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As 2006 and the Hello campaign wraps up, I want to pause and give thanks to those PIOs who gave the time, effort and energy to use the materials so well in their regions. You proved my strategy that by providing the best materials possible, the local PIO can be the most effective asset we have in promoting Amateur Radio.
The www.hello-radio.org website will stay up and the brochure should continue to be available through the F&ES department. The Hello audios and videos are still available and are good for some time to come as we tried not to date-limit them.
Don't forget about the Hello Climax - Dec 29-30 as Voice Broadcasting celebrates its centennial!
We are posting updated information to www.hello-radio.org/event as quickly as we can. Also be sure to see the November issue of CONTACT! for information.
Thanks also goes to all the website managers who posted the Hello logo and links on their local sites. Because of you the website has been percolating along nicely since it went up in mid-April.
Summary by Month
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||||||||||||
Month |
Daily Avg |
Monthly Totals |
||||||||||
Hits |
Files |
Pages |
Visits |
Sites |
KBytes |
Visits |
Pages |
Files |
Hits |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Dec 2006 |
19438 |
15758 |
2010 |
892 |
5134 |
1954305 |
5355 |
12062 |
94552 |
116630 |
||
Nov 2006 |
16061 |
13088 |
1653 |
741 |
18587 |
8247412 |
22250 |
49604 |
392649 |
481840 |
||
Oct 2006 |
18074 |
14943 |
1804 |
837 |
20351 |
5733257 |
25972 |
55937 |
463261 |
560306 |
||
Sep 2006 |
17483 |
14420 |
1763 |
816 |
19322 |
3817592 |
24495 |
52917 |
432614 |
524515 |
||
Aug 2006 |
15724 |
12849 |
1621 |
754 |
17935 |
2923458 |
23385 |
50254 |
398321 |
487454 |
||
Jul 2006 |
14860 |
12285 |
1560 |
721 |
17445 |
2338887 |
22352 |
48380 |
380864 |
460668 |
||
Jun 2006 |
17445 |
13734 |
1750 |
741 |
36185 |
2670385 |
22236 |
52526 |
412032 |
523351 |
||
May 2006 |
16797 |
13300 |
1702 |
732 |
34898 |
2653968 |
22721 |
52791 |
412305 |
520737 |
||
Apr 2006 |
22740 |
17951 |
2223 |
945 |
33280 |
2474620 |
19862 |
46683 |
376989 |
477550 |
||
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Totals |
32813884 |
188628 |
421154 |
3363587 |
4153051 |
|||||||
By the way, did you know that there's a place to see most of the websites that were up for the past 10 years??? (They NEVER really go away!) It can be found at: http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
2007 will be the year of the EmComm promotion. There will be a new brochure, two new videos, PSA, and more. We will also be taking a serious look at linking PIOs much closer to ARES activities and their role under NIMS (National Incident Management System). We lose too many great stories and media opportunities for promoting Amateur Radio during a situation by not having the right people in the right place at the right time - but we'll work on that.
There will also be a new edition of the Swiss Army Knife for PIOs 2007. That's the CD disk with many files, tips, helps, forms and more all in one place.
| 1 | ARRL Straight Key Night |
| 6-7 | ARRL RTTY Roundup |
| 7 | Kid's Day |
| 13-14 | North American QSO Party--CW |
| 20 | ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes |
| 20 | North American QSO Party--Phone |
| 21 | ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes |
| 21 | North American QSO Party--Phone |
| 27-28 | CQ WW 160-Meter Contest |
Severe weather week - see http://www.weather.gov/os/severeweather/severewxcal.shtml for your state's dates
| 4 | North American Phone Sprint |
| 10-11 | CQ WW WPX RTTY Contest |
| 11 | North American CW Sprint |
| 12-16 | School Club Roundup |
| 17 | ARRL International DX Contest--CW |
| 18 | ARRL International DX Contest--CW |
| 24 | CQ WW 160-Meter SSB Contest |
| 24 | North American QSO Party--RTTY |
| 25 | CQ WW 160-Meter SSB Contest |
| 25 | North American QSO Party--RTTY |
Several videos about Amateur Radio have come out in the past weeks. If you have not seen them, here's a re-listing from several sources:
The tower
see also: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/03/19/2/?nc=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAOOd48j6WA
de Jan OZ1ADL
http://www.hello-radio.org/video/Movie.wmv
For DVD or even the full DV copies of this one, write to Allen at apitts@arrl.org
A list of ARRL videos can be found at
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/eed/materials/videos.html.
By Raymond "Woody" Woodward K3VSA
So that wonderful press release of yours didn't get published? The truth is, it happens all the time. There are a variety of factors which can cause your gem to not be used. Some of these factors are beyond your control, and some of them are not. Here are some of the things that you can do.
First, make sure your press releases look professional so that they will be taken seriously. Space constraints preclude an adequate treatment of this topic, but you can perform a Google search on "press release format" or "press release guide," which will provide you with much information on what a proper press release looks like.
Second, now that you've made sure the form of the press release is correct; consider the professionalism of the content as well. Make certain that the grammar and spelling are correct. If you were not an "A" student in English, however, do not despair! You'd be shocked at the number of well known professional writers who struggle with this, too. How do they cope? Well, they have editors who pore over their manuscripts and make corrections where needed. You can do this, too. Find someone in your local radio club who's an English whiz and have him or her proofread your work before you send it out. Don't feel sheepish about doing this. Many people who pride themselves on their written language abilities just love being asked to give their stamp of approval to a written document. And I need to point out that being less than perfect with the written language ought not to make you feel that you're a bad PIO. THE IMPORTANT THING IS COMING UP WITH THE IDEAS FOR THE PRESS RELEASES. That's why you were appointed in the first place!
OK, so now you have an excruciatingly correct press release. Does that guarantee publication? No, because those factors beyond your control may come into play. Keep in mind that there are only a limited number of pages in that newspaper and a limited number of minutes on the television newscast. Potential stories have priorities assigned to them. If your story is not compelling news, it could get bumped. As an example of this, I sent out a press release earlier this year on one of our local club's Field Day plans. Both our daily and weekly newspapers dispatched reporters and printed extensive articles on it, including photographs. Was this entirely a result of the polished professionalism of my press release? I'd sure like to think so, but a slow news cycle with no major disasters or other events probably had more to do with it.
Even your best work won't always make the papers, but Babe Ruth didn't hit a homer every time he came to bat, either. Keep swinging, and you'll connect sometimes! And when you don't, keep this in mind: Somebody in the media will read your press release, even if only to decide that there's no room in the paper for it this time. So there's that one person whom you've educated about Amateur Radio, and that person is in the media, and that media person is a bit more favorably disposed towards us hams now, all because of you. And that's a good thing, isn't it?
73 de Woody K3VSA
While your club or group is planning your upcoming hamfest, there's a lot to think about. Tables and rows of radio gear, all sorts of electronic gizmos and whazzats. Lots of places for hams to chatter away about antennas and propagation.... But how about the non-hams? You invited them to come in your newspaper. Well...now what will you do?
What will you have for that curious person who, never having been to a hamfest before, comes in hopes of finding out something about Amateur Radio? He or she is "on the hook." They are curious enough to come and find out something more. What will they learn about us? Who will they learn it from?
Very few hamfests have a "meet & greet table" with anything for non-hams. Often, they are all assumed to be wives - and even escorted away to go shopping. If there is anything at all, it is usually hidden in some corner and unmanned.
This is unfortunate as a lot of people looking for more info about Amateur Radio go to hamfests to see what ham radio is all about. Others might have just gotten their license, and still are unsure what to do with it.
Please consider having a "new ham / information about" table up front near the entrance. Your club PIO is a natural to help out in this regard.
Thank you all for a wonderful 2006 Hello campaign, and I hope to hear many of you on the air during the December 29-30 celebration. There's been a lot of wonderful activity in PR for Amateur Radio, (but we always need more).
Have a wonderful Christmas, Hanukah or holiday season - and then get ready for EmComm in 2007. It's going to be quite a campaign!