On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 03:07:49 PM CST, TCARC HamFest <[email protected]> wrote:

A quick note that Sunday, 3/10 is the last day that we're accepting registrations on the free ham club tables at the Tri-County Fest, coming in ten days on March 17th.

The deal is simple: FREE tables to ham clubs to help you attract new members and publicize your events. To get one, you just need to email [email protected] by Sunday with your contact info,  We still have 8 open for clubs, but to avoid getting billed for (now empty) club tables, we need to notify the venue on Monday. Our fest attracts people from across the southern part of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, so if you want to get a CHEAP way to get in their faces, this is as good as it gets! Layout of the current Fest is available at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest/; the tables in red labeled "Club Corner" are the tables we're making available at no charge to other ham clubs. 

If you are not going to attend and would like us to pass out flyers for your fests/events/meetings, email us as well so we can make arrangements to have your flyers out. As clubs, we're not competing with each other, so we view this as one way our club can help your club survive, grow, and thrive. Feel free to pass this along to anyone that this might help.


Michael Zore, AE9MZ
Secretary, Tri-County Amateur Radio Club
Serving Hams in Jefferson, Rock, and Walworth WI Counties
Operating the 145.49- (123.0) repeater
 
 
>>> Mark Thompson <[email protected]> 2/9/2024 1:52 PM >>>

On Friday, February 9, 2024 at 01:49:44 PM CST, TCARC HamFest <[email protected]> wrote:


Hey, everyone, I wanted to pass along a note about the free Club tables at the upcoming March 17th Tri-County Fest in Jefferson.  If you'd like a free table for your Club, reply back (off-group) to [email protected] and I can work out the details with you.  Here's the info on the free table offer: 

As a Club, we know that this is a difficult time for many ham clubs. The costs of running a swapfest, repeaters, and radios increase every year but the funds we have to work with don't. It's hard to keep current members, as many move to new digs (in warmer locations!) and even harder to connect with new members. As a club, TCARC shares in your pain and decided we wanted to do something about it this year, through our Swap Fest.

As a result, at our January meeting, TCARC voted to provide a free table to area Ham clubs that want to attract new members to their club. The rules are simple:
1) You must represent an area amateur radio club, with active members, looking to add new members.
2) We will provide a free table in "Club Corner", located close to the donuts and coffee to encourage traffic to your tables. We want new hams to be able to find lots of local options to connect, all in one place. If you wish a table elsewhere in the Fest, you may purchase one separately online at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest.
3) You may bring any number of people to staff your tables but you pay admission for each. Make it a club-supporting club social event!
4) Feel free to enjoy the Fest, but plan to continuously staff your tables from 8 AM to noon. No tables with a stack of literature out and no one to represent your group, please. Our goal is to help clubs connect with new members; empty tables don't do that. Advertising your upcoming events is welcome and encouraged!
5) Set up will be between 7 and 8 AM, to allow other vendors with large amounts of stuff to get through the doors first.
6) You may sell things at your table and buy from other tables like any other vendor. Please abide by the usual rules of no-pre-8-AM-sales to give the attendees (who pay to make this event possible) the same chance to make great finds as you.
7) Your club info will be available online, as we post a "what's at my table" entry which can be searched online. You can post any information that might help draw people to your group's table (subject to approval).
8) At present, we've purchased 12 tables for clubs and tables are first-come, first-served. Respond soon.
Here are answers for what we expect will be Frequently Asked Questions:
How do we reserve a table? Simply reply to this email with the Club name, mailing address, any website or social media you'd like published, and a contact person with telephone numbers (only used if we have any unexpected problems. Remember March 2020?) and email address. We'll follow up with you using that contact information to process your request. Your table reservation information will be emailed back to you at that email address once processed.
How do we get admission tickets? Order online at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest/ or download the Fest Flyer from that page and mail it in with a check. Pre-sales tickets are offered at a 20% discount of day-of-Fest tickets.
How many people can we bring for our table? At least one and as many as you'd like. Simply purchase tickets for the number coming.
How many people attend the Fest? The Fest typically draws around 350-400 people and we expect the same this year. Most are current hams but some will have just passed their tests to become hams, so be prepared for a mix of both, in addition to interested hobbyists and the general public.
Is a Fest Flyer available? Yes, download a flyer on the SwapFest home page at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest/. If you want printed copies sent to your club, drop us an email.
What happens if you run out of free Club tables? This is the first year we've tried this. We thought about it last year but couldn't get organized in time. This year, we're organized earlier, so we're starting with 12 tables for clubs. Honestly, we haven't decided what to do if those run out so tables are first-come, first-served. If this is a popular idea this year, we may improve on this next year. We'd like to include as many area clubs as possible but the cost of these tables come out of the income that we use to fund our events year-round, so we're starting small.
Questions? Drop an email to [email protected] and we'll do our best to help. Hope to see you on Sunday, March 17th!
Also, if you won't be hosting a Club table but have an event coming up, email me so we can work out details to pass out your flyers at the Fest.


Michael Zore, AE9MZ
Secretary, Tri-County Amateur Radio Club
Serving Hams in Jefferson, Rock, and Walworth WI Counties
Operating the 145.49- (123.0) repeater
 
 
>>> Mark Thompson <[email protected]> 2/4/2024 9:54 AM >>>



Tri-County Hamfest 2024

Buy/Sell 

Amateur Radio Equipment, 

Electronics and Computer Gear

Jefferson, WI 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Free Parking!
The Tri-County Amateur Radio Club invites you to Hamfest 2024 in the Activity Center building at the Jefferson County Fair Park, 503 N Jackson Street, in Jefferson, WI, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. We're located centrally in Jefferson County, 30 minutes east of Madison along the beltline, or 45 minutes west of Milwaukee, just off Hwy 26, south of I-94. 
 The event is 100% indoors, so come enjoy the Fest regardless of the weather Wisconsin may throw at us!! Vendor setup will start at 6:30 AM with the doors opening to to the public at 8 AM. On-air Talk-in will be available on the club repeater: W9MQB 145.49, negative offset, with CTCSS 123.0. Check the web site for detailed maps and directions to the event.
Vendor spots are available in advance for $15 per 8’ table; choose your own tables in advance on the Club website at https://www.w9mqb.org/SwapFest/ using our online ordering tool.
Prefer to use snail mail? Download the form from https://www.w9mqb.org/HamfestFlyer2024.pdf, print it out, and mail it in to the Club with a self-addressed stamped envelope and we’ll find a good table for you, or just mail you tickets if that's all you need. Mail orders must be placed by March 5th to insure that we get your order and can get your tickets and table maps back to you in time. Or, save the cost and hassle of stamps and envelopes and order online.
Save 20% and time waiting in line when you buy your advance tickets online for only $8 at https://www.w9mqb.org/SwapFest/. You’ll get electronic tickets delivered to your mail inbox in a few minutes, so no need to worry about lost tickets! (The Postal Service NEVER loses mail, right?) Online ticketing means no waiting in long lines to purchase once the Fest opens: just print out your ticket, better yet, just show it on your smart phone, and you're inside finding cool ham radio deals!
Want to join the ham world or upgrade your license? We've got Rick Kardos (N9RK) and Team RK managing our ARRL Volunteer Examiner testing room, with tests starting at 9:30 AM. Reservations are REQUIRED to take an exam. Please email us at [email protected] by Friday, March 15th to schedule your time. Note that you MUST have a scheduled spot and MUST have your FRN number to take any exam; if you don’t have one yet (or don't know yours), reply back to this email and one of the TCARC club members will walk you through the process.
As always, we want this to be a real celebration of Ham Radio, so we're giving away hundreds of dollars of door prizes, with prizes every hour. Your online ticket automatically enters you into the drawings, but you must be present to win. If you purchase tickets at the Fest, please take your ticket to Table 93 to enter for a chance to win radios, books, antennas, gift certificates, and more!
Questions? Reply back to this email at [email protected] for answers to any questions!
See you on March 17th!
Tri-County Amateur Radio Club
W9MQB.org
Our mailing address is:

Tri-County Amateur Radio Club
PO Box 321
Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0321