Mission Statement

PARC Officer Election 2012 Candidate for Presidency 12/6/2012 Geoffrey Wolf PARC Candidate for Presidency Fellow PARC Members, Its yet another end to a busy year for myself and all of us at PARC. Weve had a fantastic year. We saw the completion of the installation of our SteppIR 40-6m Yagi antenna, and the opening of a new (albeit temporary) operating shack on the 11th floor of Benedum Hall. W3YI is now back on HF and has been active in the past couple of months participating in a couple of popular contests. Im hopeful that we will receive recognition for our participation in the Sweepstakes contests in ARRLs QST magazine (and maybe a plaque?). I want to thank everyone who was involved in getting us back on the air, working towards a future of a great amateur radio presence here at the University of Pittsburgh. Thank you Juan Manfredi (NA0B) for working with the administration to give us the opportunity to operate a truly world class radio station. Thank you Bryan, KB3VKE, our current President for leading the work to finish up the antenna installation and prepare our new shack, along with the help of Rich Colwell, WA3QKX. Thank you Harry, W3YJ, for your continued support for the club as an alumni member and for representing PARC and the University of Pittsburgh in all of the digital EMCOMM work that you do. For anyone I havent mentioned that contributed towards our success, again, thank you. Its time to start talking about the future of the club. Its no secret that our current membership base is not what we want or need it to be. Without a strong and active student membership base in the club, the club is not answering for all of the gifts it has been given by the University (mainly, our club station in Benedum Hall). This is no easy problem to fix. The world of amateur radio has been cast a shadow upon by modern wireless telecommunications, most notably, the cell phone and the Internet; Even more so in a young college student oriented environment. At the same time, amateur radio has evolved as well. I dont think I need to go into depth here since most of you already know what the picture is. What we need to do as an organization is take advantage of the change in amateur radio, what it has to offer, and show the student body that

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getting an amateur radio license and becoming active in the club is beneficial for everyone (the individual and the hobby). Since Im asking for the opportunity to spearhead this effort as the clubs president, theres some things that I want to do in the coming year. First, we need to hold an open house. I would work towards setting a date for this open house (probably sometime early in the Spring semester), getting the station ready to be presentable to the University, and getting the word out through advertising on campus, through the Pitt News, strategically posted flyers, and through the Internet. A one off, highly publicized event like this should give us something to work with. However, it wouldnt end here. Activism for the club and amateur radio isnt something you can do just once and awhile. It requires a constant commitment. The best strategy we can take is to increase our presence on campus in every way we can. Im talking about making sure flyers are continually visible in high traffic areas, keeping a presence online (Reddit/Twitter/Website?), opening our station weekly for student and faculty to come by and visit, and also increasing our clubs presence in the national/worldwide amateur radio community through participation in contests, emergency communications drills, and other events. Without going into too much detail (and thus making this extremely long), Im presenting a list of goals of mine as a potential club president (not in order of importance): Number One: Membership (get membership roles up again through ways Ive described, and through suggestions of yours). Inventory and consolidate our stations equipment (selling what we dont need) to add some financial security for the club. Change our current meeting format to something less demanding and more encouraging. (My idea is a business meeting monthly or bi-weekly (Im also thinking of something like Skyviews Elmer Night), and open station hours every week). Overhaul our clubs online presence. (Website needs some serious work, possibly an alternative. Twitter account needs to get going again. Gain access to our QRZ.com page and add content. Get LoTW going). Start a monthly newsletter to chronicle the clubs activity. Theres already enough activity within the club that we could summarize and publish monthly. (This one is undoubtedly going to be a lot of work, but I would take the bulk of it).

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Encourage the licensing process through license classes/study sessions and a licensing exam held at Pitt every semester (weve done this before and had success). Encourage the competitive atmosphere of amateur radio contesting and DXing. (While not everyone is a contester, I want to get those interested in it trained and on the air as part of a contesting team). Finish up the prospective work that we have planned for the repeater (replacement antenna). Get our QSL and DX awards activities going again. Probably going to need to get funding for some new QSL cards, retrieving cards from the bureau, and a way to get cards back to people (probably through semesterly shipments to the bureau or direct if SASE). Definitely going to need QRZ.com access to get this going. Finish up work that yet needs to be done with the equipment in the station (explore the possibility of an amplifier installation, add VHF/UHF Digi capability, optimize our APRS digi setup, set some standards for station operation and QSO logging). Look for ways to establish meaningful relationships with the areas amateur radio presence (area clubs, organizations). Look for ways to integrate with the university community as a whole through support of other student clubs and organizations, affiliation with the universitys academic body, offer our EMCOMM preparedness skills to the University (Pitt Police, etc.) Most importantly, facilitate to the best of my ability, the organization of events and activities that you guys, the club members, want to do as a club.

Im looking forward to an exciting new year for the club. Theres a lot to do and very little time so I want to make the best of that time. I know I wont be able to achieve everything that I want to accomplish as the clubs president, but I give you my promise that I will do the best that I can to ensure the clubs security in the future.

Thank You, 73

Geoffrey Wolf

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AB3LS Vice President - PARC

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