[CQ-Contest] A call to action

[Ethan Miller K8GU]

There's a book called "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell that was 
very popular a couple of years ago, especially in business/marketing 
circles.  The basic premise of the book is that epidemics (whether they be 
viral, consumer, or otherwise) occur due to:  1. a relatively small 
number of influential people, 2. something called "stickiness", and
3. the context (environment).  I'm not doing the book justice...so, you
really should read it...

Who started you in contesting?  Chances are it's someone that Gladwell 
would call a "salesman", someone who is undeniably passionate about 
contesting and conveys it well to others.

Think about how many of today's contesters "grew up" in contesting:  they
were a part of vibrant multi-op efforts at stations belonging to 
individuals (eg K2GL, K4VX(/0), ...) and at club stations at large 
universities (eg W9YT, W1MX, W6YX, ...).  These hosts are what Gladwell 
calls "connectors"...they (want to) know everybody.  The environment has 
changed over the years...the contest club now supplants this system.  Does
your club have connectors?

Many of us are what Gladwell refers to as "mavens."  Mavens strive to be 
experts and amass knowledge and skills regarding contesting.  The trick, 
of course, is selling someone on contesting and connecting them with the
knowledge.

Contesting is "sticky" by nature.  I believe it was N9RV who answered the 
question "When is a new contester hooked?" saying, "When he first tastes a 
run."  It's interactive...you call, they respond.  And, long time-constant 
stickiness comes in the form of reported results.  (This is why, although 
I suppose a business necessity, the death of QST line scores was/is such a 
big deal.)  But, we must connect new contesters with the kind of 
contesting that is sticky.

Finally, the context is important.  This is what the thread has mostly 
been about:  are we accessible?  We have to realize that sometime in the 
past decade, the Internet replaced print as the predominant medium from 
which people got their information about ham radio.  I think that the "New 
to contesting?" button would make a great addition to our individual web 
sites, especially if we can agree on a format (our "brand") and the 
tutorial to be hosted (preferably on contesting.com).

The point of what I've written is to encourage each of us to recognize
and exploit our own strengths as salesmen, mavens, and connectors.  We 
can't make people who aren't interested in contesting become magically 
interested.  But, in spite of the (now silent) whining about the code, 
I think it's safe to say most new hams are still getting into the hobby to 
learn about something new...

Contesting is all about selling your product (QSOs)...we should be good at 
this!

73,

--Ethan, K8GU/9.

-- K8GU - Urbana, IL - www.k8gu.com --

On the Internet, everyone is an "expert."