Re: [IRCA] The idea of merging NRC/IRCA

[Paul Swearingen <plsbcbdxer@xxxxxxx>]

My comments below are made as the (new) NRC Board of Directors chairman.


First, the split, which occurred some 11 years before I joined the NRC and 15 or so years before I joined IRCA. In a nutshell, from what I've read in old bulletins (and oldtimers who were there, please correct me if I mis-state any facts) NRC was governed by a minority and chiefly by one person (I forget his title), and at the time the club consisted about 99% of DX News, so it was run like a corporation, which is pretty much what it was and continues to be today, although now many decisions are made by the board of directors who vote on issues - and often the vote is split.



Accusations were made that the club was not being democratically run, which was quite true, but the exchange became acrimonious to the point that several individuals split away from the NRC and named their group "National Radio Club, International" to which the original NRC objected strongly, so that eventually the club was renamed "IRCA". It's interesting to note that many NRC members immediately joined IRCA within a year or so of the formation of the new club, and it's my understanding that nowadays fewer than 50 or even 25 IRCA members do not belong to NRC, also.



The East/West division is somewhat of a myth, also, as several years ago we did a demographic study of NRC members, which revealed that more NRC members lived west of the Mississippi than the entire membership total of IRCA. But that was when the NRC had around 600 members, so that may be out of date now.




I've had numerous conversations with Phil Bytheway and other IRCA officials over the years - Phil and I have shared motel rooms at various conventions - about this topic, and it's obvious that there are deep differences as well as strong similarities between the clubs.


For one thing, IRCA is strictly a democratic organization. Everything is decided by votes, which are printed in DX Monitor, and eventually things get decided on (over a year in a case where I presented several proposals - sometimes the Democratic process is slow!).


Important decisions in the NRC are voted upon by the Board of Directors, who are appointed to their position by current BoD members. 


And … each club has survived nicely since 1961.


Should we consolidate for the reasons Les listed in another e-mail?


You know, today I had to go grocery shopping while this discussion popped up on the listserv. In Topeka, we have three large groceries - Dillon's, HyVee, and Walmart - and several smaller, really neighborhood-sized groceries. I chose one because I needed several items that the others didn't offer. Next time I'll go to another for the same reason.


I feel the same way about NRC and IRCA. I belong to both so that I can take advantage of each club's offerings, and I'd hate to see a merger attempt that would radically modify the structure of either club and rile up individuals.


(BTW the cost of a stand-alone subscription to e-DXN, which is available as a .pdf download but not as an e-mail attachment as is DX Monitor, is $15.00. Also, to try to hold down rising postage and printing costs, the BoD has proposed reducing the number of issues of the printed DXN to 20 from the current 30, although the content would remain the same, with time-value DX posts and station statuses posted on e-DXN between DXN issues.)


Wayne Heinen and I attended the IRCA Billings convention in 1994 (I believe that's the right year) when DX Monitor was in danger of being terminated. We made a proposal to merge DX Monitor with DX News - and were soundly rebuffed. End of that discussion, and we haven't tried to reopen it or any merger talks since. Nevertheless, any time anyone from the IRCA BoD wants to discuss a merger, we're happy to talk.


BTW - I'm surprised that someone hasn't stated the exact facts in the case of this year's IRCA convention, which are simply that John Johnson wanted to bid Billings for a 50th-anniversary IRCA convention and simply wasn't interested in bringing in NRC, WTFDA, or other clubs. And that's quite understandable, not to mention that a joint convention is quite an undertaking. So far, no one in NRC has expressed any interest in hosting a convention. Period. (And for the record, I cannot remember competing convention bids since the St. Charles convention in … 1979?)


So … continue the discussion. But let's make sure that future comments are as civil as they have been -Paul Swearingen, IRCA member and NRC BoD chairman




-----Original Message-----
From: Les Rayburn <les@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Mike Sanburn <mikesanburn@xxxxxxxxxxx>; am <am@xxxxxxxxxxx>; irca <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thu, Mar 13, 2014 2:40 pm
Subject: Re: [IRCA] CQ Communications & The idea of merging NRC/IRCA


Honestly, I need to terminate my participation in the discussion at this 
point. My perception is that a few hard-liners on the BoD on one or both 
clubs are the ones standing in the way of what is common sense to many 
members. We're up to about twenty e-mails on the topic so far, and still 
no one can or will state what the original issues were, or how they 
relate today.

Frankly, Mike, I'm not interested in the feelings of the Board of 
Directors on this issue. I'm interested in someone presenting some facts 
that will help me understand what the problem was, and possibly still 
is. If those can be articulated, I might change my point of view. 
Otherwise, it just looks like an entrenched position situation.

As for people who "stand up for their heritage". I'm a Southerner, and 
proud of it. But I share no heritage with men who fought to protect an 
economic system that enslaved other human beings. History judged them 
wrong, and justly so. That the symbol of that rebellion causes people of 
color pain and outrage is no surprise to me. Anyone who displays it is 
ignorant at best, and racist at worst.

And with that, I'll terminate my participation in this discussion.

73,

Les Rayburn, N1LF
Proud Member of both the IRCA and NRC.


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