NN3W wrote
> So....what about scrambling things up a bit with a contest. Find an empty
> weekend and have a 24 hour event that combines what we like about CQWW,
> IARU, WPX, and throw in some spice.
This idea brings two thoughts to mind.
First, is the obvious reaction: the contest calendar is plenty full as it is.
We probably don't need to antagonize anti-contesters any further by cramming
another test in.
However, after I get over that reaction...an alternative comes to mind.
Because of the irregular nature of the calendar, every year there are one or
two odd weekends where, because of the difference of scheduling contests for
the "fourth weekend" or the "last weekend" of the month, or because of the 1st
being on a Sunday, there aren't any (or hardly any) contests scheduled. This
past weekend would be an example of such a weekend.
Every so often, on this reflector or elsewhere, ideas get floated about how to
make this contest or that contest "better", possible innovations in scoring,
etc. Sometimes some of those ideas do get into the rules of a particular
contest, but more often than not they evolve into the same-old never-ending
debates.
What if, on these odd weekends, we held an experimental contest to try out some
of these ideas? Have it be a 24 hour contest (so that we don't eat up an
entire weekend), with format, rules, scoring, exchanges, etc. varying somewhat
from running to running. These contests shouldn't be "kitchen sink" contests
where everything is thrown in in an attempt to please everyone; instead I would
see these as a chance to say (for example) "what would CQWW if we changed the
scoring like so..." Perhaps a half-dozen ideas could be floated here,
vetted by the software guys, a poll taken, and let the top 1-3 ideas drive the
next running.
Don't worry about maintaining continuity of records; instead try one or two new
things each running. If they work, perhaps they're retained for the next
irregular running...or perhaps not.
Potentially, the organizers of established, regular contests could use anything
learned in the experiments to decide if they want to make changes to their
events.
--
Michael Adams N1EN
Poquonock, Connecticut | mda@n1en.org
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