[Elecraft] [OT] Dayton 2013...

[Dave Van Wallaghen]

Hi all,

I know it has been weeks since Dayton, but my wife and I were on 
vacation in Key West after Dayton and then I was hit with double shifts 
and a large backlog of enclosure orders upon our return. So I apologize 
for the lateness.

I just wanted to pass along how amazing it was to work in the Elecraft 
booth once again this year. I would arrive at the arena just as it was 
opening up and see people setting up for the day sipping coffee and then 
turn the corner and see the Elecraft booth already 4 and 5 people deep. 
It is truly incredible the amount of traffic that comes through that 
booth every day of the show.

I had lots of interest in my new line of cases and dust covers for the 
KX3. I received many great suggestions and I am actively ordering 
supplies to implement many of them. I'm meeting this week with a local 
sign company to square away ordering the matte black acrylic. I should 
be able to lock down pricing very shortly after the meeting and 
prototype some of the requested features. I was sold out of every dust 
cover I brought by noon on Friday and received a good number of orders 
for them while I was on vacation!

The GemsProducts end plates and covers where a huge splash. It looks 
like a really great addition to the KX3 and it generated a lot of 
excitement. I may have to order a set for myself. I also received a 
number of requests for Rose Kopp's products with a number of hams 
looking for her and Ken in the booth. It is very interesting to see the 
number of ways Elecraft users want to carry their rigs around and all 
the of situations users envision using their rigs.

I did finally break down and order a KX3! Not only will I enjoy using it 
this summer, but now I have a test unit to help prototype my products. 
It is supposed to be here next Monday - can't wait to build it up :-)

I really want to thank Eric, Lerma and Lisa for their wonderful 
hospitality in the booth. It really was a whirlwind in there and we sold 
a lot of Elecraft product in those three days. They truly treated me 
like family and allowed me to participate in, and exude the much desired 
Elecraft experience and customer service. It was nice seeing many of the 
Elecraft engineers, tech service specialists and volunteers. I'm sure 
everyone was just as tired as I was at the end of the weekend ;-)

All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm so happy to have met many of 
you at the show. I again thank Elecraft for the hospitality and all of 
you who gave me some great ideas and inspiration.

I will have more info on the KX3 cases coming very soon.

Take care & 73,
Dave W8FGU