Field Day: A contest for your Ham Radio Club

Another field day has come and gone. When I was in my club back in Wisconsin, there was the continued debate as to whether or not Field Day was a "contest" or a "social gathering with emergency testing" intent.Personally, I've always thought of it as contesting in a hurry and on the run. Setting up, breaking down, exposing many to a fast paced weekend of contacts with media looking over your shoulder...if that's not a contest of some sort, I don't know what is a contest.But I think Field Day is another type of contest: it is a contest about the health of your club. It's a contest on your club's involvement, participation, and social interaction. It's a contest about how well involved new members can be in your club.You see, Field Day is no easy thing to pull off. You have to find a site. You have to line up radios. You have to line up antennas. You have to line up operators and a schedule. You have to line up food. You have to line up publicity. Somehow, you have to practice what you can't practice before the event. You have to accommodate those that want rate, rate, rate and those that just want to have a good time. And you have to figure out all the logistics of who is bringing what and when and how it all gets done.In short: there are conflicts all over the place that need to be addressed and resolved. Or, people don't participate. That's the contest for your club.It's an interesting perspective, isn't it? How your club performs as a club is embodied in how your Field Day works.I don't pretend to have all the answers for a "good" or "bad" Field Day.But, as leadership in a club, you should be able to evaluate your Field Day based not upon the score, but instead based upon how well your club performed at efficiently, effectively, and effortlessly pulled off such a club-wide event.If, in your mind, Field Day wasn't efficient, effective, or effortless, your club has a little bit of work to do for this contest.Scot, K9JY