Marlon,
This is a great summary of WISPA's beginning. It should be put on the
WISPA website some where, though I would leave out the negative parts
about specific persons.
Marlon K. Schafer wrote:
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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Scott Reed
Owner
NewWays
Wireless Networking
Network Design, Installation and Administration
www.nwwnet.net
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