Glen Zook wrote:
Calling "blaming" the website problems a "cop out" is not a true statement, at least in my opinion. Yes, there are "other" ways of exchanging information with the various persons involved with AMSAT. However, those "other" ways are not always apparent nor are those methods readily available to everyone. Then there is the problem of knowing just which person in the organization is responsible for the subject of the correspondence. Contacting the "wrong" person will at least delay the exchange and sometimes result in no exchange at all.
It's obvious we disagree. Presumably anyone with a computer to look at the webpage will have a phone, and can see the big 1 888 322 6728 number on the top right of EVERY page. They can, if they have a web browser, and go to the leadership page and send an email. They can take note of the callsign of an officer and send an email to callsign@amsat.org. They can send an email to officers@amsat.org, or bod@amsat.org, just as easily as they can to amsat-bb. They can even send a letter or a fax, and believe it or not, we still get both. For some of us, you can even ask us over the radio!
The type of volunteer we need is a self-motivated doer that doesn't need handholding or spoonfeeding, and that has extremely thick skin if they read the -bb unfortunately. They also need to finish what they start. That type of volunteer isn't stymied by a broken web-link. They just get it done. Mike is one of our best examples, he has earned the right to voice his opinion on the topic at the end of a soldering iron building tracker boxes by the dozen.
Thanks for writing the article for the Journal. It's obvious you can walk the walk, so don't take my opinion on this topic too personally. The topic is somewhat moot anyways, as that particular form has been fixed. Considering we don't charge anyone anything for anything we do other than the Journal, it's really surprising to see so much griping over free stuff.
73, Drew KO4MA