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Recruiting/Motivating New Contesters

Subject: Recruiting/Motivating New Contesters
From: KWIDELITZ@delphi.com (KWIDELITZ@delphi.com)
Date: Wed Jun 1 21:38:38 1994
An  occasionally  recurring  thread on  CQ-CONTEST  has  involved
recruiting  new contesters. While the flare killed the bands  for
WPX this past Sunday afternoon, I had a thought on this subject.

What  motivates people most to try contesting?   Money!!!     Now
before  anyone  throws  Section  97.113  (b)  at  me,  I  am  not
contemplating paying people to operate in contests. However, what
if  a  "Station Improvement Grant" were offered as a prize  to  a
"rookie"  (a  ham submitting a contest log for  the  first  time)
single  op, operating their own station, with the  highest  score
in, say, for the sake of argument, CW Sweepstakes.

Let's  dismiss  the  legalities. Section 97.113  (b)  states  "No
station  shall  transmit  messages  for  hire  or  for   material
compensation,  direct  or indirect, paid or promised."  When  any
"rookie"  operates in the contest, no offer of  compensation  has
been  made  or promised to him (or her.) The Grant  is  simply  a
prize, like a plaque or certificate, only more valuable and  more
usable.  It  can only be won once by an operator,  because  after
submitting  a  log  in a contest, the operator  is  no  longer  a
rookie. Hopefully, though, he will be bitten by the bug and be  a
contester.

This grant could be sponsored by the NCJ. It could be  publicized
in QST along with PINS and Sweep Cups.

Now, how big should the grant be and how do you fund it? I  think
it needs to be significant to be effective. The number I have  in
mind is $1,000. If 100 dedicated contesters chipped in $10  each,
it  could  happen. Maybe a few manufacturers might chip  in  some
also.

How  do you administer the Grant? I think a team of two or  three
(at most) "trustees" could receive the Grant contributions,  open
a  bank  account (requiring more than one signature  to  withdraw
monies) to hold the funds, review the logs, confirm "rookie"  and
"own  station"  status, review the proposed  station  improvement
expenditures and fund the purchase.

I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is, and will start the
program  with a $50 contribution, if this goes forward.  I  would
also volunteer to be one of the trustees.

I  am now donning my suit of teflon coated armor to deflect  what
will probably be thrown at me.

73, Ken, AB6FO KWIDELITZ@DELPHI.COM

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