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The Ham Expo: What it got right

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wayne burdick

The Ham Expo: What it got right

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Clearly there were major technical glitches with the Expo. I won't rehash the well-earned gripes.

There's a mitigating fact many of you were probably unaware of: The two most critical technical contributors to the effort were laid low by Covid-19 over the week leading up to it. Despite this, most of the site's functionality was ultimately restored. Many presentations went on, and many received rave reviews. Of course I feel for those whose presentations were not accessible or were otherwise compromised.

Some of our material was deferred as well. Yet there was one very significant highlight: The Lounge.

For me, Elecraft's Airmeet lounge rooms really *did* recreate much of the ambiance of our booth/hangout space at Dayton. I had dozens of wide-ranging conversations with experienced operators, newbies, and friends. It felt like like a homecoming on the year after an apocalypse.

So, while the Expo didn't go smoothly -- something the organizers have already fallen on their swords for, multiple times -- I believe it will also be remembered for introducing many of us to the benefits of the multiple small-video-group paradigm. No doubt this will become a fixture of virtual hamfests. And in physical hamfests to come, it can facilitate the active participation of those who have no choice but to remain virtually.

Merging the Airmeet platform with Vfairs was risky, but visionary. As we say around my house when things go sideways: points for style.

I suggest we all take a deep breath and give QSO Today a chance to work out the kinks. I'm sure that next time, with lessons learned, the experience will be fully beta-tested.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

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Julia Tuttle

Re: The Ham Expo: What it got right

Wayne,

Would you consider hosting occasional independent online events like the
lounge?

73,

Julia

On Sun, Mar 14, 2021, 22:40 Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Clearly there were major technical glitches with the Expo. I won't rehash
> the well-earned gripes.
>
> There's a mitigating fact many of you were probably unaware of: The two
> most critical technical contributors to the effort were laid low by
> Covid-19 over the week leading up to it. Despite this, most of the site's
> functionality was ultimately restored. Many presentations went on, and many
> received rave reviews. Of course I feel for those whose presentations were
> not accessible or were otherwise compromised.
>
> Some of our material was deferred as well. Yet there was one very
> significant highlight: The Lounge.
>
> For me, Elecraft's Airmeet lounge rooms really *did* recreate much of the
> ambiance of our booth/hangout space at Dayton. I had dozens of wide-ranging
> conversations with experienced operators, newbies, and friends. It felt
> like like a homecoming on the year after an apocalypse.
>
> So, while the Expo didn't go smoothly -- something the organizers have
> already fallen on their swords for, multiple times -- I believe it will
> also be remembered for introducing many of us to the benefits of the
> multiple small-video-group paradigm. No doubt this will become a fixture of
> virtual hamfests. And in physical hamfests to come, it can facilitate the
> active participation of those who have no choice but to remain virtually.
>
> Merging the Airmeet platform with Vfairs was risky, but visionary. As we
> say around my house when things go sideways: points for style.
>
> I suggest we all take a deep breath and give QSO Today a chance to work
> out the kinks. I'm sure that next time, with lessons learned, the
> experience will be fully beta-tested.
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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Spence Wilhelm-2

Re: The Ham Expo: What it got right

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Totally agree with you Wayne. The lounge was a great tool. I appreciate the time you dedicated to talk with us. Thank you for all you have done to enrich this wonderful hobby.

Yeah, the virtual conference wasn't perfect, but nothing ever is. I'm okay with how it turned out. I learned a lot and walked away still happy I'm a ham.

73,

Carroll
W7CSW

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On Mar 14, 2021, 7:41 PM, at 7:41 PM, Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:

>Clearly there were major technical glitches with the Expo. I won't
>rehash the well-earned gripes.
>
>There's a mitigating fact many of you were probably unaware of: The two
>most critical technical contributors to the effort were laid low by
>Covid-19 over the week leading up to it. Despite this, most of the
>site's functionality was ultimately restored. Many presentations went
>on, and many received rave reviews. Of course I feel for those whose
>presentations were not accessible or were otherwise compromised.
>
>Some of our material was deferred as well. Yet there was one very
>significant highlight: The Lounge.
>
>For me, Elecraft's Airmeet lounge rooms really *did* recreate much of
>the ambiance of our booth/hangout space at Dayton. I had dozens of
>wide-ranging conversations with experienced operators, newbies, and
>friends. It felt like like a homecoming on the year after an
>apocalypse.
>
>So, while the Expo didn't go smoothly -- something the organizers have
>already fallen on their swords for, multiple times -- I believe it will
>also be remembered for introducing many of us to the benefits of the
>multiple small-video-group paradigm. No doubt this will become a
>fixture of virtual hamfests. And in physical hamfests to come, it can
>facilitate the active participation of those who have no choice but to
>remain virtually.
>
>Merging the Airmeet platform with Vfairs was risky, but visionary. As
>we say around my house when things go sideways: points for style.
>
>I suggest we all take a deep breath and give QSO Today a chance to work
>out the kinks. I'm sure that next time, with lessons learned, the
>experience will be fully beta-tested.
>
>73,
>Wayne
>N6KR
>
>______________________________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
>Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
>This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>Message delivered to [hidden email]

SteveL

Re: The Ham Expo: What it got right

Interesting, just received an apology letter from Eric (the QSO Today Expo organizer). Kudos for the pioneering effort - but clearly the issues were multi-factor including some outside of their control. While I had a few technical issues on my end, once I figured out which browser worked on my MacBook, I was pretty much set. Where I missed - it was usually an issue a presenter was struggling to overcome.

I did spend some time in the “lounge” and thought it was a good tool. I could see vendors independently offering these small group “face-to-face” sessions periodically for sales, help, and more.

I’m not sure how you do a virtual flea market - some of the best treasure hunts of a typical Hamfest.

Speaking of a treasure hunt, the after-hours global scavenger hunt conducted by Watson Adventures was fun!

Steve
aa8af

>
> Totally agree with you Wayne. The lounge was a great tool. I appreciate the time you dedicated to talk with us. Thank you for all you have done to enrich this wonderful hobby.
>
> Yeah, the virtual conference wasn't perfect, but nothing ever is. I'm okay with how it turned out. I learned a lot and walked away still happy I'm a ham.
>

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AB1DD

Re: The Ham Expo: What it got right

Two weeks ago, our local club had our on line ham fest. We did a swap
meet. Using Zoom, we had each seller in a break out room. They had a
camera on the "stuff" and some had another camera for themselves. When a
buyer came in, they could talk to the seller, and the seller could hold
up the item and do a show and tell. Worked out good, the sellers were
happy and items changed hands. It was up to the seller to set the
payment and shipping method.

There was a table in the main lounge at HamExpo, but it was a long way
down the list, don't know if anyone was there, as I was in a boot all
weekend.

Carl

AB1DD

73,
Carl
AB1DD

Resistance is futile.
(don't know about reactance, though)

On 3/15/2021 11:06 AM, SteveL wrote:

>
> I’m not sure how you do a virtual flea market - some of the best treasure hunts of a typical Hamfest.
>
> Speaking of a treasure hunt, the after-hours global scavenger hunt conducted by Watson Adventures was fun!
>
> Steve
> aa8af
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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