Awards Program
Click here to view Power Point Presentation OR in PDF format.
Presented by Tony, K1KP at the August 2011 Meeting.

Goals:

1. Must be simple, objective, easy to administer.
2. Start with only the 4 major contests.
3. Automated data entry or individual score submission to reduce administration.
4. Award Program scores should be visible on the website in the form of a ‘ladder’.

Eligibility:

1. Only scores from the four majors (SSB/CW, CQWW/ARRLDX) are counted towards awards at this time.
2. Must be a YCCC member with dues paid up for the year in which the award is earned.
3. Award is based on participant submitting their own scores and is based on the honor system. Anyone intentionally violating the honor system will be banned from participation in the program indefinitely.
4. Awards will be based on final scores (after any applicable reduction by the contest sponsor), and must have been counted towards the club total for the contest.
5. Scores from operators at multioperator stations will be the simple prorated portion of the score which equals the station score divided by the total number of operators (including non-YCCC members) listed on the entry.

The objective of the Recognition program is to provide incentive for contest operating by recognizing three key areas:

1. Participation. YCCC has won many contests thru sheer numbers of entrants alone.
2. Improvement. We want to foster growth and improvement in all areas of contest participation. Because Improvement is considered on a year-over-year basis, we need not completely define it until next year. The final definitions and choice of awards can be deferred until 2012.
3. Achievement. We want to recognize achievement of significant contributions to the overall club score.

In summary, we want to encourage members to get on the air, do better than last year, and do their best to contribute to the club score.

How it works:

The goal of the Recognition program is to be simple and easy to administer. It only makes sense to move the burden of collecting information needed to determine award recipients to the recipients themselves.

Before October 1, each member would enter their scores online to a web application. They enter their final published score in each of the 4 major contests (ARRL DX and CQWW). The scores must come from published (magazine or web) results from the sponsor. Raw claimed scores should NOT be used. ONLY SCORES THAT COUNT TOWARDS THE CLUB TOTAL WILL COUNT TOWARDS RECOGNITION. Score submission is based on the Honor system. Any blatant, intentional cheating will result in permanent exclusion from the awards program.

Scores stay visible on website in ‘ladder’ form for recognition indefinitely.

After October 1, the scores will be evaluated for award eligibility as follows:

1. Participation. A member will be eligible for a Participation Award upon submitting club score entries for any 4 of the major contests. If a member enters a score for all 4 majors in the same year, this award can be achieved in the first year. Entries are lifetime cumulative, and once a member has entered 4 scores they are eligible for the award no matter how many years it took them to achieve. This is to provide for operators who choose to only operate a single mode. The award for participation shall be a YCCC cap (hat). The member will receive only one hat for the first achievement of the award; following years the member’s scores will be highlighted on the website for participation.
2. Improvement. Eligibility for Improvement Recognition will be determined on a year over year basis. To determine improvement, a member's combined SSB and CW score for the current year for either CQWW or ARRL DX, will be compared to the same score for the previous year. To be eligible for an “improvement” award, you must have contributed an official score of at least 50K for the same contest the previous year. Improvement awards would be based on official published results using the following scale:

   For previous year scores 50k-100k you must improve by 100%
   For previous year scores from 100-250k, you must improve by 50%
   For previous year scores from 250k-1meg you must improve by 25%
   For previous year scores 1meg-2meg, you must improve by 15%
   For previous year scores 2meg + you must improve by 5%

   The award for any of the above Improvement categories shall be a prize yet to be determined.

   The top 3 most improved (highest percentage of score change) in each category would receive a special award (personalized mug or plaque)

3. Achievement. Each members total contribution to the club score for the year will be totaled. There will be awards for 250K, 500K, 1 Meg, and 2 Meg or over total points contributed to the club in the contesting year. The awards for Achievement will be color-coded YCCC pins. The color coding will be as follows:

   250K Green
   500K Red
   1Meg Blue
   2Meg Yellow
   5Meg Silver
   10Meg Gold

Awards will be given out at the October meeting.