[ARDF] ARDF events during Hamvention?

[Matthew Robbins]

It's about a month from Hamvention, and the post I sent in December
hasn't received much response.  So...

The foxhunt forum is Saturday, May 21, at 8am.

We want to put on a small ARDF at a local park.  We're thinking
2pm-to-6pm Saturday afternoon.  There are several possible parks.  The
closest is a Boy Scout camp maybe 2.5 miles from Hara Arena.  It's
mapped mostly as open forest, but there are lots of trails.  Probably
the least intimidating park is about 2 miles east of downtown.  It's a
large grassy area with some honeysuckle "forest" surrounding the
grass.  It's very flat.

One park I really like doesn't allow orienteering off-trail this time
of year.  A course on trails is a possibility there.

The local O'Club, Miami Valley Orienteering Club (MVOC) is having a
regular orienteering event on Sunday.  It may be possible for me to
extend their approval either to Saturday or just add on to the Sunday
event.  The park is in Centerville, on the south side of Dayton.

I've got several questions regarding an event intended for beginners
who hear about it at the 8am forum:

1.  What is appropriate for an event like this?  (Meaning for a
general audience who probably didn't pack clothes or shoes to get
dirty in.)  Is "trails-only" acceptable?  I'm pretty sure in May
there's enough rain to keep most trails pretty wet.  It really
depends, I guess.

2.  How important is using an impressive map?  All the maps are ISOM
standard, but many of the small ones aren't too interesting.  I'd
prefer to use a map they could use to look at later and learn
something.  There are pretty decent map resources online, though.

3.  Of the three things we talk about: Fitness, Orienteering, and
Radiocraft; What should the emphasis be on?  I think it's safe to make
fitness a non-factor.  I sort of like the completely flat area due to
the cleanliness and the ability to allow focus on the map and the 5-T
cycle, but it doesn't seem like a "real ARDF", but maybe that's not
important.  There is enough "forest" there to allow a couple more
difficult points.  I'll ask MVOC if there are any places with
all-weather trails (like mulched or paved paths).

4.  How important is it to have a very close or very easy to get to
park?  I want to attract as many people as possible.  I've got several
choices within the metro area.  I was leaning toward "near to
downtown" as a way to make it easy for people to get there on the way
to their hotel.

Again, if anyone is interested in a larger event, please let us know
soon.  We've got some really nice new maps if you don't mind driving
to Cincinnati (It's actually one map, but it's such a large area, we
print it out as multiple maps).  Probably the only time to do 2
full-length courses would be Thursday and Sunday, but if you want
something serious Saturday afternoon, we might be able to do that. 
The sun goes down pretty late.  It's possible to have a 2-day serious
event on Friday and Saturday (with starts as late as 4 or 5 pm), if
there's interest, but the maps would have to be in Dayton.

Donald, W9EKB, thought Sunday morning (before the prize drawing) was a
really good time for an ARDF.  I know a lot of people think Sunday is
a buyer's market, but I guess I think it's more a seller's market. 
So, I agree that Sunday am is worth considering.

Matthew
AA9YH
Cincinnati, Ohio USA