And many of us might have gotten started in contesting
at the local club during Field Day. I know, FD isn't
a contest (need proof? QST publishes the scores, so
it can't be a contest) but it has many of the same
basic principles. Maybe go to FD this year, find some
new to HF upgrades, and show them how much fun it can
be.
73s John W5TD
--- Ethan Miller K8GU <ethan@k8gu.com> wrote:
> There's a book called "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm
> Gladwell that was
> very popular a couple of years ago, especially in
> business/marketing
> circles. The basic premise of the book is that
> epidemics (whether they be
> viral, consumer, or otherwise) occur due to: 1. a
> relatively small
> number of influential people, 2. something called
> "stickiness", and
> 3. the context (environment). I'm not doing the
> book justice...so, you
> really should read it...
>
> Who started you in contesting? Chances are it's
> someone that Gladwell
> would call a "salesman", someone who is undeniably
> passionate about
> contesting and conveys it well to others.
>
> Think about how many of today's contesters "grew up"
> in contesting: they
> were a part of vibrant multi-op efforts at stations
> belonging to
> individuals (eg K2GL, K4VX(/0), ...) and at club
> stations at large
> universities (eg W9YT, W1MX, W6YX, ...). These
> hosts are what Gladwell
> calls "connectors"...they (want to) know everybody.
> The environment has
> changed over the years...the contest club now
> supplants this system. Does
> your club have connectors?
>
> Many of us are what Gladwell refers to as "mavens."
> Mavens strive to be
> experts and amass knowledge and skills regarding
> contesting. The trick,
> of course, is selling someone on contesting and
> connecting them with the
> knowledge.
>
> Contesting is "sticky" by nature. I believe it was
> N9RV who answered the
> question "When is a new contester hooked?" saying,
> "When he first tastes a
> run." It's interactive...you call, they respond.
> And, long time-constant
> stickiness comes in the form of reported results.
> (This is why, although
> I suppose a business necessity, the death of QST
> line scores was/is such a
> big deal.) But, we must connect new contesters with
> the kind of
> contesting that is sticky.
>
> Finally, the context is important. This is what the
> thread has mostly
> been about: are we accessible? We have to realize
> that sometime in the
> past decade, the Internet replaced print as the
> predominant medium from
> which people got their information about ham radio.
> I think that the "New
> to contesting?" button would make a great addition
> to our individual web
> sites, especially if we can agree on a format (our
> "brand") and the
> tutorial to be hosted (preferably on
> contesting.com).
>
> The point of what I've written is to encourage each
> of us to recognize
> and exploit our own strengths as salesmen, mavens,
> and connectors. We
> can't make people who aren't interested in
> contesting become magically
> interested. But, in spite of the (now silent)
> whining about the code,
> I think it's safe to say most new hams are still
> getting into the hobby to
> learn about something new...
>
> Contesting is all about selling your product
> (QSOs)...we should be good at
> this!
>
> 73,
>
> --Ethan, K8GU/9.
>
> -- K8GU - Urbana, IL - www.k8gu.com --
>
> On the Internet, everyone is an "expert."
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest@contesting.com
>
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
Get your own web address.
Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL
_______________________________________________
CQ-Contest mailing list
CQ-Contest@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
|