[Wswss] The West Coast VHF Conference, K7ICW and the future

[Wayne Overbeck]

The West Coast VHF Conference.  Ah, yes, I 
remember it well.  The first one was held in 
the mid-1950s and the last one in 1992, I 
think, at the Holiday Inn in La Mirada, I 
think.  That was the 37th annual conference, 
I think.  Yes, I do remember it well, I 
think.

It was the kind of international conference 
that WJ6T wants to have now.  In the early 
years it drew a large contingent from the 
Pacific Northwest, among other regions.  
It was like the Central States VHF 
Conference--but before that conference 
was invented.

In his wonderful reminiscences of the 
West Coast VHF Conference, K7ICW left out 
one little detail.  He (K7ICW) holds the 
all-time record for conducting the hottest 
antenna gain competition ever (Las Vegas, 
1978).  It was a HOT event in a HOT town.  
Literally.

The previous year's antenna competition 
was held on the beach in Santa Barbara 
(actually, Montecito) with the signal source 
in Carpinteria.  It was a line-of-sight, 
over-water path.  The weather was wonderful 
and the scenery outstanding, but there was 
a strange coincidence:  there was QSB on 
the incoming signal that precisely matched 
the waves rolling up the beach in the near 
field.  Ooops.

What can we learn from the West Coast VHF 
Conference?  Aside from the fact that someone 
who knows what he's doing should set up the 
antenna range, it proved that an organization 
with no structure, no bylaws and no formal 
meetings worked really well for a long 
time--as long as someone stepped forward to 
put on the conference.  I need to apologize 
to the Southern California Six Meter Club 
if my previous posting implied that the 
SCSMC disappeared along with the VHF 
conference.  All I was trying to say was 
that the SCSMC got a lot of undeserved 
criticism for the last West Coast VHF 
Conference--and declined to do it again.  
No one else stepped forward, and that was 
the end of a 37-year tradition.  The WSWSS 
soon filled the void.

There's another thing we need to remember 
about the West Coast VHF Conference.  The 
people who put it on each year could have 
been personally liable if someone had been 
injured, perhaps by falling off a ladder 
during the antenna competition.  In this 
litigious era, that's not a good thing.  
We were all lucky--Al, the SCSMC folks, 
me... all of us.

On the other hand, an incorporated entity 
that carries liability insurance can host 
a conference with far less exposure to 
personal liability for its officers and 
conference planners.  BUT that means someone 
has to do a LOT of paperwork and deal with 
the IRS.  There seems to be a consensus building 
here that Paul should be that person forever 
for the WSWSS.  I hereby move that Paul be 
assigned to do all of the work in perpetuity.

Is there a second?

Seriously, that's asking a lot, IMHO.  Before 
anyone else says, "okay, I'll do all the 
paperwork," I suggest asking Paul and the 
other former officers what the jobs all 
entail.

The Central States organization is tied 
closely to its conference.  Aren't most of 
each year's officers also the convention 
hosts?  That rotates over a wide geographic 
region--no one has to do the job indefinitely.  
At the other extreme, the Mt. Airy Packrats 
are a very good local club that has had 
monthly meetings at the Southampton (PA) 
Free Library for a zillion years.  I've 
attended several of their meetings.  Mt. Airy  
club does the same things to remain viable 
that the best clubs in the Southwestern 
Division do.  

Between these two extremes, there's room for 
a lot of different viable arrangements for a 
weak signal interest group. 

I might vote for a more informal organization 
like the one that put on the West Coast VHF 
Conference for so many years.  Now that we 
have the internet and this reflector, we 
may not need a bureaucratic structure to 
keep us in touch and active.  But if we're 
going to put on conferences, we'd better make 
sure that everyone involved has good liability
insurance--and I don't mean just insurance on 
their cars and houses.

73,
Wayne, N6NB


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