[LCC] Update from the President

[w5wz at w5wz.com]

LCC members and friends,

Merry Christmas!  I hope you have joy and happiness this season!

I wanted to share with you some of the things that have been going on 
largely behind the scenes.  The number of entries in the LAQP has been 
declining over the past few years, and we were concerned about that.  
Possibly the date conflict with the Russian DX and BARTG RTTY contest 
was a factor, but we were not sure that was the only reason.  The LAQP 
committee (Chairman Marsh KA5M, Mark K5ER, Bobby WM5H and Scott W5WZ) 
has been hard at work the last couple of months with the goal to find 
out why participation is slipping, and how to improve the LAQP.  Here's 
a brief recap of those efforts, which has incurred zero cost to the LCC.

A survey was circulated in the contesting community.  Lots of quality 
feedback was received from across the country.  The major take-away 
points were:
1. Poor communication from the LAQP committee to the world.
2. Slow to post logs received on website
3. Slow to score logs
4. Slow to post results and issue awards
5. Website not updated regularly, giving appearance of apathy from 
LCC/LAQP leadership
6. Lack of publicity.  Many Louisiana respondents indicated they did not 
know a LAQP existed.
7. Date conflict with Russian DX and BARTG RTTY
8. And the biggest take-away by far- NOT ENOUGH LOUISIANA STATIONS AND 
PARISHES ON THE AIR

Consequently, the LAQP committed has been diligently taking action.

The LAQP website has been modernized.  Visit LAQP.ORG to see it.    We'd 
love to have photos of LCC members operating or LCC member stations for 
the LAQP and the LCC websites.

Free software has been acquired for log checking and adjudication.  The 
2019 logs were scored manually, and then via the software to confirm 
proper operation of the software.

Efforts are underway to have web-form log submission, instant cataloging 
of logs received and email notification to the entrant with confirmation 
number; post contest results posting and archiving; and on-demand 
certificate creation and downloading.

A few modifications to the rules:  date changed to avoid Russian DX and 
BARTG RTTY contests; shorter log submission deadline; three new overlay 
categories have been added.




Now, there are two areas that each of you can help with.

First, is publicity.  Will you please share the invitation below with 
your local ham clubs, and ALL of your ham friends, by every means 
possible?

Second, please mark your calendars, and get on the air during the LAQP.  
In the perfect world, the LAQP would have all 64 parishes on the air at 
some point during the contest.  Consider going out portable or rover to 
activate rarer parishes.  We've added a POTA (parks on the air) overlay 
category to the rules, so those of you that camp/RV, here's an 
additional opportunity for you!


Thanks for taking the time to read this update message.
73, Scott W5WZ



=========LAQP 
INVITATION========================================================================

Fellow Ham Radio Licensee,

I'm Scott, W5WZ, President of the Louisiana Contest Club.  We sponsor 
the annual Louisiana QSO Party.

Please accept this invitation to participate in the 2020 edition of the 
Louisiana QSO Party.

The 2020 edition of the Louisiana QSO Party will run from 14:00 UTC, 
April 4, 2020 to 02:00 UTC, April 5, 2020 (9:00 AM to 9:00 PM CDT 
Saturday, April 4, 2020).

The rules, and all other pertinent information is found online at:  
http://laqp.org/

I do hope you'll join us on the air!

73, Scott W5WZ

=================================================================================================