[CQ-Contest] Sweepstakes: The PBR of Contesting

[Steve Lott]

Matt,

"Hey I know you, I'm drinking this
crap and I see you are too, cheers!"

Di Dit !!!


http://www.KG5VK.com
My Ham Radio Friends


On Fri, Nov 10, 2017 at 9:14 PM, Charlie Ocker via CQ-Contest <
cq-contest at contesting.com> wrote:

> I like CW Sweepstakes.  I like PBR, especially after a long hot day of
> yard work.  I don't see a reason to change either.  But I do like where you
> are going with the thinking on this...  "SS ain't easy - A serious contest
> for serious contesters.  Suck it up.".  Or something like that.
>
> 73,
> Charlie  N9CO
>
>
> On 11/10/2017 2:17 PM, Matt Wilhelm (W1PY) wrote:
>
>> You know I love my OF friends, but I always find it entertaining to sit
>> back and watch them act the same way they love to claim millennials
>> behave.  Sweepstakes is too hard, no instant gratification on Sunday, etc.
>> Cracks me up.
>>
>> Why does there have to be a change in the rules to make Sweepstakes more
>> fun and popular? During my short tenure at HQ, one of my ideas that didn't
>> pick up traction was a significant rebranding of the contest.  Same rules,
>> but different marketing.  A lot of young adults (20-40 years old we'll say
>> in this context) seem to find "coolness" in things that are ironic and in
>> someways not as good or easy as other options. Here are a few examples
>> that
>> I've seen popping up over the last decade or so...
>>
>> Growing long beards
>> High and tight haircuts
>> Designing and building things that are difficult to make, but not very
>> useful just because they can.
>> Shaving with safety razors and straight razors
>> "Mom jeans"
>> Badmitton
>> Cat sweaters
>> Glasses from the 80's that were a prime target for bullying
>> Fixed gear bicycles
>> bicycle rodeos/rallies
>> Holga cameras
>> Jeans so tight you have to wear your keys on a carabiner attached to your
>> belt loop
>> Trained mustaches
>> Pabst Blue Ribbon
>> And on and on.
>>
>> Sweepstakes is ripe to be the Pabst Blue Ribbon of contesting.  It's been
>> around forever, it's hard to drink, and you can always depend on it being
>> there. Let's ditch the clean sweep mugs and participation pins, slap on
>> some bay rum and rebrand. Let's get some wearables that aren't polo shirts
>> or embroidered deniem colored button ups. Instead of trying to increase
>> participation by making it easier, let's embrace that it's old and musty
>> and really damn hard for a newcomer and let's make that cool."I operate in
>> Sweepstakes because it's hard as hell!" Let's focus on how when you make
>> friends in this hobby, that during Sweepstakes, you might get an extra
>> dit-dit at the end of the exchange, the equivalent of a nod or raised
>> glass
>> from the other end of the bar to say, "Hey I know you, I'm drinking this
>> crap and I see you are too, cheers!"
>>
>> It's all about attitude and marketing. Spend a week talking about how bad
>> it sucks and you're going to get a crappy turnout.  And to be honest, if I
>> were new to this list and between the ages of 20-40 (missed it by THAT
>> much) I would run as fast as I could in the other direction! Pull up your
>> britches OFs, work on that positive attitude and push your Division
>> Director to make Sweepstakes cool and therefore fun again!
>>
>> http://www.obsev.com/food/why-did-hipster-start-drinking-pbr.html
>> https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/pbr-coolness-study
>> _n_5399109.html
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Matt W1PY
>> ex W1MSW
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