Good Post Rick,but we are never beyond the brainstorming phase, because we are
alwaysthinking of far in the future hamfests..
The next meeting was proposed to be the 28th (i assume on ZOOM)but I reproposed
in person at Fuddruckers...
There are a lot of NEW members that are actually stepping up, folks arecoming
to see me at my business (4129 Richmond Ave) nearly everyday
since the Sunday 2 week ago, zoom meeting. Phillippe - K5BOU, Mike - KI5NPM,
Michael - KI5IIJ (and his wife Jennie), Mike - KI5UBL, and more I forget..ha ha
There is a lot of energy !!Eddie (NU5K)
BTW, I got a message that the Makers Faire folks are in this year..IM not sure
to what extent, but they do draw a crowd.. I also have some otherinteresting
developing things on food and maybe live music,we can talk about a the
meeting....
On Friday, August 26, 2022 at 11:58:49 AM CDT, Rick Hiller via BVARC
<[email protected]> wrote:
Become part of "The Core"
Throwing out ideas and discussion topics on the BVARC Reflector is good fodder
for chewing and spewing. But the next step is the hardest....taking your
suggested ideas and running with one or two of them to help put together and
run the GHHF. In the past it has always fallen to "The Core" of BVARC members
who are always there to do the dirty. A few good folks in the past who were
outside of the core had stepped up to help, but that is typically not the norm.
It wud be great if all of the ideas suggested were spoken for and
implemented, with a lead person at the helm of each determined to successfully
bring to the table/GHHF what they have undertaken. That would be one heck of
a Hamfest. (Dayton, Huntsville, Orlando, etc. have hundreds of folks in 20 or
30 + clubs that join in putting those ham fests on)
We are kind of past the brainstorming phase and are now into the
pre-operational phase for the GHHF 6 months off. Please attend the next
meeting, to be announced soon, and step up to the plate to join The Core to
bring it to fruition. Your help would be massively appreciated, plus you'll
have fun seeing your efforts being enjoyed by the thousands who attend.
73...Rick -- W5RH
| | Virus-free.www.avast.com |
On Fri, Aug 26, 2022 at 11:30 AM Nick Creason KE5QY via BVARC <[email protected]>
wrote:
Thanks for the reply, Eddie,
Sound like you have a good group of contributors. I hadn’t been following the
discussion so I thought I’d just throw out some ideas. Looks like you have
already considered all of them.
I’ve worked on putting events together for originations I worked for in the
past and I know running them can quickly become a full-time job.
I think the state convention will bring a lot of interest.
I added some comments below in red.
From: BVARC On Behalf Of Eddie Runner via BVARC
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2022 11:01 AM
To: 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' <[email protected]>; [email protected]
Cc: Eddie Runner <[email protected]>; 'Christopher Boone'
<[email protected]>
Subject: [BVARC] HamFest IDeas and Discussion
Hi Nick,
Yes we can work with the ARRL.. In fact we do!!
We have the honor for our next hamfest to be the
ARRL TEXAS STATE CONVENTION !!
This is great!
(how ya like dem apples?) (its on the website)
( http://www.houstonhamfest.org )
Larger audience? YES, of course, we are always looking for other interesting
things that could draw to our hamfest..
We have had the MAKERS FAIR folks, the LEGO folks, and even ROBOT WARS
we encourage computer clubs, and so many other things .. Not to mention
Astronauts and Space weather and so many really cool things
YOUR IDEAS???
NASA does set up and conduct tours. (I’ll bet someone from their club could
get this set up) We have some of the best museums in the world. Every time we
have been there some group was getting a tour). Texans and Astro’s have tours
of their stadiums.
What do you want for family activities? A bouncy house??
Fort worth Hamfest has (from my unerstanding) quilting classes and
other LADY things.. I dont have a clue how to see if that is even possible??
YOUR IDEAS???
Same stuff as above. Lots of people have lived here all their lives and never
beet to any of the things people travel here to do.
Invite the local media? YES, they always come!!!
Schedule it so they cover a scheduled Satellite contact or maybe even contact
with space station (you never know till you try).
A catchy name? there already is hamvention, hamcation, hamcom, and lots of
others..
I am not good at this, what do you recommend???
Through it out to the membership of all the clubs to come up with something.
How about H-Town Radio Extravaganza.
IN Advance? Yes of course, we work on renting the facilities a year or more in
advance to make sure we have a venue. A few of us are always working on it
year round, and
we start having planning meetings 6 months in advance to get all the people and
jobs lined up.. Some from the last one may not be here this year and lots of
new folks
want to be involved.. 6 months is the time we start getting the groups together
(NOW)
Other Groups???
This is and always has been (since the beginning) a good idea.
BUT, not apparently as easy as everyone thinks.
This would take someone visiting the meetings for any groups we want to invite.
Our official BVARC stance is we welcome PARTNERS in the Houstonhamfest...
As far as I know, there are not any other area ham clubs that have a bank
account
with enough funds to make a dent in what BVARC pays out to put on this event..
Here we need sponsors. We shouldn’t use club money for the event. Should be
able to get a meeting space donated if the club is non-profit, and any printing
for tickets or flyers could be covered by advertisers. You can even get the
local recruiters to pay for some of this if you let them come and show off
their toys.
The Makers Fair folks had a large budget at one time (they had a show at George
R Brown
(very very expensive) but they seem to have dissolved or split or something..
we let them exhibit in the past at our shows for free, just to try to increase
attendance..
We give ANY ham club a free table with the promise they will actually man the
table and
promote ham radio .. Most of the time the club tables we give away are vacant
during
the show...
Everyone seems to say contact Dayton (or other big shows) for tips and advice.
I have been to Dayton many times (at Hara) and I always SPY to see what they
are doing and we are not. Anthony just got back from Huntsville, and many
others
ALWAYS CRITIQUE the other shows, in an attempt to use the good and bad to
help our own show..
LEAP OF FAITH... (Sat and Sun)
Anything we look up to as a better show, seems to always
be a SATURDAY / SUNDAY show... Ours is Friday set up and a few
small friday events (spaghetti supper) and the main show on Saturday..
Its pretty hard for us to put our heads (budget) around opening on
Sunday as well since most of our vendors are packed up and gone
by two o clock on Saturday..
Faith? if we scheduled a Sat/Sun show, would our vendors stay for sunday?
I personally think the biggest difference between US and THEM is the 2 day show.
If anyone else believes it,
the leap of faith would be expensive.. And maybe
the end of BVARC (financially)
thanks for your input, it is very valuable..!
Eddie Runner (NU5K) Houston HamFest
BVARC Life Member
Dont forget to look in on http://www.houstonhamfest.org there is
much information currently displayed on our past shows, and will
be replaced with information on our nest show as decisions are made.
On Friday, August 26, 2022 at 09:47:49 AM CDT, [email protected] <[email protected]>
wrote:
Hi,
I’m coming in to the conversation late so these ideas may have been discussed
before but I’ll through in my thoughts anyway.
Have we looked at working with ARRL to tie an annual regional or divisional
meeting to the Houston Hamfest? May be to late to include this year, but could
work for future event. This would bring in some interesting speakers and free
advertising.
Could we work with other non-ham organizations and business in the area that
might be willing to donate prizes or exhibits that would be of interest to a
larger audience? Maybe NASA or SpaceX could provide some seminars or exhibits.
County or state emergency services and demos.
Set up some events or tours for non-ham activities that would make it more of a
family event. There are lots of activities for the whole family locally
Advertise it in all the ham magazines well ahead of time. Give people from
outside the area a chance to plan for the event.
Invite the local media to the event and play up what will be there. (Newest
radios, demonstrations, local celebrities)
Give it a unique name. Hamcom and Hamvention sound like a big deal I’d want to
attend. Greater Houston Hamfest sounds like a local event just for locals.
I went to the Dallas Hamcom for years and it was always played up as a national
or international event. People started planning for the next year while they
were there. Is the Houston event date set a year in advance?
I do think getting a group together made up of representatives from all the
local clubs would help pulling everything together and bring in new ideas.
Dallas and Dayton both have permanent committees planning and supporting their
events. (Maybe even contact them and ask for some advice and ideas).
Just some ideas.
Nick, KE5QY
From: BVARC On Behalf Of Eddie Runner via BVARC
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2022 9:04 AM
To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <[email protected]>
Cc: Eddie Runner <[email protected]>; Christopher Boone
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [BVARC] Greater Houston Hamfest
ALL PARTNERSHIPS ARE POSSIBLE AND NEGOTIABLE..
Chris are you volunteering to join the BVARC permanent home committee??
(finding a clubhouse)...
Eddie (NU5K)
On Friday, August 26, 2022 at 08:16:00 AM CDT, Christopher Boone via BVARC
<[email protected]> wrote:
JP brings up an excellent idea. I'd like to remind everybody that HamCom in
Dallas was an independent organization made up of members from various clubs
that formed a corporation to run the hamfest. Perhaps this is something to look
at in Houston. Form a corporation as a non-profit group and have members of the
various clubs on the board. It needs to be a metro-wide area group.
Houston is always been lacking compared to the DFW area in amateur activities,
which I don't understand why. Even my good friend and silent key Andy
McAllister once said " Houston hams suck." The old Houston Amateur Radio Club
used to have bi-monthly auctions at its clubhouse on OST. Sadly that club went
under and the property was sold. Which was a damn shame because it was a very
nice clubhouse with a fully operational HF station. And unfortunately that just
proved Andy's statement. I think it's time to change that.
Chris
WB5ITT
Texas State Employees ARS, T-SEARS
On Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 8:04 AM JP Pritchard via BVARC <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear friends,
It is heartening to see the club get off to an earlier that usual start in
planning for the hamfest, and of course the expected calls for ideas and actual
real volunteers. Finding reliable volunteers is always a problem because most
of us already have full plates, with work, family, etc.
So here's an old idea, submitted for yet another round of retorts that
resurface every time someone makes a suggestion --"But we've already tried
that."
I suggest we offer to partner with the other clubs in the metro to help make it
a true "Greater Houston Hamfest." It does work when applied to Field Day. Why
not try again to apply it to the hamfest? Net income from the event might be
divided according to a formula that reflects two factors -- each club's
membership headcount, and each club's actual participation (expressed in
numbers of participating volunteers). Such a system would give all clubs a
stake in the success of the event.
I'm now feeling verklempt, so this is your chance to discuss among yourselves.
Or not.
73, JP, K5JPP
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
--
Rick Hiller e-mail: [email protected]:
832-474-3713Physical: 9031 Troulon Drive Houston, TX 77036
| | Virus-free.www.avast.com |
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
