[South Florida DX Association] Miami Hamboree...

Sun Feb 13 16:58:20 EST 2005

Thanks for sharing your thoughts John...

Evelyn was quite upbeat about next year and she and I discussed changes
their Club would make. Unlike some they are quite positive about their
future. One only needs to talk to a vendor to realize what a good show
makes. Old timers get bored. A great hamfest is usually one that you find
something you wanted or something you thought you would never see.

You may have felt the Outside Flea Market was a flop but the only opinions
that count are those that participated and sold their wares. They left when
they had nothing to sell. This was a big success. If you only knew what
Evelyn and the Dade Club went trough to even get it to this point you would
be applauding.

At the DX Forum Gil and Steve set up as many chairs as they could. A few
extra hands at that never hurts but the hard work finds few volunteers.
While a few were standing there was enough shuffling around for everyone to
find a seat if they wanted to.

Miami is not the hotbed of Hamfests it once was but thanks to those that
will not give in and always work hard to make each year a success we owe a
debt of gratitude.

Our goal as a Club is to have fun and make fun for as many that want to have
fun. We make no money and as a matter of fact spend a great deal to have fun
for this one weekend a year. To that end it was a big success.

We need always to thank members who go the extra mile. Like Mark K2AU who
works hard to make new members comfortable. Without Ed Dauer this club would
not have things that other clubs only dream of.

We thank Steve who organized and now with his experience we can be assured
of future fun.

Here's to a better Miami Hamboree next year!
-Bill Marx W2CQ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John/K4WJ" <k4wj at bellsouth.net>
To: "Bill Marx" <bmarx at bellsouth.net>; "aSFDXA" <SFDXA at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 4:32 PM
Subject: Re: [South Florida DX Association] Miami Hamboree ...

> Some of my htoughts:
>
> I arrived late for the forum and there were very few empty chairs. I saw
> folks sitting on the tables against the wall. Either there were more folks
> in attendance than we thought would be there or we didn't have enough
> chairs. I didn't stay because my right knee was bothering me.
>
>  From my perspective the outside flea area was a big flop. By the time I
> got to the outside area, which was around  2:30 Saturday afternoon, I
would
> say more than 60% of the spaces were empty. I must admit that I saw more
> spaces filled when I arrived at the Hamboree, which was around 10:45 a.m.
>
> Just about everyone that discussed the Hamboree with me stated that they
> doubted there would be one next year. I wish I could have made it to
> Orlando so that I could have compared the two events.
>
> It seems like when solar activity is low so is the attendance at the
> Hamboree. It usually picks up as the next solar cycle begins to improve
but
> never reaches the peak attendance that was experienced during the previous
> solar cycle. Sad to see!
>
> As I was leaving the Hamboree I realized that I hadn't thanked Ed Dauer
for
> all of the things he has done for our Club. I was upset for not taking
> advantage of the opportunity.
>
> Many thanks to the members that made this happen. I was proud to be
> associated with the South Florida DX Association.
>
> 73..de John/K4WJ
>
>
> At 03:32 PM 02/13/2005, Bill Marx wrote:
> >The Friday night fun at the Falcon Pub with Bernie and Wayne was
terrific.
> >This was a new feature for the club and I think may be a part of all
future
> >Hamborees. We had RSVP's from 21 SFDXA Members and Friends and 35 showed
up!
> >A little scrambling and some help from the owners of the Falcon Pub and
we
> >all had a great time. No Don did not try the hot sauce again.
> >
> >The Miami Hamboree took some interesting turns this year and it seemed to
> >work well. The Hamboree consolidated and mixed in some Flea Market Tables
> >with the Manufacturers and Distributors. This was new and seemed to work
> >very well as the Vendors had a great show. Evelyn and I spoke Sunday
morning
> >and she was saying how many good comments she was receiving from the
> >Sellers. The outdoor Flea Market while not many vendors were there (35?)
> >they were busy until Sunday Afternoon. I suspect next year we will see a
ton
> >of vendors. Most of the guys outdoors sold everything they had by
Saturday
> >Morning.
> >
> >The DX Forum was one of the best ever. They seem to get better all the
time.
> >Bernie W3UR fascinated us with his adventures at 4U1UN and KH3 DX
Peditions.
> >He was informative and interesting the entire time. We hope to have him
back
> >again. Wayne N7NG was there representing the ARRL and he provided us with
> >answers to questions. I'd say we had about 55 attendees over all.
> >
> >Wayne then spent the rest of Saturday checking cards with Don W3AZD.
Bernie
> >stayed with us at the DX Booth through Sunday proving to be big help at
the
> >booth and subscribing guys to the DX Bulletin.
> >
> >The Gathering of Friends at Casa Paco once again was one of the
highlights
> >of the weekend for those attending. As always Dan from The Hamstation
came
> >and tested the local Beers. We had 42  for Dinner. I'd say everyone had a
> >terrific time. the food was excellent as it was two years ago at this
same
> >place.
> >
> >Door Prizes from The Ham Station, Cubex Quads, QRZ DX,  Daily DX
Bulletin,
> >Mike's Electronics, ARRL (Thanks Sherri) were given out at the DX Forum
and
> >Saturday evening. Please shop these supporters.
> >
> >We still want to know how Bernie of the Daily DX Bulletin managed to win
a
> >subscription to his own Newsletter. He gave the subscription to Grant who
> >hasn't won a Door Prize in a long time. Bernie thought he should have it.
> >(The 160 information alone is worth the subscription Grant).
> >
> >And of course the Big News of the night and the year was the awarding of
the
> >"DX HOG" Of  The Year to Ron W4BP. A well deserved award indeed. Past
Winner
> >of 2003 Kappy WA4WTG picked Ron to wear the Hog Cap for this year.
> >
> >Special Thanks to Volunteers that made it happen. In no particular order.
> >Steve W4DTA
> >Mark K2AU
> >Bruce W4OV
> >Don W3AZD
> >Hope WB3ANE
> >Gil W1RG
> >Pete N8PR
> >and Thanks to all Members of the SFDXA that contributed their efforts to
> >making this a tremendous success again this year.
> >
> >See you all next year...
> >-Bill Marx W2CQ
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >SFDXA mailing list
> >SFDXA at mailman.qth.net
> >http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa
>
> 73..de John/K4WJ
> ***********************************************************
>    John/K4WJ in Pembroke Pines, FL
>     QTH  26 00 51 N
>          80 16 16 W
>
> K8PXG from 18 Jun 59 to 11 Feb 97
> K8WJ  from 12 Feb 97 to 07 Apr 97
> ZF2HZ from 17 May 84 to 31 Dec 84
> ***********************************************************