[PaQSO] Party Announcements

[Michael Coslo]

Good day all,

The results are posted at:

http://www.nittany-arc.net/paqso.html

Now for some announcements.....

As many of you recall, I put the coffee mugs on probation at the end of last
year. We were dipping below the minimum order for the company that makes
them for us.  Note, this year we sold 58 mugs, and the minimum order is 144,
anything below that, and a penalty cost is incurred. The mugs also have the
singular property of holding things up during the post party period. As a
personalized item, they are manufactured in one place, then shipped across
the country to another place to fire the personalization onto them. And they
are one of the last things to be ordered, since they are dependent on a
qualification - and go out after log checking. Anyhow, this isn't like a
fulfillment center thing, it's a small custom trophy.

And we're at the point of losing money. 18 dollars seems like a lot for a
coffee mug, but after buying, personalizing and shipping costs, we make less
than a dollar per mug. And when the USPS breaks the obligatory 5 mugs or so
every year, we're losing money.

And they are becoming a drag on finishing things up. We try to have that one
stuffing/shipping party every year for all the items. The results for on-
line and certificates have been done for a long time, T-shirts are in, but
waiting for the mugs has them sitting in a pile on my desk. Obviously the
online results could have been posted earlier, but we've had a tradition of
posting them at the same time we send out the certificates. I broke with
that this year.

So the probation period has passed, and after the 2009 party the mugs have
gone the way of the dinosaurs. Part of me will miss them, but not the part
that packed, taped, labeled and took things to the post office.

At this time, I'm cogitating on new promotional items. The mugs were a good
idea for a while, but a lot of you have been at this longer than me - and
I've got a shelf full of mugs, so interest has dropped off. There's a good
chance we might have different promo items every year. We also might have
the items available before the party rather than afterward - I have to see
if we can work that out.

Finally, stand by for a major announcement soon regarding some changes.

Specifically regarding the point values per QSO, and the Canadian sections.

    - 73 de Mike N3LI -