13 MAR, 2005 - 1745 CST Hello Tom... In my four years as a director, I have turned down three ARRL hamfest approval applications. 1. The first one was for an ATV dinner at a restaurant that would last about two hours. I turned it down and got an unhappy reply that my predecessor "always approved it" so they could have some free ARRL merchandise prizes to give away to the 30 or so attendees. 2. I did not approve ARRL sanctioning for an antique radio swap meet because several hams who are also antique radio collectors told me this event said has nothing to do with amateur radio and they charged fees to attend their antique radio collecting/restoration forums unless you were a dues-paying member of the association. 3. And I also turned down a tail-gate party for about 40-50 projected attendees. That's an average of less than one a year. As a general rule of thumb, I question hamfest approval applications that have a projected attendance of 200 or less or ones - I know from experience - that routinely draw in this range. After four years, I think I'm seeing fewer of these applications because they know what my answer will be. BTW, my personal hamfest appearance requirements are based on a higher attendance number of 400 to 600 factored with the distance to be traveled. A couple of times I have been able to combine an appearance with personal travel and I have relaxed this requirement. This rule of thumb may not be practical in sparsely populated states, or portions thereof. 73 - Dick, W9GIG