[Towertalk] First day at Dayton - Attendance continues to slide

[Robert Shapiro]

Bruce, I second your comments.  I went into the forums not knowing the 
agenda because there was no way I was going to pay $5 for a program.  The 
forum agendas was the only reason I ever needed a program.  The bus 
situation at Hara for return trips to wherever (i.e. Salem Mall) was 
chaotic to say the least.  Destinations not clearly marked, passenger 
pickup/dropoff colocated and not enough separation between the lines for 
different buses.  Also pulled into the field across from Hara on Saturday 
and only realized after I had made the turn that the fee was $8.  Quite a 
surprise :)

Now everyone, please believe me that I am not starting a rumor, though I 
may be passing one along.  I'll let you be the judge.  I heard over the 
weekend that the Dayton Hamvention may be on its last breath.  In addition 
to the points previously made, I'll ask when was the last time any work was 
done on the arena?  The building is not in good shape, the bathrooms are 
worse, the audio-visual facilities/support are marginal, the heating/AC 
poor.  Maybe Hara/DARA are telling us something?  I also hear that the 
Hamvention is one of the "few" events held at HARA - is that true?  Don't 
get me wrong - it takes a lot to put on an event like this and DARA has 
done a good job.  However, there has been a decline in recent years.  If 
you are a serious contester/DX'er like many on this reflector are, that may 
not be enough to keep you away from Dayton.  For the average ham, however, 
the story might be different.

If there is no turnaround, I hope another city, conveniently located in the 
east-central portion of the U.S. (along the I-75 corridor?), major airport, 
takes up the Hamvention cause.  One can only hope!

73, Rob - ND3A
Robert_Shapiro@cox.net

At 08:35 AM 5/20/2002 -0700, Bruce Makas wrote:
>Another few reasons that attendance may be sliding and will continue to
>slide unless the organizing committee gets more user friendly:
>
>1. Dayton programs that used to be given to all attendees for free, were on
>sale this year for $5 !!!!!!! Increadable.
>
>2. The DX Forum and the Contest Forum which typically drew hundreds to each
>with all seats taken and all wall space occupied by a standing room only
>crowd were held in a smaller room (so that more booth space could be sold
>$$$). In addition, these forums that used to start at 9:00AM and run all day
>long did not start untill 11:00. Why? Who knows?
>
>3. Regarding parking, does anyone remember when busses would pick you up at
>the hotel for a free ride to Hara?
>
>I'm not bitter, don't mis-read me but it is the Dayton organizing club's
>fault that attendance is dropping (at least amoungst contesters and DXers).
>They have forgotten the "users", the customers and are now only concerned
>about the bucks. I wonder what their profit will be this year? My opinion.
>
>Nice to see you all there,
>
>73, Bruce K1MY
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jim Shaw" <Jim@shawresources.com>
>To: <K7LXC@aol.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
>Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 6:18 AM
>Subject: RE: [Towertalk] First day at Dayton - Attendance continues to slide
>
>
> > Steve
> > Thanks for the update.  A thought re your comment that
> >
> > "The bad news is that the Hamvention continues its attendance slide."
> >
>
>
>
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