Back in December, I was notified that I had been awarded the 2026 Orlando HamCation Gordon West Ambassador of the Year Award for all my effort in promoting amateur radio in colleges and universities through the ARRL’s Collegiate Amateur Radio Program. Needless to say, this was quite a surprise! An annual award banquet is held Saturday night of HamCation, and I was invited to attend and receive the award in person. This took some logistical management as it meant I wasn’t even back from my two-week honeymoon for a week before having to venture out to Orlando.
My wife and I met up my brother Andy, KK4LWR, his wife, daughter (who live in Orlando), and my parents who coincidentally were in town for a conference. I was able to spend a few hours at HamCation itself including helping moderate a collegiate amateur radio meetup. At the award banquet, I was able to give a few words mostly describing my passion for collegiate amateur radio, thanking those have made equally large or larger contributions (Andy Milluzzi, KK4LWR, Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, and Ed Snyder, W1YSM) to this cause, and challenging the other attendees to reach out to the college they attended to see if there is a radio club they can give back to.
While it was only a quick trip, it was nice to get away, see many old and new friends, and continue my efforts of promoting amateur radio in colleges and universities. Congratulations to the other award winners – Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF who won the 2026 Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award (I know Nathaniel quite well through my own volunteering) and Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA who won the 2026 Amateur Radio Hero Award. I am honored to be recognized alongside these others who have done so much to promote the hobby and its positive impacts!