From: Jeff Clark NY4N 
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 20:40:08 EST
To: Tennessee Contest Group 
Subject: [TCG] Jan TCG 2002 Meeting Minutes (long and possibly confusing)

I am looking forward in serving as the TCG EA for 2002. I am by no means 
perfect, so if anyone finds a mistake or any other flaw in Meeting minutes 
during my tenure, please advise me by e-mail. The problem will be fixed and 
also made available to the Group for their information.


The Tennessee Contest Group's first meeting of the 2002 year took place at 
the Old Country Buffet at Hendersonville 5 January. The following signed the 
guest log and was in attendance:

KE4OAR           Chuck
K0EJ                 Mark
W4TDB             Vollie
K4BEV              Don
WD4K               Tommy
Wo4o                Ric
AF4QB              Becky
NY4N                Jeff
KB5YJC            Michael
W1KLM             Kevin
WB9BSH           Jerry
N4YQ                Jeff
K4XDX               Tim
K1KY                Tom
N4KN                Ira
N5NW               Marty
N7DLS              Dan
W9WI               Doug
W4NI                 Russ
KG4ENY           Robert
K3CQ                Bill
WB4LHO           Dave

(If any were left out, or forgot to sign the roster sheet, please advise me)

2001 Facilitator, Chuck, KE4OAR, opened the meeting a little after 4 PM by 
asking of any old business. The following was acted upon:

The floor was opened for the nomination for the 2002 Facilitator. Dan Skaggs, 
N7DLS, was the only one nominated. He was elected.

The floor was opened for the nomination for the 2002 Executive Assistant. 
Jeff Clark, NY4N, was the only one nominated and was elected.

New Business brought several minutes of discussion. The first item dealt with 
TCG membership. It was brought to the Group's attention that of the 63 full 
members listed on the roster, 19 may not have met the Group's requirement of 
two meetings and two submitted scores. After K1KY went over roster, the 
majority were new members, in their first year, but a few did fail to meet 
the set goals. 

Member NN4T, through K1KY, asked for a waiver be granted for his two and two 
Group requirement, as stated in the current constitution. After a vote from 
the Group, the waiver was granted.

The first topic. Membership requirements. The new Constitution will have to 
deal with the fact, as it stands now, by applying for a new membership, then 
deciding to leave the Group, and then reapplying for a new membership at a 
later date, a person could actually hold full membership, with voting rights, 
without accomplishing the two meeting and two contest submissions 
requirement. The Group agreed this loophole needs to be filled.

Another topic. If a member meets one of the two requirements, but not both, 
should that person be excluded from full membership status? Except by a 
wavier, voted on and passed by the Group at a meeting, this person did not 
meet all requirements and therefore, would be excluded. This, of course, 
would not apply if this was his first year as a member.

At this point, K0EJ, Mark, graciously volunteered to be a one-man 
Constitutional Committee, and revamp certain parts of the document. He had 
many volunteers for assistance, but Mark decided this needs to be a one man 
job. 

Mark will spend the time and work necessary on the Constitution to fulfill 
the new needs of the Group as we continue to grow and prosper. He is looking 
at a target date of 1 June, 2002, for completion, but feels it may be 
finished earlier. He will provide a copy of the updated version to all 
members to study. Then, a meeting date will be decided, where the membership 
can vote on whether to accept it as is, veto it, or make changes to specific 
areas. 

The second topic dealt with meetings, what are and what is not considered a 
meeting. It was a concern that, for example, three TCG members gathered at 
old Bob's house to eat Bar B Que and talk antennas, may not qualify for a 
meeting because it did not deal with TCG business, and may not encourage 
others to join TCG or become interested in contesting in general.

But others felt like this actually did serve this purpose, a Multi-Op weekend 
at the W4CAT house, for example, did much in encouraging participation in TCG 
sponsored contests and honing skills of operators participating. 

Also, per the consensus, the Group only needs one or two business meeting a 
year to take care of said business, which includes elections of officers and 
passing, deleting, adding or changing Group policy. As is stands now, the 
meeting requirements will remain as they are in the present constitution. 
This may be an area that will be upgraded or changed in the new constitution. 
(See section 3 of the By-laws on the TCG Web Page for present requirements).
 
Other items mentioned. An updated list of members that have met the TCG 
requirements and hold full voting rights should be posted on the Web page 
before any business meeting takes place.

It was also brought to the attention of the Group that the Tennessee QSO 
Party should be added to the ARRL, CQ, and NCJ contests as those that count 
for credit as score submissions to be in good standing with the TCG, and meet 
eligibility requirements for membership.

Other items not discussed was the abilty for TCG members to be able to vote 
electronicly, especially those who live in the fringe of the ARRL zone. This 
may also be dealt with in the new constitution.

Also, a date may soon be set for the 2002 Tennessee QSO Party.

Respectfully submitted,  
Jeff   NY4N   2002 EA

Please feel free to post your opinions about the TCG and the direction it 
needs to take in the future on the reflector for all members to see. The 
posts on the reflector in the past few weeks have done much in helping the 
TCG to prepare for what appears to be a wonderful and bright future, IMHO. 

------------------

My bad. Please make the following correction to the 2002 Jan 5 TCG meeting 
minutes.

K0EJ, Mark, graciously volunteered to be a one-man Constitutional Committee, 
and revamp certain parts of the document. He had many volunteers for 
assistance, but Mark decided this needs to be a one man job. 

This portion of the minutes are incorrect. Mark is going to take care of the 
revamping of the TCG constitution, but is going to assemble a committee on 
his own, using present TCG personel and past officers.

My mistake. All TCG members please make note of the revision. 73  Jeff  NY4N.