June 2015
Vol 13 # 6
In this issue:
WX4NHC Ready for Hurricane Season! Are you?
Bill Morine, N2COP on QSO Radio Show
Ham Radio and ARRL at the International Microwave Symposium
Take the Next Step with your Media Contact List
With the calendar flipping over to June, we are now less than one month away from Field Day. If you are the PIO for your group, you should be in full swing with your outreach efforts by now. The PSA’s should be airing on your local radio stations, the press releases sent out to your local and regional media, invitations made to local officials, events pages created on Facebook, and plans for greeting and engaging members of the general public that visit your site. All of these resources can be found in the PR kit on the ARRL Field Day site. Don’t leave all those bonus points on the table!
Memorial Day weekend saw unprecedented weather events throughout Texas. Tornadoes, heavy rain and unprecedented rainfall all combined to hit thirteen counties in Texas especially hard, causing fatalities and significant property damage. “This has probably been the most significant weather event to hit Texas,” said ARRL South Texas Section Manager Lee Cooper, W5LHC, in an ARRL news story. Thanks to all the communications volunteers who stepped in to help during this time. We look forward to the after-action reports detailing how their efforts assisted their communities.
WX4NHC Ready for Hurricane Season! Are you?
Congratulations to Julio Ripoll, WD4R, at the National Hurricane Center’s WX4NHC station for getting great coverage on CBS Miami Television at the end of May. Julio helped conduct the annual WX4NHC station test as part of Hurricane Preparedness Week and reports the National Hurricane Center is ready for the 2015 hurricane season. Let's hope all is quiet this year, but as always, "expect the worst, hope for the best."
Please take a moment and help me welcome two more ARRL PIOs and PICs into the fold!
PIOs:
John Myers, KD8MQ (Ohio)
Gene Munari, K7MGM (Nevada)
Rand E Flory, KX7PC (Wyoming)
PIC:
Normand Deragon, W1CVC (Rhode Island)
Bill Morine, N2COP on QSO Radio Show
ARRL Roanoke Division Vice Director Bill Morine, N2COP, was on Ted Randall’s QSO Radio Show on May 23. Bill discussed a variety of topics, including the state of ham radio, HR1301, and the ARRL Online Library. Thanks to Ted for the airtime!
Ham Radio and ARRL at the International Microwave Symposium
ARRL intrepid traveler and PR Committee member Ward Silver, N0AX, took his message of Amateur Radio to the 2015 International Microwave Symposium in Phoenix the week right after Dayton. IMS is an annual gathering organized by the IEEE for professional networking and presentations, tutorials and seminars. Don’t let the word “Microwave” fool you; RF engineers in all areas of the spectrum were well represented. The ARRL booth was positioned in the University Pavilion in order to promote Amateur Radio to engineering students as a professional development tool. On 
hand to provide assistance were Mike, KG1MDM, Tommy WD5AGO and Herman, DF2DR. Patrick, WD9EWK, gave a demonstration of satellite communications, which was a big hit. Thanks to all of these gentlemen for a great outreach effort.
Take the Next Step with your Media Contact List
The media contact list should be the backbone of your outreach effort. Carrie Morgan at Convince And Convert shows you how to inject some new life into the tried-and-true contact list.
Last month, I received an email from a PIO in the field, expressing dismay over not getting information about an event going on in their area from other members of their group. “How can I report our activities to the media if I’m not kept in the loop?”
Sharing information within your group, or for larger events, within the Field Organization, is an extremely critical component of PR. Without that info, there’s no story to share with the outside world. It gets even more complicated if the PIO serves a dual purpose and is also involved in handling radio traffic.
Each event or activation needs to have a PIO dedicated to gathering and reporting on the activities of the group. This needs to be conducted as the event or activation is occurring. Waiting until the event is over misses the mark on two fronts: 1) It invites the possibility of details being omitted because they aren’t written down or are forgotten, and 2) It eliminates the chance to report on your group’s activities while the media’s interest is at its highest. After-action reports are great tools for post-activation analysis, but keeping the media engaged as the event is unfolding will generate far more interest than reporting on it after the fact.
It’s natural to want to be on the air during an activation or public service event; we’re hams, and that’s where the “action” is. But it’s important to remember that telling our story, especially to elected officials at all levels, is critical to the long-term survival of our service. Help your PIO help you; issue regular updates and make sure your PIO has something to talk up. If you’re the PIO and you’re not getting the info you need to tell your group’s story, be proactive and ask for it. If this is a recurring problem, it’s time for a meeting to identify the reason for the logjam and get information flowing again.
Thanks for all you do. Good luck at Field Day!
Sean Kutzko, KX9X
ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager
