KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

HamCation

HamCation presentation shows how to ramp up club participation

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At HamCation in Orlando last weekend, Ken, KN2D, gave the above presentation on how to increase your club’s member participation. He’s a marketing guy by profession, and it shows.

He does have some great ideas about how to get members more engaged. One of the ideas that I especially liked was asking inactive members why they don’t participate in more club activities. Ken says, “They pay their dues, but that’s all they do. Ask them why they aren’t active in the club and what would what would get them more involved.” We’ve talked about doing a membership survey in our club, but I think that asking these questions of inactive members is simpler and could be just as effective.

Other suggestions included:

  • Making sure that your club’s website is attractive and up-to-date. As an example of a good website, he used my club’s website. He especially liked the way that we used a Google calendar to list our events.
  • Make good use of social media, including:
    • Complete the entire profile
    • Add a professional profile image
    • Add an eye-catching cover photo
    • Leverage business description & “About” areas
    • Post, post, post. In conjunction with this, he gives a lot of good ideas for what to post.
  • Use email to market your club. He’s an email marketing guy, so of course he’d suggest this.
  • Host a variety of events, including speakers at monthly meetings, field days (not just the big one in June), contesting, family-oriented events (such as picnics), swap meets, campouts, and game nights.
  • Pre- and post event PR. There were a whole bunch of good ideas in this category, including:
    • Use press releases to announce club meetings and events.
    • Create a designated PIO (Public Information Officer) position at your club.
    • Don’t expect hams, especially new hams,
      to find you by osmosis.

Of course, one of my favorites is “Hold licensing classes and give tests.” You really can’t expect your club to grow if you’re not creating new hams. While that’s not the main reason that I teach classes—I just want to help as many people as I can have as much fun with ham radio as I have—it’s an important part of a successful club.

You’ll find these and a lot more good ideas in Ken’s slide deck. I’m happy to say that our club is doing much of this already—and it shows. We’re well over 100 members and we’re continuing to grow. If you’re concerned at all about your club, please watch the video and get the slides.

Ham radio was hot at HamCation 2022

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Last weekend, I got to attend the Orlando HamCation. I actually had been planning to go with my wife, Silvia, for several years, but Covid put my plans on hold. This year, my employer, ARDC, actually paid me to go!

The first thing that I’ll note is that the weather was just perfect. Friday, the high was in the upper 70s, and on Saturday, the high was in the low 80s. If  nothing else, it was great to thaw out for a couple of days.

The show itself was really great, too. It was really well-attended by both vendors and hams. There weren’t quite as many vendors as at the last Dayton Hamvention, nor were there quite as many sellers in the flea market, nor were there as many attendees overall, but the turnout for the event was really strong.

 

There were lots of vendors at this year’s HamCation. Note that many of the attendees and vendors were wearing masks.
The flea market was really spread out, so you had to cover quite a bit of ground to see it all. There was indoor swap space as well.

 

From L to R: Adam KC7GDY, Dan KB6NU, John K7VE.

At the ARDC booth, I was joined by John Hays, K7VE, and Adam Lewis, KC7GDY. We spoke to many, many people over the course of two and a half days. It was work, but satisfying work, and I’m sure that we’ll get several good grant applications. I also got to meet with folks representing several of our grantees, including Steve Miller, KC1AWV, from the M17 Project; Scotty Cowling, WA2DFI, from TAPR’s Tangerine SDR Project; and Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, from ARISS. I also got to meet and speak with a bunch of other people, including David Minster, NA2AA, ARRL CEO; ARRL directors Ria jairam, N2RJ and Dick Norton, N6AA.

On Friday afternoon, I delivered my talk Having Fun with Morse Code (slides). I didn’t take an actual head count, but the tent was nearly full, so I’m going to guess that there were more than 50 people there. I hope that I was able to inspire some in the crowd to learn the code, or if they already know the code, to get more active on CW. We need to muster as many CW ops as we can!

I left Sunday afternoon, ironically from Gate 73. As you can see, I was kind of beat. The flight was packed, and when we landed, the Detroit airport was in the middle of a blizzard. What a welcome home! I thought I was in for a long, slow slog home (I’m normally just 30 minutes from the airport), but once I got about 5 miles west of the airport, the snow had quit coming down and the roads weren’t in bad shape at all. I made it home in about 40 minutes instead of the usual 30.

I’m glad that I got the chance to go to HamCation this year. It was a lot of fun, and we did some good work as well. I’m looking forward to returning next year.

Ham-Com today, Dayton tomorrow?

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If there isn’t a Hamvention in 2021, will there be one in 2022?

I blogged a couple days ago about Ham-Com, the big Texas hamfest deciding to call it quits. Well, today, I got a Twitter DM from a friend who asked:

The HamCom cancellation has me wondering if the same couldn’t happen to Dayton? Big venue, very costly, and I’d say there’s better than a 50-50 chance they won’t be able to have it again this year…

Would cancelling Hamvention 2 years running be its end?

I replied:

Good questions. I’m thinking (guessing?) that Dayton has enough support to ride it out, especially if the other big hamfesets (i.e HamCation and Visalia) fold. The question—at least part of the question—is how desirable or worthwhile the in-person experience is. As you probably know, I’ve been teaching online classes. They get the job done, but they’re not as satisfying for me as a teacher as in-person classes, and I think in-person classes are a better learning experience for the students, too.

My friend went on to say:

When all this started I was REALLY (secretly) happy as a clam that all the global events I could never visit were suddenly within reach of my desktop. But it has gotten old to me. Video meetings at work and something ham radio related every weekend and I feel in need of a vacation from ham radio events online! :-)

I also noted, “Going to Dayton or Ft. Wayne or HamCation is about more than just going to webinars or seeing products on a screen. For example, you can’t “twiddle the knobs” of a new radio virtually. Well, maybe you can, but it’s not really the same experience.”

I’m kind of surprised that no one’s formed a company to organize these events on a for-profit basis. Dayton, Ham-Com, and Hamcation are all run by volunteers, and run pretty well, but at some point, volunteers run out of steam. I think most  knife and gun shows are commercial ventures, aren’t they? It is, therefore, conceivable that someone could form a company to run hamfests. Maybe the economics aren’t there, though. There are probably lots more gun enthusiasts than there are ham radio enthusiasts.

I certainly hope that Ham-Com’s fate isn’t a harbinger of things to come. Events like Hamvention, Ham-Com, and HamCation are not only a lot of fun, they connect us in ways that’s just impossible online. I can certainly understand being hesitant to attend Hamvention this year, but if you’re not going this year, make sure to put it on your calendar for 2022.

Another one bites the dust….

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The ARRL and Hamcation have just announced that this year’s HamCation has been cancelled. This was just posted on the ARRL website:

ARRL National Convention and Orlando HamCation® Postponed to February 2022

NEWINGTON, CONNECTICUT — ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio® and the Orlando Amateur Radio Club (OARC) have announced that the ARRL National Convention and Orlando HamCation® — which is hosting the convention — have been postponed until February 10 – 13, 2022. The convention was to be held in February 2021 in Orlando, Florida. “The joint decision came after considering the national public health emergency including the health and safety of all participants, the uncertainty that continues to impact our organizations, and the reluctance to travel to, and attend, large events,” said ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA. “We regret the disruption to the hard work already completed by so many volunteers preparing for the ARRL National Convention and HamCation.”

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