That's fine with me.
m
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Reed" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2007 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA Members] Re: [WISPA] 2007 Board of Directors
ElectionResults
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" <wireless@wispa.org>; <[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
_______________________________________________
WISPA Membership Mailing List
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/members
--
Scott Reed
Owner
NewWays
Wireless Networking
Network Design, Installation and Administration
www.nwwnet.net
--
WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe:
http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
--
WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe:
http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
