Chuck and all WISP operators,
You have done a great job attracting members to the WISPA Motorola List. It definitely is the most used list at our resources which speaks highly of quality of the knowledge based shared by Moto and non-Moto WISPs that populate this list. I would like to invite all Moto List subscribers and all WISPs who are not presently WISPA Members (paid dues) to join today. To do so, go to http://signup.wispa.org and fill out the form. WISP dues are $250/year if paid annually. This is a small price to pay for the use of these list resources and other lists which are defined as “members only”. We also have a “members only” WIKI, which contains a wealth of information and is growing in its resources on a daily basis. The WISPA association has made great leaps and bounds in the last few years in our lobbying efforts and member services. We have been able to do so because we have been very diligent and efficient with our Dues revenue. I congratulate the Board and the membership for making this happen with much volunteerism abound. Currently WISPA has: 215 Principal WISP members….$53,750 in revenue 27 Associate members……………,,$2700 in revenue 66 Vendor members………………$66,000 in revenue Total………………………………………$122,450 in revenue What many WISPs do not realize is that many of the Vendor members have discounts available to WISPA members which will more than pay for the annual dues. They do so to encourage WISPs to join our effort to support the industry (since the Board are all WISPs or WISP Vendors themselves). I think you will find that most members feel very good about the dues donation they make each year and feel that it is a very good investment, not only for the knowledge and resources gained through WISPA, discounts from Vendors, friendships with other WISPs but also the massive undertaking of both financial and labor resources which come with any strong lobbying effort. Therefore, when I see Chuck post that the Motorola list has 347 members and I know that many of the paid members of WISPA are non-Moto users, I realize that we are still not doing a good enough job selling the worthiness of WISPA membership to this group. I don’t believe we should have more Vendor revenue that Prinicipal Member revenue. The Vendors recognize the potential of this partnership and grassroots effort more than our industry participants. Why is this? I am not trying to lay a guilt trip on anyone here. Each business needs to make these decisions individually and I realize that often times, cash flow is tight and that $250 payment tends to be pushed off for another day. Please don’t let that be an obstacle as we have several payment plans to minimize any negative cash flow issues. We have a monthly dues plan at $25/month and a semi-annual plan at $135/month. There are several operators who take advantage of these plans and they can be set up on an automatic payment plan to make it easy to budget. What I AM trying to do, is to shed light on the many efforts WISPA does to support each and every WISP in the industry and to encourage each of you to do your part financially. Please recognize the many hours of effort which is volunteered by your fellow WISPs in committee work, FCC trips, lobbying efforts and so forth. WISPA has responded to the following FCC NOI’s and NPRM’s this year alone. I think you will see the professionalism and time it takes to make these comments and filings. I applaud Jack Unger and the FCC Committee for their fine work. While each filing might not be agreed upon 100% by each WISP, please understand that we are working for a vast group of operators (WISPA members or not) spread over the entire United States. 2/11/2009 Form 477 Extension Request Filing <http://wiki.wispa.org/images/4/46/Form_477_Extension_Request_5_.pdf> Media:Form_477_Extension_Request_5_.pdf 2/12/2009 Form 477 Comments Filing <http://wiki.wispa.org/images/e/e6/WISPA_Form_477_Comments.pdf> Media:WISPA_Form_477_Comments.pdf 5/19/2009 White Spaces Reply Comments Filing <http://wiki.wispa.org/images/0/0b/Whitespaces_Reply_Comments.PDF> Media:Whitespaces_Reply_Comments.PDF 6/8/2009 National Broadband Plan Comments Filing <http://wiki.wispa.org/images/5/58/National_Broadband_Plan_Comments_DOC06080 9-009.pdf> Media:National_Broadband_Plan_Comments_DOC060809-009.pdf 8/4/2009 Form 477 Data Confidentiality Filing <http://wiki.wispa.org/images/f/f4/WISPA_Form_477_Data_Confidentiality_Filin g.pdf> Media:WISPA_Form_477_Data_Confidentiality_Filing.pdf 9/30/2009 WISPA Comments on Fostering Innovation and Investment in the Wireless Communications Market <http://wiki.wispa.org/images/7/73/DOC093009-009.pdf> Media:DOC093009-009.pdf 10/23/2009 WISPA Comments on National Broadband Plan (Spectrum for Broadband) <http://wiki.wispa.org/images/c/ca/WISPA_Comments_NBP_-6-1.pdf> Media:WISPA_Comments_NBP_-6-1.pdf We have budgeted nearly $50,000 in legal and writing fees for the flood of new FCC NOI’s and NPRM’s which are scheduled in the next three months. Therefore, we need more membership and your help. We are also in the process of planning several Operator trips to Washington, DC and recently we have begun planning and researching a WISPA Trade Show, hopefully in the spring of 2010. All of these ventures take additional financial resources and we need to stimulate WISPA membership to meet these goals. Understand that if we don’t stand up for ourselves in the rapidly changing telecommunications/Internet environment, our industry will be ignored when decisions are made in DC. We must continue to improve our lobbying efforts and industry support. We need your HELP! Recently, I had a conference call with several Team members of the FCC. They need to evaluate the costs associated with WISP deployments for the National Broadband Plan. They have looked to WISPA to help with this and we are going to be conducting a survey of the industry members to help us provide accurate data. Our competition is doing this efficiently and effectively, therefore, we MUST do this as well. I understand the wide variability of WISP deployments makes this a difficult task, but nevertheless it is needed information. In this conversation, they also pointed out that they have very little mapping data and Form 477 data from which to establish our industry penetration. I want to encourage everyone to go to <http://wispdirectory.com/> http://wispdirectory.com/ and document your business and coverage areas. This information will be sent to Brian Webster so that we can fill in the National Map accurately with more Yellow Areas of coverage. There is much work to be done and little time to do it. We also (the Board) want to hear from you on what we can do better and what services you desire. We will do our best to grant your wishes. Email bo...@wispa.org if you want to contact us directly. The Board of Directors is currently: Rick Harnish President Great American Broadband Elizabeth Bowles Vice President Aristotle.Net Todd Bergstrom Secretary 3dB Matt Larsen Treasurer Vistabeam Tom DeReggi Board Member RapidDSL Jack Unger Board Member Ask-Wi.Com Marlon Schafer Board Member Odessa Office Forbes Mercy Board Member Washington Broadband Dennis Burgess Board Member Link Technologies Respectfully, Rick Harnish President WISPA From: motorola-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:motorola-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Chuck McCown - 3 Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 12:02 PM To: Motorola Canopy User Group Subject: [Motorola II] Mot list 347 members on this list now No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.423 / Virus Database: 270.14.40/2471 - Release Date: 10/31/09 07:53:00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! 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