Greetings to the board of HamWAN
I recently applied to board membership. I apologize if my initial request was somewhat vague, as that was intentional.
Nigel then requested a "short blurb" to assist the group in making an informed decision. I complied, albeit somewhat lacking in context. Now that the initial tumult has subsided, I will attempt to fill in some of the blanks.
1. Technical skills are severely lacking. I am but a student and some might even consider that my meager skills and knowledge make me dangerous. I am constantly in awe of the level of expertise on the board of HamWAN, and seriously doubt that I could ever really contribute to the network administration
2. My other skills and experience in business and management might be of interest to the board of HamWAN. I have advised Ryan Turner when he was starting Memphis HamWAN on several issues concerning finance and accounting. Due to client confidentiality issues, no detail will be available unless he desires to share. However, when Ryan was putting together his advisory team, he apparently did a background search and discovered that I hold Washington CPA certificate #13854. Yes, I am a CPA(inactive).
3. the above reference to honorifics reminds me that I can put more letters after my name than I have in my name, if I choose to do so. That would appear something like the following:
Marc A Lacy, CPA(inactive), CMA, MBA, MSgt USAF retired.
All of this occurred before I became KD7RYY Amateur Extra. As some of you may recall, I served as ARES District 4 DEC for 12 years.
4. The issue arose as to what have I been doing lately. Well, in addition to supporting HamWAN at every opportunity, such as the setting up at Meshapaloosa the HamWAN equipment that Tom Hayward brought and the installation at Larch Mountain, and linking my own equipment to Larch, not too much. There has not been much activity in this geographic area as far as HamWAN. There have, however, been many other projects such as the restoration of the Collins TCS-12 receiver located on PT658, the build out of the physical gigabit wired network for PT658, the starting of an amateur radio club on LCI713 for operation during the Museum Ships on-the-air annual event etc. There was no real shortage of things to do until we got corona'd.
5. Darcy has raised the issue, as have many others in the past, about not for profit governance. This is something that HamWAN needs to take a look at. My experience with not for profit entities is extensive, and includes serving a term on the board of the WSCPA's in Bellevue. My current involvement includes serving as the treasurer for a veterans not for profit organization in Vancouver, Voiture99 of the organization "40 et 8" . This group, up until March 17, 2020, was producing 30% of the bingo gambling revenue in the state of Washington.
Now I expect that with a little bit more explanation, some of the board may see that there is some use to be made of this basket of skills and experience. Going forward, I would like to see the Board of HamWAN develop and publish a more detailed plan for expansion. The physical plant has grown to the point over time that maintenance and upgrades need to be planned for and funded. Therefore, in addition to a plan, a fiscal plan is needed, to include sourcing money either through donations or financing or grants. This brings me to the point that prompted me to "Jump In". That point being the recent discussion concerning grants from the money acquired by AMPR selling off addresses.
I would like to remind everyone that it has been reported recently that there is cocaine residue on nearly every $20.00, $50.00, and $100.00 bill in circulation. Because that money is tainted, are you not going to accept it as currency? Money is money.
So back to the need for a 5 year plan, to include grants and donations: where you going to get funding? what is the growth rate of HamWAN? Can the growth be sustained using the current financial model? What external sources of funding are available? Would it be possible for HamWAN clients to get grants from this tainted pool of money and increase demand for HamWAN far beyond the capabilities of the current financial model?
Well, there it is. The Board of HamWAN has some serious thinking and planning to do. I would suggest that the board go on a retreat somewhere, turn off your technology, and figure this stuff out. As soon as possible.
Now for the recommendation of Bart. I greatly respect your opinion. I do not wish to become a part of another organization board that is fraught with contentiousness. The most common failure of any organization is succession planning. That is what is implied in the shark tank when the potential investors ask "what is your exit strategy? ( BTW in a past lifetime i was the CFO for a DOTCOMM startup.)Eventually a startup will grow beyond the abilities of its founders to be managed effectively. When that happens, the founders need to take a serious look at how to structure for a larger organization. In my opinion, HamWAN has reached or will soon reach that critical mass.
Bottom line - I withdraw my application for board member for now. I offer my support in any way the board desires to make use of my skills, and I may consider applying in the future.
