[MVMA] we need a good booth presence, too.

[Chuck Gelm]

"but we need a good booth presence, too."

On 3/13/23 00:57, Orv W6BI wrote:
>
> That's a great question, Gordon.  It's probably a confluence of a 
> number of factors.  (a bit of a braindump here...)
>
>   * Moar stuff!   Many of the booths there had one or two people
>     sitting there and their booth had a banner hanging on the back
>     booth wall, and some literature on the table.  Contrast that with
>     the AREDN booth this year:  we had a 32" monitor on the table
>     slaved to a laptop, and props to KM6SLF for providing a huge
>     portable screen, that sat next to our booth (we were on the end of
>     a row and had room for it) and was illuminated by a projector
>     provided by KE6BXT.  Said projector was driven from another
>     laptop.  Both laptops had access to both the AREDN network and the
>     Internet, via SCALE's provided network.  They showed at various
>     times, the local AREDN network (via the network mapper written by
>     KG6WXC) and various webcams, both on the Expo floor and out on the
>     AREDN network. We also had an assortment of wireless gear on the
>     table for folks to pick up and look at.
>   * Engagement.  Many of the other booth occupants merely sat at their
>     table and waited for someone to stop and ask a question.  Contrast
>     that with AREDN's 'booth buddies': if someone stopped to look at
>     the stuff on our tables (lots of hardware!) one of us would pounce
>     on them with a "Can I help you?" and launch into our spiel about
>     IP networking over ham radio :-)  And I want to shout out to the
>     AREDN folks that helped at the booth:  Don KE6BXT; Eric KG6WXC;
>     Eric N6RFI, Tim KN6PLV; Bill KM6SLF; Mathison, KJ6DZB (who flew
>     down from the Bay area for the day); Kiley KD8DRX, and me, W6BI. 
>     Each and everyone one of them stepped up to the plate and engaged
>     with passersby.
>   * Literature!  AREDN sent us 25 AREDN handouts; they were gone
>     mid-morning on Saturday.   Need more next year!  And next year
>     we'll get handouts from ARRL about how to get your ham radio
>     license.  Props to Eric N6RFI for printing out an 8 1/2 x 11 with
>     the URL and QR code to the ARRL's "Getting your license" page on
>     Saturday night, so we had it for folks Sunday.
>
> SCALE isn't a ham radio conference; its focus is Linux and Open Source 
> applications.  So the bulk of the attendees are folks in the IT 
> industry.  That being said, a significant percentage of visitors to 
> the booth either had a ham license but were inactive, or said they'd 
> always wanted to get their ticket and thought AREDN networking "is 
> cool" and maybe they'd get their ticket just to mess around with IP 
> networking over ham radio. We'll see what happens :-)
>
> We already have a mental list of things we can do better next year.
>
> And we'll be at Hamvention in May and are already discussing what 
> we'll do there.   I submitted a presentation proposal and it was 
> accepted, but we need a good booth presence, too.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> 73
>
> Orv W6BI
>
>
> On 3/12/23 18:24, Gordon Beattie, W2TTT wrote:
>> Orv,
>> Congratulations to you and your team!  That's very cool to have that 
>> recognition from the attendees!
>>
>> I know that you have done this for several years, so I am wondering 
>> what did you change in the booth or the presentation?  Was it 
>> something about AREDN's evolution that created some "buzz"?
>>
>> For those of us in other places, we are curious so that we can do the 
>> same "right things" and avoid the bsd or wasteful things.
>>
>> Again, congratulations to you and the team!
>>
>>
>> 73,
>> J. Gordon "Gordie" Beattie, Jr., W2TTT
>> 201.314.6964
>> W2TTT at ATT.NET
>> Gordon.BeattieJr at VIAVISolutions.com
>>
>>
>> Get On The Air!
>>
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