[SCCC] Cancellation of IDXC

[Bill Haddon]

Hi Kurt,

Your comments re Visalia are understandable. . very frustrating for all of
us.

But consider this recent experience of mine week before last:

I'm a member (56 years) of a now 10,500 member scientific group called the
Am Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS). . . huge yearly conventions,yearly
since 1948, this year in Houston--- cancelled and replaced by an on-line
conference. On a larger scale, much like the Visalia group, including the
hostility suites that are the essence of the meeting. (OK the science is
pretty good too. . we have had a couple Nobel Prize winners in the group,
and quite a few National Academy of Sciences members)

With just 12 days notice I was asked by the Program Chair, to provide
specially labelled and bottled wine, via my Talleyrand Winery, to a group
of about 20 former presidents of the society during an on-line "cocktail
party" for this group.  It all got done on an incredibly tight schedule,
and we shipped Petite Sirah wine, with custom labels, to 20 people in 11
states by the deadline.  I was honored to be a guest at the event, via
Zoom.  [And I made a fair chunk of $'s for the effort]

With low expectations, I signed in, having just returned from the
Sacramento airport taking my XYL to a flight to Jacksonville FL to assist
our daughter with the birth of our first grandchild (finally, as of12:03
this morning we are grandparents!!!)

   The President's reception was a totally enjoyable event. . . actually
better than sitting a noisy bar table drinking. Many personal conversations
were held in the group, many in-jokes and stories were shared, and everyone
agreed it was a fine session.  Bottles of the Talleyrand wine were held up
to the camera, as were half-filled and half-empty glasses of Talleyrand
wine. I was honored to be invited as a guest, and they asked me to talk for
about 10 minutes about the winery and the wine.

I know John, Kevin and co-horts will concoct an excellent IDXCC next
April.  Think of the possibilities. . for example, a young contester from,
say Croatia, could now join a drinking event with Visalia attendees,
something he/she might never be able to afford because of travel expenses.
Your wisdom from many years of ham radio could be shared in this very
personal setting.

As for the alternative Visalia event that's been proposed by an SCCC member
- could be fine, but not appropriate for planning a large meeting where
high costs are involved.  (The ASMS group avoided a three million $ loss by
agreeing to hold their conference in Houston twice in the near future.  The
actual loss was about $200,000, or about $20/member . .  the group has
large reserves to cover it).

As for going to Visalia. .  be sure that you can get your money back . .
Tulare County has the fourth highest COVID-19 rate in California.  Much
better to come to Lake County, where we have one of the lowest rates of
COVID-19 in CA, thanks to a first-rate Public Health officer, both an
practicing MD and Masters in Public Health, and a very compliant group of
local residents and businesses.  Lake County is almost fully open now, but
still being very careful.  About 95% of folks in the grocery stores are
wearing masks. No one has died here, and we've had only about 3 cases per
week, almost all from people going outside the county to more highly
infected regions (plus a couple prison inmates) and not increasing since
Memorial Day when the county began to open.

73 Bill N6ZFO



On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 11:09 AM W6PH via SCCC <sccc at contesting.com> wrote:

> Gentlemen,
>
> I really think this is ridiculous.  One of the main reasons I go to
> Visalia is to drink beer with my friends and socialize.  Watching a youtube
> doesn't get it.  I think it is far too early to cancel a historic annual
> event.
>
> This COVID event has been far overblown in the media.  In reality there
> will be a vaccine (if I choose it) and there will be much more information
> of therapies for it.  And the data shows that its lethality is probably not
> much worse than the annual flu.
> I won't be a participant to such an event.  Thanks for the heads up.
> 73, Kurt W6PH
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