[FARC] Hamfest status and requests

[Scott Galbraith]

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Hello all. I understand from others on the committee that volunteers are still
needed to assist with the hamfest - especially in the later morning at the entrances. I am sending this to the list to update everyone on the progress being made and in hopes that it will spur someone to reconsider and step forward to help or to contact us and offer to help if one of our committee members has not called you yet. If you can help at the gates, please contact Gloria or any of us as soon as possible.
Gloria can be reached at 301-846-0268 or 301-676-4811 or via email at Bgo335ep at aol.com

Things are going even better since this status summary was initially prepared a few weeks ago as the vendors start to make their commitments to Carolyn for inside space.

Everyone, member and non-member alike, is encouraged to jump in with some assistance.

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FARC FATHER'S DAY HAMFEST
STATUS AND UPDATE REPORT 5/28/05

The following summarizes the various meetings we have had since last
July and presents what I believe to be the present status of all
matters.

There were many "issues" discussed at our July '04 meeting that had
arisen from the 2004 hamfest. Most revolved around a perceived lack
of attendee traffic into and around the commercial areas of the
fest, a perceived poor quality of food vending and around efforts
needed to encourage attendees to stay longer. We agreed to address
these issues by changing the physical layout of the fest for 2005,
by changing the types of main prizes to be awarded, by seeking new
food vendors and by trying to get activities and events scheduled
later in the day. We discussed requiring main prize winners to be
present to win - but ultimately discarded that approach. Most of
these attempts were successful - however, we have been unable to
secure "related activities" to take place at the hamfest which might
extend the attendance time. We approached various organizations with
offers of meeting and/or presentation facilities - but so far have
no takers. Our VE exams will take place slightly later in the
morning (1/2 hour) and that will give the examiners the chance to
participate in the fest activities a little while before the exams
start.

PARKING & ADMISSION GATES

As part of our efforts to increase foot traffic through the venue,
we rented a totally different parking area for this year. General
admission parking this year will be in Section Q, which is on the
east side of the fairgrounds. This section is beside and behind the
metal buildings. ALL GENERAL ADMISSION entries and traffic _must_
come through the fairgrounds East gate, Gate #3, which opens off
Monroe Avenue. There will be NO general admission entry off of E.
Patrick Street. This is very important since all general admission
ticket sales will be handled _at the gate_ (Gate 3) only. This means
that we will need a good number of persons stationed there to help
keep traffic moving. We will also need a good number of CAP cadets
to control and direct the traffic into the designated parking area
of Section Q. Handicap parking will be in the area designated as
such by the fairground and which is between buildings #13 and #14.
Handicap parkers will have to be directed _through) Section Q to
this designated area. We will be allowing COMMERCIAL vendors for the
main building to enter via the fairground's main gate (Gate #1). We
will also allow general admission foot traffic to enter via Gate #1.
-     GATE #1: Commercial vendors for Building #9 and foot traffic 
-     We will need Martha (WVA) and her assistants to staff that gate.
-     Gloria and Jeff, we will need you and teams to care for
     - Gate #6: TAILGATE ONLY and
     - Gate #3: General and Handicap Admission
-     All gates will be open starting at 6:00 AM.
-     ALSO note that the price for general admission for this year
     has gone up by one dollar, the admission price is now $6.00.
-     Eric (AAY) is making sure that we have a good supply of
     one dollar bills for change making but we should try for exact
     change sales when we can.

FOOD VENDING

We obtained two new food vendors and they will be set up on the
NORTH side of the main building (building 9.)  The food vendors are
Dan-A-Roo BBQ catering service and Delight Bakery & Deli. Both of
these vendors have good food with variety and they are used to
working alongside each other at other events. Delight will be open
early with full breakfast menu and coffee. The owners of Delight are
also hams (in the radio sense.)  ;-)  There will be space in the
building and outside the building for patrons to sit, eat and chat.

TAILGATING

Tailgating will remain where it has been traditionally set up, in
Sections H & K just west of the main building. We may be able to
use some of Section D as well which is the narrow strip which runs
along the E. Patrick Street fence. The west corner gate off of E.
Patrick Street (Gate #6) which HAS been the primary entry gate for
the past few years will be _restricted_ and ONLY for TAILGATING
entries. Any general admission persons attempting to enter that gate
will be redirected to Gate #3 and _not_ allowed in to Gate #6. There
will be _no parking_ available for general admission vehicles on
that side of the fairgrounds and thus no where for them to go if
they are allowed in!  This change is likely to cause confusion and
we are asking for all of our volunteers to remember this and be as
patient as possible with attendees.
-     Make SURE that we point out and publicize this change in our
     "on the air" and personal conversations about the hamfest.
-     Eric (AAY), Scott (MVV) and Jason (ZBO) will still be
     overseeing the placement of tailgaters.

SIGNAGE

Jeff Fishman is responsible for providing new, large signs for
multiple locations near the various entrances and along the approach
routes to attempt to direct people to the correct gates and we will
need to have someone just _outside_ of Gate #6 to insure that
general admission vehicles are identified and redirected to Gate #3
before they come through Gate 6 and while it is still easy for them
to change directions.
-     Jeff, we need to confirm signage availability and placement.

PRIZES & PRIZE TICKETS

We will have the ticket drum set outside of the south entrance of
the main building (building #9) during the time from 6:00 am until
it opens at 8:00 am. We did this last year and it seemed to help
keep unauthorized persons out of the main buiding until setup was
completed.
-     Mildred will be staffing a ticket table outside the building
     (and inside after the building is opened) for the purpose of
     selling extra tickets to attendees.
That's right, extra tickets.
This year we are giving away real live ham radio equipment as grand
prizes and we are making additional drawing chances available for
those who wish to buy more tickets. The additional tickets will be
stamped on the back as not usable for general admission to the
grounds but in all other respects will be identical to the general
admission tickets. Prize tickets are also available for advance sale
via the web site instructions. They are not valid for fest admission
since they are being sold at a lower price.
     The main prizes this year are being provided with the assistance
(discounted but not free) of Icom America and KJI Electronics and we
appreciate their support.
-     The main prize will be an Icom IC-718 HF transceiver with DSP
     and Power Supply.
-     The second prize will be an ICOM IC-208H dual band VHF/UHF
     mobile transceiver.
-     The third and fourth prizes will both be Icom IC-T2H 2-meter
     handhelds.
We will also have our normal selection of door prizes throughout
the day, or normal cash drawing for tailgaters AND we have decided
to have a separate drawing after the fest for a door prize for one
of our volunteers. Any one who volunteers and provides at least 2
hours of service to the fest will be eligible for the volunteer
drawing.

VE TESTING

Over the previous years we have grown increasingly unhappy with the
physical conditions of Building #8, where we have previously held
the VE exams. It has been damp, moldy, smelly and dark. This year we
have moved away from that building and have rented one of the large
metal buildings (Building #13) between the main building and the
Section Q parking. This facility should be much better.
-     Registration for exams will now begin at 9:00 AM and testing
will start at 9:30 AM. These times are each 1/2 hour later than
in previous years.

MISCELLANEOUS

We will have the club table and silent auction table again this year
as well. Anyone wishing to place items in either are asked to contact
Scott (OK), Carolyn (VOK), Eric (AAY), Jeff (FIO) or Scott (MVV).
Persons using either resource are asked to either provide at least
an hour of time supporting the tables OR to donate 5% of their sales
to the club.

We have been advised that the Red Cross will have one of their
emergency response vehicles on display at the fest. It will be
parked across from the south entrance to building #9 near gate #1
where we _used_ to have the food vendor set up.

We still can use volunteers for setup on Saturday afternoon.

We still desperately need volunteers for gate duties on Sunday
morning and we also need volunteers who can stay or come in the
afternoon (after 1:00 pm) to help with tear-down and clean-up.

If anyone has any questions or if I have forgotten anything in this
summary, please let me know quickly.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support and assistance in
making the Father's Day Hamfest a success.

--

-- 

73 de Scott Galbraith
N3OK, Frederick County, MD
FM19ji
ARRL, QCWA 30013, GERATOL 2198, PVRC
NAVMARCORMARS - NNN0OPY, NNN0GAW
National Communications System SHARES
scottg (at) n3ok.com
nnn0opy (at) navymars.org