The Ham Radio Promoter
The newsletter for radio clubs participating
In the Ham Radio Promotion Project
“Working together to recruit new Amateurs”
Issue number eighteen
http://www.neoham.org
New school year offers new
Promotion opportunities
Offer to provide a ham radio link
Amateur radio can be a fun part of the school
year ahead as a part of physics classes and
laboratory sessions or as an after-school activity. Your club may know a ham who is a
teacher and may be able to help find a way to
be involved in school activities. If your group
lacks a ham teacher, then a letter to a school
administrator with information on amateur
radio could help open the door. A number of
clubs have been successful in offering ham
volunteers in a number of ways.
The Northwest Houston (NARS) club has
been active in helping the Redd School
“LabRats”club for over five years. Teacher/
ham Lollie Garay, KD5WZM, reports that
this fall the emphasis will be on
the fundamentals
of radio and how
to talk on the air.
NARS members
Jerry Whiting,
KB5VGD, and Terry Myers, KQ5U, (in
photo) are working with the students.
One way to get students excited about radio
is to use a two meter hand-held in the science
lab and have two-way conversations. Students in grades 3-8 are being invited to join
the radio talk program.
In Chesapeake, Virginia, the “Elmers R
Us” radio club continues to provide volunteer
help to the Chesapeake Center for Science
and Technology. A very active group, it
helps maintain the school’s various radio
stations and is active in various on-air events.
What is your club doing? ■
Fall 2012
Please circulate this newsletter to
your radio club’s officers and
directors. Thanks!
Is your club equipped to
Promote itself and ham radio?
Here are some useful resources to tap
Promotion is easier when your club has a number
of materials on hand plus a knowledge of where help
can be found. Having a publicity person assigned to
the task is certainly an important step, along with a
plan for what should be communicated. Here are
some resources that you can tap:
► Brochures: www.arrl.org/shop/Forms-andMedia-Warehouse/
► Reporter handouts: www.arrl.org/reportermedia-information
► Public service announcements: www.arrl.org/
public-service-announcements; also
www.arrl.org/video-psas
► PR-101 training: www.arrl.org/pr-courses
► Presentations: http://www.arrl.org/campaign-1
► PR tips: http://www.neoham.org
► Promotional video: http://www.neoham.org
► Ham music videos: www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Uz-siTzUbDY
► Press contacts: This list of area media and
contacts should be prepared by your club and would
include newspapers, radio and TV stations, on-line
news sources, plus area law enforcement and fire
officials.
Another valuable resource is a printed description
of your radio club, its officers, and most important:
the club media contact with telephone numbers and
e-mail addressed.
Having these materials on hand before they’re
needed will make things easier. Good luck! ■
Page 2 The Ham Radio Promoter
http ://www.neoham.org
The Ham Radio Promoter
Published by the Ham Radio Promotion
Project. Copyright © 2012 by the Hamfest
Association of Cleveland and Chapter One
of the Quarter Century Wireless Association. All rights reserved. Reprinting is permitted with proper credit.
Editor: Devere “Dee” Logan, W1HEO, 9901
Cypress Circle, Mentor, OH 44060. Telephone (440) 352-8292 or via e-mail to:
[email protected]
Steering committee: David Dennis,
W8DDD, Treasurer, <w8ddd@comcast.
net>; Jack Goldfarb, W8WGO,
<[email protected]>;
D.E. “Dee” Logan, W1HEO,
<[email protected]>;
Don Ritchie, K8ZGW, Web Administrator,
<[email protected]>
Publicity help: D.E. Logan Public Relations, (440) 352-8292
Fall 2012
Promotional Panorama
News, ideas and more
Jamboree on the Air was this month
(October 20-21). Last year worldwide
participation hit about 750,000 Scouts who
operated from more than 6,000 amateur
radio stations across 150 countries.
Participants can use the event to fulfill a
radio merit badge requirement.
A fine promotional event.
Simulated Emergency Tests (SET) are
also held this month by many ARES groups.
The drill is often done with other
organization and response groups. This is
a good promotional opportunity, so consider
mentioning that yours is a disaster drill.
Ham Radio Promotion Project Clubs
Benzie Amateur Radio Friends, Beulah, MI. Contact:
K8BTE, [email protected]. ● Blossomland ARA,
St. Joseph, MI. Contact: N8KBG, [email protected].
● Cleveland Chapter One, QCWA, Contact:
W8WGO, [email protected]. ● Fond Du Lac
(WI) ARC, Contact: W9GPI, [email protected]. ●
Fulton ARC, Oswego, NY, Contact: AI2N,
[email protected] ●Gilmour Academy ARC, Gates
Mills, OH, Contact: KG8DN,[email protected].
● Gratiot County ARA, Alma, MI. Contact: NO8V,
[email protected]. ● Highlands County ARC, Avon
Park, FL. Contact: AA4ME, [email protected]. ●
Indianapolis RC, Indianapolis, IN. Contact: W9PSE,
[email protected]. ● K2ZIN, Kingston, NY ●
Lake County ARA, Painesville, OH. Contact:
KA8YHZ, [email protected]. ● Lake Erie ARA,
Beachwood, OH. Contact: WD8JMM, wd8jmm@leara.
org ● Northern Ohio ARS, Elyria, OH, Contact:
W8KYZ, [email protected]. ● Northwest ARS,
Houston, TX. Contact: KD5KR, [email protected]. ●
Overlook Mountain ARC, Hurley, NY, Contact:
[email protected] ● QCWA Blue Ridge Chapter 76,
Etowah, NC, Contact: W4DK, [email protected] ●
Rochester Amateur Radio Association, Contact:
KC2PCD, (585) 210-8910 ● Shore Point ARC, E.
Haven, CT, Contact: W1MHZ, [email protected] ●
Tallahassee ARS, Tallahassee, FL. Contact: K4SBZ,
[email protected]. ● Upper Rio FM Society,
Albuquerque, NM; Contact: Larry Goga, AE5CZ;
[email protected] ● Western Reserve Emergency
Communications Society, Chagrin Falls, OH. Contact:
N8QZ, [email protected]. ■
Social networks are the source of news for
one-third of adults under 30. These have
surpassed newspapers and equaled TV as a
primary source of daily news according to
the Pew Research Center. 19 percent of all
Americans get news from social networks
such as Facebook, Google+ or Linkedin —
good places to send your ham radio news.
Public relations resources: The Internet
has many resources that can help us. FEMA
has a public information course that’s free at
<http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/
PublicInformation.shtm>. Check out Joan
Stewart’s blog for practical PR information
“Nine ways to sneak your website address
into media stories” <http://tinyurl.com/
yourwebaddress> and “13 press release
topics when there’s nothing newsworthy”
<http://publicityhound.net/13-press-releasetopics-when-theres-nothing-newsworthy/>
Libraries and ham radio go together, as
proved by Darien, CT amateurs who used
their local public library as a special event
locale. Their station — an FT-897D and a
wire dipole — showcased radio to library
visitors with handouts and on-air fun. ■
The Ham Radio Promoter
http://www.neoham.org
Fall 2012 Page 3
Is your radio club growing? If
Not, here are some ideas
An update on the Ham Radio
Promotion Project
Insuring the future by acting now
Some changes are coming
Recruiting new members is the key, and must
be a continuing process involving all current
members. Start by doing a review of your club
activities and its meetings. Is there variety that
will appeal to many potential members? Are
your meetings interesting and fun? Are visitors
given warm welcomes? Ask around, and you
may find a need to improve some things.
Each person in your organization is a potential recruiter. They all should be equipped with
a club profile listing its member benefits and
activities and provided with membership applications. Provide incentives and recognition of
those who successfully sign up new members,
and be sure to give each “newbie” a hearty
welcome.
Involve new members in club activities. Use
a “buddy” system to get them involved. A list
of club benefits such as a directory of “helping
hams” who can provide assistance with various
aspects of hamming, e.g. antennas, public service, DX etc. can be a strong selling tool.
Review your club’s programming and activities regularly to insure that they meet members’ needs and interests. Use these surveys to
identify those areas that need to be changed.
This can help retain members and result in attracting new ones. Focus on continuing improvement.
Keep club meetings lively and fun, by keeping most of the business discussions confined
to board meetings. Consider making refreshments such as coffee and munchies a regular
feature, along with raffles or door prizes. Use a
club net to add a new dimension to meetings.
Schedule discussion topics such as antennas
with a guest “expert,” followed by a Q&A session.
Publicize meetings by sending releases to
local papers, radio/TV stations, and spread the
word via Facebook and Twitter sites etc. Use
reminder e-mails to those who are potential
members. Make this a regular activity. ■
Seven years ago a group of Cleveland hams
recognized the need to produce a video that
would help promote amateur radio. The result
was “Amateur Radio: Wireless Window to the
World,” and the formation of the Promotion
Project. Since then, hundreds of DVDs have
been provided along with copies of the “howto-promote” manual (Toolkit).
Thanks to the early support by the Hamfest
Association of Cleveland, Chapter One of the
QCWA and the Indian Hills Radio Club, we
have helped numerous radio clubs and individuals to publicize ham radio.
What’s ahead? Future issues of the Ham Radio Promoter newsletter will only be available
on our website <www.neoham.org> and no
longer mailed to clubs. The website is maintained for the benefit of the Amateur Radio
community says Don Ritchie, K8ZGW, our web
administrator.
“Keeping its contents current and accurate is
part of each club’s job,” he points out. “Without
your input the website becomes ‘stale,’ so do
your part and help me to make it one of the best
on the internet.” Please contact Don at:
<[email protected]>)
Copies of the promotional video will continue
to be available, however the mailing address
will be changed in the near future. Check the
website for the latest ordering details.
Publicity help continues to be available from
public relations consultant “Dee” Logan,
W1HEO. Contact him with your questions at
<[email protected]> or telephone him at
(440) 352-8292. There is no charge for this
service.
We appreciate the counsel and help of Jack
Goldfarb, W8WGO, of the Cleveland Chapter
One of the QCWA, whose financial support ,
along with that of the Hamfest Association of
Cleveland, helped us to establish the promotion
project. Thanks, too, to Hank Ellenbogen,
K2ZIN, of Seven21 Media Center, for his video
production services. ■
The Ham Radio Promoter
http://www.neoham.org
A Handy Handout
Copy this on color paper along with your club’s information
Fall 2012 Page 4