July 2014
Vol 12 # 5
In this issue:
First Hurricane of the Season?
How to Make Better Powerpoint Presentations
2014 Field Day is now in the books. While conditions left a lot to be desired, there were a lot of good media hits reported in from all across the US and Canada. You can see the ones we’ve collected on our Media Hits page. One pet peeve I have: many media sources are still referring to us as the Amateur Radio Relay League. In your PR efforts, please make sure that the folks in the media you talk to get our name right.
Did you submit your Field Day story to the ARRL Soapbox page? People love reading about how every does Field Day; it’s one of our most popular pages on our website. Be sure to tell your group’s story and upload good, hi-resolution photos to the Soapbox page. Maybe we’ll use a photo of yours in QST!
First Hurricane of the Season?
As I’m writing this on the afternoon of July 2, Tropical Storm Andrew is working its way north up the Florida coastline. The National Hurricane Center has predicted it will develop into a Class I hurricane within 48 hours and expected to reach land along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The Hurricane Watch Net will be activating at 1600 UTC Thursday, July 3 on 14.325 MHz and the National Hurricane Center's station WX4NHC will be active as well.
I know I’ve hammered this point home over the last few months, but if you haven’t already reviewed or developed your communications strategy with your section’s Public Information Coordinator, now is the time. Do you have the media contacts in place? Is your social media presence up to snuff? Have you gone over your talking points and media kits? Arthur’s presence has made it ever so clear: it is now time to play ball, folks. Be ready.
One of my favorite things to do is welcome new ARRL Public Information Officers into our ranks. Congratulations to the following gents for stepping up and being of service:
Connecticut: Martin Diamond, KA1WBN
Indiana: John Walker, K9SVL
How to Make Better Powerpoint Presentations
Powerpoint presentations have become the standard way to disseminate information during a public speaking engagement. However, too many presentations are so jam-packed with information, or the information is presented poorly, that audience members can quickly lose interest. Kasia Mikoluk offers some practical advice on how to create better PowerPoint presentations that will keep your audience engaged.
ARRL’s Ward Silver, NØAX, posted this interesting blog at electronicdesign.com from Louis Frenzel, W5LEF, about the Maker movement and how similar they are to ham radio operators. These are our people. If you want to help recruit more folks into Amateur Radio, reach out to the Makers in your community and — this is important — listen to what they currently like and find something they enjoy to transition them in to Amateur Radio. You just might find something they’re working with interests YOU.
It’s hard to believe July is here. The Centennial year has produced a flurry of activity, both on the air and off. The last few weeks, I’ve been fortunate to meet several PIOs at Dayton and at Sea-Pac Convention in Seaside, Oregon and shared thoughts and ideas with you. ARRL PR Committee Chair Kevin O’Dell, NØIRW, was at Ham-Com in Plano, TX. It seems that we’ve all been doing a lot of travelling and prep work this season.
The Centennial Convention is now less than three weeks away. If you plan on attending, be sure to stop by the ARRL PR box on the main expo floor and say hello. Several presentations on PR topics will be at the Convention, including one by “Last Man Standing” producer John Amodeo, NN6JA. We’ll be recording members on audio and video at the PR Booth.
While the Centennial convention is the big event of ARRL’s 100th year, we’ll still have plenty of work to do after the third weekend in July. Two more ARRL Regional Centennial Conventions — Huntsville and Pacificon — are still on the calendar. Hurricane season just started. The W1AW/x portable operations and Centennial QSO Party are in full swing until 2359 UTC December 31. There’s a lot of work left to be done in 2014.
To all of you who have contributed to ARRL’s outreach efforts, thank you. It’s been an exceptional year with an exceptional workload. While we’re really only halfway through our centennial year, I feel it’s important to extend appreciation for what we have all accomplished so far in 2014. I certainly hope it will be remembered for some time to come.
Until next month,
Sean Kutzko KX9X
Media & Publci Relations Manager
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