[Steven Smith]

Have you meet your ARRL Section Manager?

by the ARRL North Texas Section Manager
Steven Lott Smith KG5VK
KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

I was really impressed by the layout and the way the Big Picture article explained
Emergency Communication and the ARRL Field Organization structure with relevance to the theme of that issue.
I have been looking for a somewhat in-depth explanation of what the ARRL Field Organization is and how understanding it might help our ARRL members, get more from their membership in the ARRL.
So here is my attempt to help our members understand just one area of field services, the section manager. Page 16 of any recent vintage QST is titled
ARRL Section Managers and has a list of each ARRL Section by ARRL Divisions they are under,
Alphabetical by Division and again by Section.
The Top of the Page right under the tittle explains the ARRL Field structure
However, little depth on just what a Section Manager does, other than being your first contact if you need assistance with a local issue, have news from your local club that you wish to share etc.

If you google the question, “what does an ARRL Section Manager do”
you will probably find this from the ARRL Website….

“Supervises the activities of the section-level staff, monitors the performance of the Field Organization volunteers, and provides guidance as necessary to ensure that appointees act in the best interests of Amateur Radio and in accordance with ARRL policies.”

Fact is what each ARRL Section manager does for the members within their Section is widely varied between the personality of those Section Managers, I will agree that almost every SM meets those minimum requirements, however I would expect more from my SM as an ARRL member and therefore I strive to deliver much more to my members than just an email contact and phone number if they have news to share or local issues to address to a faceless name.
Being retired military, I was looking for the Book of Directives for Section Managers
and found The ARRL Section Managers Workbook which has about 121 pages of text.
Of course this book is provided to every new Section Manager shortly before they take office and there is a three day orientation course, prior to COVID this course was held at ARRL Headquarters, allowing new SM’s to have the honor of operating W1AW during the last half of the final day, and what a privilege that was, currently new SMs get their orientation via a Zoom conference.

While I have been licensed since 1972 and lived within more that few ARRL Sections, it was always a mystery as to what a Section Manager (SM) did for us members until I lived in the Louisiana Section I had never even meet a SM, back then that was Gary Stratton K5GLS and talk about a refreshing experience meeting Gary of course living in one state finally for more than a few years I met many other fellow amateur radio ops, including the now current SM for Louisiana, John Mark Robertson K5JMR. John Mark has always been one that believes in serving others, many years ago he retired from serving with the Louisiana Highway patrol, he provides his members much more that a faceless name.

Every SM that I am aware of inherits a team of field volunteers, from the incumbent
most of us work with those team members and eventually add members of our own.
Soon we have our own team with a blend of old and new field team members.
You can become a part of that team, simply contact your SM and chat with them about what position(s) they have available and where your talents and experience with Ham Radio are. Just drop your SM an email to start that discussion. I encourage you to be a part of your ARRL Section Management Team.

Maybe you don’t see where your SM is doing enough for you and your fellow members,
in that case I recommend you decide to step up to the plate and run for the job as the Sections new SM.
However, if you run for the job as a SM, do so with a game plan on how you will improve things and do it better for more people within your section. Sections managers serve Two years per term, announcements solicitating those that wish to run for the position is found in QST in the January and October issues for those that take office in April and January respectively. For a detailed list of the responsibilities of a SM look at http://arrl.org/section-manager

I set goals for myself often as the SM for our members, I fall off target with my goals at times, showing I must get back on track and do more. My number one goal has always been serving our members like I would want to be, if I was not the SM. Number two reward members within our Section, we do this by accepting nominations for an ARRL NTX Ham of the Year. We also created a new award, Certificate of Citation awarded by nominations received from fellow ARRL members within the section. Our section management staff averages over thirty FD site visits each year, 2020 was an exception due to COVID, personally I strive to visit more than ten sites. Then there are club meetings we attend throughout our section and all ARRL sponsored Hamfest within our section. In neighboring sections I strive to visit a few each year, allowing me fellowship with other SM teams.

My vision for what a good SM provides is, Connection to Fellow ARRL Members
at their level, where they live in their own community, not just by way of telephone or email
Of course with COVID this has become more of a challenge in some regard it has become even easier because they are having their club meetings by way of teleconferences, so once invited to join
I meet them at their virtual meetings, versus face to face. However, I much prefer the in-person interaction at meetings and Hamfest. Integral person to person meeting with every club in North Texas is challenging, Texas is a big state, even just within North Texas we have 68 counties spread from the Ok and Louisiana borders to as far south as Belton, Texas.

In my first 9 months as the North Texas SM, I went through a brand-new set of tires on my truck, but I have been having a blast meeting fellow amateurs and listening to their concerns. I also enjoy having a great dialogue with our ARRL Division Director, John Robert Stratton N5AUS and I communicate almost weekly, some weeks daily.
Is being a Section Manager for everyone, obviously not and maybe that is why we frequently see the same person in the position for more than a few terms and even people running unopposed for the position. I encourage you to run for the position if you and your family feel you have the time to devote to it. Set yourself some goals and see what the members have to say within your section, every ARRL member deserves someone working for them that has the heart and stamina for the position as their

ARRL Section Manager.
Have you met your ARRL Section Manager?

NOTE: I wrote the above and submitted to the ARRL for possible inclusion in either QST or On The Air magazine
In September of 2021
It never saw Print, so I am now sharing with a few clubs, with hopes my info helps others gain a better understanding of the ARRL and it’s Field Positions.

I will of course gladly entertain any questions anyone has.
Simply drop me an email and or ask here in the forum, so others gain more info.
KG5VK@ARRL.ORG

By the way the first of this Month (April 2023) I began serving my Third term as your ARRL North Texas Section Manager

73 Steve KG5VK

 

[Steven Smith]

I posted this back in April (April 25, 2023)
I am surprised there have been no comments or questions as of yet.

I guess that means I covered the topic well.

Cheers!

Steve KG5VK

[Author]

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