The Central States VHF Conference will not be held this year due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. The official announcement from W9FZ is attached to this e-mail

As a member of the CSVHF Society Board of Directors, I participated in that decision and would be happy to answer any questions you have about the postponement or how the decision to postpone was made.

The decision was not made hastily and was made with substantial input by all members of the Board. In the end it was a consensus decision to postpone.

Three factors contributed to my decision to vote to postpone. One is that despite not knowing exactly what the pandemic will look like in July, holding it could put members at risk, and a lot of members are in the high risk category. The potential payoff for the risk incurred in holding the conference seems low. The second was that the conference is a social event event as much as it is a technical and operating conference, and it looks like even in July some social distancing constraints will still be in place. That will make social activities, even just greeting old friends, difficult. Third, it seemed like travel arrangements would be difficult to make in advance for those who fly, further limiting attendance, particularly as making those arrangements would need to be done in the near future.

More information will be forthcoming. If you have any questions, please ask me or another BOD member.

Sorry to be the bearer of this news; I know many eagerly look forward to attending each year and Ginger and I usually plan a vacation around it and will be disappointed. In the meanwhile, I hope that restrictions will be lifted enough so that we can see each other at gatherings later in the year. See you in LaCrosse in 2021. - Duffey

James Duffey KK6MC
Cedar Crest NM

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