Barry Merrill, W5GN, is a high-end computer programmer. He runs a very successful company that provides performance evaluation for large mainframe computers. See www.mxg.com . A few years ago Barry volunteered to take over the CQWW DX Contest certificates. Barry does the following: 1) From a list of callsigns, scores, and certificate rules, he developed software that determines who gets which certificate, and what additional words go on the certificate, such as continental winner. 2) He developed software that extracts the name and mailing information from the submitted electronic log, and matches it up to the certificate. He tracks down problem addresses, and sees that certificates get to them. 3) He runs his software himself, has the certificates printed, and pays for the printing. 4) He has the certificates put into envelopes, and then pays the postage to mail them. The postage alone costs thousands of dollars. Barry has also recently taken on the CQ WPX certificates. Before Barry, CQ Magazine used to pay for the blank certificates, envelopes, and postage. Volunteers have always produced and mailed the certificates. It is my understanding that Barry also contributes money to the ARRL. He goes to Dayton, where he does not attend the ARRL donors reception. He does however, attend the CQWW Contest Committee meeting, where he receives absolutely no refreshments. There is no way the League could afford to hire someone with Barry Merrill's computer skills. The message I see here is, people with his level of skill will sometimes volunteer to help, even in what might appear to be a non-high-tech function.

From my observations, there isn't the slightest chance that the League would ever even ask someone like Barry Merrill for advice on how to automate contest certificate production. If the question ever came up, paid consultants would likely be hired.

This is another example that prompted my question about "maximizing " the use of volunteers. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA