G'day Hayden, Our club Secretary emails the minutes from the last meeting out to our members a couple of days before the next meeting. Reading all of the minutes from the last meeting out is time wasting and unnecessary. We actually had this discussion the other night at our club meeting and the President said that all of the "business" side of things should be all done in a maximum of 15-20 minutes and then the floor opened up for actual fun stuff. This is where the attitude needs to come from, the President, they lead by example. Just regarding new members, the number of times I've heard the same comment from people that WANTED to join a given club, but were either made to feel unwelcome, asked awkward questions or were just completely ignored by the current members, defies belief that this could still be happening in 2025. Given that a lot of amateur radio clubs are struggling for members and the membership is aging, it makes me wonder if these same clubs aren't the cause of their own problems.
i'm a ham for 18 months now.. walked into a local club, walked out within 30 minutes. It's the same strange behavior as on the local repeaters. I discovered i like the technical side of the hobby but i general dislike the people/vibe.
It's like everyone who kept this knowledge alive for 40 years is on the spectrum or creepy AF. Missed opportunity 4 years ago when prepping in general exploded and there were survival/disaster response interest from the general public. I need a cranky old Vietnam vet who hated his CO and the rules even if he still follows them. Mostly. Instead I found the group keeping the mail order bride industry afloat.
It's sad. I don't go to those AGM style meetings, I stop my club, volunteer to teach, and just try to help engage the younger audiences (myself for example, I don't have grey hair yet). That type of behavior is common in all technical groups, you have the elitests and the ones who only care about business. Boring.
I rejoined a local club after many years of being non-active after I retired. I had introduced myself to the President as it was nice to put a face to someone on our Net. At the next meeting they asked me to be the club secretary for the next year. Not wanting to say no I took on the responsibility. It was not enjoyable as I couldn't take in the lessons as I was more worried about getting the minutes correct. At the next meeting the minutes would get torn apart because I misspelled something or had the incorrect call sign in my note. I am not a secretary! I ended up resigning and leaving the club......
When I was the president of the local club I tried to make changes. Wrong answer! My first proposal was to do away with the reading of the minutes and financial report. My reasoning was that we could post them on the website and cut the boring part of the meeting out. If you want a print out of the meetings then bring a thumb drive to the meetings. Nope! I tried to have monthly gatherings to OPERATE radios. Nope! "We already have the Saturday breakfast (not operating but eating and gossiping). I resigned and every couple of years I go to a meeting to remind myself why I don't go.
@@Bob814u Sorry to hear that! I just wished to learn more about our wonderful hobby. They were more worried about spelling and context. Oh well. I learn more from Hayden! Thank you! 😊
Great video Hayden. I stopped going to my local club because they took up the first half of the meeting with all the business. I also stopped going because it wasn’t very inclusive. I’m a relatively new ham and I was looking for more experienced hams to offer up knowledge and experience so that I could learn more about this massive hobby. I sat through multiple meetings where nobody ever spoke directly to me or asked me if I wanted or needed any assistance. I felt as though I could have gotten up on the middle of the meeting and walked out and nobody would have noticed. I eventually stopped going all together. Thank you for all your videos. The amateur radio YT community is where I get most of my knowledge. 73
Did you ask for help? I believe most people assume a person knows what they're doing so they're not going to ask if you need help. When I asked I had half the room jump to educate me.
@ That sounds like the way a club should be run. My club doesn’t do anything to welcome new members. If you want new members to feel welcome, you need to actually welcome them to the club. Do an introduction of any new members. Gather some basic information about the new member and then introduce them to existing members. Ask them if there is anything they need help with. My club doesn’t do anything like that. I sat through several meetings and nobody ever spoke to me. Just wasn’t a welcoming environment. I didn’t feel as though I could ask for help. If you are running a club where you want to attract and retain members, you need to make them feel welcome.
Great topic and bravo for having the care to bring this up. I am old but a new HAM. My first club was horrible. The politics between the past president and the newly elected president was obvious and frankly childish. I was the director (in the HOG world that is the president). When I took over my first objective was to make it clear that this kind of action was not acceptable and would not be tolerated. We requested several of the old regime not renewal if they continued to torpedo meetings, rides, etc. The chapter was on a decline in membership, activities, etc. We turned the chapter into a riding club, since that is what a majority of people were looking for. I found out that people are good and will get involved but you have to let them decide. We shortened our "business" side of the meetings from 30 minutes or more to 5 minutes. The officers would sit among the members, answer questions, guide them and encourage them. in 4 years we went from 75 members to over 800 active members. Titles were left at the door. It was "our" club not the club of a few. I find that the HAM club I was in was being run by "executive old school" techniques. I think clubs sometimes forget that the current membership, as well as new members, do not need the club as much as the club needs its membership. Bring food, coffee, have movie nights, presentations, etc. Make it fun and not an extension of their jobs. My apologies for running on and on. This was one of the best videos for HAM clubs I have seen. Amateur radio's future depends on these clubs to grow and get more people interested.
When I was running a club we changed the format of the meeting. Introductions and then right into the presentation. Any business went at the end so people could choose to stay or go.
I'm studying for the Tech license here in the US. This video is exactly why I have not gone to a meeting yet. I know how it's going to go and it'll be a total waste of time. Thank god for RUclips and guys like you.
BINGO...one of the biggest reasons we started a new club that as not so business related but more FUN HAM RADIO related to enjoy the hobby! Thank you for this spot-on video!!!!
I couldn't agree more but we had a "go getter" become president of the club I was in. He wanted to get the repeaters working better, get everyone to think outside of the box, less business meeting atmosphere, have more demonstrations, promote digital modes etc. He lasted a month and was voted out right in front of the whole club! Me and about 20 other guys never went back.
I have my GMRS license and attended one ham club meeting as I already owned 2 ham HT radios and thought getting my ham license would be fun. I was told it was against the law for me to even own those radios without a ham license and they were going to turn me in to the FCC. I said I never use them to talk, just listen and, I get the weather radio channels I programmed into them. I said I talk on my GMRS radios if I want to speak with someone. They said GMRS is stupid and they were still planning on turning me in for owning 2 ham radios without a license. (I looked it up later and they were full of crap ) I bid them good day and left. Who the heck would want to join a group like those people? I was older than most of the people in that club but only by a few years. Their youngest member was about 55 so, I am guessing that club will disappear as they were certainly not attracting any new young members, or any members for that matter.
Sadly there are a lot of crusty old geezer clubs like this. My local one is effectively dead and I'm guessing due to acting like this, as they stopped meeting before I moved here full time. There are a couple of good members and thr rest are useless.
I'm president of 2 clubs, we got by without business meetings for a long time. One of the club started to incur hard costs, and that started the business meetings, but the "flavor" was already designed and stayed well.
Hayden, this was exactly my experience 30 years ago. Nothing has changed. The curmudgeons who are usually the leaders of the club set the standard. To the clubs I say, "Lead, follow or GET OUT OF THE WAY." Thank you Hayden and the rest of the outstanding content creators on YT for providing high quality discussion on this wonderful hobby. 73
Well said! By making ham radio club meetings more exciting and focused on operating, technology, etc. and fun activities, clubs will get a lot more engagement. Thanks for the great video
Totally agree , when I first got my license (94) I went to a couple of meetings and you would walk in and everyone would turn and look to see who I was and what was I doing there! 30 years later I retired and started going to one of the social meetings at one of the local malls, totally different bunch, we get more club members there than at the general meetings, I can read, I don't need someone reading the minutes from the last meeting! I volunteer at one of a local museums now, in the radio room, we teach guess that come by how to send there name in CW, " I am Not a CW op" but it is a blast meeting the people that come through, we also get access to the 2 museum ships docked behind the museum, which happen to be Pota parks plus they also have maritime mobile call signs which make them very popular. Helping with the radio stations in all 3 locations makes the hobby fun , which it is all about. This is just one kind of activity . VE1SK
Great video, and a high percentage of clubs in the UK seem to fall into this category. Since Covid, many people are taking their exams online, so tend to pass without having seen or touched a radio. UK clubs seem to have given up on training, and are missing the opportunity to step up and offer radio activities for newcomers.
Good points. Also, some clubs are run by a rusted-on clique of a decade or longer in office who, over time, then consider themselves the owners and a degree of arrogance goes with that. Club constitutions should limit the terms of all positions such that they are not eligible for re-election after (say) 2 terms.
Over the last 3 months, I've been on a mission to energize as many ARC meetings as I can with a Zoom presentation on my homebrew portable antennas for POTA/SOTA, emergency comms and HOA deployments. Even though I come into the meeting with enough content for 45 minutes, I find these presentations turn into highly interactive and energized discussions that extend up to 3 hours because of the hungry hams in the audience! They love asking questions and interacting with all in attendance to share their experiences and ask insightful questions. I believe this is the true spirit of ham radio and should be top priority for all ARCs who want to remain valid to our wonderful community. Thanks so much for bringing up this topic 😀73 KJ6ER, California
You put words to what I've been thinking. Unfortunately the people who might bring the change are usually the ones who leave after the first meeting. I am a part of two groups that meet regularly but informally. No club fees, no procedures, no obligations; just a group of people who get together and talk/play radio.
Hyden - Excellent topic. I have said many times make a club a club. One of the chaps in our club had this novel idea of "The social hour before the meeting, no agenda just get together and talk or show off, share whatever. This weird little thing started happening, people started bringing stuff, stuff to sell, trade, give away whatever. It has expanded into this quazi mini ham feast. It's really a interesting dynamic that was rather organic in its development. Needless to say it is fun. We got folks with foundries and metal shops and wood shops. Electronic Engineers, Plumbers (The PVC Artisans) you would be amazed at what some of these folks design and build. Point being, the interest it has spark is phenomenal. People trying all kinds of stuff in, and apart from radio. You got the idea and keep evangelizing it. This is the way of expansion. -73
You make some great points Hayden. To take further the idea of minimizing time on business matters, you can do what many company boards do and agree annually on what normal financial and other reports are, what deviation can be accepted and only report when something outside normal happens. Another trick is to circulate minutes and reports a week before a meeting and at the meeting ask if anyone has questions and if not,closing the meeting. Another problem is that few clubs query members about their intended field day participation. Hard to motivate hams to setup in the field not knowing if there will be anyone else out there, at what location and what bands. Heard of some here in Texas packing up in disgust because they couldn't get a contact.😮
The local club was doing this. 5 of us left to form our own last month. We are still finding our way but we are more focused on having a good time with ham radio. I loved the video. My fear is if clubs don't change it will discourage people from getting into the hobby.
The key to retaining and recruiting club members is activity! It’s true when they say enthusiasm breads interest and activity. Unfortunately my club has simply become a coffee club. Over the four years I’ve been a member the membership and attendance has simply washed away Not sure if I’ll drop the membership but you’ve hit the nail on the head Hayden. I do envy your club and the enthusiasm it generates.
It's a shame to hear about the state of your club, but hopefully this video gives your members some ideas. Our club is certainly not perfect, but I’m very happy with what we’ve been able to achieve. Others can do the same!
Yeah it’s disappointing! I joined so I could learn and participate in the activities, which really don’t exist. Effort is guided towards events that generate income. Fingers crossed things may change.
Our club decided that in the 1990's to push the business of the club to the Board meeting and focus club meetings on the hobby of ham radio and people. Our topics are wide and varied of the hobby. No focus on just one area. Our attendance is around 50 with an additional 10 - 12 online. Paid membership around 166/ We do have 15 minutes of announcements regarding upcoming ham radio activities and events. We have a every other month Elmer/help night with attendance usually being the new hams needing help programming their radios. Our little club supports 9 public service events, with 3 of them recruiting over 80 radio ops each to help with, including two that require a 14 hour day. We have a ladies group who had a learn to solder activity this past year, and a youth on the air activity. We have members who are into the hobby for building things, talking on the air, emergency communications, POTA, and many other reasons. We will never be all things to all people, but the thing we try to do is build a friendly environment and are not afraid to try something new. All the clubs in state I have attended do something very similar with their meeting format. I have not attended one that spends most of the time with business.
100% agree we have a small club and we meet once a month for the meeting. I am now VP and open to ideas on making it more fun and interesting for all the members Branch 35 South Otago NZART
I'm sorry to say that I totally agree. This year I joined a capital city club only to get weekly minutes about people who forget to pay for a coffee. In another instance a digitization initiative was shut down because of perceived risk. I retire from a corporate role soon and looking forward how I can participate going forward. Thanks for the great youtubing Hayden. Iva.
Great video Hayden.... Thanks for raising points that certainly are valid. Some are unfortunately very set in their ways but perhaps watch this space, you've inspired me to work with my local club to move into a new era.
I tried my local club years ago. Bunch of old guys. When I showed up at the meeting, I think I was the first new person in years. More stares than greetings. I figured out within 30 minutes that they just weren't for me.
Excellent Idea !!! THANKS for your wealth of ideas ! Our club in the mountain town of Greeneville, in eastern Tennessee, has a separate meeting time every week for electronics school and exam study for new Hams , but we still need some work on outreach to the general public .
This is very well stated Hayden! It sounds like you have an amazing club. Sadly some clubs simply don't want to change, and push back against it heavily. The best thing to do in those cases is to find a different club (which I've done), or start a new one with SDRs and ADSB.
I attended a couple of meetings with our local ham group. It was a pretty awful experience. Between the snooty old-timers who looked down on new hams, the out of the way location and meetings being held during the day where only retirees were likely to attend, I ended noping right out of there and haven’t tried since.
Bravo! You nailed it! Separate the business meeting from the "cool ham stuff" meeting. The business meeting could be over Zoom or Skype; a formal meeting place would be unnecessary. Also, for the cool stuff meeting, it's important to ENGAGE newbies and visitors. As part of opening remarks, ask if there are any visitors or new members present, and would they mind giving a few words on their interests. At my first visit to a local club meeting, no one did this, no members approached me in any capacity. I stayed for the activity and vowed never to return. Soured my interest in the club scene for all time. 73, Mike K3CXG
I can tell you from experience that people join Ham clubs for two reasons, to learn and to socialize. If you do nothing but conduct business when you meet, it will not satisfy most folks. Engagement is the key. In 2016 I joined my local club, we had 36 members and no money. We did have a clubhouse but no real gear. I was there about a year and decided to join leadership. I was elected VP in 2018 and the officers for that term decided to rebuild the club. Fast forward to 2025. we have 140 members, we have great equipment int he clubhouse, we received a 100k grant from the ARDC to do three projects and we have an open house every Wednesday evening, lunches every Thursday, a program meeting every month, an ARES meeting every month and a business meeting every month.
I got the “first meeting was a dead boring business meeting” thing and I joined anyways hoping the club would get better over time. I feel like my local small town club in Canada is only barely alive. There’s no resilience and depth in there. It’s not like I can demand more or demand better or go somewhere else. Ham clubs in many places are well… on life support.
Hi Hayden, Both the clubs I’m associated with are focused on the hobby and a variety of topics within the hobby. Yes, a very short portion is about business, but, the focus is on the hobby. I have found the members to be approachable and keen to share their knowledge with everyone and new folks looking at joining the hobby. I agree, to grow the hobby we need to focus on the hobby whilst running the club. It’s the activities that keep me engaged in the hobby. Great video, David VK2DMW
I am a member of a great Ham Radio Club. problem is we are mostly older people (not haveing much success drawing many young people). But every other month we have what we call a Meet And Eat, Every one seams to love it
wow wee! well done Hayden, at trying to tackle the topic, I was impressed how you managed to keep this video moistly positive. That's tough. I just read through all the comments. its obvious that this topic hits home for many hams. especially so for new hams and unfortunately many of them get turned away based on their first negative experience.. It seems like negative experiences are way more common than positive. It sounds like you are very lucky with your local club. You must have some exceptional people there who are like minded enough to make the club something worthwhile for others to be involved in. Bernie, vk3wmd
Thanks Bernie. It's not perfect, but it's important to have a good club culture to attract new hams. We need to start the change somewhere... otherwise we keep going backwards. Keep up the good work!
Very new Ham here. You are absolutely right! Personally, anything that has the word "committee" in it sounds like work and commitment. Young people generally focus on fun and discovering new skills. Can a bunch of people just experiment and have fun? Clubs have lots of knowledgeable people. For people who have just started and don't know what they are doing, it would be cool to have a Zoom or Teams call (perhaps run by a club), talk to someone live, and try contact. For that, you technically do not need a club but a meeting space. Running a club is surely hard work, but club operational activities should not be part of radio/fun activities. Keep up the good work. I learned a lot from your channel. Kind regards from VK6 land.
When I was heavily involved with my local hacker space we had business meetings and presentations and open house nights separately. It's a lot easier to do club business when you aren't holding up the presentation and open house nights are good for just showing off projects and socializing with like-minded people outside of the presentation.
Spot on. The members per se are delightful people with a broad range of interests, much to share, and eager to learn more. It's the club structure that's dysfunctional, usually driven by a small cadre of individuals who control things, making it their own fiefdom, their agenda, their interests. Healthy clubs distribute power and voice broadly among all members.
Good point ,negativity is the biggest killer for me , most of the stereotypes of a club are correct and are often to inclusive and negative those that have ideas and want to increase membership with fresh agendas are often pushed out , for this reason i don't attend my local club much, I still do my part just in the background
I went to two meetings of my local club, about six months apart due to my work schedule. Each time they had interesting presentations, but they started out with "We are going to skip introductions" and went into presentations. Both times nobody bothered to introduce themselves and ask me who I was. Any interaction I had to initiate, but most people there were already engaged in conversations with each other and I didn't think it was proper to interrupt.
Thanks for the advice. I'm re-starting a dormant club in my county right now. Our first meeting will be this Thursday. I appreciate this video and any other advice I can get to make our club successful.
I’ve recently stumbled across a new to me radio club that seems to have a decent handle on this. The first hour of the monthly meeting is the “Elmers meeting”, a very informal exploration of what members are doing in ham radio and what they would like to learn more about. The second hour is the formal club meeting: a brief welcome and review of upcoming events of interest in the area, followed a short discussion of club business (if any), then a presentation on a radio topic agreed to be of interest to club members. It’s a smaller, informal group with a good mix of seasoned and new operators. Best local club I’ve found! The club leaders must be tuned into you!
Well said! My local club LADAR in Leyland and Chorley UK actually try and do this. More importantly, our members totally encourage new members., supporting them throughout their transition in licensing. In the club we trust, keep the business and politics out of the main goal; promoting and pushing radio. Thanks as always for your great videos. David G7UAY
My club at Redcliffe, Qld. We meet 4 times a week, only 1 meeting a month is business. We welcome all visitors, talk to them, show them our club facilities.
Four times a week - luxury! 😄 BTW the Redcliffe listing on the WIA clubs page only mentions Monday nights and Wednesday mornings, so perhaps an update is in order. 73 VK2SKY
Our face book page and web pages reflect the updated openings.. We are a very active group, doing demonstrations for youth groups, Army Cadets, ,Scouts, GIRL Guides and independent schools.
Great points Hayden… You are very lucky to be in such a club and have what looks in the video like a large membership… And it’s true to some extent you can compare it to being in a sports club. I believe the issue is that for the most part amateur radio is a solo and personal activity, much moreso than common sports. Everyone has their own way of operating, and their own preferences as to what they do not like to do. This leads to many people staying in their own bubble, and in a small club environment, that can mean you have a number club members who actually have little in common relative to the hobby apart from the business of the club itself. However, if you can get a large enough membership, which you seem to have, this can be overcome as you will have more commonality, and even create separate-interest-sub-groups if there are enough members. The crux is transitioning a club from its early, quiet, low member days, to the Holy Grail that you guys have in Hobart 😊.
I’m the president of a local ham radio club. We do a report/business meeting but it’s limited to the first 30 minutes including introductions and recognition of people that have achieved an award like WAS, DXCC or have done POTA activations. I also ask people if they worked any interesting DX. That keeps the group engaged. We always do a presentation from 8:15 to 9:00 PM. The members do like to hear what’s going on plus I may need to have them vote on spending money. But the idea is get through that first part as quick as possible to keep people engaged. I also tell new people ( after we seek them out and welcome them personally) about the presentation so they have something to look forward to stick around. It works well as we always have at least 2 new members a month.
Yep, great video Hayden, this is essential viewing. There are 3 radio clubs in my local area and the biggest club combines the typical monthly business meetings with a BBQ afterwards. Those meetings are very well attended. 73, Jamie VK2YCJ
Nail & Head! I went to a club here in Canada for the first time last week. It was a hybrid meeting of face to face and google meets with almost a round table feel. It about was an hour long of exactly and as you say, financials and repeater reports and then the meeting was over and everyone went home. I would say I was made super welcome and encouraged to join the daily nets (I'm not a Canadian) but I did think it was a little mechanical and very functional meeting. I've been licensed for 40+ yrs in my home country and I'm trying to intergrate here in Canada and have attended many clubs and now you raise the point, if this was my first introduction to a club I'd probably have not gone back. I also belong to another charity club (not radio related) and it's the same and now I can't unsee the point you have raised. p.s did you ever do the repeater signal reports after adding the phased feed on the antenna or have I missed it?
Our club meeting monthly. About two years ago, we moved to only doing four business meetings a year. All other monthly meetings are instead a presentation or group activity. We're slowly seeing attendance come back up.
Couldn't agree more Hayden. When I tried to get into ham radio 25 years ago, I turned up at a club. Every 2nd meeting was a business meeting, so only half their meetings were actually about radio. The night I turned up happened to be "business". Unsurprisingly I never went back and only 20+ years later actually became a ham.
Some years back I took a paid class at a local ham radio club to help me pass my General Class (I did pass, 10 people in the class, 4 showed up for the test, 2 of us passed). It was divided across several evenings over a few weeks which was fine. I was hoping to get some exposure to actual HF equipment and operation and yet never even saw an HF radio there, much less put hands on one and operate one. But every single class meeting, they made sure to pitch their latest repeater project and ask us students for donations. It was a HUGE turn off for me and once I finished the class I never went back, when I originally hoped to join the club.
Totally agree, ham radio clubs should focus on two things 1) how to do tech stuff with ham radio tech and 2) how to use ham radio to give back to the community.
Unfortunately clubs near me are more cliques than inclusive clubs. The couple I looked into did not give me warm fuzzies at all. I've learned more in the past couple of years online than at a club, although I think a club such as yours here would be a big help.
Hey mate, happy new year! Fabulous video Hayden! This my friend is why I have not joined a Ham Radio Club. I like to play radio, not listen to 'minutes of the latest financials' etc... I'm coming down to Oz in September mate. Wanna come to the footy? ;-) Cheers mate.
The clubs around here in northern New Jersey make you jump through hoops to join their clubs and then the dues are outrageous. I haven’t even tried to join because of this.
I totally agree with the sentiments here. Over here on the other side of the ditch the local 'branch' goes through all the business stuff and it's a total put off. Here's hoping someone from the 'branch' watches this and realises what they are doing to the amateur radio scene here in NZ.
Here’s my problem with clubs and i don’t know the solution. It’s always 1-2 people that do all the work , very few want to step up and help out , they just want things magically done. It’s very easy to get burned out.
I can relate to that. Ham radio is more about electronics and experimentation, and there are so many fun activities. Your ham radio club is quite interesting and innovative in doing all those activities where you can actually learn and improve. Other clubs only foster stagnation and that is why so many people leave the hobby.
Maybe you could have some basic electronics classes, soldering, radio basics, antenna basics, etc as a way of attracting new members. Swap meets at every meeting, plain old show and tell of new or new to you equipment that you’ve bought and why you chose it. Ask the newbies questions too, especially things such as what are their current goals with their radios. Do they have somewhere in mind already that they want to connect with, etc
Would enough people be interested these days? It seems most people buy all their gear, even down to simple things like an a.t.u. or SWR meter. I took a Pye Bantam I had converted for 70.260 MHz in 1980 but first had to get it working and one guy I know said he wouldn't have a clue where to start. We all did the same exam and he once told me he passed "with distinction". What had he really learnt? Nothing. Just writing answers down parrot fashion. I recently bought 5 Bantams for £6, scruffy as you might imagine from their age. One xtalled for 70.260 MHz and one tx only on 144.450 MHz, but I do have spares. I buy tatty rusty stuff other people ignore and walk past, though I did get an FT817ND and my h/b QRP ssb/cw tcvr built 30+ years ago. Tatty Wireless 19 Set and T.W. TopBander but a nice Racal RA17L. G4GHB.
@ you have a good point. Most folks only seem to take an interest when their cell phones aren’t working. And as soon as they are working again, they don’t worry about having a backup plan for the next time
Hi Hayden, good video with a great topic and certainly a big problem, certainly for a tiny state as our own. Because Hobart is so small, it's difficult for some/most people to walk into a small room, with very few people that you know and everyone looks at you and you have nothing to say and feel like a goose. I do know most REAST members are extremely friendly and welcoming people but why don't we ever have any swap meets here, where: 1. You can swap/buy/ see some different gear but more importantly... 2. You're able to walk around in an informal place, where you're able to meet/chat to different people and then possibly move onto the next step of going to a few meetings, where you now know a few faces and names. In all the years I've been licenced, I've never heard about a swap meet. I love all your great videos! Just a question. Cheers, Darren
There is something to this but I just don't see the group in my area meeting more than once a month. We meet early before the meeting at a local restaurant for chit chat. Then go to the veteran's hall for the boring business which usually takes about 10 minutes tops. Everyone hears what's in the bank account and any upcoming expenses. If we are spending money they know. If anything is more detailed it happens off online from the meeting. Then it is more fun, the planning for activities, discussion of anyone's technical issues, repeater issues and whatnot. About half the time there is a presentation. This seems fine to me. Honestly, growing the hobby is an individual effort IMO. Talk to your family members, talk to friends. When people come to the meetings be friendly. Tell them if they get licensed there is old equipment for them to use. The biggest barriers are financial and time. If you are going to pull people into 3 or 4 activities a months they won't come. Most people have no money for $2000-3000 of radio equipment either.
My club (Echelford ARS) never do this. All business is dealt with on line or via quarterly committee meetings and plans are disseminated via e-mail, online forum, weekly nets and the monthly newsletter. All fortnightly meetings are based around activities (not necessarily on-air) and we always make a point to welcome guests and visitors on their arrival.
I agree, I've been thinking about how to separate the business part from the fun part. Ham Radio is supposed to be fun. Otherwise most people won't be or stay engaged. I've been thinking about how to get the guys to use Discord. It kind of reminds me of a Tanker ship, it takes a lot of effort and time to steer a large ship. I'm also relatively new to the club, so I want to understand their way of doing things better before offing any suggestions. Its a great group of guys, but we have to change some, or I'm afraid the club will go extinct.
I belonged to a club like that discussed business in a formal structure for about 6 months. I even gave a couple of talks. The club died, not because of my talks, I hope. I also belonged to a couple of other clubs which were very different. No business matters discussed at the club meetings, except once a year, at the AGM! Other stuff was confined to a single page in the club newsletter. Each meeting was different, there was an annual construction contest, talks and demos, some of them not even radio related.
My club has bimonthly business meetings and training in between. I personally done classes on D-STAR, YSF and HF Digital modes. Another local club asked me to do a class on data modes and done it for them as well. What I think needs to happen is more training on different aspects of amateur radio. It's just just about contests and business meetings. Not everyone is interested in talking or cw all the time.
OMG, the AI generated pic at 0:36 onwards is scary. Look at all the fingers... Lovely video mate, thanks for all the effort you put into the hobby! 73, Jan M7HNK
Here in the state of Georgia, USA. There is hardly anyone on the air locally on 2m/70cm except 3-4 club members who have their own little discussions. They never respond to anyone who attempts to contact them. I am a member of the Civil Air Patrol and we teach some communications to the Cadets (12-17 years old) and Senior Members (adults). Due to my frustrations, I will be teaching Amateur Radio basics then take them to one of the local clubs for testing en masse…hoping to get 12-16 new operators on the air locally. Getting a lesson plan together,as well, to teach some basic electronics and radio beyond the Technician license to encourage these new operators to take the hobby farther. I am hoping to trigger the radio geek in some these folks since the sky is the limit in how far they can take it as a hobby/career. I will be encouraging them to check out the clubs and hoping those clubs will be receptive and mentor them farther, along with exposing them to the technology they are engaged in (and not just focus on business). Great video. Thanks. 73. de KM4UTV…Phil
Returned to the hobby in 2017 and approached the chairman of the local club, his opening and only statement was "you can join us on our slow morse net on Tuesday evening, if you wish, what speed do you send at?" Needless to say I did not make any further contact. My interest in the hobby rests in the 21st century not in spark gap transmitters and CW speeds. Their loss.
I've seen too many clubs like the one Hayden mentioned. When this happens, they need a club coach. Hayden, Jason, and so many RUclipsrs are taking this responsibility.👍
We had a local club which was really about meeting in a pub. It didn't last long. We did one special event station from a small local railway museum once. They were talking about activating a rare SOTA Square with 100 Watts and a petrol generator. No, you can't take petrol on the moors. I suggested QRP and batteries. It didn't happen. I suggested a d.f. hunt and met with, "Who's he". It didn't happen. G4GHB.
WE formed our club but has called it a radio association since the beginning in 1994. We have new hams every month. Many of us have come back due to POTA. We have the busiest repeaters in the middle ga area
Elect a board to handle club business in board meetings. In club meetings, have interesting, educational, entertaining programs. In one club meeting each year, elect officers and other board members.
G'day Hayden,
Our club Secretary emails the minutes from the last meeting out to our members a couple of days before the next meeting.
Reading all of the minutes from the last meeting out is time wasting and unnecessary.
We actually had this discussion the other night at our club meeting and the President said that all of the "business" side of things should be all
done in a maximum of 15-20 minutes and then the floor opened up for actual fun stuff.
This is where the attitude needs to come from, the President, they lead by example.
Just regarding new members, the number of times I've heard the same comment from people that WANTED to join a given club, but were either made to feel unwelcome,
asked awkward questions or were just completely ignored by the current members, defies belief that this could still be happening in 2025.
Given that a lot of amateur radio clubs are struggling for members and the membership is aging, it makes me wonder if these same clubs aren't the cause of their own
problems.
i'm a ham for 18 months now.. walked into a local club, walked out within 30 minutes. It's the same strange behavior as on the local repeaters. I discovered i like the technical side of the hobby but i general dislike the people/vibe.
Like the radios hate the people.
It's like everyone who kept this knowledge alive for 40 years is on the spectrum or creepy AF. Missed opportunity 4 years ago when prepping in general exploded and there were survival/disaster response interest from the general public.
I need a cranky old Vietnam vet who hated his CO and the rules even if he still follows them. Mostly. Instead I found the group keeping the mail order bride industry afloat.
It's sad.
I don't go to those AGM style meetings, I stop my club, volunteer to teach, and just try to help engage the younger audiences (myself for example, I don't have grey hair yet).
That type of behavior is common in all technical groups, you have the elitests and the ones who only care about business. Boring.
Try some hf. Dmr. Portable hf. Summits. Parks. Its a diff world.
Get away from repeaters and get in HF - it’s a whole different world with modes other than just phone too.
I rejoined a local club after many years of being non-active after I retired. I had introduced myself to the President as it was nice to put a face to someone on our Net.
At the next meeting they asked me to be the club secretary for the next year. Not wanting to say no I took on the responsibility.
It was not enjoyable as I couldn't take in the lessons as I was more worried about getting the minutes correct. At the next meeting the minutes would get torn apart because I misspelled something or had the incorrect call sign in my note.
I am not a secretary!
I ended up resigning and leaving the club......
@tomcrowley1786 let them complain or step up it volunteer gig.
@ronpetroski7203 Thank you!
When I was the president of the local club I tried to make changes. Wrong answer! My first proposal was to do away with the reading of the minutes and financial report. My reasoning was that we could post them on the website and cut the boring part of the meeting out. If you want a print out of the meetings then bring a thumb drive to the meetings. Nope! I tried to have monthly gatherings to OPERATE radios. Nope! "We already have the Saturday breakfast (not operating but eating and gossiping). I resigned and every couple of years I go to a meeting to remind myself why I don't go.
@@Bob814u Sorry to hear that! I just wished to learn more about our wonderful hobby. They were more worried about spelling and context. Oh well. I learn more from Hayden! Thank you! 😊
@@Bob814u It's sometimes hard to bring change, I received threats when I brought change to my club, now it's the envy of many.
Great video Hayden. I stopped going to my local club because they took up the first half of the meeting with all the business. I also stopped going because it wasn’t very inclusive. I’m a relatively new ham and I was looking for more experienced hams to offer up knowledge and experience so that I could learn more about this massive hobby. I sat through multiple meetings where nobody ever spoke directly to me or asked me if I wanted or needed any assistance. I felt as though I could have gotten up on the middle of the meeting and walked out and nobody would have noticed. I eventually stopped going all together. Thank you for all your videos. The amateur radio YT community is where I get most of my knowledge. 73
Thanks Jimmy, it's sad to hear about your experience with your local club. I hope it improves with time 👍
Did you ask for help? I believe most people assume a person knows what they're doing so they're not going to ask if you need help.
When I asked I had half the room jump to educate me.
@ That sounds like the way a club should be run. My club doesn’t do anything to welcome new members. If you want new members to feel welcome, you need to actually welcome them to the club. Do an introduction of any new members. Gather some basic information about the new member and then introduce them to existing members. Ask them if there is anything they need help with. My club doesn’t do anything like that. I sat through several meetings and nobody ever spoke to me. Just wasn’t a welcoming environment. I didn’t feel as though I could ask for help. If you are running a club where you want to attract and retain members, you need to make them feel welcome.
Great topic and bravo for having the care to bring this up. I am old but a new HAM. My first club was horrible. The politics between the past president and the newly elected president was obvious and frankly childish. I was the director (in the HOG world that is the president). When I took over my first objective was to make it clear that this kind of action was not acceptable and would not be tolerated. We requested several of the old regime not renewal if they continued to torpedo meetings, rides, etc. The chapter was on a decline in membership, activities, etc. We turned the chapter into a riding club, since that is what a majority of people were looking for. I found out that people are good and will get involved but you have to let them decide. We shortened our "business" side of the meetings from 30 minutes or more to 5 minutes. The officers would sit among the members, answer questions, guide them and encourage them. in 4 years we went from 75 members to over 800 active members. Titles were left at the door. It was "our" club not the club of a few. I find that the HAM club I was in was being run by "executive old school" techniques. I think clubs sometimes forget that the current membership, as well as new members, do not need the club as much as the club needs its membership. Bring food, coffee, have movie nights, presentations, etc. Make it fun and not an extension of their jobs. My apologies for running on and on. This was one of the best videos for HAM clubs I have seen. Amateur radio's future depends on these clubs to grow and get more people interested.
I think you hit the target when you wrote. . . . the clubs need the membership more than the membership needs the clubs.
When I was running a club we changed the format of the meeting. Introductions and then right into the presentation. Any business went at the end so people could choose to stay or go.
I'm studying for the Tech license here in the US. This video is exactly why I have not gone to a meeting yet. I know how it's going to go and it'll be a total waste of time. Thank god for RUclips and guys like you.
100% this. Regular times where people get together and just enjoy the hobby. Help others learn about it and how to enjoy it.
Thanks Hayden!
BINGO...one of the biggest reasons we started a new club that as not so business related but more FUN HAM RADIO related to enjoy the hobby! Thank you for this spot-on video!!!!
I couldn't agree more but we had a "go getter" become president of the club I was in. He wanted to get the repeaters working better, get everyone to think outside of the box, less business meeting atmosphere, have more demonstrations, promote digital modes etc. He lasted a month and was voted out right in front of the whole club! Me and about 20 other guys never went back.
Yeah no body likes someone that's willing to do stuff in a club that's always been willing to do NOTHING.
I agree with you.
A new ham needs to see radio's and hear about building Antenna's etc.
I have my GMRS license and attended one ham club meeting as I already owned 2 ham HT radios and thought getting my ham license would be fun. I was told it was against the law for me to even own those radios without a ham license and they were going to turn me in to the FCC. I said I never use them to talk, just listen and, I get the weather radio channels I programmed into them. I said I talk on my GMRS radios if I want to speak with someone. They said GMRS is stupid and they were still planning on turning me in for owning 2 ham radios without a license. (I looked it up later and they were full of crap ) I bid them good day and left. Who the heck would want to join a group like those people? I was older than most of the people in that club but only by a few years. Their youngest member was about 55 so, I am guessing that club will disappear as they were certainly not attracting any new young members, or any members for that matter.
Why don't you name and shame them?
Sadly there are a lot of crusty old geezer clubs like this. My local one is effectively dead and I'm guessing due to acting like this, as they stopped meeting before I moved here full time. There are a couple of good members and thr rest are useless.
I'm president of 2 clubs, we got by without business meetings for a long time. One of the club started to incur hard costs, and that started the business meetings, but the "flavor" was already designed and stayed well.
Hayden, this was exactly my experience 30 years ago. Nothing has changed. The curmudgeons who are usually the leaders of the club set the standard. To the clubs I say, "Lead, follow or GET OUT OF THE WAY." Thank you Hayden and the rest of the outstanding content creators on YT for providing high quality discussion on this wonderful hobby. 73
Well said! By making ham radio club meetings more exciting and focused on operating, technology, etc. and fun activities, clubs will get a lot more engagement. Thanks for the great video
That's the idea - let's make ham radio fun again!
@@HamRadioDX Exactly.
Happens with a lot of other types of clubs as well --- tends to dissuade membership and have existing members quit
Totally agree , when I first got my license (94) I went to a couple of meetings and you would walk in and everyone would turn and look to see who I was and what was I doing there! 30 years later I retired and started going to one of the social meetings at one of the local malls, totally different bunch, we get more club members there than at the general meetings, I can read, I don't need someone reading the minutes from the last meeting! I volunteer at one of a local museums now, in the radio room, we teach guess that come by how to send there name in CW, " I am Not a CW op" but it is a blast meeting the people that come through, we also get access to the 2 museum ships docked behind the museum, which happen to be Pota parks plus they also have maritime mobile call signs which make them very popular. Helping with the radio stations in all 3 locations makes the hobby fun , which it is all about. This is just one kind of activity . VE1SK
Great video, and a high percentage of clubs in the UK seem to fall into this category. Since Covid, many people are taking their exams online, so tend to pass without having seen or touched a radio. UK clubs seem to have given up on training, and are missing the opportunity to step up and offer radio activities for newcomers.
It's by continuing to do what you do (real meetings) that the Clubs can survive. Well done, Sir. 👍
Greetings from the South of France.
JC
Thanks!
Thanks!
Good points.
Also, some clubs are run by a rusted-on clique of a decade or longer in office who, over time, then consider themselves the owners and a degree of arrogance goes with that. Club constitutions should limit the terms of all positions such that they are not eligible for re-election after (say) 2 terms.
Over the last 3 months, I've been on a mission to energize as many ARC meetings as I can with a Zoom presentation on my homebrew portable antennas for POTA/SOTA, emergency comms and HOA deployments. Even though I come into the meeting with enough content for 45 minutes, I find these presentations turn into highly interactive and energized discussions that extend up to 3 hours because of the hungry hams in the audience! They love asking questions and interacting with all in attendance to share their experiences and ask insightful questions. I believe this is the true spirit of ham radio and should be top priority for all ARCs who want to remain valid to our wonderful community. Thanks so much for bringing up this topic 😀73 KJ6ER, California
You have presented some very valuable information. Clubs should consider your points if survival is on their agenda.
You put words to what I've been thinking. Unfortunately the people who might bring the change are usually the ones who leave after the first meeting. I am a part of two groups that meet regularly but informally. No club fees, no procedures, no obligations; just a group of people who get together and talk/play radio.
Hyden - Excellent topic. I have said many times make a club a club. One of the chaps in our club had this novel idea of "The social hour before the meeting, no agenda just get together and talk or show off, share whatever. This weird little thing started happening, people started bringing stuff, stuff to sell, trade, give away whatever. It has expanded into this quazi mini ham feast. It's really a interesting dynamic that was rather organic in its development. Needless to say it is fun. We got folks with foundries and metal shops and wood shops. Electronic Engineers, Plumbers (The PVC Artisans) you would be amazed at what some of these folks design and build. Point being, the interest it has spark is phenomenal. People trying all kinds of stuff in, and apart from radio. You got the idea and keep evangelizing it. This is the way of expansion. -73
Hayden,
I have no idea how you continue to keep my on my seat, even if the topic is so mundane.
Love it.
73
You make some great points Hayden. To take further the idea of minimizing time on business matters, you can do what many company boards do and agree annually on what normal financial and other reports are, what deviation can be accepted and only report when something outside normal happens. Another trick is to circulate minutes and reports a week before a meeting and at the meeting ask if anyone has questions and if not,closing the meeting.
Another problem is that few clubs query members about their intended field day participation. Hard to motivate hams to setup in the field not knowing if there will be anyone else out there, at what location and what bands. Heard of some here in Texas packing up in disgust because they couldn't get a contact.😮
The local club was doing this. 5 of us left to form our own last month. We are still finding our way but we are more focused on having a good time with ham radio. I loved the video. My fear is if clubs don't change it will discourage people from getting into the hobby.
You’re doing great! Keep it up!
The key to retaining and recruiting club members is activity! It’s true when they say enthusiasm breads interest and activity. Unfortunately my club has simply become a coffee club. Over the four years I’ve been a member the membership and attendance has simply washed away
Not sure if I’ll drop the membership but you’ve hit the nail on the head Hayden. I do envy your club and the enthusiasm it generates.
It's a shame to hear about the state of your club, but hopefully this video gives your members some ideas.
Our club is certainly not perfect, but I’m very happy with what we’ve been able to achieve. Others can do the same!
Yeah it’s disappointing! I joined so I could learn and participate in the activities, which really don’t exist. Effort is guided towards events that generate income. Fingers crossed things may change.
Our club decided that in the 1990's to push the business of the club to the Board meeting and focus club meetings on the hobby of ham radio and people. Our topics are wide and varied of the hobby. No focus on just one area. Our attendance is around 50 with an additional 10 - 12 online. Paid membership around 166/
We do have 15 minutes of announcements regarding upcoming ham radio activities and events. We have a every other month Elmer/help night with attendance usually being the new hams needing help programming their radios.
Our little club supports 9 public service events, with 3 of them recruiting over 80 radio ops each to help with, including two that require a 14 hour day. We have a ladies group who had a learn to solder activity this past year, and a youth on the air activity.
We have members who are into the hobby for building things, talking on the air, emergency communications, POTA, and many other reasons. We will never be all things to all people, but the thing we try to do is build a friendly environment and are not afraid to try something new. All the clubs in state I have attended do something very similar with their meeting format. I have not attended one that spends most of the time with business.
100% agree we have a small club and we meet once a month for the meeting. I am now VP and open to ideas on making it more fun and interesting for all the members Branch 35 South Otago NZART
Glad to hear you’re looking to make changes!
Thank you. This is so vital for clubs
We do the same with our Harley Owners Group, officers of the chapter have a separate meeting and we meet to ride!
I'm sorry to say that I totally agree. This year I joined a capital city club only to get weekly minutes about people who forget to pay for a coffee. In another instance a digitization initiative was shut down because of perceived risk. I retire from a corporate role soon and looking forward how I can participate going forward. Thanks for the great youtubing Hayden. Iva.
Thanks mate!
Great video Hayden....
Thanks for raising points that certainly are valid. Some are unfortunately very set in their ways but perhaps watch this space, you've inspired me to work with my local club to move into a new era.
I hope it works out, keep me updated!
I tried my local club years ago. Bunch of old guys. When I showed up at the meeting, I think I was the first new person in years. More stares than greetings. I figured out within 30 minutes that they just weren't for me.
Excellent Idea !!! THANKS for your wealth of ideas ! Our club in the mountain town of Greeneville, in eastern Tennessee, has a separate meeting time every week for electronics school and exam study for new Hams , but we still need some work on outreach to the general public .
Thanks, that's great to hear! I'm glad you found some useful stuff!
Great video. This was one of the main reasons I let my licence lapse. You are doing all the right things to promote this.
It's a shame to hear you let your license lapse, but hopefully I can encourage you to get back into it! Cheers mate!
@@HamRadioDX I have contacted the ACMA yesterday to do this :)
This is very well stated Hayden! It sounds like you have an amazing club. Sadly some clubs simply don't want to change, and push back against it heavily. The best thing to do in those cases is to find a different club (which I've done), or start a new one with SDRs and ADSB.
I attended a couple of meetings with our local ham group. It was a pretty awful experience. Between the snooty old-timers who looked down on new hams, the out of the way location and meetings being held during the day where only retirees were likely to attend, I ended noping right out of there and haven’t tried since.
Bravo! You nailed it! Separate the business meeting from the "cool ham stuff" meeting. The business meeting could be over Zoom or Skype; a formal meeting place would be unnecessary. Also, for the cool stuff meeting, it's important to ENGAGE newbies and visitors. As part of opening remarks, ask if there are any visitors or new members present, and would they mind giving a few words on their interests. At my first visit to a local club meeting, no one did this, no members approached me in any capacity. I stayed for the activity and vowed never to return. Soured my interest in the club scene for all time. 73, Mike K3CXG
I can tell you from experience that people join Ham clubs for two reasons, to learn and to socialize. If you do nothing but conduct business when you meet, it will not satisfy most folks. Engagement is the key. In 2016 I joined my local club, we had 36 members and no money. We did have a clubhouse but no real gear. I was there about a year and decided to join leadership. I was elected VP in 2018 and the officers for that term decided to rebuild the club. Fast forward to 2025. we have 140 members, we have great equipment int he clubhouse, we received a 100k grant from the ARDC to do three projects and we have an open house every Wednesday evening, lunches every Thursday, a program meeting every month, an ARES meeting every month and a business meeting every month.
That's awesome to hear, thanks for sharing!
I got the “first meeting was a dead boring business meeting” thing and I joined anyways hoping the club would get better over time. I feel like my local small town club in Canada is only barely alive. There’s no resilience and depth in there. It’s not like I can demand more or demand better or go somewhere else. Ham clubs in many places are well… on life support.
Hi Hayden,
Both the clubs I’m associated with are focused on the hobby and a variety of topics within the hobby. Yes, a very short portion is about business, but, the focus is on the hobby. I have found the members to be approachable and keen to share their knowledge with everyone and new folks looking at joining the hobby.
I agree, to grow the hobby we need to focus on the hobby whilst running the club. It’s the activities that keep me engaged in the hobby.
Great video,
David VK2DMW
That’s great to hear David, it’s refreshing to hear about a club that puts the focus on the hobby!
Sounds great, you have some good ideas and progress there.
Right on the mark. Thanks
I am a member of a great Ham Radio Club. problem is we are mostly older people (not haveing much success drawing many young people). But every other month we have what we call a Meet And Eat, Every one seams to love it
wow wee! well done Hayden, at trying to tackle the topic, I was impressed how you managed to keep this video moistly positive. That's tough. I just read through all the comments. its obvious that this topic hits home for many hams. especially so for new hams and unfortunately many of them get turned away based on their first negative experience.. It seems like negative experiences are way more common than positive.
It sounds like you are very lucky with your local club. You must have some exceptional people there who are like minded enough to make the club something worthwhile for others to be involved in.
Bernie, vk3wmd
Thanks Bernie. It's not perfect, but it's important to have a good club culture to attract new hams.
We need to start the change somewhere... otherwise we keep going backwards. Keep up the good work!
Very new Ham here. You are absolutely right! Personally, anything that has the word "committee" in it sounds like work and commitment. Young people generally focus on fun and discovering new skills. Can a bunch of people just experiment and have fun? Clubs have lots of knowledgeable people. For people who have just started and don't know what they are doing, it would be cool to have a Zoom or Teams call (perhaps run by a club), talk to someone live, and try contact. For that, you technically do not need a club but a meeting space.
Running a club is surely hard work, but club operational activities should not be part of radio/fun activities.
Keep up the good work. I learned a lot from your channel.
Kind regards from VK6 land.
When I was heavily involved with my local hacker space we had business meetings and presentations and open house nights separately. It's a lot easier to do club business when you aren't holding up the presentation and open house nights are good for just showing off projects and socializing with like-minded people outside of the presentation.
Spot on. The members per se are delightful people with a broad range of interests, much to share, and eager to learn more. It's the club structure that's dysfunctional, usually driven by a small cadre of individuals who control things, making it their own fiefdom, their agenda, their interests. Healthy clubs distribute power and voice broadly among all members.
Good point ,negativity is the biggest killer for me , most of the stereotypes of a club are correct and are often to inclusive and negative those that have ideas and want to increase membership with fresh agendas are often pushed out , for this reason i don't attend my local club much, I still do my part just in the background
I went to two meetings of my local club, about six months apart due to my work schedule. Each time they had interesting presentations, but they started out with "We are going to skip introductions" and went into presentations.
Both times nobody bothered to introduce themselves and ask me who I was. Any interaction I had to initiate, but most people there were already engaged in conversations with each other and I didn't think it was proper to interrupt.
Thanks for the advice. I'm re-starting a dormant club in my county right now. Our first meeting will be this Thursday. I appreciate this video and any other advice I can get to make our club successful.
I’ve recently stumbled across a new to me radio club that seems to have a decent handle on this. The first hour of the monthly meeting is the “Elmers meeting”, a very informal exploration of what members are doing in ham radio and what they would like to learn more about. The second hour is the formal club meeting: a brief welcome and review of upcoming events of interest in the area, followed a short discussion of club business (if any), then a presentation on a radio topic agreed to be of interest to club members. It’s a smaller, informal group with a good mix of seasoned and new operators. Best local club I’ve found! The club leaders must be tuned into you!
Well said! My local club LADAR in Leyland and Chorley UK actually try and do this. More importantly, our members totally encourage new members., supporting them throughout their transition in licensing. In the club we trust, keep the business and politics out of the main goal; promoting and pushing radio. Thanks as always for your great videos. David G7UAY
Excellent topic. Same issue here in my small town in Ohio.
My club at Redcliffe, Qld.
We meet 4 times a week, only 1 meeting a month is business.
We welcome all visitors, talk to them, show them our club facilities.
4 times a week? Must be full of retires.
Four times a week - luxury! 😄
BTW the Redcliffe listing on the WIA clubs page only mentions Monday nights and Wednesday mornings, so perhaps an update is in order.
73 VK2SKY
Our face book page and web pages reflect the updated openings..
We are a very active group, doing demonstrations for youth groups, Army Cadets, ,Scouts, GIRL Guides and independent schools.
How we can fix it 👉 ruclips.net/video/T0_zNI4RinA/видео.html
Great points Hayden… You are very lucky to be in such a club and have what looks in the video like a large membership…
And it’s true to some extent you can compare it to being in a sports club.
I believe the issue is that for the most part amateur radio is a solo and personal activity, much moreso than common sports. Everyone has their own way of operating, and their own preferences as to what they do not like to do. This leads to many people staying in their own bubble, and in a small club environment, that can mean you have a number club members who actually have little in common relative to the hobby apart from the business of the club itself.
However, if you can get a large enough membership, which you seem to have, this can be overcome as you will have more commonality, and even create separate-interest-sub-groups if there are enough members.
The crux is transitioning a club from its early, quiet, low member days, to the Holy Grail that you guys have in Hobart 😊.
I’m the president of a local ham radio club. We do a report/business meeting but it’s limited to the first 30 minutes including introductions and recognition of people that have achieved an award like WAS, DXCC or have done POTA activations. I also ask people if they worked any interesting DX. That keeps the group engaged. We always do a presentation from 8:15 to 9:00 PM. The members do like to hear what’s going on plus I may need to have them vote on spending money. But the idea is get through that first part as quick as possible to keep people engaged. I also tell new people ( after we seek them out and welcome them personally) about the presentation so they have something to look forward to stick around. It works well as we always have at least 2 new members a month.
Thank you so much for this Video. My club has this same issue. Your video has been emailed to my clubs
board members. 73
Thanks. I hope it can make a difference!
Yep, great video Hayden, this is essential viewing. There are 3 radio clubs in my local area and the biggest club combines the typical monthly business meetings with a BBQ afterwards. Those meetings are very well attended. 73, Jamie VK2YCJ
Nail & Head! I went to a club here in Canada for the first time last week. It was a hybrid meeting of face to face and google meets with almost a round table feel.
It about was an hour long of exactly and as you say, financials and repeater reports and then the meeting was over and everyone went home.
I would say I was made super welcome and encouraged to join the daily nets (I'm not a Canadian) but I did think it was a little mechanical and very functional meeting.
I've been licensed for 40+ yrs in my home country and I'm trying to intergrate here in Canada and have attended many clubs and now you raise the point, if this was my first introduction to a club I'd probably have not gone back.
I also belong to another charity club (not radio related) and it's the same and now I can't unsee the point you have raised.
p.s did you ever do the repeater signal reports after adding the phased feed on the antenna or have I missed it?
This is awesome! This is exactly y I haven't upgraded my license. There's no fun activities.
There's tons of fun activities you don't need a Ham Club to do them. Don't give up just yet
Our club meeting monthly. About two years ago, we moved to only doing four business meetings a year. All other monthly meetings are instead a presentation or group activity. We're slowly seeing attendance come back up.
Couldn't agree more Hayden. When I tried to get into ham radio 25 years ago, I turned up at a club. Every 2nd meeting was a business meeting, so only half their meetings were actually about radio. The night I turned up happened to be "business". Unsurprisingly I never went back and only 20+ years later actually became a ham.
Some years back I took a paid class at a local ham radio club to help me pass my General Class (I did pass, 10 people in the class, 4 showed up for the test, 2 of us passed). It was divided across several evenings over a few weeks which was fine. I was hoping to get some exposure to actual HF equipment and operation and yet never even saw an HF radio there, much less put hands on one and operate one. But every single class meeting, they made sure to pitch their latest repeater project and ask us students for donations. It was a HUGE turn off for me and once I finished the class I never went back, when I originally hoped to join the club.
Excellent advice for any special interest group.
Very well said Hayden.
Totally agree, ham radio clubs should focus on two things 1) how to do tech stuff with ham radio tech and 2) how to use ham radio to give back to the community.
Btw for me things like clubs being involved in helping out in community events in disaster training simulations etc was something I found valuable.
Unfortunately clubs near me are more cliques than inclusive clubs. The couple I looked into did not give me warm fuzzies at all. I've learned more in the past couple of years online than at a club, although I think a club such as yours here would be a big help.
YOU NAILED IT.. 100 PERCENT.
Hey mate, happy new year! Fabulous video Hayden! This my friend is why I have not joined a Ham Radio Club. I like to play radio, not listen to 'minutes of the latest financials' etc... I'm coming down to Oz in September mate. Wanna come to the footy? ;-) Cheers mate.
Thanks, mate! I'm down for a footy game, hopefully North/Bombers finals.... haha wishful thinking!
I'm a big fan of the Wednesday Experimenters Group. Meeting starts about the time I'm getting my first cup of coffee in the morning.
That’s a good start to the day!
@@HamRadioDX Agreed!
The clubs around here in northern New Jersey make you jump through hoops to join their clubs and then the dues are outrageous. I haven’t even tried to join because of this.
Clubs around here do little or nothing, and complain that numbers are dropping . I have tried to start a new club, no one wants to.
I totally agree with the sentiments here. Over here on the other side of the ditch the local 'branch' goes through all the business stuff and it's a total put off. Here's hoping someone from the 'branch' watches this and realises what they are doing to the amateur radio scene here in NZ.
We did this at our EMS agency. Huge improvement!
Awesome!
Here’s my problem with clubs and i don’t know the solution. It’s always 1-2 people that do all the work , very few want to step up and help out , they just want things magically done. It’s very easy to get burned out.
I can relate to that. Ham radio is more about electronics and experimentation, and there are so many fun activities. Your ham radio club is quite interesting and innovative in doing all those activities where you can actually learn and improve. Other clubs only foster stagnation and that is why so many people leave the hobby.
Maybe you could have some basic electronics classes, soldering, radio basics, antenna basics, etc as a way of attracting new members. Swap meets at every meeting, plain old show and tell of new or new to you equipment that you’ve bought and why you chose it. Ask the newbies questions too, especially things such as what are their current goals with their radios. Do they have somewhere in mind already that they want to connect with, etc
Would enough people be interested these days?
It seems most people buy all their gear, even down to simple things like an a.t.u. or SWR meter.
I took a Pye Bantam I had converted for 70.260 MHz in 1980 but first had to get it working and one guy I know said he wouldn't have a clue where to start. We all did the same exam and he once told me he passed "with distinction".
What had he really learnt? Nothing. Just writing answers down parrot fashion.
I recently bought 5 Bantams for £6, scruffy as you might imagine from their age. One xtalled for 70.260 MHz and one tx only on 144.450 MHz, but I do have spares.
I buy tatty rusty stuff other people ignore and walk past, though I did get an FT817ND and my h/b QRP ssb/cw tcvr built 30+ years ago. Tatty Wireless 19 Set and T.W. TopBander but a nice Racal RA17L.
G4GHB.
@ you have a good point. Most folks only seem to take an interest when their cell phones aren’t working. And as soon as they are working again, they don’t worry about having a backup plan for the next time
We do maybe 5min of business at the regular meeting and it’s mostly just announcements - the rest of the business is done at a separate board meeting.
Hi Hayden, good video with a great topic and certainly a big problem, certainly for a tiny state as our own.
Because Hobart is so small, it's difficult for some/most people to walk into a small room, with very few people that you know and everyone looks at you and you have nothing to say and feel like a goose. I do know most REAST members are extremely friendly and welcoming people but why don't we ever have any swap meets here, where:
1. You can swap/buy/ see some different gear but more importantly...
2. You're able to walk around in an informal place, where you're able to meet/chat to different people and then possibly move onto the next step of going to a few meetings, where you now know a few faces and names. In all the years I've been licenced, I've never heard about a swap meet.
I love all your great videos!
Just a question. Cheers, Darren
Hi Darren,
We have a car boot/swap meet sale coming up next weekend.
www.reast.asn.au/news-events/upcoming-events/?event_id1=2565
See you there!
It took YT 6 days to notify me of this one :)
Urgh they still have that problem! Thanks Cal for watching 👍
Your absolutely 100% correct with respect to radio clubs being overly formal and boring. Well presented and as usual thought provoking.VK4GHI
My local club had a picnic at the local park to reach out. I haven't been to the business meetings.
Finally, someone addressing the elephant in the room. Well done Hayden.
There is something to this but I just don't see the group in my area meeting more than once a month. We meet early before the meeting at a local restaurant for chit chat. Then go to the veteran's hall for the boring business which usually takes about 10 minutes tops. Everyone hears what's in the bank account and any upcoming expenses. If we are spending money they know. If anything is more detailed it happens off online from the meeting. Then it is more fun, the planning for activities, discussion of anyone's technical issues, repeater issues and whatnot. About half the time there is a presentation. This seems fine to me. Honestly, growing the hobby is an individual effort IMO. Talk to your family members, talk to friends. When people come to the meetings be friendly. Tell them if they get licensed there is old equipment for them to use. The biggest barriers are financial and time. If you are going to pull people into 3 or 4 activities a months they won't come. Most people have no money for $2000-3000 of radio equipment either.
We talk money only once a year when club members vote on it. Let the board handle the business at other meetings, emails, etc.
My club (Echelford ARS) never do this. All business is dealt with on line or via quarterly committee meetings and plans are disseminated via e-mail, online forum, weekly nets and the monthly newsletter. All fortnightly meetings are based around activities (not necessarily on-air) and we always make a point to welcome guests and visitors on their arrival.
I agree, I've been thinking about how to separate the business part from the fun part. Ham Radio is supposed to be fun. Otherwise most people won't be or stay engaged. I've been thinking about how to get the guys to use Discord. It kind of reminds me of a Tanker ship, it takes a lot of effort and time to steer a large ship. I'm also relatively new to the club, so I want to understand their way of doing things better before offing any suggestions. Its a great group of guys, but we have to change some, or I'm afraid the club will go extinct.
I belonged to a club like that discussed business in a formal structure for about 6 months. I even gave a couple of talks. The club died, not because of my talks, I hope. I also belonged to a couple of other clubs which were very different. No business matters discussed at the club meetings, except once a year, at the AGM! Other stuff was confined to a single page in the club newsletter. Each meeting was different, there was an annual construction contest, talks and demos, some of them not even radio related.
My club has bimonthly business meetings and training in between. I personally done classes on D-STAR, YSF and HF Digital modes. Another local club asked me to do a class on data modes and done it for them as well.
What I think needs to happen is more training on different aspects of amateur radio. It's just just about contests and business meetings. Not everyone is interested in talking or cw all the time.
OMG, the AI generated pic at 0:36 onwards is scary. Look at all the fingers... Lovely video mate, thanks for all the effort you put into the hobby! 73, Jan M7HNK
Here in the state of Georgia, USA. There is hardly anyone on the air locally on 2m/70cm except 3-4 club members who have their own little discussions. They never respond to anyone who attempts to contact them. I am a member of the Civil Air Patrol and we teach some communications to the Cadets (12-17 years old) and Senior Members (adults). Due to my frustrations, I will be teaching Amateur Radio basics then take them to one of the local clubs for testing en masse…hoping to get 12-16 new operators on the air locally. Getting a lesson plan together,as well, to teach some basic electronics and radio beyond the Technician license to encourage these new operators to take the hobby farther. I am hoping to trigger the radio geek in some these folks since the sky is the limit in how far they can take it as a hobby/career. I will be encouraging them to check out the clubs and hoping those clubs will be receptive and mentor them farther, along with exposing them to the technology they are engaged in (and not just focus on business). Great video. Thanks. 73. de KM4UTV…Phil
There seems to be a LOT of GMRS operators in GA. They may not be your favorite, but they are on the air all the time
Returned to the hobby in 2017 and approached the chairman of the local club, his opening and only statement was "you can join us on our slow morse net on Tuesday evening, if you wish, what speed do you send at?" Needless to say I did not make any further contact. My interest in the hobby rests in the 21st century not in spark gap transmitters and CW speeds. Their loss.
I've seen too many clubs like the one Hayden mentioned. When this happens, they need a club coach. Hayden, Jason, and so many RUclipsrs are taking this responsibility.👍
I have really dropped of from radio in the last few year or so , the club politics drove me away
We had a local club which was really about meeting in a pub. It didn't last long.
We did one special event station from a small local railway museum once.
They were talking about activating a rare SOTA Square with 100 Watts and a petrol generator. No, you can't take petrol on the moors. I suggested QRP and batteries. It didn't happen.
I suggested a d.f. hunt and met with, "Who's he". It didn't happen.
G4GHB.
WE formed our club but has called it a radio association since the beginning in 1994. We have new hams every month. Many of us have come back due to POTA. We have the busiest repeaters in the middle ga area
Elect a board to handle club business in board meetings. In club meetings, have interesting, educational, entertaining programs. In one club meeting each year, elect officers and other board members.