[UK-CONTEST] VHF Convention - the Good Old Days

[Ian White GM3SEK]

Tim Hugill wrote:
>
>The Winning Post at Twickers was the best.
>

But that was another venue, like the Bell, that had already become too 
small for even a 'single-interest' convention. It wasn't sustainable.

The old VHF Convention wasn't sustainable for a different reason. It 
fell into the hands of the Rally & Exhibitions committee and turned into 
another big London rally. The technical side withered away because the 
contributors hated going there.

There were two VHF DX conventions in later years, both of which were 
superb and memorable events, but each one completely burned out its 
small group of organisers and was never repeated.

So in the long term, the only SUSTAINABLE conference formats seem to be 
either the very big "flag carrier" conventions (anchored by some 
long-suffering employees who have been ordered to make it happen)... or, 
at completely the opposite extreme, the small one-day events like the 
Microwave Round Tables which actually have the longest unbroken track 
record of all.

There is certainly a place for a big annual thrash, but the HF and VHF 
communities definitely have something to learn from the microwavers 
about these smaller-scale formats.

The MWRT calendar has several events spread across the UK, but each one 
is small-scale, low-key and therefore quite easy to organise. Nobody has 
to travel far to reach at least one event a year, and no individual has 
to organise more than one a year so burnout is minimal.

I shamelessly copied that Microwave Round Table format when helping my 
wife to organise a series one-day music events. These started at our 
village school and have since grown into a thriving national society, 
which still holds on to these small-scale regional events as its grass 
roots.

Find yourself a school or church hall with the usual facilities, be 
clear about what refreshments you will and will not provide, and charge 
a whip-round to cover expenses. When you do the publicity, only offer 
one organised day so attendees will understand that everything else is 
up to them. Then put out a B&B/hotel list for people who want to stay 
over, warn the pub, and away you go.

What you do in that time and space depends on your own special 
interest... but if you organise it, they will come.


>But a combined HF/VHF event has the benefit of allowing VHFers to learn 
>about HF techniques and vice versa. (Although I didn't see too many HF 
>stalwarts in the Microwave sessions last weekend.)
>

The best thing about the "big convention" format is that it provides 
opportunities for people to cross lecture streams and look at something 
completely new. It was a very pleasant surprise to see one of the UK's 
most respected HF contesters in the audience for GW4DGU's 10GHz 
presentation. All credit to him!



-- 

73 from Ian GM3SEK
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek