[Towertalk] First day at Dayton - Attendance continues to slide
k2qmf@juno.com
k2qmf@juno.com
Sun, 19 May 2002 20:00:53 -0400
The Contest dinner on Saturday night was sold out!
In fact they had more people this year than ever before!!!
The lines for the bus at Salem Mall were the biggest that were seen!!
You couldn't move around inside due to the crowds even when
it wasn't raining outside!!
Go figure...
Ted, K2QMF
On Sat, 18 May 2002 15:04:01 -0400 "Jim White" <k4oj@tampabay.rr.com>
writes:
> This is the first Hamvention I have missed in a long time...
>
> So far nobody has mentioned why I like to go....comradery.
>
> I usually do not see all the new exhibits but make an effort to see
> the flea
> market....guess I am showing my age - reminiscing when I see older
> rigs,
> etc...I like to attend the Antenna forum and the contest forum -
>
> BUT I SPEND WAY WAY WAY MORE TIME SOCIALIZING THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
> To me
> this is what I am missing by not being there this year....not the
> vendors or
> the deals but the people.
>
> In my opinion the downturn of the attendance is sirectly
> attributable to the
> change of the hobby from operator to communicator status...I could
> not
> communicate wqith any of the peopl I want to see at Dayton on the
> VHF bands
> if I wanted to but that IS what Ham Radio has become - our circle
> is
> smaller.
>
> ...HF has been licensed/zoned/discounted into the back seat - this
> is the
> spectrum my buddies hang out on! I enjoy seeing the NE guys, the
> Texans,
> the Black Holers...and occasionally a DX attendee....why would I
> travel to
> Dayton if my radio buddies were from a circle of friends that is
> reachable
> on VHF?
>
> I t sure feels wierd not telling fish stories at 3:00 in the morning
> with
> KL7RA and W3GH or not having that late night pizza, etc....this is
> what I am
> missing this year...my friends.
>
> If you go just to see the gear you have missed out on the true value
> of the
> hobby - it brings us all together! I share a common love of radio
> communication, and that is reassuring! I know there are hotels
> other than
> the one I frequent in Dayton that have their own "cliques" be they
> VHF/Moonbounce, whatever...
>
> Last year I saw about half of the exhibitors on Sunday afternoon
> just before
> I left...between the forums and the fleas and chewing the fat there
> just
> wasn't time!
>
> Hope those at Dayton are having a blast....I gather the weather
> finally has
> turned in your favor!
>
> 73,
>
> Jim, K4OJ
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris BONDE" <ve7hcb@rac.ca>
> To: <Jim@shawresources.com>
> Cc: <K7LXC@aol.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 1:48 PM
> Subject: RE: [Towertalk] First day at Dayton - Attendance continues
> to slide
>
>
> > Is there not a natural waxing and waning of these things?
> > The next upswing may not be exactly the same, as technology,
> people etc
> > change. However, there will be something that will move in to
> take Daton
> > Hamventions place. I always wanted to go. BUT $$$. To me it
> seemed
> that
> > the $s went up every year it was successful, the more successful,
> the more
> > dollars next year. Then the cycle dies as the spenders are
> without
> dollars.
> >
> > Maybe the next swing will be in small hamventions in various
> areas. The
> > government goes through cycles of centralization and
> decentralazation for
> > political reasons, I think the sales and promotions do likewise
> for dollar
> > reasons.
> >
> > Just a thought, by, Chris opr VE7HCB
> >
> >
> > At 06:18 AM 2002-05-18 -0700, Jim Shaw wrote:
> > >Steve
> > >Thanks for the update. A thought re your comment that
> > >
> > >"The bad news is that the Hamvention continues its attendance
> slide."
> > >
> > >This is a trend, particularly since 9/11, seen in
> conventions/conferences
> in
> > >the business world as well. Many articles in the business press
> have
> > >addressed the substantial downturn in the travel and
> convention/conference
> > >industries which actually started several years ago. Speculation
> is that
> > >part of the downturn is due to the growing effectiveness of the
> INTERNET
> at
> > >facilitating information exchange (TowerTalk is an example).
> Even more
> > >powerful, real time approaches exist via WebEx and competitors to
> it.
> You
> > >could give your 'tower mistakes' talk for free on PlaceWare
> > >(http://www.placeware.com/ a WebEx competitor) and perhaps
> attract a
> larger
> > >audience. Webinars (a contraction of the words 'Web' and
> 'Seminars') are
> > >offered free by PlaceWare.com to the business world by as a way
> to
> introduce
> > >their service to prospective customers.
> > >
> > >While I suspect there are many other reasons contributing to the
> Dayton
> > >attendance slide that are related the overall drop in active
> hams, I just
> > >wanted to observe that the emergence of Internet forums may
> better meet
> some
> > >of our needs because they are lower in cost, consume less time,
> and are
> more
> > >readily accessible (e.g. I can get year round access to expert
> > >advice/information via TowerTalk) vs. the once per year "drink
> from a
> fire
> > >hose" approach of Dayton.
> > >
> > >Of course, the Internet is not yet a substitute for physically
> seeing new
> > >product offerings up close at discounted prices or for attending
> the flea
> > >market.
> > >
> > >73 de Jim WA6PXU@ARRL.net
> > >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: towertalk-admin@contesting.com
> > >[mailto:towertalk-admin@contesting.com]On Behalf Of
> K7LXC@aol.com
> > >Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 7:00 PM
> > >To: towertalk@contesting.com
> > >Subject: [Towertalk] First day at Dayton
> > >
> > >
> > >Howdy, TowerTalkians --
> > >
> > > It was nice running into some of you today at the
> Hamvention. First
> the
> > >good news.
> > >
> > > Interesting new stuff including seeing the new AN tower at
> the Array
> > >Solutions booth. It's a commercial grade self-supporter. Pretty
> brute
> stuff
> > >and should take any kind of load like a 10' microwave dish which
> it looks
> > >like it was designed for.
> > >
> > > The owner of Pro-Sistel was also at the A/S booth. Very nice
> and
> sincere
> > >guy so his relationship with Array Solutions may be successful
> for
> everyone.
> > >
> > > Also in the A/S booth was the designer and a version of the
> OptiBeam. It
> > >sounded interesting. It'd be nice if someone were to test one of
> them and
> > >publish the results.
> > >
> > > Rich, K0XG, was there with his rotating tower products and
> he
> pointed
> > >out
> > >that he has a beam boom mount that'll fit on a 45G or 55G tower
> leg. It
> also
> > >has a strut that prevents any beam movement so the torque on the
> leg is
> > >minimized but the strut allows fine tuning so you can get the
> antenna
> > >pointed
> > >in the desired direction accurately and easily.
> > >
> > > The K3LR Antenna Forum had REALLY interesting programs by
> K1ZM on
> his
> > >new
> > >VY2/Prince Edward Island station that has his dream 160M vertical
> set-up.
> > >Mike, W9RE, had the story of his 2L 80M beam. It's big, it's
> heavy, and
> they
> > >designed/homebrewed the whole thing. They even assembled it on
> the tower
> > >since the soil was too wet for a crane. VERY impressive.
> > >
> > > The bad news is that the Hamvention continues its attendance
> slide.
> You
> > >can get a room anywhere in town right now including the Crown
> Plaza which
> is
> > >a first. The Hertz rental place at the airport said rentals were
> down 40%
> > >and
> > >you could walk right into the Spaghetti Warehouse across the
> street from
> the
> > >CP on Friday night and get seated immediately - that's NEVER
> happened
> > >before.
> > >
> > > The wx is also crappy - rain and 50 degrees.
> > >
> > > More news tomorrow. I'll hit the flea market (2-1/2 acres!)
> then but
> > >will
> > >have to buy an umbrella first.
> > >
> > >Cheers,
> > >Steve K7LXC
> > >TOWER TECH
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >Towertalk mailing list
> > >Towertalk@contesting.com
> > >http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> > >
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >Towertalk mailing list
> > >Towertalk@contesting.com
> > >http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Towertalk mailing list
> > Towertalk@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> Towertalk mailing list
> Towertalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.