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Here is the third installment in a series of public relations tips developed by members of the League's Public Relations Committee. The tips were presented during the annual PR Forum at the Dayton Hamvention in May.
1. Is your club participating in a special event (such as Lighthouse Weekend)?
Promote it: Try to combine promotion of the event itself and ham radio/your club's participation. Using the example of Lighthouse Weekend, it focuses attention on the efforts of many people to preserve historic lighthouses; lighthouses were one of the earliest forms of "wireless communications" with ships at sea (think about it!) radio was the next step and continues to be very important today.
2. Is your club participating as a group in a contest (especially if it's other than Field Day)?
Promote it: VHF contests often turn into group operations, with different people bringing
different gear to some high location; the club competition in the WPX contests allows members to operate from home but to combine scores for a second layer of competition. Both angles make good feature stories. Be sure to stick to plain English.
3. Is your club helping support a DXpedition?
Promote it: This provides a local link to something happening very far away. Even if your club sent only a small amount of money to help the DXpedition, you can explain (after explaining in plain English what a DXpedition is about) how all expenses come out of the operators' pockets, with occasional equipment donations by manufacturers and dealers, and that they depend on many clubs like yours to make small donations to help defray some of the costs. After all, the main benefit of the operation is to hams back at home, who now have a rare opportunity to contact this particular place.
4. Is your club hosting a speaker who's been on a DXpedition?
Promote it: Explain what a DXpedition is about, why it's a significant activity for hams, and how the speaker came to be a participant (get in touch beforehand for some background info). You might get a story before the meeting and coverage of the meeting. If the local media don't send a reporter and/or photographer, take your own notes and photos and send in a story on your own.
5. Is your club hosting or sponsoring an Amateur Radio specialty conference (such as a VHF conference, Digital Communications Conference or OX convention)?
Promote it: These are big events that draw people from all over the country and sometimes, from foreign countries. It's big news in all but the biggest communities, and should be promoted to the local media.
6. Is your club working with a local school on a "Big Project" program?
Promote it: This can be an ongoing story, as each new phase of the program gets started selection to participate, setting up a station, getting kids on the air, getting kids licensed, starting round two, etc.
7. Is your club doing anything noteworthy in the community?
Promote it: Some clubs see their responsibility to their community as extending beyond Amateur Radio and participate in broader community activities and projects. One club in New Jersey, for example, worked with its county parks department to get a state grant for making improvements in the park.
8. Is a member of your club active in satellite communications?
Promote it: Lots of people receive TV signals from satellites... but how many send signals UP to satellites and use them for two-way communication?
9. Is a member of your club active in amateur television?
Promote it: Everybody wants to be a TV star... and we all have TV receivers in our homes. But only hams can have their own personal TV stations. Be sure to explain that it's not "community access" broadcasting, but rather two-way exchange of images and that if A TV-active people in your community are using a certain couple of common A TV frequencies, anybody with a cable-ready TV can tune them in by attaching an old-style rooftop TV antenna instead of the cable and tuning to the right channel. (Check with ATV people in your area for specifics.)
10. Is a member of your club active in moonbounce?
Promote it: Most American adults over 40 remember listening to Neil Armstrong radio back to Earth from the moon. Very few Americans of any age know that some ham radio operators continue to use the moon as a communication platform by pointing their antennas at the moon and bouncing signals off of it! You can talk to anywhere else where the moon is also up. Recent advances in technology mean it's no longer necessary to have a monster station to do moonbounce, so it's gaining in popularity.
Amateur Radio Awareness Day is coming up on September 18, and it's not too early to start planning your local publicity effort. Awareness Day is an excellent opportunity to showcase Amateur Radio, and sending a news release to the local press is one way you can help publicize it in your community.
As a general rule, the fill-in-the-blanks news release included here should be distributed approximately two weeks before Awareness Day, but you may want to contact the local media outlets and see what timeframe works best for the reporters. For example, weekly papers usually have a longer lead time for news. The method of distribution (US mail, fax or e-mail) should also follow the preferences of each individual reporter.
Please print the news release on your club letterhead. You may wish to add additional information that will appeal to local readers.
For More Information:
(Local contact name)
(Contact phone number/s)
(Contact e-mail address)
For Immediate Release
TOWN, State, date of release -- On September 18, Amateur Radio Awareness Day will recognize the nation's 675,000 Amateur Radio (or "ham radio") operators who make significant contributions to technology and education, and exemplify the spirit of volunteerism. Awareness Day is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL)--the national association for Amateur Radio.
"Some people think ham radio is obsolete, but that couldn't be farther from the truth," (says your club spokesperson). "Many of us are experimenting with the latest in digital communications and serving our communities in times of emergency. We're helping school children talk to astronauts on the International Space Station. I'm proud to be a ham radio operator."
Volunteering to provide or supplement communication during disasters is one of the most important facets of the Amateur Radio Service. They often lend their communications expertise during tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes and other emergencies. Amateur Radio operators often work in conjunction with local emergency management officials and relief organizations such as the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army.
Amateur Radio enthusiasts come from virtually every age bracket and from every profession. There are more than 2.5 million worldwide. For more information on Amateur Radio contact (club name/contact person and phone number/e-mail address.)
The URL for ARRL's home page is www.arrl.org.
If you've seen a particularly good article on ham radio in print, on television, or heard one on the radio, you might want to nominate the reporter for the 2004 Bill Leonard, W2SKE, Professional Media Award. The deadline for nominations is December 3, 2004. Nominated work must have appeared between December 3, 2003 and December 3, 2004.
The annual award honors a professional journalist whose outstanding coverage in TV, radio, print or multimedia best reflects the enjoyment, importance and public service value of Amateur Radio. The award was created as a tribute to the late CBS News President Bill Leonard, W2SKE. He was an avid Amateur Radio operator, and most active on the air during the 1960s and 1970s.
Nominations are judged by members of the League's PR Committee, and the final decision is made during the ARRL Board meeting in January. The winner receives an engraved plaque and a cash award of $500. Please note that some news organizations prohibit journalists from entering contests that offer monetary awards. Checking with your potential nominee ahead of time is a good idea.
For more information about the award, or to obtain a nomination form and the official rules for entry, contact ARRL's Media Relations Department, newsmedia@arrl.org, 860-594-0328.
In as much as reporters ask questions, you have to do the same yourself.This helps keep the story on track. When a reporter calls to do a story, ask these questions before hanging up:
Don't EVER let a reporter come out to "do a story on ham radio."Help them have some purpose BEFORE they come out.If they are looking for an angle, help them!Has a member of your club recently contact with the International Space Station? Did your club recently provide communications for a large event in town?Find an angle that would be interesting that the journalist could focus on.This allows YOU to help shape the story. Otherwise, you might be disappointed in what turns out in print/on camera.
When the reporter arrives, have handouts available.Print out information from your Web site and the ARRL Web site.Have the names and addressesof members at the interviewprinted on a sheet of paper with their call signs so the reporter doesn't have to ask how to spell each name.Plan backdrops for photogs/camera ops.Have your club logo on a screen saver in the ham shack computer.If you can't reach someone on HF, switch over to 2 meters and send someone with an HT into the next room if they just want to show an on-air contact.No one knows except you that it was staged.
Before the reporter arrives, have your members assemble a few minutes earlier to go over what YOU consider to be the KEY POINTS of your interview.State that message over and over during your discussion.Those key points might be that your club helps your community in the time of need.You have to decide those.Make sure everyone is on the same page when you discuss the club. And talk about WHY the reporter is coming (the member who contacted the ISS, or your recent public service activity).Appoint people in advance of the reporter's arrival to determine who will answer different types of questions.
A little planning will turn an interview into a MEDIA HIT!
Click here for a list of public relations links -- everything from free advice to the history of PR.
