Hi all:
Taking the chance that I'll be chided again for "redirecting" the thread,
I risk some comments. Stirring the pot is a good facilitation methodology.
1. More HF contesters is better than less (imho)
2. This thread started with the idea that we (the ham community) are
getting an influx of folks NEW TO HF privileges.
3. As far as I know, we (certainly me) are CLUELESS as the demographic
of the influx. Are these mostly already-licensed hams, simply new to HF
or are they totally new to ham radio? Are these "young" hams, "middle-aged"
hams, or retirees?
4. Key to any growth is to understand the target audience. If 90% of
the target is over 50 years old, we likely don't want to "convince them" with
comic books. And there is NOTHING wrong with filling our contester ranks
with "not young," but new HF hams. Baby-boomers are a desirable audience
with lots of spending power (ie, potentially competitive stations driving
their own motivation).
5. We should endeavor to discover the demographics of these "new HF" hams
before we get too far down any particular path. Starting early is good, but
false starts are not desirable (imho).
6. Contesters are not the only ones with this view of the "new HF hams."
I note that on eham.net, the Boat-anchor crowd is doing the same, attempting
to lure them with the "get to know us rag-chewers" approach as one logical
(to them) entry point to HF.
I have some ideas about how "we" might approach this, but the conversation is
already moving along nicely on its own; let's see where it goes.
de Doug KR2Q
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