[CQ-Contest] A call to action

[Jim George]

This is a really great analogy by K8GU. The hypothesis in The Tipping Point 
is a terrific way to think logically about getting the magic of radio 
contesting out to more people.

Jim N3BB

At 10:46 AM 3/26/2007 -0400, Ethan Miller K8GU wrote:
>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 --