Most years I attend the ARRL Southwest Division Convention, and 2008 was no different.  Attendance at these conventions has been declining and this year they only had about 530 registered, but it was fun anyway.  This year was Arizona's turn - we get it here every 3 to 4 years, and California gets it the rest.  It was held in Mesa, and I shared travel costs with my friend Larry, W7LB.  A highlight of my weekend was that my oldest brother Eric, N2IAF, happened to be in town and spent some time at the Convention with me.

I spent most of my time running the Ten-Ten International Net booth, along with 10-10 Director Bob N6OPR and his friend Gary KA6GPC, who came out from California.  I also gave a presentation at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon, a modification of my "Ten Meters is Alive & Well" talk.  I was very pleased with the attendance, which was in excess of 50 people - roughly 10% of the total registrants, and there were 3 other talks going at the same time!

Here are some pictures, click on the thumbnail for a larger version:

Starting my "Ten Meters is Alive & Well" talk.	Me and Bob at the 10-10 booth.		Some of the vendors in the exhibit hall.	Bernie, Jerry, and Gail swapping stories.
Plenty of goodies for sale.	AMSAT had a strong presence.	Yaesu and Icom both had large displays with lots of rigs to drool over.
	Oops it wasn't dark, my camera settings slipped.	Lots of happy hams left the HRO booth with big boxes.
	Larry W7LB and Joe N3SRU at the banquet.	I only got to see 2 talks at the very end. This one was about go-kits.