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

[rjairam at gmail.com]

Hi Ken,

I’ve heard this story many times over. Some experienced contesters dismiss
the power of paper but it does seem to work. The first time I got one I
brought it to my club meeting and was happy to dive deeper into contesting.

I think some ideas along this line to encourage the little guys without
turning it into handing participation trophies to everyone is good. Contest
clubs also have internal awards for minimum point thresholds with team
appreciation like “we won CQWW” mugs (FRC does this) helps. This should be
encouraged as part of recruiting efforts.

Even the electronic certs aren’t bad if they show and encourage
accomplishment.

Glad to hear you got the spark :)

For the other person who said that it’s more fun for everyone work everyone
- I would say this isn’t universally true. But the good news is that every
contest is different and we have everyone works everyone and also everyone
works X country or region. I enjoy the variety.

73
Ria
N2RJ

On Thu, Apr 5, 2018 at 8:42 AM <ktfrog007 at aol.com> wrote:

> Hi Ria,
>
> I can give a testimonial on this subject.
>
> In early 2007 with fewer and fewer sunspots I decided to put up a secret
> outside night-time only antenna for 40m and 80m to supplement the
> increasingly useless high band ones in the attic.  Consequently, I put in
> (for me) a maximal all-band effort in the 2007 ARRL DX CW.  The only goal
> was to work toward a 5BDXCC.
>
> I had never before sent in an ARRL contest log, so I decided to submit my
> log just to see how the process worked.  I did so and promptly forgot all
> about it.
>
> Almost a year later I got a large white envelope from the ARRL.  No
> apparent reason.  I opened it and there was a certificate for first place
> SOLP in EMA.  At that point I couldn't even remember doing the contest, but
> took some encouragement from it.
>
> I tried it again in 2008 but got my clock cleaned.  But since then I've
> done a number of contests with fair success, mostly in overlooked niches.
> I'm a Woody Allen contester, as he is suppposed to have once said, "95% of
> success is just showing up."
>
> None of this might have happened without the surprise paper certificate in
> the mail.  I'm not sure if that's good or bad.  You might check with my
> wife.
>
> And after a few more loops around the sun I got the 5BDXCC.
>
> 73,
> Ken, AB1J
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rjairam <rjairam at gmail.com>
> To: CQ-Contest Reflector <cq-contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Wed, Apr 4, 2018 6:07 pm
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Certificates for ARRL DX - a great motivator for new
> contesters
>
> 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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