Report: Upstate SC Hamfest

[David Nalley]

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At the last moment I acquired a booth at the Upstate SC Hamfest
(upstatehamfest.org). This is the largest amateur radio event in South
Carolina. It typically draws a couple thousand attendees. Unfortunately
a torrential thunderstorm dampened attendance a bit, and I would
guesstimate there were around 1,000 people present. I partnered with the
local LUG to come help, talk with people and be a place that individuals
could go to for local help.

I gave a short 15 minute impromprtu presentation on how similar F/LOSS
and Amateur Radio are - people that like to build antennas, modify and
build radio transceivers, and even more imporantly, understand how the
internals of their electronics work are a natural fit for open source,
because they can tinker, build, or just look at how it works.

The response was relatively good, we distributed about 150 DVDs, mostly
x86, and made some nice contacts, including the ARRL (national amateur
radio association) Assistant Section Manager who offered us booth in two
upcoming hamfests in North Carolina in the fall.

Overall it went well, we should have asked for better booth placement -
and it would be really nice to have some Fedora videos along the same
lines as the RH 'Truth Happens' video. But, live and learn I suppose.
Partnering with a LUG gave some 'tangible' warm fuzzies, and a local
group to ask for help with items.
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[Thomas Chung]

On 5/10/07, David Nalley <david(a)gnsa.us&gt; wrote:
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>  At the last moment I acquired a booth at the Upstate SC Hamfest
>  (upstatehamfest.org). This is the largest amateur radio event in South
>  Carolina. It typically draws a couple thousand attendees. Unfortunately
>  a torrential thunderstorm dampened attendance a bit, and I would
>  guesstimate there were around 1,000 people present. I partnered with the
>  local LUG to come help, talk with people and be a place that individuals
>  could go to for local help.
>
>  I gave a short 15 minute impromprtu presentation on how similar F/LOSS
>  and Amateur Radio are - people that like to build antennas, modify and
>  build radio transceivers, and even more imporantly, understand how the
>  internals of their electronics work are a natural fit for open source,
>  because they can tinker, build, or just look at how it works.
>
>  The response was relatively good, we distributed about 150 DVDs, mostly
>  x86, and made some nice contacts, including the ARRL (national amateur
>  radio association) Assistant Section Manager who offered us booth in two
>  upcoming hamfests in North Carolina in the fall.
>
>  Overall it went well, we should have asked for better booth placement -
>  and it would be really nice to have some Fedora videos along the same
>  lines as the RH 'Truth Happens' video. But, live and learn I suppose.
>  Partnering with a LUG gave some 'tangible' warm fuzzies, and a local
>  group to ask for help with items. 
Thank you David,
I'll submit the event report to FWN.
Regards,
-- 
Thomas Chung
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/ThomasChung

[Damien Durand]

Thank you for your report David ;-)