Hi all,

Hamfest this year will be held on Sunday, August 11th at the Elks Lodge in Goleta. The SBARC Board approved the committee for the 2002 Hamfest at the January Board Meeting and the current members are:

Marvin Johnston, KE6HTS - Hamfest Chairman Dennis Schwendtner, WB6OBB Darryl Widman, KF6DI Tom Saunders, N6TX Bernie Wright, W9ROH Steve Hammer, KG6ENA

At this point, we do not have anyone to lead the cook crew and are looking for someone to lead that team. If you know of someone who would be interested in that position, please let me know.

Along the lines of a cook crew, one thing that might to help keep it as a team is to do cooking events for other events. We used to have a BBQ after the teardown at Field Day. This would be a wonderful way to start bringing club members together in a way that can help to build club spirit and participation. Having an event once per year makes it difficult to keep any team together, so a thought is to perhaps have the team also volunteer to do BBQs for other clubs/organizations similar to what the Elks do.

One of my main Hamfest concerns (as it was when I was co-chair and chair in 1995/96) is to build not only for this year, but for the future as well. Working only on this years event is a sure formula for failure next year. "Re-inventing the wheel" each year is not good management. As such, we need to have a vision for not only this hamfest, but also for the future. Where would we like the SBARC Hamfest to go? My original vision was to see this event evolve into a major West Coast event. For something like this to happen takes vision, people working together ... and most importantly, a desire.

Another of my main concerns is people getting burned out at Hamfest and not being able to enjoy the event themselves. This is not right. Hamfest is supposed to be a fun event for everyone and we will be working to make this an enjoyable event for everyone *including* the volunteers.

First please realize the Hamfest Committee is here to organize the event and we will need YOUR help! A rough schedule leading up to Hamfest will be:

Initial Planning Meeting Form sub-committees to take care of the individual events. Publicity campaign Hamfest Critique meeting - What did we do that was good, and what needs to be changed!!!

While the initial planning meeting will only be open to committee members, that does not mean we do not want input!!!!! In any planning/brainstorming session, more than about 6 - 8 people becomes non-productive. Future meetings will be open to everyone. Questions that will be discussed at our first planning session include:

What are the goals for Hamfest, both this year and in the future? What types of prizes and drawings will be most effective in building Hamfest? What type of events/activities will draw Hams from out of the area? What type of events/activities do OUR club members want?

How can you help?

Let us know your ideas, what YOU liked about previous Hamfests, and what you would like to see at this Hamfest. Let us know what you DIDN'T like about previous hamfests as well. Publicity is important: tell your friends about Hamfest and ask them to attend! Volunteer to help!!!

I'm certain things have been left out above and comments sent either privately or to this listserver are welcome. I've copied the email addresses of the committee on this email if you want to repond to anyone privately. One of the major advantages to this listserver is that people can keep informed and get active at a time convenient to them! So please respond!!! I envision this listserver as one of the major ways of communication with respect to Hamfest. The more people we get involved, the more successful this event will be!!! And of course, we will keep the latest information available on the SBARC web site at www.sbarc.org; that information will become available after our first planning meeting.

Again, Hamfest will be August 11th, 2002 at the Elks Lodge, 150 N Kellogg Ave, Goleta, California. I am looking forward to hearing from you!!!

Marvin, KE6HTS Hamfest Chairman, 2002