Lates (not quite news, for those who were there) of the Hamvention

[Joseph Bento]

The powers that be over the Dayton Hamvention speak of how difficult it would be to find an alternative venue to handle the capacity.  Browsing through my latest issue of Make 27, I see that since the Maker Faire was conceived about 7 years ago, more than 100,000 people now converge upon the San Mateo County (California) Fairgrounds during a Maker Weekend.  I grew up in San Mateo, less than a mile from the county fairgrounds.  They had nice facilities as of 12 years ago when I last lived there.  I'm sure many  fairgrounds and similar properties across the country have nice facilities and would be very eager to speak to the Hamvention staff.

I will continue to attend the Hamvention annually, not because of the Hamvention itself, but for the gathering of a few very dear friends that I do not see often enough.

Joe, N6DGY



On Jul 29, 2011, at 9:38 PM, Chip Fetrow wrote:

> Hara is a dump.  It isn't even in Dayton, it is in Trotwood.  Trotwood is a slum, with high crime.  It is adjacent to Salem, where we are forced to park, which has even higher crime, and is more of a slum.
> 
> The bathrooms are disgusting, and some have consistent problems with overflowing toilets.  The toilets in the tailgate area leak out into the parking lot.  They are little more than portable toilets -- blue rooms.
> 
> Years ago, Hamvention attendance climbed to over 30k, some "say" 36k, but they won't back it up.  THAT would have been the time to move it to another city, like Indy.  Now that it is once again under 20k, for good reason, there really isn't the ability to move it.  It will slowly get smaller and smaller, and die.
> 
> E-bay has killed off many hamfests and it will eventually kill of the Trotwood Hamvention.
> 
> 
> About a decade ago, the Trotwood Hamvention was about $10.  They lost $8k that year.  A friend and I went to meet with the head guys.  We suggested that such a fandango should not be $10, but $25.  They raised the rate a lot the next year.  Blame me.
> 
> --chip
> 
> On Jul 29, 2011, at 5:17 PM, tacos-request at amrad.org wrote:
> 
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:26:41 -0400
>> From: Louis Mamakos <louie at transsys.com>
>> To: Tacos AMRAD <tacos at amrad.org>
>> Subject: Re: Lates (not quite news, for those who were there) of the
>> 	Hamvention
>> 
>> On Jul 29, 2011, at 3:13 PM, w3hwn at comcast.net wrote:
>> 
>>> http://www.rwonline.com/article/another-slightly-different-radio-show/24037
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Tacos mailing list
>>> Tacos at amrad.org
>>> https://amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos
>> 
>> I'd have to disagree with at least the caption on the last photo, of Hara Arena:
>> 
>> "While not exactly the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Dayton Hara Arena is up to the task of hosting the annual Hamvention. (And this convention hall?s hot dogs are only $3.)"
>> 
>> How about "entirely unlike the Las Vegas Convention Center."  It seems like the owners of Hara Arena haven't spent a nickle on maintenance or upgrades this past decade, and at least the sewer system failure in the flea market is evidence of the dilapidated state of affairs.  If you can't flush the toilet, it hardly seems up to the task, eh?
>> 
>> It's a dump.
>> 
>> louie
>> wa3ymh
> 
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