The ARRL Board of Directors held its Second Meeting of 2008 July 18-19 in Windsor, Connecticut, under the chairmanship of President Joel Harrison, W5ZN. Radio Amateurs of Canada President David Goodwin, VO1AU/VE3AAQ, was a guest of the Board.

The Board considered and acted on a number of organizational and Field Organization issues as well as regulatory and operating matters.

Organizational Issues

ARRL Strategic Plan: The Board voted to develop a timeline to review and revise the ARRL Strategic Plan. The Board directed Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, to release the Plan's long-range goals to the membership and to solicit comments from members "on the future direction and priorities of their national organization."

Member input will be considered by the Board at its Annual Meeting in January 2009. At the Second Meeting in July 2009, the Board will review and revise the Plan. The current Strategic Plan was adopted by the Board in October 2006.

2009 ARRL National Convention: The Board voted to hold the 2009 ARRL National Convention at the Dayton Hamvention®. Carl Rose, K8CPR, chair of the Dayton Hamvention Committee, extended an invitation to the League to hold its convention at Dayton May 15-17, 2009. The last ARRL National Convention was in 2007 at the Huntsville Hamfest.

ARRLWeb Redesign: A group from Fathom, a contractor based in Hartford, presented the company's plans for a new design for the ARRL Web site.

Field Organization

Improvements to Resources Available to Section Managers and SM Candidates: Following a report by the Board's Programs and Services Committee, which included the results of a Section Governance Study and survey, the Board voted to direct staff to implement a Section Manager candidate nomination package that is similar to the current Board nomination package.

The Board also voted to direct the Membership and Volunteer Services Department to review the three surveys of Section Managers conducted as part of the Section Governance Study to attempt to identify beneficial and practical modifications to resources available to Section Managers and Field Organization processes.

The Board defeated a motion that would have extended Section Manager terms to three years and begin all terms on January 1.

The Board directed ARRL HQ staff to implement an online method for Official Observers to file reports that could then be delivered from ARRL headquarters on behalf of the OO.

Operating Issues

The Board voted to create a Triple Play Award. This new award, set to be implemented by January 2009, will be given to those amateurs who achieve Worked All States (WAS) on voice, CW and digital modes. All 150 QSLs must be exclusively via Logbook of The World (LoTW). Only those contacts made after the award's start date will be eligible.

The Board also acted on the Programs and Services Committee report, voting to eliminate Rule 5 from Section III of the DXCC Rules. The Committee realized that while publishing log data can have a detrimental effect on operating awards, it was not possible to control such actions and the rule cannot be enforced. As part of an effort to maintain the integrity of operating awards programs, the Board called on staff to create resources and guidelines for QSLing and for QSL managers. These guidelines will help people who QSL to understand the "best practices" and help to support the work of the QSL manager so that access to log data won't degrade Amateur Radio's long tradition of the "honor system."

Regulatory Matters

The Board voted to establish an ad hoc study committee to review Part 97 of the rules governing the Amateur Radio Service to ascertain what rule change(s) would be beneficial to promote wideband digital modes, while at the same time minimizing potential interference to narrowband modes.

Other Items

Awards

Hiram Percy Maxim Award: The Board selected Jim Fagan, KE7IDC, of Tucson, Arizona, as the recipient of the 2007 Hiram Percy Maxim Award.

Technical Excellence Award: The Board chose John Stanley, K4ERO, of Rising Fawn, Georgia, as the recipient of the 2007 Doug DeMaw, W1FB Technical Excellence Award.

Instructor of the Year Award: The Board selected Doug Loughmiller, W5BL, of McKinney, Texas, as the recipient of the 2008 Herb S. Brier Instructor of the Year Award.

Technical Innovation Award: The Board chose Dave Bernstein, AA6YQ, of Wayland, Massachusetts, as the recipient of the 2008 ARRL Technical Innovation Award.

McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award: The Board selected Walter Palmer, W4ALT, of Lewes, Delaware, as the winner of the 2008 Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award for excellence in public relations.

Technical Merit Award: The Board conferred the ARRL Technical Merit Award on Ed Hare, W1RFI, ARRL Laboratory Manager.

Partnership with VanityHQ: The Board decided to partner with the VanityHQ Web site to get the ARRL Silent Key data that was published in QST included in the VanityHQ Web site history project in an electronically searchable format.

The complete Minutes of the 2008 Second Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors is available on the ARRLWeb.

The next meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors is scheduled for January 16-17, 2009.