An expansion of these points and detailed information is found on the following pages.

I. Mission Statement

In accord with direction from President Haynie and with the input of PRC appointees and its Board Liaison, it is recommended that the Board adopt the following revised mission statement for the PRC:

The PRC is a national-level committee which reports to the ARRL Board of Directors via the Board Liaison. Members are appointed by the ARRL President for one-year terms, with options for reappointment. The PRC has two primary missions. The first is to provide guidance to the ARRL PR staff in presenting the story of amateur radio to the public at large, the press, and to the amateur community at the national level. This includes developing strategies for attracting new hams, and for recruiting and retaining ARRL members. The second is to support and encourage the development of the local Public Information Coordinators and Public Information Officers in the field by providing PR education, guidance and public relations tools to assist them in their efforts. The PRC also from time to time undertakes special projects as assigned by the ARRL Board of Directors and/or the ARRL President.

II. The "Grass Roots Initiative"

On making the appointment, President Haynie conveyed to the PRC Chair that a new objective of communicating with and within the Amateur Radio community was to be part of the PRC's mission. An evaluation of the past programs of the PRC found that efforts were primarily focused on scoring a PR coup for Amateur Radio through "the big story" such as a feature on a network news program or in print media. While this type of coverage is desired and necessary, it was determined that more needed to be done to promote Amateur Radio on a local level, for the clubs and through local media, spread across the calendar year. Some of the reasons for this change in focus include:

1. Big stories, such as Amateur Radio's role in disaster relief are almost a given; they can be achieved with a minimum of effort, often at the staff level.

2. National level news coverage is a "longshot." If and when it happens, that's fine. But the chance of success at the local level is much higher and market penetration (along with reader/viewer retention) is higher when local personalities are the focus of a story. Local media are very often "hungry" for local angles.

3. The PRC believes that SM appointed PICs are under-utilized as a resource. Several PIC positions are vacant or occupied by appointees who are ill-suited to the position.

4. Club PIOs are another under-utilized resource, often handling club newsletters and a Field Day news release. They should be getting support from their PIC when needed.

The initiative is an effort to gear up the efforts of the Field Organization to take our message to the streets. Consistent with the two-fold mission of the PRC, the objectives of the Grass Roots Initiative are to get the field operatives trained to a higher level of ability, and importantly gain confidence in their abilities to communicate with the media and the ham radio community.

Field Organization operatives must be able to establish contact with members of the media. They must also be key members of their respective clubs, communicating what's happening in Amateur Radio and quite frankly, conveying information to the membership that makes them proud to be associated with the hobby. We must build their pride and confidence.

To ultimately succeed, The Grass Roots Initiative needs to get PR skills training where it is needed most, at the club level. The PRC has started that process, with the following:

1. The creation and posting of a field-use PR manual, written and edited and continually updated by PR professionals.

2. The ongoing creation of sample news releases and PowerPoint shows for field use.

3. The establishment of news reflectors for PIOs and PICs. These have been used to good effect. While their use is sporadic, activity has been increasing of late. Some of the good coverage that came about through the Columbia event was a direct result of assistance rendered through the PR reflector.

4. The PRC and its members have conducted a string of educational and entertaining PR "How To" Forums at national and local conventions. However, many conventions are not easily accessed by members of the PRC. Toward this end, part of the enhanced funding requested for use by the PRC would be used to transport PRC members to key conventions to present PR Forums. It is a PRC objective to see a PR Forum as a part of every ARRL convention. Toward that end, the PRC has developed the thematic, "Every Ham is a PIO" that seeks to instill the importance of telling the story of Ham Radio through every member.

5. The PRC has been adept at responding to changes in media outreach. A few short years ago, the internet, PowerPoint presentations and digital photography were unknown. All have been quickly adopted into the PRC's "toolbox." We are now in the process of helping field operatives put those tools to use in support of their efforts.

6. The PRC believes it is important to include a PR orientation component at SM and Director training sessions. Otherwise, we may be overlooking an important building block.

Every Ham is a PIO

As referenced above, the PRC is seeking to develop this thematic with and through the PR Forums held at conventions and further into the grass roots levels through "drop ins" in ham magazines, and hopefully in club newsletters. The statement can be paid off with a reference to the ARRL's PIO web pages, where various "factoids" reflecting positive statements about ham radio will be available readers and newsletter editors.

III. Related Non-PRC Projects

There is a synergy to be achieved by dovetailing the efforts of various groups within the ARRL.

The Amateur Radio Today video with Walter Cronkite was not a PRC project but it has been and will continue to be an important tool used by the League's PR operatives. President Haynie and the Board are to be congratulated for the success of this project, which is useful at the club level but also lends itself well to presentations before service clubs, local government and other volunteer organizations.

The Big Project is another initiative that dovetails nicely with field PR efforts. The PRC is pleased to see an expansion of PR awareness across the board. Toward that end, the PRC has posted a PowerPoint presentation on the ARRL website that shows clubs how to engage in radio-related activities that can also generate positive PR for Amateur Radio in the mainstream community.

IV. Field Day is Not Enough!

Most Field Day teams already take advantage of gaining 100 points for publicity highlighting their Field Day efforts. This has been so successful, that local media are inundated with FD news releases each June but see little else from hams the rest of the year. The PRC has submitted a proposal to MSC for the adoption of a change to the Field Day rules with the objective of generating more publicity through the calendar year. Using the phrase "Field Day is Not Enough," the objective is to award Field Day points that can be accumulated for FD credit on public relations efforts that are conducted during months other than June. The specific proposal is attached to the Appendix of this report.

V. PRC Interaction and Operation

The PRC is comprised of an interesting cross-section of professionals with impressive accomplishments at the national and grass roots levels. The committee communicates via a PRC reflector, individual e-mails, point-to-point phone calls, through monthly conference calls and in-person, usually at the Dayton Hamvention (with travel and lodging at their own expense).

The present PRC budget is $500, which does not cover the cost of the monthly conference calls that the chair initiated this year. A more realistic PRC budget would include a sufficient allocation for the conference calls, the ability to buy breakfast for those who spend their own money to attend the PRC meeting at Dayton and allow for a PRC member to attend local regional conventions to present PR Forums as appropriate.

As mentioned in the Action Items page of this report, the PRC is requesting $7,500 from the Board for its efforts. When compared to the cost of an outside PR Firm (Usually a $5,000 to $10,000 monthly retainer) or another full-time PR professional on staff ($35k to $60k plus benefits), the PRC's request is modest and appropriate with a significant ROI, particularly when one considers the dollar value of the media generated through the year. Purchasing that media space would be out of the question, with a value in the millions.

Members of the PRC include:

Sherri Brower W4STB	Vero Beach, FL	Former McGan Award Recipient
David Greer N4KZ	Frankfort, KY	Print and Broadcast Media Editor
Diane Ortiz K2DO	Bellport, NY	Newsday employee, McGan winner
Gary Johnston KI4LA	Edgewood, KY	Former, Board Member & Liaison
Rich Moseson W2VU	Bloomfield, NJ	Editor of CQ, former ARRL SM
Jim McDonald KB9LEI	Muncie, IN	Indiana PIC
Gary Pearce KN4AQ	Cary, NC	Former McGan Award Recipient
Bob Josuweit WA3PZO	Philadelphia, PA	PIC Eastern PA, Columnist, McGan winner
David Woolweaver K5RAV	Harlington, TX	Board Liaison
Jeff Reinhardt AA6JR	Agoura Hills, CA	Chair, Marketing/PR Professional

In addition to their collective efforts of committee meetings, presentations and interaction with field operatives and ARRL staff, each PRC member has taken on an "individual" project for the committee with the objectives of creating a positive impact, serving as a "sample" for the field organization of what is possible through individual effort and to advance the position of Amateur Radio.

Among the projects in progress are efforts to place feature stories in mainstream media (hopefully an airline magazine is among them), the creation of a speaker's resource bureau, new PowerPoint presentations for field use and available for download from the ARRL web site, outreach to club newsletter editors, and a "how to" write contact letters for the news media.

Incidentally, the growing list of PowerPoint presentations is available for ALL field contacts to use, including Board members and SMs.

Committee members are encouraged to interact with one another and also with ARRL staff liaison Jennifer Hagy.

In addition, the chair communicates with the Board Liaison David Woolweaver, and when appropriate, with President Haynie.

VI. Awards

The PRC is requesting the Board present a unique Lifetime Achievement Award to Dave Bell W6AQ. Dave's resume of Public Relations efforts on behalf of Amateur Radio would likely double the size of this report. The Amateur Radio Today video is yet another high point in his resume, but there are many, many more. He is a former chair of the PRC, has authored articles in the ham and mainstream media, used his visual arts production skills to advance the cause and has spoken at scores of club meetings and conventions.

Respectfully Submitted,
Jeff Reinhardt AA6JR

Appendix

Field Day Bonus Points

Proposed Field Day Rule Addition (for consideration by MSC)

For BOD information only, no action requested or required.

Bonus Points will be awarded for Amateur Radio publicity in months other than June. Ten Field Day bonus points will be awarded, per month, for verifiable print or electronic publicity, or for public exhibits or presentations to civic groups (Rotary, Veterans, etc.), provided documentation is submitted for verification with the Field Day entry package. Further, 10 additional points will be awarded to any club or organization that achieves publicity exposure in nine of the 11 months. NO points will be granted for club newsletters, common meeting notifications, or ham related web-sites.