IN THIS EDITION:

• Now is the time!
• Sample Release
• Nominations for Bill Leonard Award
• Plan Your Answers
• Have FUN
• Web Sites of the Month

NOW IS THE TIME!

Amateur Radio awareness has rarely been higher than it is right NOW, and the opportunity for great PR is here! The seemingly endless parade of hurricanes across Florida and the Gulf Coast has caused not only incredible ARES activity, but also a desire by media to get more information about Amateur Radio and the emergency communications we provide. The doors are open to us. We just need to respond with good copy.

Once again "ham radio" came through when other systems were overwhelmed or just failed. But unlike previous disasters, this one just kept coming and coming for weeks.

Go beyond just your local papers:

Offering to meet and discuss ham radio with television and cable outlets is one way to increase your audience of NON-hams. They are especially interested if you can take them on a tour of an EOC or other emergency facility.

Think about area housing or condominium associations. The same people who were hunting ham antennas as eyesores are now looking at them as a place to get help in a crisis.

Do you have a speakers' bureau? Service and fraternal groups are interested in what we're doing as never before.

The point is that we have the interest of the country at this time. We have their curiosity. We have a great opportunity in which we are being welcomed, even being asked, for information by NON-hams. They've seen what happened in Florida and the islands. It's our job to give them the information behind it.

SAMPLE RELEASE

For more information, contact: (fill in your info)

TOWN, State, date of release -- While most residents were boarding up their homes, Amateur Radio operators throughout Florida and the Gulf Coast were putting up antennas as hurricane after hurricane devastated the area. Bonnie, Francis, Ivan and Jeanne's seemingly endless parade hammered communications systems and left many areas in shambles.

Entire sections of the state and US Gulf Coast looked to Amateur Radio for emergency communications. Once again, hundreds of Amateur Radio operators provided critical aid when other means of communication were damaged or overloaded. In some areas, Amateur Radio was the ONLY means of communication after the storm passed.

In addition to manning Emergency Operations Centers, ARES teams along the Gulf have been providing communication support for the Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief organization. ARES already is assisting with damage assessment activity, for the first time using Global Positioning System units and computerized mapping as an aid.

Even condominium associations who once looked at ham antennas as an eye-sore are now seeking people with these same antennas as a source of news and help.

Amateur Radio volunteers throughout the United States receive special training in emergency communication measures. ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, was among several dozen nonprofit organizations designated to receive federal money to boost homeland defense and emergency volunteer programs.

"Ham radio will certainly be part of the fabric of homeland defense and Amateur Radio operators have always been of the mindset that they want to do something for their country," says ARRL president Jim Haynie. President Haynie later had occasion to show this was more than just talk when he himself went out into the storm to aid in replacing an antenna that had blown down.

In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, certified volunteers work with community organizations to relay vital information in a structured and accurate manner. They are skilled at composing and relaying messages by voice and through computer based Amateur Radio communications modes. Trained volunteers join local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) networks and support emergency activities ranging from equipment logistics, victim location and identification, emergency shelter, food and water information, medical equipment and material distribution, and, sometimes, life-and-death communication.

For decades, Amateur Radio operators have been there during emergencies. Today, there are nearly 700,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide. Information on how to become involved in Amateur Radio is available from the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 or by calling 1-800-32-NEW HAM. The URL for ARRL's home page is www.arrl.org.

NOMINATE A LOCAL REPORTER FOR THE LEONARD AWARD

If you've seen a particularly good article on ham radio in print, on television, or heard one on the radio, you might want to nominate the reporter for the 2004 Bill Leonard, W2SKE, Professional Media Award. The deadline for nominations is December 3, 2004. Nominated work must have appeared between December 3, 2003 and December 3, 2004.

The annual award honors a professional journalist whose outstanding coverage in TV, radio, print or multimedia best reflects the enjoyment, importance and public service value of Amateur Radio. The award was created as a tribute to the late CBS News President Bill Leonard, W2SKE. He was an avid Amateur Radio operator, and most active on the air during the 1960s and 1970s.

Nominations are judged by members of the League's PR Committee, and the final decision is made during the ARRL Board meeting in January. The winner receives an engraved plaque and a cash award of $500. Please note that some news organizations prohibit journalists from entering contests that offer monetary awards. Checking with your potential nominee ahead of time is a good idea.

Rules for Entry

1. The award is called the Bill Leonard, W2SKE, Professional Media Award.

2. The recipient must be a professional journalist in print, electronic media or multimedia. The term "professional" refers to full time, part time, stringers, freelancers and contract journalists. In the case of a group project, the recipient may be the group, but only one prize will be awarded.

3. The recipient will receive the award based on a print story, photo essay, audio or video (including broadcast) or multimedia in the English language that covers the topic of Amateur Radio. The scope of the work nominated may be a single story or series. The work must have appeared between December 3, 2003 and December 3, 2004 in a commercially-published book, recognized general-circulation (non-trade) daily or weekly newspaper, general or special interest magazine (except publications predominantly about Amateur Radio), commercial or public radio or television broadcast (including services delivered via cable), Internet World Wide Web site operated by a generally-recognized journalistic organization (e.g. newspaper, magazine, broadcast station or network), or multimedia format (e.g. CD-ROM), intended for and readily accessible to the general public within the United States

4. "Amateur Radio" means the activities of licensees, clubs and other organized groups

   participating in the activity of licensed Amateur Radio or "ham radio," as governed by Part 97 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

5. The story must be truthful, clear and accurate, reflecting high journalistic standards. The award will be granted to the work deemed the best reflection of the enjoyment, importance and public service value of Amateur Radio. Submission may be by the/author of the work, or on his or her behalf by another individual who believes the work merits the award.

6. The winner will be selected by the Public Relations Committee of the American Radio Relay League. The award will be approved by the ARRL Board of Directors at its January meeting. Individuals on the committee who may be related to or have a professional relationship with any applicant will excuse themselves from the deliberations.

7. Only one submission per entrant will be accepted. A group award will count as a single entry. Submit completed application plus appropriate work sample:
   • Print article: Submit original tear sheets plus one photocopy on 8Vz x 11 bond. If there are multiple pages, write author's name on the back of each sheet.

   • Radio: Submit one copy of script on 8'/2 x 11 paper plus one standard audio cassette.

   • Television: Submit one copy of script on 8V2 x 11 paper plus one VHS Vz" cassette.

   • Multimedia: Submit photocopy of each screen or web page and/or CD ROM or 3 ^lh" diskette(s) as appropriate.

8. The ARRL reserves the right to withhold the award for any reason, to grant duplicate awards, or to disqualify any entry. All decisions are final. The award winner will receive a plaque and a check for $500. A winning group entry will receive a single plaque and check.

9. Submit entries to: ARRL PR Committee, c/o Manager of Media Relations, American Radio Relay League, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.

10. Entries may be submitted at any time up to a postmark deadline of December 3, 2004.

For more information about the award, or to obtain a nomination form and the official rules for entry, contact ARRL's Media Relations Department, newsmedia@arrl.org, 860-594-0328.

PLAN YOUR ANSWERS

The League's public relations reflector is a great source of helpful advice on nearly every aspect of Amateur Radio PR. Planning ahead on what is the story, what are your main talking points and what you want to accomplish in an interview or release is important. But you can also plan on two questions to be lurking in the background:

1. What is the excitement of ham radio today in the age of the internet?

My answer to this is always personal. In my travels I am constantly shocked at just how BIG the country really is. I can often become parochial in my thinking about the world, but an airline trip quickly changes my perspective again. It's BIG out there! Then I look at my radio and my antennas - systems that I built up myself - and wonder at the magic of how that little piece of aluminum tubing or wire allows me to talk across such continents. I myself made this, and it conquers the bigness to make friends I will never meet. Nothing on the internet can beat that magic. Personal answers get noticed.

2. What can you do with it?

Remember that our main objective is the NON-ham. Their picture of Amateur Radio is probably limited to CW or phone operations. Mention digital, SSTV or other modes and you will probably get follow-up questions. While not getting off your main points, it's a good idea to expand the perceptions of our audience. We do a LOT of things!

HAVE FUN!

The backbone of ARRL Public Relations is a grassroots effort centered in our PIC's and PIO's - that's YOU. No matter if you are a media professional or just a person who volunteered to help out, we're all volunteers here and the excitement of seeing your work on television, on the radio or in print keeps us all going. Knowing that we are doing it for a great activity makes it even more delicious. Be sure to have fun.

If an interview or article gets screwed up, that can happen. It's OK, we learn from these errors and at least we tried. But if we fail to have fun in our work, then we will lose everything in a volunteer enterprise. So have some fun. The opportunities have never been better for us to promote Amateur Radio.

WEBSITES OF THE MONTH

Click here for a list of public relations links from the Best of PR