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IN THIS EDITION:
Barry Cohen K2JV writes:
It’s not just kids, but all new hams like contests if they are introduced to them early. I think there is a pretty simple reason for this.
Especially in the case of kids it’s hard to learn how to initiate and carry on a conversation with a stranger on the radio. You can’t see the person, there is no body language involved, and especially for kids they have been taught to be afraid of strangers.
The first question always asked is “What do I say?” Even adults ask this. A contest solves this problem because the contest exchange is formalized. You know exactly what has to be sent, and what format the received information will have. No conversation is involved.
You can draw this conclusion even further. Most new adult hams come with a prejudice against CW, but little boys love to learn and use the Morse code. For many of us, a CW QSO especially for a DX chaser, is just like a contest exchange. Those of us who use CW complain about it – too formalized, “RST 599, QTH Madrid, op Jose, 73 es CUL” but that’s just like a contest and very appealing to a new ham.
So maybe we should ask the additional question: “How do we keep our new young hams interested?” We see a lot of kids getting licenses but never getting on the air.
Our Radio Club has a threefold answer to this:
First: Don’t buy anything! We’ll lend you an HT so you can immediately get on our local roundtable and our local Kids Net, and we’ll clue you into VHF FM contests.
Second: We’ll help you get some kind of HF antenna up in the air and we’ll lend you an HF rig so you can listen in on 20 and 40 meters.
Third: We’ll help you get your General or Extra class license, but you’ve got to learn the Morse code, get on CW, and operate in contests.
Here’s a way to get noticed in just about any local paper!
Write an editorial saying thank you to your ARES crew for their service after an event. Even if the supported agency doesn’t do it – you can!
It’s positive publicity, shows your services to the community, makes for happy memberships, increases volunteerism next time, and all it costs you is a stamp. Here’s an example from P. Dutch Muetz, KØAWS:
Thanks to radio volunteers
Fairplay Flume - Bailey,CO,USA
I would like to say many thanks to the members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, ARES, who supported the large-scale Fairplay Blast Exercise on Oct. 4...
We all know that hams aid their communities with a lot of public service activities. In fact, none less than the federal Government Accounting Office has recognized that and is asking ARRL staff for information on just how much we do! (A LOT!!)
But here’s an idea to maximize the PR for these activities.
The Carolina Helping Hams (CHH) is an Organization founded to connect Amateur Radio Hobbyists (Hams) and Non-profit Organizations (NPOs) within North Carolina. They are a special interest group dedicated to using Ham Radio for the support of charitable Public Service events within North Carolina.
Check out their website at www.hampublicservice.org
The 10th annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) special event will take place Saturday, December 6, 2008. SRD is co-sponsored by the
National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League. SKYWARN Recognition Day is a way to recognize the commitment made by Amateur Radio operators in helping keep their communities safe. During the 24-hour special event, amateur radio operators visit their local National Weather Service (NWS) office and work as a team to contact other hams across the world.
The on-air event will be held from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC December 6. If you haven’t joined in the fun, 2008 is your year! To learn more, check out this web site: http://hamradio.noaa.gov .
“Viral Networking” is both a new buzzword and new phenomenon made possible by the Web. Now, as more and more news content is transferred from papers and TV screens to websites, viral PR is another tool for hams.
In short, once something is posted on the web, there is little chance of guiding where it may end up and even less chance of changing any errors. Stories and articles from one place can pop up most anywhere. (Indeed, even many things written here in Contact! have shown up again in unusual places.) This is a double-edged sword but it also can be very helpful in PR.
One new website that is formally advancing this can be found at:
http://hamradio.alltop.com/
Guy Kawasaki, who does the website, sent an email:
We import the stories of the top news websites and blogs for any given topic and display the headlines of the five most recent stories. When you place the cursor over a headline, we display part of the story so that you can decide if you’d like to read it. To read the story, click on its title. To go to the home page of the site, click on its domain name.
Punch it up
Not only is more news going to the Web, but more and more people are forsaking the traditional newspapers and even getting local news from websites covering news in their home area. Because of this, local newspapers are shifting business models. Fewer reporters, less time on any one story, more raw input direct from subscriber populations, direct amateur video input and uploads – all this in an unending 24 hour news cycle makes for a chaotic time. But there is opportunity in the chaos! This can be to your advantage as getting something up on the web is a lot easier than getting it into ink
– IF you have a good story to tell.
Here’s a local story put out on the Star Community Newspapers website in Plano, TX. The text to the story is brief and, to put it bluntly, flat. But the addition of the Lake Area Amateur Radio Club’s video makes it into something that folks will click on and you have them for 3-5 minutes.
http://www.colonyleader.com/articles/2008/10/20/the_colony_courier-leader/news/0001e.txt
The downside is that these stories don’t stay up for too long, so links can go bad in a few days or weeks. (Including this one!) You need to keep submitting good, new material to stay “in the news.”
Dana S. Henrique, WA1KYU, writes:
Approximately 50 scouts plus members from 3 local radio clubs
(Pilgrim A.R.C., Barnstable A.R.C., and Falmouth A.R.A.) on Cape Cod
participated in the 51st JOTA held October 18 & 19, 2008 at Camp
Greenough in Yarmouthport, Massachusetts. Also in attendance were a
number of girl scouts, friends, and adults.
The multi-faceted nature of ham radio was actively demonstrated by up
to 8 stations operating in different modes and bands - HF SSB & CW,
VHF/UHF FM, satellite, PSK-31, SSTV, Echolink, and APRS. Scouts were
encouraged to experience the thrill of an on-air contact by taking
turns at the microphone. Morse code practice was also available for
those interested in trying their hand at sending and receiving CW.
At the heart of the operating area, we placed a resource table loaded
with various ARRL materials, band plan charts, and more. Also, a
conscious effort was made to call attention to the ham class sign up
sheet. Our expectations were exceeded and we were thrilled when it
filled up with the names of eighteen potential future hams.
[signed up for their Technician classes]
Next, a timely follow up was in order. A few days after the event,
everyone was called to confirm their interest in the ham class and
given a brief overview of its structure. Also, they were given
contact information and invited to call anytime with questions. A
November class is planned to keep the momentum going.
This formula produced great results for us and I believe it can do
the same for you.
The key here seems to have been not just telling, but the hands-on showing of Amateur Radio’s potentials. There also needed to be follow-up shortly afterwards. The LARC had both these elements.
At the recent orientation for new Section Managers (Oct 10-12) there were fourteen new SM’s who were most attentive to the possibilities and excitement of PR for Amateur Radio. At the end of the briefing, 13 of the 14 asked to be added to the PR email reflector!
Why not all 14? - One was already a member!
The role of positive relations and the presentation of Amateur Radio are critical in the continuance of hams’ ability to continue the hobby. From antenna restrictions to frequency uses, the basis of all that we do with the public relies on a positive image of Amateur Radio.
The PR reflector was designed to provide a forum for sharing information and ideas about Amateur Radio related PR topics. Share your successes, your PR dilemmas or ask a question. The list contains a lot of PIOs, media professionals and League officials who can offer helpful advice. What few know about is that there are several “lurkers” on the reflector whose names you would probably recognize – national level media people. It takes a lot to get their interest and attention. We do not want to lose them due to inappropriate postings. But by following Amateur Radio events, they are informed when something major happens.
It is important that we keep all postings on the topic of public relations. Many participants belong to other reflector groups and receive a good deal of e-mail on a regular basis. Messages that are off-topic are an inconvenience for those who are here to discuss Amateur Radio public relations.
To join the reflector, simply send an email to APitts@arrl.org with your name, callsign, preferred email address and ask Allen to put you on the reflector.
Then, if you post a message to pr@arrl.org <mailto:pr@arrl.org , everyone on the list will see it. Reply to a message that someone else has posted, and only the initial poster will see your response. While having the entire group see your response may be a good way to stimulate further conversation, most topic follow-ups are better one to one.
Depending on your own internet service provider and how they have set up your service, you may or may not be able to post with an @arrl.net address but need to be listed with your actual email address. Most providers do not cause this problem, but some still do.
Whenever you send a message to the listserver, please add your name, call sign and any other information that is appropriate so others know who the message is from. Also be sure you put in your state or location! It is surprising how many media hits we get that you simply cannot tell where it is happening!
Please refrain from posting copyrighted news articles on the PR Reflector. Instead, please just post the URLs.
Last but not least, advise us of any e-mail address changes or additional addresses that you may have occasion to use to access the reflector.
A message from the national Ready Campaign:
Now that September has come and gone, the Department of Homeland Security’s Ready Campaign would like to thank you for your support and efforts during National Preparedness Month 2008. The impact on the American public is evident by the record number of 3,200 organizations who committed to educating citizens on emergency preparedness in their communities and businesses. To learn more about some of the events that took place across the nation, please visit http://www.ready.gov/america/npm08/overview.html.
We are very interested in hearing any feedback you may have on National Preparedness Month. Did you utilize the toolkit? Did you find the materials in the toolkit helpful? Were there other materials that you wish the Campaign would provide? We strive every year to make NPM more successful and want to make participation as easy as possible for you.
The Ready Campaign values our relationship with your organization and we hope you will continue your efforts year round. We wish you great success in the coming year and look forward to working with you again in September 2009!
Sincerely,
The Ready Campaign
There were a LOT of Amateur Radio groups participating. In fact, hams made up one of the largest collections of volunteer groups nationwide! To see some of them and the impressive listing they make, go to http://www.ready.gov/america/npm08/members.html#link7
What’s for Dinner?
It’s quoted that “Old age isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.” That may be true, but one nice part is having my, now retired, wife able to be home when I arrive at the end of the workday. There is the usual and comfortable choreographed routine of a hug and kiss, patting the dogs, changing clothes and then settling in for dinner and conversation. I look forward to that time of day. For better or worse, I now have come to expect that dinner will be there. And it always seems to be so.
We get to rely on many people in our lives. It’s not from a lack of appreciation that we don’t always say something, it is from the faith and familiarity that they will be there, doing their thing. We count on them, and their comforting regularity makes it possible for us to go through our days with less chaos.
So, besides the fact I love my wife, what does this have to do with PR? - A lot!
If asked, my wife can quickly tell you what we had for supper last night, in progress for tonight, and what’s on tap for tomorrow. I can do the same here for PR projects at work. Can you do the same for your PR projects?
As a PIO we count on you. YOUR role is to continually use the opportunities, materials and events to bring Amateur Radio’s message to the public. So, what have you recently done? What are you doing now? What’s the next project after that? What will you answer when your Section manager asks “What’s cooking?” Can we count on you too?
- W1AGP