While I do agree that we should have the full Board review and approve a new convention, I would still support Orlando as the site of the convention. In my mind it is only fair since they’ve been preparing for 2 years now. 

The next one can of course be somewhere else and I would be happy to travel to Ham-com as I do every year, or Huntsville, or HamXposition up in Mass. 

But I do think we are committed to Florida somewhat right now and to me it would appear to be in bad faith if we change the venue.

73
Ria
N2RJ 

On Fri, Sep 18, 2020 at 11:08 AM John Robert Stratton <N5AUS@n5aus.com> wrote:










Barry and EC





    The postponement discussed below is neither the fault of our

brethren in Florida nor that of the ARRL, but times and

circumstances have changed.





    Add that we have a new CEO taking office in 10 days, that there

may be other venues with better circumstances in a year and a half

and that the League's interests may not align with a National

Convention in Florida in 2022, I suggest that the decision as to

whether to commit to a 2022 HamCation National Convention warrants

review by the full Board  with the new CEO on board.





    There is NO emergency or time critical requirement that compels

an immediate decision. Haste makes waste and we don't have the

resources to waste.





    I suggest we defer a decision to review by A&F, the new CEO

and the Board.
































______________________________________



 



John Robert Stratton



N5AUS



Director



West Gulf Division



Office:             512-445-6262



Cell:                512-426-2028



P.O.

Box 2232



Austin,

Texas 78768-2232



 



______________________________________







On 9/18/20 8:17 AM, Shelley, Barry,

N1VXY (CEO) wrote:














Good

Morning:



 



As

everyone knows, the ARRL Board approved the 2021 Orlando

HamCation as an ARRL National Convention. For the past

several weeks, ARRL staff has been in discussions with the

Orlando HamCation volunteers regarding what conditions, if

any, would need to be in place to actually conduct an

in-person event of the size and scope that would befit an

ARRL National Convention. I’ve attached a memo prepared by

our staff that discusses the factors and recommends

postponing the event, at least from our perspective.



 



We

heard yesterday from the HamCation Executive Board which has

agreed that the best course of action for the upcoming event

is to postpone it entirely until February 11-13, 2022. John

Knott and Michael Cauley were grateful for the effort we

made to summarize so many contributing factors that would

need to be considered. These, and some concern that they

won’t have an excellent 5-star show as their 75th

anniversary event made the decision easier. Additionally,

they have some last minute concern that their convention

services contractor may be out of business by December –

causing a last minute cancellation.



 



We’ve

agreed with HamCation to make a formal, joint announcement

using our respective news and media outlets on Mon, Oct 5.

In the meantime, they have some work to do to inform 30+

committee members, hotels, and other close stakeholders. We

will begin working with our hotel immediately. The

information will surely leak, but HamCation has asked our

help to keep it out of our formal news engine until we,

together, publish a joint announcement on Oct 5.



 



No

one is happy about the prospect of postponing the convention

but we want to be able to deliver a positive and substantial

event which does not appear possible, given the current

environment of restrictions, health officials

recommendations and people’s basic reluctance to travel and

gather, especially our community which includes a

disproportionate number of high risk individuals.



 



In

that regard, HamCation officials are eager to host the

National Convention in 2022 and have asked that we carry

over the sanctioning of the event to their 2022 HamCation. I

believe that is within the purview of the Executive

Committee and, given the unusual circumstances with which

we’re still dealing and the uncertainty regarding how long

these conditions will exist, I strongly recommend the

Committee take that action. If done timely, the decision can

be included in the joint announcement on October 5th.



 



I’ve

included both Bob Inderbitzen and Kathleen Callahan on this

email as they are the two managers most responsible for our

position and participation at the event. If you have any

questions, please include them as they are likely the one

who will have the answers.



 



73,



Barry,

N1VXY










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