ARRL Headquarters Welcomes New Media and Public Relations Manager

ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP.

NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 23, 2004--Allen Pitts, W1AGP, is the newest member of the ARRL Headquarters staff. An Amateur Extra class licensee who lives in New Britain, Connecticut, Pitts came aboard September 20 as the League's new Media and Public Relations Manager, succeeding Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY, who was a member of the HQ staff for 10 years. As Pitts sees it, he's arriving at the League at a critical juncture for Amateur Radio.

"I know of no time in history that our service has been under greater threats, nor any other time in which we have so many opportunities to shine," he said. Pitts emphasizes that while he takes his public relations role most seriously, he also wants it understood that he's an active radio amateur and "not just a PR person."

Pitts comes to the ARRL after a three-year stint as executive director of The Box Project Inc--a national, member-based charity that matches volunteers with families needing help. For eight years prior to that, he directed a multi-program human services agency that, among other things, was responsible for emergency shelters, transitional living, a court alternative sanctions program, emergency food services and an AIDS respite program.

A radio amateur for five years, he's no stranger to the ARRL Field Organization, having served as an ARES District Emergency Coordinator and later as Connecticut's Section Emergency Coordinator. He's also an ARRL Assistant Section Manager.

Pitts holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina and a master's degree from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (he served congregations in Kansas and Connecticut in the 1970s and 1980s).

He and his wife, Donna, have three grown children and six grandchildren. They're currently "raising" an English mastiff named Dozer, who, Pitts says, "believes the radio room couch belongs to her."

Pitts is active on HF, VHF and UHF. Although primarily a phone operator, he says he tries to keep up at a "basic level" on CW whenever he can. He holds DXCC.

In addition to his interest in Amateur Radio, Pitts is an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism and has gained "notoriety"--as he put it--as an expert with medieval crossbows, holding top state and national rankings.

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