The IARU Region 2 Conference September 10-14, 2007 Brasilia, Brazil

By now, all Region 2 societies should have received the first official notice of the upcoming Region 2 Conference that will be held in Brasilia, Brazil, from the 10th of September until the 14th of September 2007.

As the Region 2 President, I would encourage all of the Region 2 societies to send at least one delegate to the conference. There will be some very important issues discussed and voted upon at the conference and it is quite important that all societies have input into those decisions.

The Region 2 HF Committee has been working on the HF band plans for the last two years and has completed their study of and revisions to the band plans. One of the papers that will be distributed to R2 societies will be the proposed changes. It would be quite helpful if the societies attending the conference have studied the band plan revisions and discussed within their own society what their views are regarding any changes.

There will be at least one society attending the conference for the purpose of proposing changes to how Region 2 societies pay their R2 dues. All R2 societies should voice their opinions on this issue since there are several R2 societies that have experienced decreasing membership and revenue over the last 10 years or so.

There is an IARU committee currently studying the structure of IARU. There will no doubt be a presentation at the conference on their work to date. No firm decisions have been made at this point about the proposed structure but a lot of thought and work has taken place to try to determine how IARU can be most effective for the amateur radio community worldwide in the future. One of the ideas being studied is to have a governing board made up of elected officers elected worldwide by IARU societies and appointed “commissioners” who have specific areas of responsibility.

For example, there might be a commissioner who bears the responsibility of dealing with the Regional Telecommunications Organizations such as CITEL. There might be other commissioners who deal directly with CEPT and APT, the other primary regional telecommunications organizations. Other commissioners might have responsibility in specific “amateur operating” areas such as contesting, DXing, digital modes, etc. IARU Member Societies and other interested groups interested in the specific operating activities could participate in the various commissions dealing with these specific operational activities. If such a structure works well, there may not be a need for IARU to have regional components such as Region 2.

As you can see, these issues and others that will be discussed and decided at the conference are very important to our Member Societies. Please plan to attend the conference.

If there are societies within Region 2 who do not have the resources to fund a trip to the conference by a delegate, Region 2 does have the ability to assist the society with financial assistance so that a delegate can attend. If your society is up-to-date in its R2 dues and believe you need such financial assistance then please contact your Region 2 Area Director about how you might apply for such financial aid.

73, Rod W6ROD
President, IARU R2

Source: Radio Amateurs of Canada