[CQ-Contest] Certificates for ARRL DX - a great motivator for new contesters

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

Other than plaques the ARRL needs to go to a download your award system 
like CQ.  This would eliminate the need for a Certificates NO.

For marketing purposes I can see sending out certs to new people, but 
someone would have to stay on top of that and I don't see that happening.

I was actually surprised that when I go to my account on the ARRL that I 
am not able to download previous certificates.

W0MU



On 4/4/2018 3:31 PM, Jim Stahl via CQ-Contest wrote:
> Printed certificates do matter to experienced contesters; they are a waste of the ARRL’s money. I’d rather have that money go to something more useful like spectrum defense or RFI mitigation, than spending over a dollar to send me a certificate saying I was the top low power all band section award winner in a VHF contest. (I think they even send those certificates to those who merely had the high score on a single band.)
>
> ARRL ought to adopt support of the Cabrillo "CERTIFICATES: NO” tag.  I’ve suggested this to my division director, who seemed receptive. But apparently at the last Board meeting there was too much other stuff going on.
>
>
> 73  -  Jim   K8MR
>
>
>
>> On Apr 4, 2018, at 10:21 AM, rjairam at gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> I know that some contest sponsors have done away with printed
>> certificates to cut costs, and this is understandable. I have no
>> problem with keeping it sustainable.
>>
>> But I would just like to point out that I have seen quite a few people
>> on social media sharing unexpected ARRL DX certificates. These are
>> usually single op, low power entrants who decided to sit at the radio
>> and work the contest even though they have zero chance of winning one
>> of the big prizes. Some are even encouraged to try even harder and get
>> into contesting more.
>>
>> I think if possible, at least for first time entries that contest
>> sponsors should look to get the certificates to encourage these
>> contesters. There is nothing like finding out that you did well enough
>> to win *something* to encourage you into diving deeper into
>> contesting. Online certifiicates are nice but there is nothing like
>> opening the mailbox and finding a real certificate. This isn't really
>> a participation trophy - these folks topped their section, or maybe
>> earned a single band award. IARU also gives for 250 QSOs, which was my
>> initial motivator for participating in the IARU contest and why it
>> holds a special place for me.
>>
>> For experienced contesters like myself and others, printed
>> certificates really don't matter - we go for the big awards or even
>> just our callsign in the results column. So for us we can mostly opt
>> out. But I think for the newcomers it is important,
>>
>> 73
>> Ria, N2RJ
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