Tom,
I have no doubt that your club, and many others, do a fine job of
welcoming others to your events. I did come to the conclusion that this
particular club is unfriendly to newcomers because I got the same
treatment at one of their regular club meetings later on. It was a very
"good ol' boy" atmosphere at both events. What little interaction that I
did have with club members convinced me that they viewed me as lower
than them. Perhaps it was because I'm quite a bit younger than most of
those guys and they didn't take me seriously. Or perhaps they just want
to keep their socialization to their own cliques. It doesn't really
matter to me, as I feel that I didn't want to be a part of a group that
would treat others like that.
My biggest beef is that they went through the trouble of advertising the
event and stating that all were welcome, when that was clearly not the
case. I understand that FD is a lot of work, and can be very hectic.
However, if you don't have the resources to deal with interested
outsiders, then don't ask for them to come.
Jason Milldrum, NT7S
=====
Amateur Station NT7S - <http://www.nt7s.com>
QRPedia - <http://www.qrpedia.com>
Tom Hammond wrote:
Hi Jason, et al:
For what it's worth, and generally UNfortunately for all concerned,
Field Day is probably the very WORST TIME for a new operator (to the
area) to go to a radio club function and expect to be warmly received...
During FD, everyone is running around, trying to ensure that everything
is installed (properly) and running so things can start on time...
additionally, there's a lot (usually) of activity during the entire
activity and well-intentioned welcomes often go out the door with trying
to keep track of who's operating what and where, and how the rigs are
working.
If you want to visit a club, do it at a regular meeting and then you'll
have a lot better chance of being warmly received. And, if you're NOT...
find another club. But please don't let the welcome you hoped for and
didn't receive during Field Day cause you to decide that this club
(whomever they happen to be) is unfriendly or closed to newcomers.
No matter how hard we might try to be hospitable during FD, it's a
chore, and we often fail.
BTW - The MMARC (Jefferson City MO) tries(!) to welcome all visitors,
and we WELCOME CW operators... of course, we welcome all other ops as
well. In fact, we have a LOT more CW ops than SSB ops... go figger. But
come visit us at a Club meeting... we'll be even more friendly then.
73,
Tom Hammond N0SS
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
