" "Tom Wylie" <tom@gm4fdm.com> wrote: "As in all forms of sport today - no
sponsorship = no sport!"
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed is that of the author and does not imply
any association with anyone, anywhere!
IMHO, there is no relativity between "real" sport and "radiosport",
especially concerning the results of any "real" sporting event! Most all
"high profile" sporting events are available live via Television, and,
unless there was an "energy" problem, do they not show the results, also
live and in "real time"! When was the last time you had to wait for the
results of a F1 race or a soccer game, that was available live? Today, I
will watch two of the most popular automobile races in the US, Indianapolis
500 and the Coca-Cola (tm) 600, both of which will give me the "unofficial"
results, immediately. The "official" results are delayed, pending no
irregularities with the winner! Granted, both sanctioning bodies of these
events are very well funded organizations, and the entry fee helps with that
funding.
IMHO=in my humble opinion, radiosport needs one (1) multi-national governing
body for all contest(s), requiring an entry fee for participation in these
events and a budget allowing for "pre-event" preparation of each award,
except engraving the winner(s) call and name, and the requirement that all
awards be made within "reasonable=90 days time"? With the technology
available, I see no reason why an entry fee could not be paid the same way
many of us "pay our bills"? Will an "entry fee" destroy our "second favorite
pastime", I'll leave it to you to decide the "first", or will it discourage
the most important part of a contest(s)...the "casual contester" that is so
important to our score? Only those "casual" contester(s) know the answer to
that question....or just maybe I already know the answer! I will make less
than 100 Q's in CQWWWPX CW contest this weekend, making 100 others happy for
the points! Would I pay an entry fee for that "casual" effort...I doubt it?
If an "entry fee" allowed my participation ALL contest(s) during the year,
regardless of mode, then, yes I would pay an "entry fee"! I can "visualize"
some that will read this, yes you with several K$ of equipment, both inside
and outside your shack, that will send your QSL card, picturing that
equipment, direct with no SASE, having absolutely no knowledge of the
financial status of the recepient, expecting them to pay the return postage,
complaining that an "entry fee" will just "fund to excess" the "governing
body"! If this "governing body" is to function as "we" expect it to, it must
have the funds and technology available, which requires $?
Sponsorship should not be expected without some "loyalty" to the sponsors,
whether it be purchase of their products, or "donating to the cause", and
with that "loyalty" comes expectations on the sponsor(s) part to "do the
right thing"?
Yes, I sponsor a plaque and subscribe to both magazines!! :)
C'Ya, Shelby - K4WW
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