[CQ-Contest] Who says c'mon first, chicken or egg?

[Jerry Keller]

Jim, no doubt that is the way things were. And they were good. But things
move faster these days, it seems..... OK, OK, maybe that's not always an
improvement.  But it's definitely a fact, and we can either fight it and try
to keep things "the way they were in our youth", or we can "go with the
flow" and turn it to our advantage. I'm in favor of the latter.

That means doing things differently than in the past. Change doesn't always
result in progress, but progress ALWAYS requires change. Those who most
quickly and efficiently harness (and bend to) the winds of change will reap
the rewards.... new members, more growth, higher club scores.  That is the
goal, and I am simply trying to describe a process by which I think that
goal can most readily be achieved with today's new young hams.

I like the part about the "open arms" of welcome. It is one measure of any
group's quality to see just how open the arms of welcome are.... for
example, do most of the members have the dedication to spend as much time
working with new members to bring them along, or serving fellow members'
needs as they do sitting in the chair making points? If so, hurrah for
them... that's the right group attitude. Or even better, that's an attitude
that should WORK!! I wish more clubs could claim that sort of membership.

What a great Contesting Club web page the Florida Contest Group has!! A
great example for other clubs, especially in how to provide resources for
the "basics".... lots of specific, useful info in the "Contesting Tips" and
"Reference" sections in particular.
Many thanks for your generosity (and wisdom) in making this valuable
resource available to all.

Jerry K3MGT


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim White" <k4oj at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 1:19 AM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Who says c'mon first, chicken or egg?


>
> In my contesting youth, it was understood that you had to make your bones
> operating from home and show that you could among other things keep your
> buttocks in the chair for the whole contest.  After showing repeated
> improvement in your activities (and beating out some of the other locals
in
> a pile up or two leaving them wondering who the heck is that guy) THEN you
> might have been approached regarding operating from a multi-op.
>
> This invitation was one you earned by demonstrating you were indeed
> interested in a demanding endeavor - contesting.  You were invited because
> it was felt you had the ability to add something to an operation...and
once
> again you had to make your bones.
>
> You started out at the multis as low man on the totem pole - you were the
> guy on 10 meters at the bottom of the cycle or the one on what was
probably
> a dead band...making sure that a freak opening did not happen and the TEAM
> you now were a part of didn't miss it...probably didn't happen but you
were
> there to make sure it was not missed - while not running 150 an hour it
was
> a contribution to the effort!  Now you could watch and learn...you were
like
> a sponge absorbing everything you saw, be it software techniques like
> hitting the plus key to both log and send tnx, or when a long path opening
> on 20 might occur...you were now in "the fast lane".
>
> The best way to get to the point where the ability to gain operating
> expertise sufficient to earn you an invite was to join the local contest
> club, by now you knew of their existence because you were familiar with
the
> calls of most of its members and had seen them as high scorers in club
> competitions...so, you took the next logical step and you joined the
contest
> club where members understood why you would want to spend an entire
weekend
> in front of the rig.
>
> Now you had the ability to pick the brains of sages at club meetings, to
> "walk up the hill" and ask those questions which had troubled you - be
they
> "how long should I call CQ before giving up on a band?"..."should I be
> running or S&Ping?"..."how fast should I call CQ at?"...
>
> New guys are welcome in the contesting fraternity, contesters are a
> possessed breed, with a major MAJOR focus on their operating - they have
> made major commitments in terms of both time and money in order to contest
> effectively. Having more contesters in the fold means longevity of the
part
> of the hobby that they enjoy most (plus another QSO in SS) - since you
might
> be a newbie and have found the contest-reflector (they didn't have this
when
> I was in your shoes) - welcome aboard!
>
> If you are a newbie contester in Florida and are looking to get into
> contesting I know that the membership of
>
> The Florida Contest Group
>
> will welcome you with open arms...if want to find out more - check out the
> cool club website listed below!
>
> 73 (it is NOT 73s, it is already plural!)
>
> Jim, K4OJ
> Tampa, FL
> k4oj at tampabay.rr.com
>
> Proud member of the Florida Contest Group, check out our website at:
>
> http://www.qsl.net/fcg
>
> or
>
> http://www.fcg.club
>
> if your browser doesn't support the new domain names yet!
>
>
> --
> CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
> Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com
>


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