seem to see that. This is a divide that needs to be crossed.
I replied:
My question to you would be, What has this club done to recruit new members? They may all be good souls, but I bet that they haven’t done diddly to keep their club going. That’s OK, if they don’t really care, but it sounds like they’ve worked hard to make their club successful in the past. They should care.
I am a member of the local Rotary club, and it’s the same with Rotary clubs. Rotary International is constantly trying to get Rotary clubs around the world to not only recruit more members but to recruit younger members. Rotary sees that unless clubs continue to recruit, they won’t continue to be vital parts of their communities and will eventually fade away. The ARRL pays lip service to this idea, but when push comes to shove, they really have nothing to offer.
I hate to keep beating a dead horse here, but I think it’s a high enough priority to keep doing so. Rotary spends quite a lot of resources supporting their clubs in many different ways, and even so, membership growth is tepid at best.
The ARRL spends next to nothing on supporting clubs and membership is declining. This is not sustainable. When is the ARRL going to see the light and start working in earnest to truly support amateur radio clubs, and thereby increase its own membership?
Tregonsee says
Something to keep in mind is that the current generation(s) are not “joiners” in the way that previous generations were. They tend to relate one to one, and via electronic means rather than group meetings. Supporting clubs is good, but adjusting to the new ways of relating is essential.
John McGrath says
I go to club meetings, and the discussion does not usually include a presentation on a Ham related topic. Frankly, there is a lot of time spent on the machinations of the club, and little on radiosport at all.
Another issue facing Ham clubs is the relevance of Amatuer Radio in the age of Cell phones and ubiquitous Internet connections. I believe that the maker movement can be leveraged into merging with the Ham radio clubs, if the time is taken to emphasize the building and fundamentals of the hobby.
It is all well and good that we have the ability to access digital modes; The younger generation has that access also, with a better interface. We should be looking for those that want a better understanding of what makes these devices do what they do, and harness the creative side of the youth of today.
There are many Hams that were in electronics: building, designing, and prototyping during the Boom of the 1970-2000’s… Why are we still focusing on Public service, when the youth of today are not ready to contribute in this way?
Steve Miller says
The career people at ARRL are more worried about keeping their jobs than supporting clubs. These are the folks at Newington who actually draw a salary and the same folks who engineered changes to the bylaws that have been all but shut down.
Many of the clubs are their own worst enemy when cliques form and politics and infighting are allowed to flourish. Regular members see that and leave.
Clubs are a benefit, but not essential to the survival of ham radio. After all, we talk to each other on the air with our without club (or ARRL) affiliation.
Frank M. Howell says
Keep beating the horse, Dan! It’s a critical thing pursuant to the League’s state mission and promise for it to support and facilitate local clubs. But Norm admitted to me that he just files the annual affiliated club reports; they do nothing with them. This is a travesty. It’s also dishonest.
The League could do a lot to facilitate affiliated clubs. It should do a lot to facilitate clubs. But those directly affiliated with Newington can’t get their thinking beyond wanting to do dumb, dumb things like sound $400,000 on a website to let tutorial content then be constructed….most of which is already in YouTube.com.
Pound the drum, Obe Won Kenobe. You may be our only hope!
Dan KB6NU says
To be fair, the board pretty much shut down the idea of the $400k website. That was a recommendation of the marketing company who did a study for the ARRL.
Chuck K4RGN says
Yes, the latest generation is less likely to sign up to memberships in a traditional manner (and less likely to have real estate for efficient HF antennas). But if they are involved through social media and the content is of interest to them, they will show up…. perhaps not in the same numbers as those of us who are 60+, but in sufficient numbers to keep some aspects of the hobby going.
On the other hand, if club meetings are mainly introspective gnashing of teeth, who wants to go to that?
Perhaps the ARRL can help, but this is really a matter for each individual club to think through on its own… if it chooses to. Clubs that don’t think it through will go the way of the dinosaurs, quickly.
Dan KB6NU says
What Rotary International does for its clubs is provide a boatload of training. Incoming presidents get what’s called PETS, president-elect training seminars. In addition, there’s a program called Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI). RLI “seeks to provide quality education in Rotary knowledge and leadership skills to Rotarians interested in developing their Rotary participation and to those identified by Rotary Clubs as having a potential in club leadership.”
These are great programs and have helped Rotary clubs stay vital and relevant. I think the ARRL should consider developing and offering something like this to its clubs. I’ve seen it work in Rotary, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t work for the ARRL, too.
Brian KB9BVN says
I have been a firm believer in this mantra…”If you are an active club, they will come.” By active I mean, having a table at the local hamfest, offer VE testings, put on a technician training session once or twice a year, have a club station that members can use, interface frequently with your local public, one or two antenna building events, have at least one or two summertime pitch ins, operate a Field Day event, and be friendly with each other. All this is dependent on active club members that are willing to do something…this is when the 80/20 rules seems to kick in. @0% of the members doing 80% of the work.
Dave New says
It’s called marketing, and if you do not actively market ham radio and clubs, something will happen… nothing.
Dave, N8SBE
Brad Rachielles says
Absolutely correct. Your membership may be directly proportional to your activities…… Provided you “DON’T KEEP THEM A SECRET”.
bill says
Being sixty, I am not exactly in the “youth” category but I am relatively new to amateur radio and given my background, often relate to the hobby as my younger peers do. It is true that people under forty are much more likely to depend upon electronic communities for connection and mentoring but that’s not why they don’t join clubs. They aren’t joiners because clubs (at least most of them) seem to cater to members with lots of money invested in electronics and antennas and don’t spend much time on things that interest younger hams: building, bridging RF and IoT, programming, SDR, portable operating, and the like. The clubs that put at least some time in this kind of stuff, and use internet-based resources to build community? They are doing okay.
Two examples. One club in my area used to hold its meetings on Friday night at 7PM, spend most of the meeting talking about the club repeaters, and offer a powerpoint presentation on some topic that usually had little to do with radio as an active hobby. The same two or three people have been running it for a decade. Change is impossible. Membership has been declining for years. The average age in the club is close to seventy.
I figured this is what amateur radio looked like now until I attended a club that meets on Saturday mornings, has developed a wide range of interest groups, has an active website, and actively provides programs for new hams. Membership has been growing. The club’s president is a woman and there are board members and officers under forty. Quite a difference.
The new hams I know will join an organization if it truly represents them, provides community and creates learning/giving opportunities. They won’t join one that doesn’t, and that, unfortunately, is the state of most clubs today.
Dan KB6NU says
My feeling about clubs like this is to just let them die. Why waste time on a group that won’t change? Rather than beat a dead horse, find a club that’s actually doing something interesting, like you did, or start your own club. There’s nothing magic about starting an amateur radio club, and the ARRL even has some resources to help you do this.