N2EY wrote:
In article , Mike Coslo
writes:


No, just a kind of passive resistance thing. I seriously do not agree with
the person who is our field day planner and club vicepresident. I am not
the only one boycotting the club field day either.... It has been chosen
solely by him to be placed at one of the high schools out in the county (as
opposed to the city) where there is little traffic on the weekends (passing
by the school that is).

That you disagree is one thing. No problem there. But field day is for
your club, and it seems that there is an "if things aren't done my way,
I'm not going to play. Not too teamlike.


Comes down to "do you plan FD for what will bring out the most people, or what
will make the most points, or what will be the most realistic emergency
simulation. or what will get the most publicity?" Or any of a bunch of other
goals.

Sure. And will the local mall allow you to run ops all night?

I'm a firm believer in a balanced approach. Our FD site is in a
stunningly beautiful field with plenty of trees and a million dollar
view. There is a picnic area about 1500 feet away, and ball fields
tennis courts and soccer fields east and west. It's a huge site,
probably bigger than a square mile. We get a fair amount of onlookers
that were out for a walk with the family or boyfriend/girlfriend. We
could possibly get more exposure by running it downtown or in the City
high school parking lot, but no thanks.




And if you all seriously want to do it differently, vote the dude out!

Of course, will someone step up to the plate and run field day in his
absence? Is there a clamor and a rush of people wanting to be FD Chairman?


Classic "bell the cat" problem.

Yup.



Field Day should be at least 50% PROMOTIONAL as well as 50% emergency
simulation.


That's your vision of it, Ryan. Others see FD very differently.

The good thing is that FD has many facets and can be done many ways. That's why
it's so popular - brings out more hams than any other domestic operating
activity.

The bad thing is that FD has many facets and can be done many ways. That's why
it can be such a source of disagreement.


Since it is not an actual emergency simulation since we all
clearly know when it is going to be, AND of course get to chose where we
set
up, just how does that qualify as emergency planning/communications.


It's fundamentally a skills and planning exercise. It's one thing to talk about
setting up a station quickly in an unprepared location, and another thing to
actually *do* it. Operating skills get practiced. Teamwork and learning to deal
with volunteers, both as a leader and as a team member.


Yes
there is the PREPLANNING but on our fire department we dont get to know
when
our next medical call or car accident or house fire is, we just respond and
deal with it as best as we can.


But you guys have training sessions, right?


In a real emergency, we may be required to set up in an area less that to
be
desired, such as a parking lot. Or an open field without those natural
antenna supports..... Also, we would not normally know when that emergency
would occur.......

Sure. You may need to be operating while ill from something or be
putting your life at serious risk at the time. You may be up for several
days without sleep. You may be injured.

Heck, even the person you are trying to communicate with may only have
a CW rig. So you can't even begin to simulate truly accurate emergency
condx.


You can't simulate all of them by any means, but FD simulates some of them.


Yeah, and it's also fun. Want people to come out? let 'em have some
fun. That's why so many clubs have picnics for FD. That isn't a
realistic emergency scenario for sure!


Under most real emergency circumstances, some emergency personell is
going to tell you to go to a certain place, and operate a certain
transciever. You won't set up a tent or put together a station or anything.


Maybe. Or it might go the other way - you may be asked to go to a certain
location and bring everything you need along.

The purpose of FD is to in large prt get peopl simply *thinking* about
emergency ops, and *doing* some simulated ops.


Bingo!


Dunno where tha hyper
accurate emergency scenario that I hear about came from.


Maybe, at least if it was changed to where we DO know the weekend it is
gonna be, BUT each countie's EC/RO or emergency services director decides
the location??? I still believe that the PR value of Field Day far
outwieghs any other aspect of field day.


The trick is to balance all the different aspects.

Here's a scenario for ya:

Months in advance, everyone who wants to participate is required to fill out a
form listing what equipment, time, and skills they can volunteer for FD.
Everyone is responsible for keeping their FD forms updated of changes
(equipment /schedule changes, license upgrades, etc.)

The forms are collected and the FD committee of no more than 3 people puts
together a Field Day master plan.

48-72 hours before FD, everyone who is signed up gets their "sealed orders"
which detail where they are to go, what they are expected to bring with them
and what they are expected to do for FD. It could be as simple as "show up at X
on or before time T and operate station S" or as complex as "head the team
running station S, bring a this list of equipment..."

Included could be things bringing like foul-weather gear even though the
forecast is perfect. You don't have to wear it but you have to have it with
you. Could also simulate equipment breakdowns and unavailability - although
that sort of thing often happens anyway.

Except for the FD committee, nobody knows what they're going to be doing until
shortly before FD. To more realistically simulate, some very good resources
(rigs, antennas, generators, etc.) might be left completely unused while less
than perfect substitutes are pressed into service.

You'd probably love a Field Day like that, Ryan. Would be a great learning
experience for all. But I can guarantee you that more than half (probably more
than 3/4) of the FD regulars in your club would walk away if the club tried
such a plan cold turkey.

That would be kind of fun. But you're right, too many people would hate it.


Best way to control where the site is is to become an EC. The you can
do as YOUR philosophical desires dictate. Are you willing to do that?


And if you are, how will you deal with the inevitable disputes that will arise?
Remember, these folks are all volunteers, bringing their own equipment with
them.

Yaknow, those disputes are part of the training too! The frayed nerves
are part of the training, even. I note a short frayed nerve session
about 10 minutes before FD or any other big event. Player a gets a
little irritated with player B. Knowing about that allows us to smooth
it over before it gets big.

There are so many things about FD that are training us without us even
consciously thinking about them.


Related item. I was in a club years ago where I was in charge of our
biggest fund raiser. Some of the club members didn't like how I was
doing things (specifically, my methods required some work) But we made a
LOT of money for a small club. So they led a revolt against me,
supported by the club prez of refusing to help me or work for me. My
only option that didn't make me look like an idiot was to resign from my
position and chairmanship and the club. I was ironically the Vice president.

The result? Remember how they thought that my working demands were too
much? I wanted 4 hours of work per year per club member.


You said the big bad C word - commitment.


Well, no one
wanted to work even after they got ride of the ******* - me, so they
ended up hiring three people to do my job (keeping in mind, I did it for
nuttin'), subbed out the most lucrative part of the job, and now make
absolutely no money on a fund raiser that was bringing in a lot of money
every year. They are actually in money trouble now. Smart people weren't
they?


bwaahaahaa - great story, Mike.

Zey haz no money to buy zee toyz they dezire no more!

I'm not one to gloat, but this was such a case of poetic justice and
Karma that I have to, just a teeny tiny bit. But I have to balance that
with sympathy for their plight now. They were willingly stupid, and are
paying the price.

I did want to note that there were a few people in the club that *were*
willing helpers. They were my core supporters. And when I left, they
left too. So all that were left were the lazy ones. Evolution will
extrat it's price eventually.

Point is, be good to the volunteers, and if you don't like what they
are doing, do better.


Most of all, understand that FD is very different things to very different
people.

73 de Jim, N2EY



- Mike KB3EIA -