Here is what we covered:

First half of our 2-hour meeting:

• Area 10 meeting at end of month, March 29. Time and location to be announced soon on dnc-ares site and announced via the yahoogroups list and other venues.
• website: Please give input on our site, any corrections, additional content, or suggestions welcome. Link for submitting by email is on this site. Dave WA4NID and Joe K4SAR are working to make the site useful, but need your help!
• Arrangements with served agencies. We reviewed these and found we are in sore need of updating our communications with some of the served agencies. We identified some key "point people" and need to encourage and empower these people to push forward to strengthen the ties with our served agencies. Note especially Don at Duke, Randy at Durham Reg, David at RC, etc.
• Methods for callout / notification /alert. We discussed the limitations of various methods for notification of members when we activate. The need for multiple methods of alert was stressed, and the following points were made about specific alert mechanisms:
• Email is useful but there are key limitations. First, it is subject to delays in transport from the nature of the medium. Also it can be affected by power outages. Finally, not everyone checks their email very often. 
• Getting additional pagers may not be useful as some people already feel over-burdened with alert devices and other comm devices and will not carry additional units. Instead, we should think about using existing systems. 
• Can we use special tones on a repeater, and have people monitor that freq? Well, it may be possible with certain repeaters but this will be limited as not many members will tune in constantly. Many monitor at certain times, and don't monitor at other times when they do other things in their lives. This doesn't mean that a repeater-based alert system is not needed, but it points out the limitations to any single method. Again, multiple methods should be used. N4UBH discussed some of the specific capabilities of local repeaters regarding tone access management, and only certain systems can do selective alerts. Seems this should be considered more.  
• Alpha-message capable pages was discussed as a possible method for alerts of a number in our group. Sure, not everyone has advanced pagers, but several do, and this may be a way for alerting a number of the members efficiently, and using devices they carry with them at all times. Joe K4SAR asked if we can poll the members for their capabilities in this regard, and he will follow up with gathering data. Please everyone watch for notices on how to submit your data on current capabilities with pagers, so we can use this method to advantage. Thanks Joe, maybe this can be a good tool in our arsenal of alert methods!
• Dave N4UBH mentioned that KAM 9600 supports POCSAG paging that can be implemented on repeaters. Dave WA4NID remembers something about this, with a unit he has in his station, and will check the documentation. There sure are lots of signaling methods that can be used on VHF or any freq that may help us with selective alerts!
• We should encourage all members to GET ON THE REPEATERS whenever there is a severe weather event. Let's put this into our SOP and any other formal and informal mechanism to encourage members to GET ON and help. We need to formalize our request to participate and "informalize" by just encouraging other hams to simply help out as they are able, by getting on the repeaters. Follow the suggested freq plan, monitor those freqs when you see approaching trouble weather. We don't always have the luxury of advanced warning, but we should at least do all we can to encourage participation when we are privileged to see trouble approaching. One way to set this up is to have a NET on the DAY BEFORE bad weather will hit, when we are getting the advance reports from the forecasters. Let's DO THIS, it's a great suggestion, we must run the net AHEAD of the trouble so we start to get prepared. This is guaranteed to help increase participation if done right. Think about it, we will have some events where we meet and plan and talk on the net, but are not needed, but even this activity will be useful to encourage participation and readiness. 
• Recruitment. We need to encourage more involvement with ham radio and ARES in our area. Instead of twisting arms, let's foster enthusiasm, as this breeds more enthusiasm. Getting more people into ham radio may be the best long-term strategy, and from the marketing viewpoint we should think about the best angle. Dave N4UBH shared a strategy that involves getting people interested first in readiness and emergency communications.
• People see the need for disaster readiness and we could target the renewed interest in security and emergency preparedness, while introducing people to all the facets of ham radio in classes.
• Let's get people hooked on the idea of emergency comms, community service, and disaster preparedness.
• Then when they come into the ham radio class they can be "wowed" with all the other fun stuff.
• After all, our primary mandate is service! Forget targeting existing hams, they've already made up their minds whether they want to be involved with community service and ARES. If we go after newcomers with this angle FIRST, we will get new people who are committed to this ideal. Think about it.
Randy brought up some important points about the CERT program that are related to recruitment and also community service. He is involved with CERT, Citizens Emergency Response Teams. We need to coordinate with CERT, for serving communities and also for access to pools of excellent candidates for ARES. Think about this. These are people proven to have an interest in emergency preparedness. Surely some of them would be interested in emergency comms and ham radio! One of the things Randy discussed with Jeff Batten is the opportunity for ARES to help coordinate a comm plan, including FRS, GMRS, and ham radio, with CERT. Let's do it! Randy brought up the need for locating ham radio capability in the Police Mobile Command Unit, the Sheriff's Mobile Command Unit, and Parkwood Fire Dept.
• Inventory of Equipment at all Locations: 
• We don't have a lot of equipment but we should be good stewards of what we have. Let's make a current list soon. Here is a start. We've got TMV7a and other equipment at EOC. There is some equipment at Duke, and an antenna (vertical dipole) at Durham Regional. There are vests with some members (WA4NID, N4UBH, etc.) and N4UBH has some gear like headsets.