First, my thanks to the following who responded with ideas on how to 
approach a presentation about contesting before the Dayton Hamvention 
Youth Forum:

K5MM, K3CP, K4WW, N5NJ, W2CE, K7BG, N9BOR, KU7Y, KL2A, W5AJ, K4ZA, 
N7UJJ, W1NN, N0AX, K1VR, W3PP, K5ZD, KR2Q, W2ML, ND3F, K3ANS, K4JRB, 
W3ZZ, K7LXC, NO6X, N2GA, S56A, N3BB, and K3WW.

I am a bit short on time (starting a new consulting assignment next 
week) so let me just list in no particular order many of the key ideas 
and techniques there were suggested (it's a bit long but hang in):

Stress the FUN aspects of contesting (many of you told me this).

Contesting is a way to quickly qualify for operating awards like WAS, 
WAC, DXCC, etc.

Contests generate lots of QSLS

Contests offer recognition with your callsign and score published in 
QST, CQ, etc.

JUST TRY IT!  Lost of events to choose from and no prior experience 
required.

Show slides from exotic places and relate stories about the people 
there.

Radiosporting is for people of all ages, from 8 to 98.  A large portion 
of today's most successful contesters started while teenagers.

Describe why we contest, the challenge, the activity, the rewards (e.g. 
become a better operator, learn the limits of your station, etc.)

Contesting is a sport that anyone can enjoy, regardless of physical 
attributes and the weather outside.

Computers play a role, describe how.

Provide a list of who to contact.  Provide URLs on the WWW.

Don't make contesting look like hard "work".  

Be honest with the audience and be myself. They will respond to 
sincerity.

Use visuals sparingly - illustrate the talk with them but do not rely on 
them to carry the talk.

Use a pileup tape if you have one.

Emphasize that contests can also be fun social events, consider 
activities that teens like to do involving food, video, computers, and 
FEELING SPECIAL (and not nerdy).

Characterize contesting as a big video game (several suggested this).
Bands = Levels, Mults = bonus counters, QSOs = regular counters.
Its like playing a huge game of lazertag with radios.  Point and shoot.
A multi-player video game with real people inside the box.

Use BIG graphics with not much text.

TALK ABOUT MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX (several suggested this).

Talk about how contesting leads to friendships with new people world 
wide.

Talk about the camaraderie of the contest community.

Talk about the thrill of high rates and rare mults.


I know there are a lot of other ideas in your e-mails that may not be 
expressed above so please excuse me if I missed something.  I'll be 
working with your replies and a few ideas of my own over the next month 
and will be back to try them out on you when drafted.

Thanks again for your help.

73, 

John, W2GD