“Last Saturday the XYL and myself went to the New England HamXpo Banquet with Dr. Tamitha Skov, WX6SWW, who made a wonderful presentation, but at the end was the raffle for two prizes. I was lucky enough to have my number pulled for the grand prize so I am now the proud owner of a FT-70 Field! I haven’t stopped smiling since!  73 de KD1KU”

[Posted on Facebook Friendly Elmers group]

Overall, the HamXposition was well run, interesting, and fun. Some suggested improvements (from me and heard from others) include:

1. Taping sessions (e.g., via Zoom) and uploading the videos to a YouTube site, as folks often had to choose between two (or more) presentations they wanted to hear, that were presented simultaneously.

2. Offering a “test equipment table” at the flea market so that potential customers could determine if a used device actually worked.

3. Rethink the flea market/trailer entrance configuration (yellow tape) as the entrance and exit alleys were quite narrow and the turns were fairly tight.

4. The hotel atrium seemed a bit underutilized

“I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to present a similar version of my Mini-CTU presentation to the HamExpo on Saturday.  The room was packed, and a helpful lady provided the needed podium. Several hams have asked for the PDF copy of my PowerPoint slide deck. (attached). It was a pleasure to attend for the weekend, and the room accommodations were very appreciated.  Our round trip with several other stops was over 5000 miles.  The trip was glitch free.”

First it was a pleasure and honor to speak at this convention for the 2nd time. It was especially more so since I had the opportunity for 4 sessions.
The overall feel was very good. I did not hear of complaints and such. My sessions were identified correctly for each room schedule posted at the door, and all the equipment I needed was in good working order. Every staff member at every level was respectful and courteous.

73,
Rory

We are very grateful to Skip and Phil who made sure that everything went right for us. Reserved parking, tireless ticket staff, and a great booth location made the day fly by. We couldn’t believe that our booth was right outside the room we were scheduled to present in! If we are fortunate enough to be invited again, we hope to do an even better job. We would probably bring more volunteers so we can get around more and enjoy a few presentations and displays. Thank you so much!

I thought the food at the Contest Dinner was the best hotel food ever, and I’ve been going to NE hamfests for a long time as well as Dayton every year since 1980 or so. The lunch food was even good and reasonably priced. Check in and out of the hotel was fast and the room very nice.

One criticism re some of the speakers is that I wish they all had PA systems as I had a hard time hearing AF1T for example who I understand had a great presentation, but as one of the old guys I couldn’t hear him well enough to appreciate it! I enjoyed Contest University where they did have a PA sytem, and the best part of that was I already knew everything they said…hi Good show! 73 JACK W1WEF

Almost all seminars had a problem with audio visual systems. Seems no convention personnel were appointed to assist presenters with help in setup and problem solving. Also, many presenters did not use the available microphones and some that did had problems with loud, distorted sound. At least two presenters had attitudes when asked questions by attendees. I felt bad for the attendees who asked thoughtful questions only to be belittled by the presenter. At least one seminar was canceled and the only notice given was that it was crossed off the sign at the door of scheduled room. Also, room signs need larger type for better visibility. Almost needed a magnifying lens to read the room signs. Positive note, some very good topics were listed and length of programs were appropriate. So the conference is a bargain for the price charged.

I’ve been attending HamXposition for many years. This year’s (2024) running of HamXposition blew away all previous years. The number and variety of seminars is more than Hamvention (Dayton). The venue (Best Western in Marlborough is right-sized for the convention. It’s great to have the convention at the hotel venue, maximizing time available for fun vs. commuting. HamXposition is the highlight of my amateur radio year. I’m already planning for- and can’t wait for – the 2025 edition!

I needed assistance in getting my projector going … the fellow before me left little time to set up.  Maybe some sort of volunteer proctor in the rooms, perhaps 1 for every 2 rooms might be a good idea. I think it went just great though! 73.

The ARRL New England Convention, aka “Boxborough” amd now “HamXposition” has always been a favorite event of mine. Mike, K1TWF, Bob K1IW and their TEAM are to be congratulated for all their hard work putting this together. I know how much time and effort it takes. Thank you all! I will see you all on 2025, the good Lord willing!

I enjoyed meeting people and finding out their stories and how their interests meshed with mine. I’ve been attending this conference for years and every year I make the same mistakes — I don’t study the talks carefully enough and I miss the ones that I want to see; and I fail to work out, in advance, what I need to get in the flea market to finish my projects!

A great program, a great dinner, a good talk by Dr. Skov. Great camaraderie, and it rekindled my interest to get on the air operating again.

The only negative this year was the Sunday small-prize drawing, where too many un-matched tickets were put into the box. But – now that everyone knows what happened, it won’t again.

I would like to see how well the Expo did in 2024, in comparison to 2023, but it really looked good!