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Note - As I write this, Katrina efforts are slowly winding down and Rita is about 24 hours away from the coast.
Please accept my apologies for the lateness of this September edition and the probability that October will be late also. I had a "hot date" with two lovely ladies named Katrina and Rita. If you are unfamiliar with them, first, be very thankful and, second, please come out from under your rock!
As our world becomes more and more dependent on technologies, the impact of losing those technological supports becomes ever more devastating. While there have been bigger hurricanes, there never have been such problems as these two "ladies" brought to people.
But in sharp contrast to the endless litanies of what failed us stands the beacon of ham radio. "It works when other systems don't." If you missed this message, it was in the Washington Post, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor and hundreds of other newspapers. It was brought up on TV screens by local stations, MSNBC, Fox, and the others. (At this time it seems to be all but CNN.)
A quick Google news search for "Ham radio" or "Amateur Radio" and "hurricane" results in over 600 hits in the past weeks. Even if you delete the ARRL's own news stories and eHam, you still have an incredible media response to our story of service. One of the most pleasant problems I faced in the past weeks was a complaint from our news clipping service, Burrells-Luce. They were being swamped with too many clippings about us. I chuckled, told them to just put them all in big boxes and send them to me anyway.
So who made all this PR happen? YOU did. The biggest PR blitz anyone can remember was caused by the active PICs and PIOs around the country who took the time and effort to contact their local media and simply tell them what we were doing. Thank you!!!
I also got a few calls complaining, "I don't see anything in our news here! Why are you not doing you job?" (sigh) I simply ask if they have called those papers or stations and shared our story with them. Not one did. We need to remember that "EVERY ham is a PIO." The future of our Amateur Radio Service lies in our willingness to actually take the time to contact the media around our home areas. It is through media exposure that we create public perceptions and gain support. Without that support, we have no one but ourselves to blame for the antenna bans, BPL and other threats. Wringing our hands and crying in the wilderness of endless email blogs will not achieve anything. We need people to contact the media in every location. "All news is local," and if your area does not have an active PIO or your section have a PIC, you need to ask "why not?"
In the wake of the unprecedented devastation by Hurricane Katrina, hams around the country are being asked, "Can we do it again?" Like thousands of hams across the country, I was eves-dropping on the national nets following the Katrina disaster. Because I had gone to Montgomery, Alabama to coordinate some things, I was listening intently for people I had met who were going into the areas so horribly devastated by the storm. That's when Bear interrupted me.
The last time "Bear" talked was a year ago
when his simple head full of fluff thought up the first Toy Drive. Hams around
the country joined together for children left homeless by a series of four
hurricanes in Florida. That effort, in late 2004, succeeded better than
anyone's wildest dreams. But now Bear wanted to do it again. A second Toy Drive! Could we?
A phone call with the Public Relations Committee said yes. An email from Dave Sumner who was attending a conference in Europe said yes. Another phone call with singer Patty Loveless' manager not only said yes, but also offered help. Not only can it be done, it really must be done. It is simply the right thing to do.
We are asking hams from all over the country to begin gathering new toys for shipment to Memphis, Tennessee. ARRL Vice-Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q, secured a receiving warehouse and volunteers there. The toys should be sent to this address where they will be sorted and stocked by volunteers. Early in December we will divide the toys between the various agencies and states that need help the most at that point in time. We are making these arrangements so that we can maximize the areas receiving aid while maintaining the unique identity that this is the Amateur Radio Community's response.
Just as we did last year, we are asking the donors to please put a QSL card into the box with the toy.
Many clubs are already gathering toys together. Please check with your local club and see if they are planning a mass shipment. If not, perhaps you can help organize one for your area.
"Last year, hams from all over the country brought smiles to children during the holidays. We made a lot of friends, and we did a lot of good. No one expected that we would need to do it again, but Katrina's destruction has changed the plans of a lot of people. I hope you will help in this effort to bring a smile to children hurt by this disaster." - Pres. Jim Haynie.
Unwrapped new toys for boys and girls of ages 1 to 14 should be gathered and shipped by amateur radio operators to the Memphis, TN facility between now and Thanksgiving for distribution over the holidays. Non-hams are also encouraged to join in this effort to provide for the thousands of children suddenly homeless due to Hurricane Katrina.
Please send new toys for children ages 1 to 14 to:
ARRL -- Toy Drive
1775 Moriah Woods Blvd. -- Suite 12
Memphis, TN 38117
Monetary donations would also be very helpful in covering the expenses of this operation and purchasing toys for age groups often overlooked.
Those wishing to donate money instead of toys can send a check to:
ARRL
-Toy Drive
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111
KATRINA AUDIO PSA AVAILABLE
A 30 second audio PSA is available to highlight that ham radio once again was on the air passing emergency communications when other systems failed. These "mini-commercials" for ham radio are already being played on dozens of stations across the country and the numbers keep growing. You can help by downloading the PSA's from right here onto a CD and taking it to your own local radio station.
Audio Files
CLICK HERE to listen to the 30 second clip
(To DOWNLOAD...right-click once on the above link and choose "save target".)
The 30 second PSA was made possible thanks to Johnny Donovan at WABC-AM and Howard Price, KA2QPJ, of WABC-TV in New York who is Acting President of the Broadcast Employees Amateur Radio Society, a member of the ham organization at WABC Radio & TV in New York and also the BEARS. The voice on the 30 second PSA is that of Johnny Donovan, a WABC Radio legend. Folks all over America will recognize the voice from commercial radio.
New VIDEO PSA
Video takes a bit more than audio, but Richard Lubash, N1VXW, is working to put pictures to the new audio PSA as quickly as possible. Rich was in the Gulf region taking pictures and it should be out soon. Keep an eye out for it listed on
http://www.arrl.org/pio
HAM RESPONSE DOCUMENTARY COMING!
While "Amateur Radio Today" is a wonderful video, it has a flaw in that it cannot be used on a cable or broadcast station. This has limited its use for PIOs.
Richard Lubash, N1VXW, is also working on turning the interviews and videotapes he made from the Gulf area into a documentary telling the story of ham radio's response following Katrina in a way that CAN be shown on TV and cable systems across the country. When released, we expect to have it duplicated for PIOs to place in every possible venue we can find for exhibition.
Speaker ideas from Patricia Fripp
Patricia Fripp coaches executive level public speakers. You can read many of her ideas in "A Speaker for All Reasons." PFripp@Fripp.com Here is a list of some of her ideas...
Old Time CW
Chip Margelli, k7JA, has heard from Bob Wilson, N6TV, that they have had over 181,000 downloads of the Leno video clip. And there are several other sites, like KU3O and KA9FOX, just to name two, who report similar volume, so I think it is safe to say that there have easily been over a half million downloads of this clip. Putting aside the rather egregious violations of NBC's intellectual property, it surely seems that this little episode energized the Ham Radio community for quite a while! Ken and Chip are still getting e-mails, to this day!