Blush
Thanks John! I'm still glad you were willing to belly up to the bar and put
forth the work to start a WISP trade association v4.0.
From time to time, people ask what's so special about WISPA, I'd like to
voice some of that now. That way you guys can pass it along to more of
those that haven't joined yet....
WISPA is actually my 4th attempt at a trade association for our industry.
It started with Rick Haskins (not Harnish) back in 2001 or so. Rick worked
his tail off, got the support of Tim Downs with Broadband Wireless World
Forum. He didn't, however, get enough support from operators like me. I
think, looking back, that the timing was just wrong. Too few of us had any
idea what to do, when to do it, or how to pay for it. Too few of us had any
disposable income at all back then. We also had no time at all. It was,
believe it or not, worse then than it is today. Now we CAN move out time
commitments around a bit if need be.
Next up was the WCA and it's License Exempt Alliance (LEA). The WCA is a
commercial trade org and follows the money. I'll never forget when the WCA
filed on the mix and match components NPRM and said that amps should NOT be
allowed to be mixed and matched. In the end the FCC actually stiffened the
rules about amps in our networks. Mike Young from YDI seemed to be the only
one on the conference call that I was on that was in favor of the amp rule
as proposed, and he got his way. I'm guessing that he paid more money to
the association and did more of the FCC filing work etc. Oh yeah, last I
knew he's not even in the industry anymore!
In third place we have Part-15.org. I helped as much as I could with that
one too. I even joined at one point. P15 was started by, operated by, and
owned by Mike Anderson. I didn't have a problem with that in it's self, but
I thought we needed an association that was owned by us, not one person.
This point was driven home in one FCC filing, I don't remember which one,
but I do remember that the p15 stance was clearly bad for WISPs. I found
out later that Mike Young had written that filing too. Again, it went
against what most of us in the business had said over and over that we
wanted. Yet our voice was like peeing on a forest fire. Made us feel
better but didn't do a damned bit of good in the end.
Then, as I stood in an airport, waiting for my flight I got a phone call.
It was an ugly brute of a man I'd met a time or two and almost liked
(roflol). OK, I'd grown to both respect and, more importantly to me, like
John Scrivner. We must have talked for at least an hour. I wish I could
remember what airport I was in. I can still remember that I was at the very
end of the jetway, far out in the sticks terminal wise. I remember John
saying that he thought we did indeed need a trade association and he'd be
willing to try to get one rolling. I told him that I didn't have time to
run anything but if he'd step up to the plate and give it a go I'd do what I
could to help him. By the end of the call it was all settled, we'd round up
some others and see what we could get accomplished.
Some days I'm sure John regrets that conversation. I was the one that
really pushed for Brett Glass to be a part of the founding committee. I
reasoned that it would insulate us from much criticism about being a good
ol' boys club etc. (We were, after all, still reeling from finding out that
the non-profit p15 was in fact a for profit corp all along.) Well, that
turned out to be rotten advice. A pot stirrer will stir the pot no matter
what you do. Lesson learned.
I'd spent quite a bit of time at the FCC by this time. I'd gotten to know
much of the leadership there and some of the policy folks. I'd been told,
many a time, that ISP associations had very little credibility at the
FCC/government level, even though the FCC preferred to deal with trade
associations. They liked the associations because much of the squabbling
gets dealt with long before people show up at the Commission. That makes
their job much easier. They don't like ISP associations because about the
time the associations get big enough to have an impact, one of the big
operators will come in and take over making this "trade association" really
nothing more than another lobbying arm of the incumbents. Knowing this, we
set up a conference call with one of the top policy people at the FCC
(Robert Cannon). I know John and I were on the call, not sure if anyone
else made it or not. We learned a number of specific things that the FCC
looks at when judging how much credibility it's going to give to a trade
association. We then specifically worked such things into our by-laws.
That's why our board ALWAYs has to be made up of a majority of WISPs. Yet,
we also welcome vendors, pundits and anyone else that's interested in our
industry to the board. I hope one day to see Steve Stroh, Patrick Leary,
Peter R. and several others on the board. They too, are pieces of this
great industry of ours. Today all members have the same pull within the
association. All you have to do is convince enough others that you have a
good idea and then run with it. I have no more and no less pull within
WISPA than any other member, including EarthLink. Y'all knew that EL is a
member right? We're getting people's attention folks.
Now, at the risk of offending a few members of the new board I'm going to
toss out some advice that I didn't feel I could spout while on the board.
You guys have been trusted by those of us that know you. We've placed out
businesses, futures, and in some cases our houses partially in your hands.
Don't take that lightly. Don't offer to do things that you know you won't
do. Don't join/start committees and then do nothing with them. Don't offer
to take on projects and rolls then leave them hanging undone. We don't care
how busy you are, we're all busy. If you are too busy to pull your weight,
resign and let the board put one of the other candidates in your place.
There's NOTHING wrong with being too busy to get deeply involved with WISPA.
You have to keep your company healthy first. But do NOT use a seat on the
board or any committees as a resume pad. Do NOT offer to do things for the
rest of us and then not get them done. This is a real issue with the board
and it needs to stop. I hated watching people take on tasks that I knew
weren't going to get done. I have a suggestion for you guys. When a board
member is assigned a task, publicize it. Let the membership know what the
board is doing and who'd supposed to be doing it. The membership has always
asked for more information, this would be a good start. Then, if a job
isn't getting done the membership can make more informed votes next year.
It's been great being a part of WISPA. Clear back to, what, 2003? Heck, we
spent 18 months just writing the by-laws! What's it been John, 3 or 4 of us
from day one? Putting our time and cash into WISPA? Then, when we thought
we had a good foundation set, and people had had time to look over the
by-laws we GAVE it all to the industry. Our reputations, our time, our
ideas and our energy. NO one can say that WISPA is a good ol' boys club.
We're all owners here. We're all here because we WANT to be here. I'm not
leaving WISPA, I'm just letting someone else step up to the plate to take a
swing at the ball. Hopefully I'll be able to devote more time to the FCC
committee and wholesale committee. I REALLY believe in those. I think they
are two of the most important groups in WISPA when looking 5 and 10 years
down the road (hey, I've been a wisp for 7 years now, 10 years isn't that
long!!!). Right now the CALEA committee is chewing up 2 to 4 hours per DAY
of my time. I don't even want to know how much time the folks doing the
heavy lifting are putting in. I hope that project will be done in a couple
of months and I can get back to work on other things for WISPA.
Thanks again for the kind words John. They mean a lot to me!!!
marlon
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Scrivner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <[email protected]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2007 8:39 AM
Subject: [WISPA Members] Re: [WISPA] 2007 Board of Directors Election
Results
We need to acknowledge one guy right now before we move along too much
farther. We see that Marlon Schafer is not on the list of names any longer
but it has nothing to do with him not wanting to be a help as I am sure
you all know. Marlon has served us well and has been a tireless help to
WISPA for years. Marlon was the guy who many years ago in a room full of
WISPs said, "I think we need to have a trade association and I think we
should call it WISPA". I remember it well because I was sitting right next
to him when he said it. Marlon is truly one of the father's of WISPA. His
contributions are massive and his support has been and will continue to be
one of great strengths of this industry. I am sure I speak for 100% of
those here when I say thank you Marlon. We all owe you a debt of gratitude
that surely cannot be repaid with these few words of kindness reflecting
on your hard work. It is worth noting that Marlon is chairman of at least
3 committees within WISPA and continues to work daily to help our
industry. Thank you Marlon.
To those who were short on the votes I say thank you for running. Thank
you for actually taking the time and effort to try to serve. An election
means nothing if you do not have candidates willing to run for office.
Vote count does not tell the whole story. I am guessing that most all of
our candidates would have served admirably as directors. Please do not let
the vote count deter your effort to serve in WISPA. If you wanted to be a
director now and did not come up higher in votes then all it takes is a
bit more face time. Join up an a committee or two and serve. Next term you
will be one of the ones who is holding a position on the board if you make
that effort. Again we thank all of our candidates for running in the
election.
To returning Board Members I say well done. There is no greater show of
respect in industry than having your peers ask you to represent them. Your
return to this board shows that the work you have done has helped us all.
We thank all of you who are returning and look forward to another year of
progress in helping our industry to prosper.
Welcome new Board Members! The WISPA Board of Directors has many of the
same names as we saw in last year's board with the exception of two new
faces. Mac Dearman and Jack Unger have joined our ranks. Both of these men
represent some of the best and brightest our industry has to offer. I have
known both of them for a few years and I consider them both to be friends
and I respect them. I know they will be good directors and I am very happy
to see them serving on our board.
Thanks to all who voted for me. I will try my best to represent you well
in all I do.
One last thank you and I will shut up! :-) David Smith handles much
of the behind the scenes work that is the machinery of WISPA. David wrote
the code for our elections and handles the election process for us. He
maintains the email list servers for WISPA. Dave is the guy we call on
when we need the Internet to do something that is not easily done. David
is paid for his services but I think he does a very good job for us and I
wanted to publicly acknowledge that here today.
Let's build this industry.
Scriv
David E. Smith wrote:
Congratulations to the new WISPA Board of Directors:
Mac Dearman
Tom DeReggi
Rick Harnish
Matt Larsen
George Rogato
John Scrivner
Jack Unger
Detailed voting results are available at http://vote.wispa.org/ .
David Smith
MVN.net
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