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

Wed Apr 4 23:53:51 EDT 2018

How many certs do they mail for say ARRL DX  and how much is postage?  
Over a dollar for USA, not including the certificate and printing costs 
and the envelope.   Overseas postage has gone up dramatically it is over 
1 dollar for an letter.  I have no clue what a large envelope costs.   
Cost savings?  Every penny saved is a savings as there are no entry 
fees.  Do these certificates turn people into ARRL members, who are not 
already?  Probably not.   I bet there is close to $5.00 or more involved 
with each Cert maybe more.

I am not suggesting adding entry fees but what is in it for the ARRL by 
mailing them out?

W0MU

On 4/4/2018 8:38 PM, Ron Notarius W3WN wrote:
> Sorry Mike, I disagree.
>
> If someone does not wish a cert mailed, that's fine.  Use the CERTIFICATES NO option then, it's easy enough to implement.
>
> But given the relatively small cost of mailing out a few certs, I don't see a major cost savings by dropping them.
>
> It may seem otherwise to the grizzled veterans on this reflector, but outside of this realm, I think you'll find more than a few souls who would be happy to keep getting those certs.
>
> Now even so, it should be easy enough to implement a "reprint" option for those who wish to download a cert, be it from a current contest or an old one.  I don't see an issue with enabling an option to do so.  But not as an "either/or" situation.
>
> As the young whippersnapper said to Dottie Henson, "Can't we do both?"
>
> 73, ron w3wn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of W0MU Mike Fatchett
> Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2018 6:46 PM
> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Certificates for ARRL DX - a great motivator for new contesters
>
> 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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