How can ham radio clubs attract and retain members in 2023?

K8PG · Sep 6, 2024

K0LWC said: ↑

Ham radio clubs and hamfests are struggling across the country. What can they do improve their positioning and attract new members? Here are some thoughtful tips and ideas from our work here in Minnesota with our journey on http://www.minnesotahamradio.com that you can learn from.

Are there things working where you live that you would recommend to other clubs?

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FREE BEER AND BRATTS

W7UUU · Sep 6, 2024

K8PG said: ↑

FREE BEER AND BRATTS
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Our club does the free brats every "last Saturday" - sometimes just with buns like hotdogs, other times as chilidogs, and sometimes it's burgers or spaghetti - but always free, all you can eat! That same day is our clubhouse "mini swapmeet" - open to all to buy, and to members to sell as well.

But no beer!! That's never good at a radio club. Once upon a time, when I was a teenager, I'd see members pull out the hip flask to augment their evening coffee while having a smoke. Then maybe 10 years back, at a club picnic, booze became an issue and was forever banned at all club events.

Dave
W7UUU

N6HCM · Sep 7, 2024

W7UUU said: ↑

But no beer!! That's never good at a radio club.
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yeah. that just complicates stuff. problematic if you get young ones interested, and problematic with the OF who have to drive home.

KI4QPU · Jan 10, 2025

Just curious if anyone had successfully turned their club around. The video still seems like it’s just as pertinent.

KD8ZM · Jan 10, 2025

N1YFA said: ↑

For people with a smartphone, many keep in contact with those local to them. As someone who uses both radio and smartphone to communicate locally, radio isn't all that magical unless you are talking about operating HF and talking around the world and even then I don't find HF too magical. If you are going to try to get people off their smartphones, you have to show them something better than their phone. The technology is there.

Believe me when I say this, I have tested both radio and smartphone over and over and over back and forth and up and down, and sadly, when it comes to local communication that goes beyond a walkie talkie but not beyond an area code, there are cell phone apps that act as radio that work much better as long as you have a signal. As much as I love radio, it sits in the Flintstone age compared to the smartphone, although it has much more potential. What I have found is that there are times when a radio is much better, but more often than not, many times cell phones work better. So, given that, I put smart phones and radio as tools to communicate, not one above the other. In the end, radio is just a hobby. There is really no difference between it and sports, gaming, fishing, building models, etc. After all, 90% of what happens on radio is just contesting and making contacts. Nothing serious.

I think what is really happening is that as society just trudges on as mindless drones addicted to what is thrown in their face, all clubs, groups, and entities having to do with any hobby out there is going to suffer. The way of the future is unfortunately being addicted to the approved devices given us, not going outside the box and doing something different.
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I've noticed that when I "call CQ" on a smartphone, I almost always get a reply.

How can ham radio clubs attract and retain members in 2023?

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