The Miami Tropical Hamboree appears to be done for good. (or not)

I've been attending the Miami Tropical Hamboree since 1994. Not only that, but the show had been running continuously for over four decades! But as you can see on that out-of-date web page, it appears that the Hamboree folks have quit and aren't going to put the show on anymore.

For those who don't know, a Hamboree, or Hamfest, is an amateur radio show. Even though the show focuses mostly on amateur radio itself, which can be pretty interesting, in the last decade or so hamfests have become general geekfests, with every electronic gadget of every age you can possibly imagine up for display and sale. For a gadget geek like myself, this is paradise and I looked forward to attending the event every year.

Why did they quit? I have no idea, really. Last year they used the excuse that the Hamboree coincides with the Superbowl, and this caused many attendees to deal with a lower turnout on Sunday and/or annoyance that they miss the game. I think this is hogwash, as the Hamboree had coincided with the Superbowl many years in a row, and this never really caused much of a problem in the past. My suspicion is they were tired of running the show, and wanted a convenient excuse to stop. Missing your first year after over four decades is a good way to do this; attendees will give up and go to another show instead.

This post on my blog has links to photos from the 2003 and 2004 hamfests, so you can see some of the esoteric and geeky stuff for sale at these events. I am certainly going to miss going to the Hamboree year after year.

If you are one of the show's former staff and are reading this post after finding it through Google, how about making a comment? At least tell us why you stopped running this fun show. Because really, whining about the Superbowl does *not* justify this. You have destroyed over four decades of ham radio tradition in the Miami area.

EDIT 2/2/2008: Well, the site has come back from the dead, and they say they will have a show in Fall 2008. Here's hoping. I wonder if someone googled and saw this post and decided to set the record straight.