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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