[Milsurplus] Dayton hamfest photos - Decline of Dayton (OT)

[Mike Morrow]

Bob wrote:

> For the record when people start citing this malarkey.
>
> http://hamgallery.com/gallery/D/hamvention.htm
>
> Attendance in the mid 90s was about 30000 attendance last year was just
> under 26000...Not exactly half...

The record was 33669 in 1993, when the event was still taking held in April.  (It shifted to May in 1996, with the assumption of better weather and better attendance.  No attendance numbers are available for 1996, but it appeared a good year to me.)  The 2015 attendance (including me) that you cite with such satisfaction was an appalling **24 percent lower** than what was attained 22 years earlier!  So...you're putting a smiley face on that?  The 2015 event was the most disappointing Hamvention I ever attended.

But wait...look at 2008.  Attendance was 17253...only **51 percent** of the 1993 peak 15 years earlier.  For seven straight years (2004 to 2010) attendance barely broke 20000 on the best years.  The average for those seven years was **42 percent** below that of 1993.  I know...that was all George Bush's fault.  :-)

Hara Arena is a decaying facility.  Hamvention attendance has fallen dramatically and has never again approached its peak.  The decline is obvious to anyone who has frequently attended in the past 25 years.

So...yeah...malarkey!  Except...the malarkey does not come from me.

It's not all bad.  The good about today's Hamvention:  
(1)  It's a lot easier to get a motel room, even if reserving a room a couple of weeks in advance.
(2)  Parking south of Shiloh Springs Road is far far less crowded, and (because of that) it is orders of magnitude easier and quicker to leave the lot at the end of the day.
(3)  There doesn't seem to be near as much deliberate talk-in frequency jamming as 20 years ago.
(4)  The USAF Museum is still nearby, better than ever (even if the Hamvention is not).
(5)  Fair Radio is still open, just an hour up I-75, if you get there on Thursday or Friday.

I have a six-hour straight shot up I-65 to get there.  That's relatively short.  But I don't go anymore unless there are some of my local ham friends who want to make the trip.  That's the only reason I made the mistake of going in 2015.

> Hamfest[s] are social events, go outside get some fresh air and see your friends.
> It isn't always about buying "stuff".

Thanks for the sermon, pastor Bob. :-)

Mike / KK5F