The idea for the Elmer's Table came from a similar project by a club from the St Louis, Missouri area during 2018.

The first prototype of the Mo-Kan Regional Council's Elmer's Table was provided at the 2019 Ararat Shrine Hamfest in Kansas City, Missouri on April 20, 2019. Since the program was a success at Ararat, we hosted the Elmer's Table again at the Warrensburg Hamfest on July, 20, 2019 at Warrensburg, Missouri, which was also successful.

The project lives on! We hope to see you at a hamfest near you soon!

Overview:

The concept is quite simple. Obtain knowledgeable Hams to man, (or woman,) the table, and be prepared to answer questions or provide advice to any inquiring Ham, but especially New Hams.

An important part of the project, is if requested, match the inquiring Ham with an Elmer. The list of Volunteer Elmers with knowledge regarding the many facets of Amateur Radio ranging from General Help to Digital Operations to Working Satellites. A match might best be made by referring an Elmer who resides close to the inquiring Ham.

Another important part of the project is to help the inquiring Ham to find an Amateur Radio Club. Again, his or her criteria might be based on something close to home, or perhaps a club which has a focus or a specialty for what in in order.

To aid our Elmers working the table are lists, which contain the names of contact information for those Elmers who have offered to be matched up with a Ham, as well as similar lists containing information about the regions many fine Amateur Radio Clubs.

Copied below is a sample of the General Instructions provided to our people working the table:

General Instructions
Elmer Table

Thank you for participating in the Elmer Table Project coordinated by the Mo-Kan Regional Council of Amateur Radio Organizations! We appreciate your help. Our aim, is to Provide Advice on the various topics of Amateur Radio; Match up a Requesting Ham with an Elmer based on the Ham’s interests, location, or both; Match up a Ham with an Amateur Radio Club based on the Ham’s interests, location, or both; or to Introduce a Ham to any of the many resources available in the Amateur Radio Community.

On the table, you should find two copies of a spreadsheet which contain:

• List of Participating Elmers by Location, and Specialty.
• List of the Region’s Amateur Radio Clubs.
• A list of some of the many other resources available.

Please don’t feel limited to these lists. If you have good information or advice, by all means please pass that along!

On the table is a stack of blank 3 x 5 index cards. These serve two purposes:

1) Once you find a good match for an Elmer and / or a club, write the contact information down on the card, and provide that to the requesting Ham.

2) Inversely, obtain the contact information from the Ham, so we can let the Elmer or Club know that they may be contacted by the requesting ham.

On the ‘Contact Card’ from the Ham, try to include:

On the contact card to the Ham, please include from the spreadsheet:

Or, as the case dictates please include from the spreadsheet:

The cards are blank, so feel free to use both sides as needed.

None of this is etched in stone, so please feel free to add any additional pertinent information as you deem appropriate.

That’s It! Be friendly, positive, and helpful.

Thanks again for the help! You may be playing a part in helping guide a New Ham on his or her new journey through Amateur Radio!!

73!

28OCT21