[Elecraft] Seeking comments on Ham Expo from participants

[Bill Frantz]

[I sent this privately to Wayne, but people on the list may like it.]

I tried to express my feelings about the expo in their feedback 
survey. Perhaps prose will work better.

I enjoyed it, but I hated not being able to pause presentations 
or pick them up later.* Online from home isn't the same as in a 
hall. People come to the door. The phone rings. You name it.

What I would like is something to handle these problems AND fix 
some of the problems with inperson expos. The big problem I see 
at inperson expos have is conflicting sessions.

If all the sessions were available at the beginning, and the Q&A 
were scheduled later, attendees could listen to the presentation 
at their convenience and then show up for the Q&A if they wanted 
to. The Q&A should be recorded and made available ASAP so 
someone missing the Q&A could at least hear other people's interactions.


I never found a way to make casual contact with old friends. At 
inperson expos, I work mostly by facial recognition, carefully 
reading the badge to help recall the name. Being somewhat shy, I 
generally try to lurk in the background. The online format just 
didn't work for me.


As for the exhibitors, what I get mostly our of inperson expos 
is the ability to see things "in the flesh". "Oh my, that KX2 is 
really tiny. Time to get serious about SOTA" kinda thing. That, 
learning about things I didn't know existed, and buying 
connectors etc. from the vendors are the reasons I visit the 
vendors. Oh yes, and saying Hi to old friends like the people 
from Elecraft.

73 Bill AE6JV

* I fixed this problem by reading the HTML of the page and 
finding the uTube link to the presentation. My inner computer 
hacker come out.

On 8/21/20 at 7:47 PM, n6kr at elecraft.com (Wayne Burdick) wrote:

>I'd like to write up a summary of the recent [virtual] Ham 
>Expo, especially for the benefit of those who weren't able to 
>make it. Perhaps they'll get a chance later this year or next 
>March -- both likely, as the Expo was quite a success overall.
>
>It was, shall we say, unique...I'd love to hear about your 
>experiences, good, bad, or in-between. Ideas for future expos 
>are also welcome, whether Elecraft-specific or applicable to 
>the event as a whole.
>
>This feedback will also be invaluable for the team that put on 
>the expo, including my good friend Eric Guth, 4Z1UG. (Don't let 
>my acquaintance with Eric inhibit your free expression...he's 
>pure teflon.)

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