Hank, K8DD writes, "It's all down to the 'bean counters'."
Which is true, but begs the questions, Who is counting the beans, and what
beans are they counting?
The ARRL has survey after survey, going back at least a decade, that
indicates contesting is of interest and/or pursuit of less than 11% of all
hams.
This indicates two possibilities:
Not enough contesters are ARRL Members
Not enough ARRL members are contesters
Or, of course, a combination of the two.
What, then, is to be done? The answer seems clear in concept, yet far more
difficult in execution.
What is needed, clearly, is more compelling content. Stories that make
people sit up and take notice. Tales that share the excitement, the joy, the
thrills of victory and the agony of defeat (sorry) that is ham radio
contesting.
Impossible, you say? Hogwash. I've seen it. I've seen QST publish it.
Although I don't work for ARRL now, I'm fairly sure that if such content of
that quality came along, the chances are fairly good it'd show up in print.
We (the ham contesting community) were beyond fortunate in the 60's to have
people like Jack Troster who could write interesting and humorous articles
that grew interest and participation in contests. Contet writeups themselves
can frequently dissolve into mere retellings of who won what (I know, I used
to have to write them. A *lot*).
What we need now are some contesting heroes, and some stories of the same.
If we wish contesting to continue, it is our duty to further the cause of
our own self interest. To merely expect the ARRL to support us because we,
the chosen few, the band of brothers and sisters, wish it to be so is pure
fantasy.
With malice towards none,
Warren, NF1J/6
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