I really do not understand this whole conversation.
When you see a photo of any active, successful, enthusiastic, Ham
Station, what do you see?
Wall full of certificates, plaques, etc. If they do not mean anything
then why do these folk spend time and money framing them all and putting
them up?
Joe WB9SBD
Sig
The Original Rolling Ball Clock
Idle Tyme
Idle-Tyme.com
http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 4/5/2018 7:50 AM, rjairam@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Ken,
I’ve heard this story many times over. Some experienced contesters dismiss
the power of paper but it does seem to work. The first time I got one I
brought it to my club meeting and was happy to dive deeper into contesting.
I think some ideas along this line to encourage the little guys without
turning it into handing participation trophies to everyone is good. Contest
clubs also have internal awards for minimum point thresholds with team
appreciation like “we won CQWW” mugs (FRC does this) helps. This should be
encouraged as part of recruiting efforts.
Even the electronic certs aren’t bad if they show and encourage
accomplishment.
Glad to hear you got the spark :)
For the other person who said that it’s more fun for everyone work everyone
- I would say this isn’t universally true. But the good news is that every
contest is different and we have everyone works everyone and also everyone
works X country or region. I enjoy the variety.
73
Ria
N2RJ
On Thu, Apr 5, 2018 at 8:42 AM <ktfrog007@aol.com> wrote:
Hi Ria,
I can give a testimonial on this subject.
In early 2007 with fewer and fewer sunspots I decided to put up a secret
outside night-time only antenna for 40m and 80m to supplement the
increasingly useless high band ones in the attic. Consequently, I put in
(for me) a maximal all-band effort in the 2007 ARRL DX CW. The only goal
was to work toward a 5BDXCC.
I had never before sent in an ARRL contest log, so I decided to submit my
log just to see how the process worked. I did so and promptly forgot all
about it.
Almost a year later I got a large white envelope from the ARRL. No
apparent reason. I opened it and there was a certificate for first place
SOLP in EMA. At that point I couldn't even remember doing the contest, but
took some encouragement from it.
I tried it again in 2008 but got my clock cleaned. But since then I've
done a number of contests with fair success, mostly in overlooked niches.
I'm a Woody Allen contester, as he is suppposed to have once said, "95% of
success is just showing up."
None of this might have happened without the surprise paper certificate in
the mail. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. You might check with my
wife.
And after a few more loops around the sun I got the 5BDXCC.
73,
Ken, AB1J
-----Original Message-----
From: rjairam <rjairam@gmail.com>
To: CQ-Contest Reflector <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 4, 2018 6:07 pm
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Certificates for ARRL DX - a great motivator for new
contesters
I know that some contest sponsors have done away with printed
certificates to cut costs, and this is understandable. I have no
problem with keeping it sustainable.
But I would just like to point out that I have seen quite a few people
on social media sharing unexpected ARRL DX certificates. These are
usually single op, low power entrants who decided to sit at the radio
and work the contest even though they have zero chance of winning one
of the big prizes. Some are even encouraged to try even harder and get
into contesting more.
I think if possible, at least for first time entries that contest
sponsors should look to get the certificates to encourage these
contesters. There is nothing like finding out that you did well enough
to win *something* to encourage you into diving deeper into
contesting. Online certifiicates are nice but there is nothing like
opening the mailbox and finding a real certificate. This isn't really
a participation trophy - these folks topped their section, or maybe
earned a single band award. IARU also gives for 250 QSOs, which was my
initial motivator for participating in the IARU contest and why it
holds a special place for me.
For experienced contesters like myself and others, printed
certificates really don't matter - we go for the big awards or even
just our callsign in the results column. So for us we can mostly opt
out. But I think for the newcomers it is important,
73
Ria, N2RJ
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