[DCART] Emcommwest and Pacificon to merge

[Don Carlson - KQ6FM]

Pacificon 2009 to be hosted by EMCOMMWEST, May 1, 2, and 3, at the Circus Circus Hotel, Reno, NV

On February 15, I learned that the Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club had decided not to sponsor the Pacificon Convention this year.  They have done an outstanding job of running Pacificon every year since 1992, and this decision was made by their Pacificon Committee, based on the current economic downturn, and unsuccessful negotiations with the host hotel.  Realizing the difficulty of finding a replacement for the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club, that with an experienced committee spends nearly a year planning this successful event, I decided to contact EMMCOMWEST, the second largest Amateur Radio Convention in the Pacific Division.  They very kindly accepted, knowing the marriage of the two events would require an expansion of program matter, and the addition of Friday presentations.  I am truly grateful to the entire EMCOMMWEST team for their decision.  The Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club has been very supportive of this effort, and is making all of their speaker, vendor, and organizational information available to the EMCOMMWEST team.  The keynote speaker will be Steve Ewald, WV1X, Field Organization Supervisor from ARRL HQ; and the banquet speaker will be Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, who was in charge of Amateur Radio rules enforcement at the FCC when he retired.  I hope many of you will be able to attend this year's Pacificon.  More information is available at <pacificon.org>.  

A special note to all club newsletter editors:  Please feature this information in your monthly publications.  I will be sending additional mailings as more news becomes available. 

See you at EMCOMMWEST/Pacificon! 

Thanks and 73,

Bob Vallio, W6RGG
Director, Pacific Division
ARRL The national association for AMATEUR RADIO