CONTACT - May 2017
Vol 15 # 5
In this issue:
Media Hit – Emergency Management Article
Should your Club Start a Blog?
Hamvention in Ohio is less than three weeks away! ARRL will be there, of course, bringing the ARRL Expo to Xenia. Look for us there. We’ll be doing a lot of coverage for ARRL media while there as well. With lots of ARRL forums, a new venue, and the largest gathering of hams in North America. it will be as good a time as ever! If you can’t make it this year, be sure to follow the events live on the ARRL Facebook page, as well as other media outlets like W5KUB, HamRadio360, and others.
We are now just a couple of weeks away from the deadline to submit your nomination for the ARRL Phil McGan Silver Antenna Award. This award goes to those who demonstrates success in public relations efforts to the non-ham community. If you have a volunteer who has done an outstanding job promoting ham radio to the outside world, nominate them for the McGan Award. Nominations must be received at HQ by close of business Friday, May 19.
We always like welcoming new PIOs to the team. Here is the newest member of the team!
PIO:
Virginia: Ken Longnecker, KN4BAF
The ARRL Nevada Section, Led by Section Manager John Bigley, N7UR, and Public Information Coordinator Chuck Farnham, WD6CHC, rolled out the red carpet once again to the many hams that were attending the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas April 22-27. More than 100,000 broadcasting professionals attended NAB this year. The Nevada Section’s efforts led to some coverage in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Kudos to all involved!
Media Hit – Emergency Management Article
The April issue of Emergency Management Magazine gave Amateur Radio a nice shot in the arm, as well. The article ties the increase of people earning their Amateur Radio licenses to the desire to help with disaster communications and public service. The article features interviews with ARRL’s Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, and Colorado Section Manager Jack Ciaccia, WM0G.
Should your Club Start a Blog?
One of the many ways your club can reach out to your local audience is through an online blog. Slightly different than a web site, a blog gives you a place to post official releases and information, but also makes it easy for you to tell your story in a more narrative format. It’s not the answer for every group, but for some, it will fit the bill perfectly. The folks at Wired Impact explain some reasons why a blog might be for your group.
Ah, May. That means travel….Hamvention, of course, but also lots of other conventions, including (for me) the Rocky Mountain Division Convention on Memorial Day weekend in Wyoming. This year, I’ve taken it upon myself to increase the amount of live video I’ll be doing when covering these events. Facebook has their Facebook Live platform, and you can do live video direct from your smart phone or tablet. If your group has a Facebook page, this is a great way to bring your outreach events to a larger audience. Some apps will let you use external cameras, like a GoPro, to get higher resolution video on your Facebook Live stream.
Speaking of outreach, Field Day will be here before you know it. Have you started with your PR efforts yet? Now is the time to invite local elected officials, get the Field Day Audio PSA or Video PSA in the hands of your local media or on your social media feeds, put in that request for a municipal or statewide proclamation, and start thinking about who will staff your welcome table at your Field Day site. Maybe even think about some live video to your social media feeds to earn that extra social media bonus, too.
Thanks for all you do.
Sean Kutzko, KX9X
Media & Public Relations Manager
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