AF6AY wrote:

Trying to talk up amateur radio to the general public
requires being AWARE of what the general public knows, NOT
what amateurs or membership organizations want. It isn't
publicity to promote ham radio to the general public if all
that is done is amateurs high-fiving one another on a "job
well done." It isn't "well done" to the public if they
reamin insular. Despite being an ARRL member, I cannot
(in truth) say that the ARRL has gotten out to the public.
If anything, NASA has done that much more on requesting
astronauts to get Technician class licenses to talk to
various public school groups from space. That's a NASA
PR ploy to keep the public aware of NASA activities...
and future NASA budgeting to keep the space biz going.

Yup, NASA has gotten a lot more mileage out of the project than the ARS
has.




Walter Cronkhite as a narrator of an amateur radio video
about amateur radio is fine. But, it can't just be
shown to amateur radio clubs. It has to get OUT to the
public. At least sell the idea of showing the video as
a public service, something the stations are required to
do. So what if the showing is in the wee small hours of
the morning? SOME showing is better than NONE.

Another suggestion. most Cable systems have public service channels.
Amateur radio advocates should be able to tap into that.

There is one caveat, and I go into this with a bit of sensitivity here.
In my non-Ham life, I often put together productions that serve as
advertisements. The old adage of putting your best foot forward is
mandatory if you are going to get a message across. We often do not do that.

You don't need - or even want - the smartest Ham on the block. What you
need is an adept communicator. This erudite communicator needs to be
"prettied up" for the prospective audience. Wearing a "Hooters" T-shirt
ain't gonna cut it. I would probably wear a suit and tie (note not a
white shirt and skinny black tie). Maybe lose the jacket after a few
minutes. In similar form, we're trying to attract teenagers, we probably
don't want a kid with a tattoo on his forehead and a safety pin in his lip.

Why don't we want that local uberHam? In many (most?) cases they are
not very good communicators.(note the difference between communicating
and communicator) They are too close to the subject. If we're trying to
demonstrate HF comms for the unfamiliar, they don't need a lecture on
the third intercept point of whatever transceiver. Sometimes they want
to show how smart they are more than try to attract people.. Wanna scare
a prospective Ham away? Make them feel like they can do anything if they
aren't an engineer.

Focus the message, use a good communicator, and look approachable.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -