[4DIJ-L] The 4DIJ ball is rolling...

[Rex Harper]

Gangue,

THE gauntlet is down and I have already been slapped with it! I just 
sent this modified (from my 4DIJ post the other day) Email to the 2 QRPL 
lists and expect to get hit with the gauntlet a couple more times before 
the day is done...

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QRP  Gangue,

Lobstercon2009! is getting close and I'm now getting into the zone as 
registrations are coming in and arrangements need to be arranged... This 
will be the 10th year for Lobstercon and we are taking it one step 
further. We would love to have other QRP groups from across the country 
join in our fun. The Salmoncon guys out in Seattle were the first to 
join in. We have coordinated the timing of the 2 events for several 
years now. One of our biggest activities is trying to communicate with 
each other. Now if I could persuade several more QRP groups to join in 
and hold an get together on the same weekend, we could have all kinds of 
QRP signals on the air. So I am encouraging other QRP groups to join us. 
While it takes some experience to hold an event like Lobstercon, 
starting a new event is not all that difficult and I would like to 
impart some of my experience to anyone who would like to do something 
similar.

My main motivation for Lobstercon was to meet and socialize with my 
fellow QRPers from my area which is New England. I initially thought 
about meeting fellow QRP-L list members who lived in Maine. I had 
attended my 2nd Dayton Hamvention AND my 1st FDIM (12 years ago) so I 
was psyched up about QRP and wanted to bond with my fellow QRPers. My 
thoughts gelled through the summer and I simply couldn't wait for the 
following summer to meet everybody. I had done a favor for a local 
attraction: The Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland Maine, knew 
that they had a big parking lot and a small museum building that we 
could use. I figured that if QRPers had more than 1 reason to come, that 
it might help. So I asked the founder about using the museum building 
and parking lot with the promise that we would be good and that I would 
encourage everybody to make a contribution to the museum. He said fine, 
and I picked a day: the 1st Saturday in November for the event. I put it 
out over the QRP-L list and searched the list database for QRPers in 
Maine. I sent out E-mails to everyone I could identify by call as 
residing in Maine. It was a simple format: show up, bring a bag lunch, 
show & tell, operate and simply chat. More of a social event than an 
operating or seminar type event. November was an iffy time to schedule 
an outside event in Maine but we also had the museum building so I 
figured that we were 'covered'. I billed it as O(hf)DIN : One (hopefully 
fine) Day in November in homage of FDIM. Saturday showed up along with 
the SUN and 35 QRPers! We had a beautiful 75 degree sunny day where 
everybody had a SUPER time showing off their rigs, chatting and some 
even operated. I was elated and couldn't wait to do it again...only I 
wasn't going to wait until November, so I immediately started thinking 
of a picnic event in the summer at a local park.

The following summer, I held another 'event' that I called Ft. Williams 
/ Lobstercon in homage to Ft. Tuthill. I reasoned that these local 
events might be even MORE important than the biggies as most QRPers 
can't afford to fly half way across the country to attend a QRP event. I 
was lucky that I was working for a company and could tailor my business 
travel to get me really close to these events. My first Dayton 
Hamvention was paid for by the company I worked for as I was working on 
an ink project and Dayton just happens to be the 'ink capital' of the 
US.  So I ended up 'having' to meet up with a PhD ink chemist consultant 
at the hamvention as he also happened to be a ham. Our 1st meeting was 
at the Dayton Hamvention flea market gate on Friday at 9am. Man was I 
good! Anyway, back to the story... Ft. Williams took place at Ft. 
Williams Park in my hometown of Cape Elizabeth, Maine and 18 QRPers 
showed up. I brought my gas grill from home, enticed attendance with 
lobsters and we had another great day. Camping entered the picture on 
the third event as I figured out that most of the attendance was coming 
from afar and camping would boost the attendance  as loosing 5 or 6 
hours in the day from traveling was bad. The third event was billed from 
the get-go as Lobstercon and this year will be the 10th Lobstercon. We 
started as a Saturday only event and moved to Friday & Saturday with 
overnight camping. I informally call it 4 days in July as now many 
attendees show up for camping on Thursday, and even Wednesday and some 
don't leave until Monday. I settled on 4DIJ in homage to FDIM (again)... 
but made it different enough so that the FDIM guys won't get mad at me 
for copying their name...hihi!

A local event does not mean that you have to have a big feast and a 
daunting logistics problem. Keeping it relatively small and simple and 
possibly letting it grow a little each year is a good recipe for 
success! A nice beginning event could be more like a pot luck supper. 
Everybody brings a dish of something, meet at a public place like a park 
or someones field where you might be able to hang around a little later. 
Most public parks close at sundown... Staying later into the evening 
would make it more interesting as you could have a nice dinner, chat and 
a little operating. I emphasize the operating as one of our biggest 
activities at Lobstercon is trying to contact our 'sister' event 
Salmoncon out in Seattle. If you held a local even in say Nebraska at 
the same time, you would be in the thick of it on Friday or Saturday 
night when both the Lobstercon and Salmoncon guys are trying their best 
to QSL each other.

Now I've made it a little easier, as you don't have to pick a 
date....hold a local event on Saturday July 11, 2009! (although Friday 
night is equally as good) and I can guarantee you that there will be 
others doing the same that night!

Pick a place: private field with all night access? Wally World parking 
lot? Public park with late night access?

Pick a format: eat, operate, show & tell, swap, swindle, or a little of 
everything?

Decide on some snackage: want pot luck? or everybody chip in for : 
pizza, wings,  burgers, brats, buffalo oysters or some other indigenous 
delicacy.

Get the word out........talk amongst yourselves!

I'll even make it a little easier! The first 25 groups that can convince 
me that they are serious and on their way to putting on a local event 
that covers July 11th 2009, will receive an absolutely free package from 
me that will contain their 1st two attendance raffle prizes AND the 
tickets to raffle them off with.

Let's get some SERIOUS QRP signals flying around the country on the 
night of July 11, 2009!

72,
W1REX   Rex Harper  'The (Tuna) Tinman'   www.QRPme.com

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Dar and the Midwest HomeBrewer's Group are in the game....... If anybody 
else looks like they are going to participate, please let me know! Let's 
get some chatter on this list and some QRP happenings organized for the 
4DIJ weekend!

W1REX