ARRL - Dare to Imagine
January 5, 2020
Colin Butler
The ARRL CEO Howard E. Michel WB2ITX challenges radio amateurs to dare to imagine what amateur radio will look like in 2025 and beyond. Dare to imagine change
We can try to mould the future generation of hams to our image, or we can embrace new hams for what they are. ARRL needs to do the latter. We are now organizing our thinking around the concept of verticals — narrow markets or target niches — that will allow ARRL to provide each member what they want.
Traditional clubs are not the future of clubs. Young people now join causes, not clubs
Our focus will be on developing ways, and an infrastructure, that members can use to organize themselves in ways they want, to do things that they consider meaningful. I can see these new clubs organized to support special events such as a marathon; to engage in STEM education, or prepare for disasters. These types of clubs exist now, but they may need to conform to a set of rules designed for traditional clubs. Can we scrap the rules and provide meaningful support? To aid in this, club leadership could be another vertical. ARRL could provide training in soft skills, such as how to run a meeting or give an effective presentation.