American Clubs Collabrate
/The West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group (WPBARG) and the Fair Lawn (NJ) Amateur Radio Club (FLARC) have agreed to a unique partnership in sharing ideas, activities, and best practices to better encourage the growth and development of each other’s amateur radio club.
“This relationship, while informal, has the potential to address a number of issues and ideas that we as a club could not do alone. There are local issues that we face that are no different than all amateur radio clubs – promoting amateur radio in our communities, finding, and retaining new members while keeping them engaged. We hope that this experiment will enable us to learn from each and help to address these issues so that we can both benefit as a result. WPBARG also operates from a location (a science center) that brings exposure to amateur radio that we can learn more about.”
“As amateur radio operators, each of us has a responsibility to the hobby and our community, and to be good ambassadors of both. We see this venture as a wonderful way to leverage that and to grow this unique fellowship of amateur radio. As this is uncharted territory for our organization, we welcome input on how better to reach these goals. Whatever fruit this may or may not bear, we are grateful for the opportunity.”
WPBARG (http://www.wpbarg.com) currently has approximately eighty members and meets regularly at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach. FLARC (http://www.fairlawnarc.org) has approximately 175 members and has a clubhouse as part its association with the Borough of Fair Lawn. Both clubs are visible within their communities, and each brings its own set of diverse assets to the experiment. WPBARG recently shared a program on radio balloons built by local students with the assistance of WPBARG club members with FLARC.
The first planned steps are to increase overall contact with each other on a regular basis via meetings, exchanges of communications and the development of a potential joint program or project. The informal agreement will last for one year.
Local clubs, of course, do get together on projects, but this is believed to be the first planned experiment in mutual development between clubs separated geographically, by size and by club culture.
