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

[Dave Lawley]

Belfry was in the early 1980s. I was one of the helpers, and another - G3Zxx - got up early to help set up, but left the door open when he had a shower which set off the fire alarm resulting in dignitaries such as G3FKM freezing outside in the car park while the fire brigade turned up. 

Speaking personally, my ideal HF Convention is a long bar with plenty of real ale and lots of bar staff serving. You can keep your lectures - for me a convention is all about meeting your mates that you have worked and/or competed against over the last 12 months. 

Dave G4BUO

Sent from my iPhone

On 18 Oct 2012, at 22:04, "Steve White" <steve.g3zvw at gmail.com> wrote:

> I seem to remember The Belfry, near Oxford (in about 1970).
> 
> I have clear memories of the Winning Post Hotel at Twickenham (in the 1970s). There was one hall, basically divided 50/50 between traders and seating for lectures (only one stream!). It was seen as extremely discourteous if anyone (apart from the traders) stayed in the rally area are while a lecture was in progress.
> 
> As to the future, I have read several messages from those who don't think the current venue is adequate any more... but I haven't read any messages containing practical suggestions about where to relocate. The hunt for a new home must be a simple matter. All that's needed is a large, inexpensive, well laid-out venue with plenty of accommodation nearby, free parking and located somewhere between the major population areas of England. Well maybe it's not quite that simple, but if any of you can think of somewhere that 'covers all the bases' I'm sure we would all like to know where it is.
> 
> My personal thoughts (I have no inside info) are that the RSGB would prefer to organise one large, prestigious event than several small ones. I rather think that to organise multiple small events now would be seen as a backwards step.
> 
> Steve, G3ZVW
> 
> 
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:22:14 +0100
> From: Ian White GM3SEK <gm3sek at ifwtech.co.uk>
> To: uk-contest at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] VHF Convention - the Good Old Days
> Message-ID: <yYsJiiSmZ+fQFA0L at ifwtech.co.uk>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=us-ascii;format=flowed
> 
> 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
> 
> 
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