Ham Expo is an "OK" idea for the "time of COVID", but not a replacement for the live convention or hamfest. I quickly found that the design of the virtual event does fit not my way of learning or operating. I will not specifically address the Elecraft presentations except to say they were much better than most.
1. A few "venues"/talks were great, too many were purely canned promo that I neither needed nor wanted hear again. Other talks were presentations rehashed. Overall there was a startling lack of really new content. 2. It was not possible to "walk around and discover" - the essential small businesses, the idea creators, hobby/business makers, and boneyard folks were not there. 3. Meeting people (particularly new people) in yet another virtual room is not the way to spend a weekend after weeks of Zoom and GoToMeeting teleconferences. Nothing meets the organized or chance in-person encounter. 4. "Influencer" style YouTuber blather really turns me off. I need something to think through and evaluate... unfortunately that has become a norm to some presenters. Many thanks to those who presented material designed to stimulate thought. 5. Commercial venues were "OK". The front end presentation was too "cartoony". Some MFG did better than others in their "in booth" presentations. The cartoony booths were inevitable result of low end virtual technology trying to look like real life... but virtual booths have been there in professional conference and trade show apps for years - it felt stale to me. 6. Agree with the many other comments about the "contest" style promotionals. Organizers need to "go back" to the registration lottery. Forced competition to participate is a symptom of the illness in "radio-sport" - when everything becomes centered on "bragging rights" the braggarts take over. 7. Person hardest issue to deal with was being asked sitting in front of a yet another computer screen for an additional 12 to 18 hours at the end of a rough online week. I have picked a few venues I heard were good and spent time listening to those. My Bottom Line: I won't bother next year without hearing of some significant improvements, particularly an added opportunity for interaction with presenters. Unfortunately mine is a generally negative assessment. The Real Bottom Lines: -How many of the participants actually stayed through during most of the active online event (or spent the 12-18 hours afterwards reviewing it). My guess is a small fraction of those who registered. -Did the sponsors see any significant ROI or did most of it go to the committee that put the Expo together and the virtual convention company that produced it. That last "real bottom line" will tell the tale and probably dictate the future of this event. Jack - KD4IZ ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
