We had a really great experience on all days. Mind you there was a car accident in Xenia on Friday that spurred probably most of the early morning delays. We came in from the South on 42 and experienced no traffic any of the days. We were able to quickly move around the snared traffic in town on Friday morning to get into the Vendor gate. People were engaged at the booth, a lot of excellent questions and comments, and I took some time to ask what they thought about the new digs. Everyone was positive about almost everything. Day 1 traffic being the biggest negative. The subsequent mud on Saturday and Sunday was the #2 issue. I think the organizers have already addressed the traffic, so hopefully they'll take the next 12 months working with the city of Xenia to work out issues with drainage or location of the flea market. Looking at other non-grass parking areas for the visitors. Air flow in building 2 was probably the worst, but it looked as if some of the big fans weren't working above. Overall, it was a great experience from the vendor side. 73 de NE4RD Linux in the Ham Shack Podcast
I wasn't there but my understanding was the horses would be using the track for practicing / training / exercise in the evenings and over night hours - unless the entire flea market took down every evening and put it back together the next morning that wasn't an option. Seems I remember discussion about that in the video of them talking about it at another ham fest (one of Gary's other episodes, perhaps?). Anyway, pretty sure using the track in such manner was not permitted.
There were some lights along the perimeter of my little tent, and being little, all was closer to open 'doors'. I brought my studio lights, which helped (you'll see when I produce the interviews). Deeper in the bigger tents it was kind of dark. Same to a lesser extent in the buildings. There were a few thick power cords crossing foot traffic. I didn't see anyone with a scooter or other assistance have a problem with them. I had to carefully guide my hand truck over them when I was bringing stuff in and out. The race track was used for parking. That had to be cleared in the evening for racing/training. So it would be impractical to set up vendor tables/tents there.
Yes, the track was needed for evening horse training. It was used for hamfest parking during the day, and yes, it had no 'mud' issues with the rain. It may be something the fairgrounds and DARA can negotiate next year. But I suspect the equestrians are major players (funders) of the fairgrounds year-round, and booting them out for a weekend would be a non-starter. Kind of like the way the ARRL couldn't support full no-code because they'd risk alienating a big constituancy. I haven't looked at weather stats, but I suspect this was way above 'normal' rainfall, even for May/Hamvention. Prior to this weekend, the Hamvention spokesmen (Michael Kalter and others) said the ground had good draininge. But maybe the Fairgrounds folks never saw a 'stress-test' like this.
It was a first year event. No, not the first year for the hamfest but the first year at the location which is almost like the same thing. If someone expects things to be perfect the first year they haven't ever attempted to put any similar event on before. Also, I think it's safe to say there will be some who, no matter what, will complain about anything they can. Some may be upset that the location had to be moved so they will pick apart the new location in an almost unreasonable fashion. Others will not acknowledge this was the first year at this location and problems were expected. Based on reports from some who we know were there - Jason with Ham Radio 2.0 and Gary with HRN, etc. - it seems it was very well attended and many positive attitudes about the new venue. Still others will complain because they were impatient or things weren't exactly as they would have done them. I think it goes without saying but I suspect the sponsors will debrief and adjust as necessary for next year. I would hope everyone would be a little more positive about it instead of completely negative. Many have said positive things but some haven't. That's not to say no one should voice their concerns or mention issues but do so with a reasonable attitude, considering it was the first year there.
As you evaluate your experience at this year's Hamvention and think about fixes, keep in mind the ticket price. Professional conventions in air-conditioned venues are either much more expensive ($100 and +++), or heavily subsidized by vendors with big bucks to spend on exhibits (and expecting big returns from sales to attendees - in the tens of thousands of dollars +++). Hamvention exhibitors don't have those deep pockets. You won't be buying that much equipment. And you probably won't pay $125 for a ticket to get in. So compromise facilities are what you get. Makes me wonder, though, how the Huntsville Hamfest manages to get their really nice space in the Von Braun center and still keep ticket prices <$10. I'd love to bring the Hamvention to our NC State Fairgrounds. Plenty of air-conditioned building space and paved parking/flea-marketing. Handles 100,000 people+ on fair weekends. If we started now, we might get to reserve the place for a whole weekend (not our choice of weekends) in about 20 or 30 years
Arrived Friday at 10 hundred via my friends hand held gps which put us in the 1 1/2 hour road creep to the gate. Abandoned his gps and used my new Jeep gps Sat which gave us a more direct route to the fairgrounds. Morale here is buy a Jeep? Food buying opportunities were plentiful and the prices were less than I expected for a venue of this size. They really need a "drinks only" concession to speed things up. The tractor wagon shuttles to the parking lots were a blessing. ADA concerns were addressed with the rides. Wx was Dayton. Flea market was ok if you could tolerate mud (hey, we're hams, not sissys). Miss HARA terra firma. Lots of new gear in commercial areas. Personal relief stations seemed plentiful, no real waiting. Forum buildings were air conditioned. Room scheduling was a bit off for event timing. Big job moving to Xenia. The DARA gang did well for a 1st year. I'm sure most glitches will be fixed by next year. Looking forward to next year. Rick K8PJQ since 5-59
I think he was most likely getting video footage around the grounds, recording forums, etc. He stated before he went that he wouldn't be in the booth much anyway. Since we knew that ahead of time I wouldn't consider it a poor showing but I can understand your disappointment in not getting to talk to him.
I'm surprised at how many people responding and in so many different formats! Over all the comments are pretty good. Of course there needs to be improvements, being a new place this is expected. This was my 12th year in a row to be at Dayton and number 12 was at Xenia, vastly different and far better in many ways. I believe the planning was very good from both DARA and the Green County Fairgrounds people. Faults on Friday were bettered on Saturday. Since our group travels a day early, mainly to take in the sites of Dayton including the Air Force Museum, This time we made a dry run on Thursday afternoon to the fairgrounds. This proved to be of great benefit as the main gate was wide open, so in we went! Some of the food vendors were cooking already so we had a chance to sample the 'Bill de Fare'! Great food it was! The buildings were still being set up so we had a look-see at what the next day would bring. Armed with this info and planning a different route, Friday was simple for us! Found parking only 50 feet from the main gate.... all three days! Of course we are ADA. Yes the buildings were hot, the mud was thick, the crowds were good the food was great, the tents were many but the effort was great! Next year is already for us and I reserved eight rooms. What is needed? Portable air conditioning? These can be found on truck trailers. Mud? Roll-up mats can be used something like snow fence rolled out but heavier build for traffic, loggers use big 'mats' to transverse swamps and bogs. 73 Rod W8GRI
We were recording the TAPR forum on Friday morning, then roving the grounds (with cameras and mics) Friday afternoon. On Saturday, though, we were in the booth (in Tent City) pretty much all day. We recorded four interviews (ATV, RTL-SDR, D-STAR, N-PRO-TA) that will be coming out in the next couple of weeks. In between, I met lots of viewers. Though HamRadioNow is a pretty polished video/audio production, it really is a shoestring operation. I've added David W0DHG as co-host, but he couldn't be at the fest. When I was selling DVDs, my wife Cyndi KD4ACW would tend the booth when I was out roving. Viewers would ask where I was, and she'd say "I don't know, but if you see him, tell him to get back here now and then!" I should have at least made a sign that told people who stopped by what we were up to. That fell victim to everything being last-minute before getting out of Dodge. Next year, if we do a booth (won't do Tent City again), we'll spend more time in it, since we'll have already seen the hamfest.
