National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters, Inc.
Annual Meeting
 
8:30 am   FRIDAY,   MAY 8, 2009
  Hosted by:
World Christian Broadcasting



and

WWCR



Nashville, Tennessee
 
USA DRM Group Meeting will be held Thursday May 7

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If you plan to attend, please notify Dan Elyea at 863-763-0281
 or by e-mail no later than May 1, 2009 at: fsiyfr@okeechobee.com
 
Dan Elyea, Secretary
National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters, Inc.
10400 N.W. 240th Street
Okeechobee, FL  34972

Initial Plans Announced for 2009 NASB-DRM USA Annual Meeting

Join us for the 2009 annual meetings of the NASB and DRM USA in "Music City"-- Nashville, Tennessee, known as the capital of country music. Shortwave broadcasters, shortwave listeners, equipment manufacturers, consultants and anyone with an interest in shortwave radio is invited to take part.

The meetings will take place at the Holiday Inn Express in downtown Nashville, near an area known as "The District." All of the downtown tourist attractions are within easy walking distance of the hotel, as well as stores, restaurants and entertainment centers. No rental car is needed. Just take a taxi or a shuttle from the Nashville airport to the hotel downtown.

Corporate sponsors will offer lunches to meeting participants on Thursday and Friday, May 7 and 8. The Thursday lunch will be sponsored by the meeting hosts themselves, World Christian Broadcasting and WWCR. The Friday lunch will be sponsored by Thomson Broadcast and Multimedia. Meals will showcase some of the regional specialties of Southern cuisine. Media Broadcast of Germany will sponsor the Thursday coffee break, and Continental Electronics will sponsor the Friday coffee break.

                   


                                   


Thursday morning will feature talks and discussions about DRM – Digital Radio Mondiale – the future of shortwave. On Thursday afternoon, there will be a sightseeing tour of the Nashville area. The highlights of the tour will be stops at WWCR's studio and transmitter facility and at the headquarters of World Christian Broadcasting, which operates shortwave station KNLS in Alaska and is building a new station on the island of Madagascar, just off the coast of Africa. The bus tour will end early Thursday evening with a dinner sponsored by  VT  Communications at The Factory, a refurbished factory building in the historic suburb of Franklin, which has been converted into a shopping mall and entertainment complex. For those who still have energy left after the bus returns to the hotel downtown, there is a multitude of nightlife within easy walking distance in The District.

Friday morning at the NASB annual meeting will be filled with talks and presentations about various aspects of shortwave radio. After the Friday lunch, the NASB annual business meeting will take place, where members and non-members alike can discuss the association's future plans.

Many people will undoubtedly want to make a vacation out of their visit to Nashville, so they can stay up to three days before and after the meetings at the same special hotel rate. Nashville is full of world-class tourist attractions, such as the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which includes the historic RCA Studio B. There's also the Grand Ole Opry, which began as a weekly radio broadcast of country music in 1925, and continues today as the world's longest-running radio show (on WSM 650 AM), in a large auditorium open to the public.

Other attractions in Nashville include The Hermitage (home of President Andrew Jackson), the Parthenon (a full-scale replica of the famous Greek temple), the Ryman Auditorium (where music's brightest stars -- such as Elvis -- have performed, and you can produce your own music CD in a famous recording studio) and The Upper Room Chapel and Museum, which features international Christian art including a life-size woodcarving of The Last Supper.

The meeting location, the Holiday Inn Express at 920 Broadway Street, is a newly-renovated hotel, ideally situated in the heart of downtown, near Music Row, numerous restaurants and Nashville's nightlife, with names like Stockyard Restaurant, Jack's Bar B Que and the Wildhorse Saloon. Breakfast is included in the $125 daily room rate (single or double occupancy, same rate), and the hotel offers free wireless Internet service. Guest rooms have mini-refrigerators and flat-screen plasma TV's. The hotel has a swimming pool, fitness center and a newly-renovated amphitheater where the DRM USA and NASB meetings will take place. For those who will be driving, the Holiday Inn Express charges $14 per day for parking, but a vehicle is not really needed for those who fly in. There's a flat rate of $22 for taxis from the airport to downtown hotels, or you can take a Gray Line shuttle bus for $12 one-way or $18 round-trip.

There's no cost to attend the NASB-DRM USA annual meetings, thanks to NASB members and associate members who are sponsoring various functions. But you must pre-register in order to attend, and space is limited.  So we suggest you register as soon as possible.  Just send your name and e-mail address to nasbmem@rocketmail.com and ask to be registered for the NASB Annual Meeting. Plan to arrive by Wednesday afternoon or evening (May 6) as the meetings begin early on Thursday, and they will end at about 5:00 p.m. Friday. But feel free to come early or stay late to enjoy all of the attractions that Nashville has to offer.




Hotel Reservation Details

The Holiday Inn Express at 920 Broadway in downtown Nashville is already accepting reservations for hotel rooms during the 2009 NASB Annual Meeting.  The rate is $125.00 per room for single or double occupancy (plus local taxes).  You can guarantee your reservation with a credit card, and your reservation can be canceled without penalty until three days prior to arrival.  To make your reservation, call toll-free (in the U.S.) +1-888-465-4329, and be sure to mention that you are part of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters meeting in order to get the special conference rate.

Nashville Facts

Population: 1.5 million in the Nashville metropolitan area

Weather: The average daily high temperature in May is 77 degrees Fahrenheit/25 Celsius. The average daily low is 57 F/14 C.

Location: 50% of the U.S. population lives within 700 miles of Nashville. Sample distances are 246 miles from Atlanta, 187 miles from Birmingham, 478 miles from Chicago, 662 miles from Dallas, 288 miles from Indianapolis, 922 miles from Miami, 811 from Philadelphia, 575 from Pittsburgh, 540 from Raleigh and 671 from Washington, DC. Interstate highways 65, 40 and 24 all intersect in Nashville.

Airport Info: Nashville International Airport (code BNA) served over 9.6 million passengers in 2006. Sixteen airlines provide 400 daily arrivals and departures to 90 markets, including 48 nonstop. Sample flight tiems are: Boston 2.5 hours, Cincinnati 1 hour, Kansas City 1.5 hours, Los Angeles 4 hours, Minneapolis 2 hours, New York 2 hours, Seattle 4.5 hours, Frankfurt 9.5 hours, Montreal 3.5 hours, Paris 10 hours, Toronto 2 hours. Major airlines serving Nashville are Air Canada, American, Continental, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Midwest Express, Northwest, Southwest, United and US Airways.


NASB-DRM USA 2009 Preliminary Agenda

Thursday, May 7, 2009 – DRM USA annual meeting

9:00 am – Opening of DRM USA Annual Meeting in the Holiday Inn Expreess Amphitheater. Welcome remarks from World Christian Broadcasting and WWCR. The Amphitheater meeting room is sponsored by TCI International.

9:05 am - Welcome remarks from DRM USA officers

9:15 am – The Latest Developments in Digital Radio Mondiale  “ report from a representative of the DRM Consortium

10:00 am – WinDRM: Amateur Radio's DRM Evolution - One of amateur raadio's digital voice and image transfer modes was derived from DRM's Dream receiver/transmitter software. Mel Whitten, who holds amateur radio callsign K0PFX, will talk about how these amateur modes were developed, how they are used and the transmitting and receiving equipment used.

10:30 am - Coffee Break, sponsored by Media Broadcast

11:00 am – Continuation of DRM Seminars

12:00 pm - Lunch at Holiday Inn Express, sponsored by World Christian Broadcasting and WWCR

1:00 pm - Break

1:30 pm - Bus leaves hotel for Sightseeing Tour, sponsored by TCI International, visiting WWCR studio/transmitter site and World Christian Broadcasting headquarters in Franklin

6:00 pm - Dinner at The Factory in Franklin, sponsored by VT Communications, followed by free time at The Factory mall

9:00 pm - Bus returns to the Holiday Inn Express. The rest of the evening is free to explore The District.


Friday, May 8, 2009 – NASB Annual Meeting

9:00 am – Opening of NASB Annual Meeting in the Holiday Inn Express Amphitheater. Welcome remarks from NASB officers. The Amphitheater meeting room is sponsored by TCI International.

9:15 am – The North American Shortwave Audience – First presresentation of results of the NASB survey

10:00 am - Panel Discussion:  The State of Shortwave Listening and Broadcasting in Europe. Panelists will include Michael Murray, former Secretary General of the European DX Council.

10:30 am - Coffee Break, sponsored by Continental Electronics

11:00 am – Madagascar World Voice, African shortwave project of Worlld Christian Broadcasting

11:30 am – Presentation to be announced

12:00 pm – Lunch, sponsored by Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia.

1:15 pm - NASB Business Meeting

4:00 pm - NASB Business Meeting ends, conference ends.  Brief closed meeting of the NASB Board. 




 
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