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VK7AX > WIA 17.05.14 09:05l 128 Lines 5789 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: An early snapshot of the 2014 WIA Membership Survey
Path: IZ3LSV<IK8VKW<F1OYP<VK4TUB<VK7AX
Sent: 140517/0802Z 33882@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC [Ulverstone] FBB7.00g $:33882-VK
From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : WIA@WW
An early snapshot of the 2014 WIA Membership Survey
Date : 05 / 05 / 2014
Author : Chris Platt - VK5CP
The members response to the Survey was most heartening, with a total of 834
completing it by the closing date some 18.4% of the membership,
a significant sample.
In all, 654 completed it online, while 180 returned the paper-based option
published in Amateur Radio magazine.
The following is a global overview of highlights from the survey results.
I have not yet had time to analyse it all on the basis of, for example,
license type, age, location or duration of amateur license holding.
I have also not included a detailed examination of the free text responses
provided to Question 29 (on what changes would you make if you were
WIA President), which will take time to properly analyse.
Responses to two questions have proved most interesting for the Board
Questions 20 and 21, on rating the importance of WIA functions,
and the value of the cost of membership, respectively.
Among all survey respondents, the most highly valued of the
WIAs 25 functions , activities and services with an important-to-most
important rating of 90% or more are, in order:
1. Protecting our Spectrum
2. ACMA Liaison / Lobbying
3. Publicising the Hobby
4. AR Magazine
5. WIA Website
6. International Representation
7. Promoting the WIA
In rating the cost of annual membership considering all the functions,
activities and services the WIA offers 67.5% of respondents rated it as
reasonable-to-excellent value, more than a quarter believed in being a
member regardless, while only 6.48% considered it poor value.
AR Editor, Peter Freeman VK3PF, will be pleased to know that around 90%
of responders read the magazine on a monthly basis, at home.
Full WIA members accounted for 76% of survey respondents, 19.8% were
concessional members, with the balance made up of student, family and
overseas memberships.
Approximately 30% of respondents had been WIA members for less than five years;
the next largest group had been members for over 30 years in total
(which would include membership of former Divisions).
A surprising result was the response to Question 19, about how much money
respondents spent in 2013 on books, magazines, parts, equipment,
subscriptions and attending events. More than 30% spent $1000-$4999;
the next largest group, 28.9% of respondents, spent $100-$499.
While those with a modest spend of $500-$999 amounted to 18.82% of respondents,
12.23% spent less than $100, while 6.35% spent more than $5000.
So much for amateurs having deep pockets and short arms!
It should be no surprise that, as amateurs, we have embraced the computer world.
The bulk of respondents own one or more computers; only 11 respondents
1.32% did not own any sort of computing device.
Over 80% own a desktop PC and a similar number a laptop/notebook.
Ownership of a tablet was just over 30%, an iPad just under 29%.
Of operating systems, almost 94% run Windows, followed by Android (38%),
IOS (26%), Linux or variant (24%), followed by Apple at 20%.
The Internet is ubiquitous, with 90% of respondents using it every day,
the bulk of whom have ADSL speeds or better. Almost all respondents use
the Internet at home, with 40-50% also using it at work and on the move.
The most commonly-used amateur radio related websites are the WIA Website,
with 90% of respondents accessing it regularly over each month, followed by
VK Ham (70%), VK Classifieds (69%), VK Logger (42%) and VK Logger Forums (32%).
The vast majority of respondents (over 80%) hold Advanced licenses,
followed by Standard (12%), and Foundation (6%).
The most common entry points into the hobby were the old Limited licence (34%)
and old Novice licence (21%), followed by the Foundation license (21%).
These results probably reflect the entry-level license options that were
available at the time, and show the importance of the previous Novice,
and now the Foundation, licenses as feeders into our hobby. Over 50% of
respondents upgraded their license within two years, and almost 70% within
the first five years.
More than a third of respondents (37%) are aged between 61-70, with the
next peak (25%) between 51-60. About 6% are under 40, while 3.5% are over 80
there is hope for us yet! Only four respondents preferred not to indicate
their age bracket.
While 57% of respondents live in the suburban and inner city areas, 28% live
in rural areas (including semi-rural) with 12% in fringe/outer urban areas.
Over 70% of respondents prefer to pay their WIA membership subscription
annually, with 24% taking the 5-year option, and 7% using the recently
introduced quarterly automatic payment option.
Surprisingly, 30% of respondents are not members of a radio club,
and 25% who said they were a member of a club were not aware if their
club was WIA affiliated.
Pleasingly, over 80% of respondents who contacted the WIA National Office
or a Director/Office Holder were satisfied with the level of service provided.
Disappointingly only 10% of respondents had attended a WIA AGM and
Conference Weekend in the last three years, with the most common reason
for absence being a preference for a location nearer to them.
Further analysis will be undertaken over the next few weeks.
The information gleaned will be particularly useful to the Board in setting
the long-term WIA strategy, and prioritizing initiatives.
Thank you all for your participation.
Christopher Platt
VK5CP Vice President
http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2014/20140505-1/index.php
(Sourced from the WIA Website)
(Posted to the Packet Radio Network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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