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 Previous: FCC Suspends Amateur Service License Grants to Unsnarl System Snafu |  Next: Community Education Project Picks Pilot Communities |
By Norm Fusaro, W3IZ
ARRL Affiliated Club/Mentor Program Manager
November 8, 2004
The Hamfest or swap meet has long been a big part of the fabric of Amateur Radio. We thought it would be interesting to find out what it is that draws people to these events and what clubs are doing to attract the folks.
While the survey is not scientific we did try to gather enough information to help the clubs make informed decisions to make their events successful. We also hope that the clubs will be able to trade off some ideas with each other and apply them to their own particular event.
Of the nearly 300 clubs that responded to the survey more than one third of them indicated that they sponsor a hamfest and more than three quarters of those say that the hamfest is the largest portion of the clubs fund raising.
Greater than one third of the events are held indoors and almost half have both indoor and outdoor venues. Nearly half of the events are small operations (under 35 vendors) and one third falls into the mid-sized category (35 to 99 vendors). 21% said that their events are large with over 100 vendors. The weather may not play a big factor in turnout because most events are held indoors or have indoor & outdoor venues. Actually, the threat of a little rain may deter the hams from cutting the grass or some other task that is competing for their free time and allow them to come out to the hamfest. Other comments indicated that severe weather has hurt the venue in some years.
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While 47% of the clubs with hamfests have guest speakers or forums, nearly three quarters of them offer VE testing at the events. This is interesting because the clubs indicated that forums were the least popular attraction of the event and VE exams were the less than 10% of the attraction. Forums and VE session also ranked low on the attendees survey yet nearly half of the hamfests provide these venues.
A large number of clubs offered either a VHF/UHF radio or HT as a door prize but the majority either gave out books and publications or other prizes. A good number of clubs offered prizes that were donated by vendors. Less than 10% of the clubs responding offered an HF rig as a door prize. Some clubs listed cash prizes under the "other" category.
The attendees (100% with one no opinion) indicated that the size of the door prize did not determine whether they attended a particular event or not, however, their comments stated that the opportunity to win a door prizes was nice to have.
An overwhelming majority of clubs indicated that the attendance has either increased or remained the same as in years past. Clubs that indicated a decrease in attendance commented on various reasons for the drop off. Among the most mentioned were conflicts with other clubs events on the same or close dates, lack of membership support (who's club is it?) and pressure form revenue agents enforcing sales tax laws on tailgaters.
The absolute main attraction for a hamfest is socializing. Over 66% of the respondents indicated that socializing was either the primary or a significant part of the draw for their event. Some clubs put an exclamation on this in their comments and indicated that the hamfest was the largest social event for their organization. This was also in the top three attractions given by the attendees along with supporting the local club. A majority of hams attend three or four events during the year.
 ARRL is committed to support Affiliated Clubs in their efforts to mentor new hams. [Full Story] |
Most attendees said that they were looking for parts, new and used equipment and meeting with friends while they were supporting the local club. The food was lowest on the survey.
Although food was less than 10% of the attraction among the clubs responding a fair amount of clubs indicated that they have some sort of food event in conjunction with the hamfest or swap meet. These events ranged from barbeques and picnics to steak dinners or other family oriented affairs.
Socializing at 26% was the number one attraction followed by vendors (22.81%), tailgaters (15.97%) and door prizes (11.41%). As mentioned earlier, VE sessions (9.51%), food (7.22%) and guest speakers/forums (7.22%) were the least favored as the draw.
Hamfest organizers say that the key to a good hamfest is promoting and advertising. Word of mouth, flyers and signs, ads and public announcements are all great ways to get the word out. According to Gail Iannone, ARRL Hamfest and Convention Coordinator, some of the more successful hamfests organizers use direct mail to invite hams to their event. ARRL supplies our Affiliated Clubs with mailing labels for this purpose and we also publicizes hamfests and conventions in QST and on the Web.
If your club is considering having a hamfest and needs any of these tools, please contact Gail at 860-594-0262 or giannone@arrl.org
Complete survey results are available on the ARRL Web site.
| Previous: FCC Suspends Amateur Service License Grants to Unsnarl System Snafu | Next: Community Education Project Picks Pilot Communities |
