Well, the first of its kind combo in-person/ZOOM-virtual SWL “Winter” Fest is in the books. Rich and I will be polling the attendees as well as those who couldn’t attend but wanted to do so for their opinions, observations and impressions. But in the interim, here’s some personal quick hits drawn from the weekend.
1. The hotel Mr. Cuff scoped out (after he personally visited several) was an excellent choice for this year’s event. Since this is a suites hotel, the rooms were spacious even allowing for small gatherings if that was the wish of the holder. It was comfortable, clean, had a much better than average buffet breakfast (included in the price), excellent large video screens and reliable high speed internet. The meeting room, though smaller than the prior hotels, was perfectly adequate for the 40 or so participants in each session and, according to postings in the room, could hold as many as 65, though perhaps not as comfortably. In sum, the hotel was near perfect for a first-time, somewhat feature reduced hybrid Fest event. The operable question will be will this hotel or one similar to it be enough for a future Fest that likely could add back in some of the features of past Fests that were intentionally not included this time for sake of simplicity to allow focus on the more vital technological factors. Personally, I think it can. Given a range of factors including higher costs, apparent lesser willingness or ability to travel and availability of virtual attendance as an alternative, participation in an in-person Fest is very unlikely to ever again approach the numbers realized over the first quarter century of the event. The next one, if scheduled (and that looks right now very likely) will be the 38th and numbers overall have been in a gradual decline over at least the last 10, though certainly enough to more than justify the event’s continuance. Initial feedback has been positive, though there was some consternation expressed about the inability of the hotel to accommodate antennas and the lack of an in-house restaurant for meals other than breakfast. It was noted that without the former, a “listening room” becomes impossible and some expressed a desire for that feature to be reincorporated in the future. Therefore, more consideration is warranted before committing to this hotel and a format for the next Fest. Several seem to miss the swap meet, a few were looking for the silent auction and a couple asked about a raffle. No options are closed as of now. 2. Mr. Cuff did one hell of an excellent job piecing together, with the help of Paul Kaltenbach and other electronically-savvy attendees, the technology necessary to running this hybrid event. Bravo to him and all. It’s been proven that a successful hybrid event can be done. While there were a few hiccups, this was not unexpected and all were eventually addressed. This was in essence a grand experiment that succeeded. Nonetheless, we are going to want to hear from both “sides” — the in-person attendees and the ZOOM attendees — about what worked and what didn’t for them. 3. Holding the two “sides” together was the Bob Brown Memorial Virtual Hospitality Suite, manned throughout the event by the CIDX’s Sheldon, Gilles and Mickey. I must confess I had little to no time to attend there myself, much to my disappointment. But I know they were there throughout, linking together the time between sessions for all who wanted it. Nonetheless, even though I have no real experience of my own to relate, I do know we want to hear from them and those who were “in the room” about what worked for them and what didn’t, along with suggestions for next time, should the CIDX folks choose to continue with their effort. 4. Comments I heard about the forums, the Shindig and the Dutch treat dinner on Saturday were generally positive. The objective, as always, was to provide a balanced set of topics led by knowledgable presenters. Because the venue was new and the hybrid approach novel, it was decided to “back off” somewhat on the scheduling to allow for breathing space — both for the participants and to address any tech matters that might arise. We presented five events in-person, in-house and four via Zoom remotely, incluiding one from Portugal (Rob deSantos) — a very representative way of demonstrating the flexibility and potential for expanded — even worldwide — participation in the future. Again, we’ll want to hear from all the participants about this and will poll with this in mind as well. 5. The dates this time were a bit problematic. The decision to move to the spring was intentional to see if this might ease and encourage travel by removing weather issues. However, the facts that this was Mothers Day weekend and a week prior to the big Dayton Hamvention probably muddied the waters on the travel/attendance question. This time there really was no other weekend available to us, but discussion about a spring date for the future already has April as prime consideration rather than May. Nonetheless, all options are on the table — winter, spring, even fall — and we will poll with that in mind as well as entertain ideas from all. (Incidentally, it is very unlikely that the geographic location of the Fest will change unless someone from someplace other than southeastern Pennsylvania steps forward to take over those logistics.) 6. We also tried to provide a few trinkets to those who made the extra effort to attend in-person and to mark the return of an in-person component after not having one over the pandemic years. How did these go over with you? Were they welcome? Were they necessary? Finally, and most importantly, a big thank you to all — all our forum presenters for sharing their time, knowledge and expertise, David Goren for his continuing, unique, informative and relaxed Shindig that he’s fashioned into a Fest institution, Sheldon Harvey for conceiving, organizing and hosting the virtual hospitality lounge, and last but certainly not least all the attendees — whether in-person or virtually via Zoom, for offering their assistance and providing it when asked — and for just showing up! Without all of you, this event does not continue nor register the level of success and continuity that it has. If I’ve left anyone or anything out here, it is entirely accidental and in no way intentional. If possible, it will be made up in future. Rich and I will be in touch, so you be in touch. 73s and 88s John _______________________________________________ Swlfest mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above. For more information on the Fest, visit: http://www.swlfest.com http://swlfest.blogspot.com
