Bylaws Review Workgroup

Our organization's bylaws establish the basic policies and procedures essential to the smooth operation of our club.  This document lays the framework for our leadership, elections, membership guidelines, and committees.

As a general rule, if it's in the bylaws, we have to do what the bylaws say... but if it's not in the bylaws, then (for the most part) we can do what we want.  So the bylaws need to provide for the proper, efficient, and sustainable operation of the club, without being so restrictive as to limit our flexibility to adjust to the changing needs and expectations of our membership.  This means tweaking the document every now and then.

RATS has changed a lot through the years.  At our peak, we had close to 400 members, and for 42 years we operated Frostfest, which grew to become the mid-Atlantic region's largest winter hamfest -- a significant operational distraction for about two-thirds of the year.  We had in-person meetings and activities for 48 years before COVID prompted a pivot to 100% online operations.  That permanent pivot to online meetings was included in the last major revisions to our bylaws in April 2022.  After the events of summer 2022, our club looks a lot different today.