I'd postulate that anyone that has any interest will pretty quickly
find out about us. have internet access, you'll find us. Read a
newspaper, and there are several articles a year about the ARS.

Several articles a year out of how many thousand?

Would love to see a thousand per year or more! This would be more on the
shoulders of local groups, clubs and individuals to coordinate with local
media to make this happen. A person in every club, with the responsibility
of being the PR person would be a good goal. This person would be
responsible for contacting media outlets for every event, including open
meetings etc. I did the PR function for our local club for 2 years, and
even trained a neighboring club PR person with the techniques I had
utilized. I had created a quite a tracking system to keep track of media
contacts, upcoming events, and results thereof. I should write something up
on this to share with others eh?



Folks hafta know where to look.

Any time a ham radio related event is in print media, a website address
should be included in some way or another if the media outlet will do so.


Remember the movie "Contact"? Great opening scenes. But nowhere do they
mention
that what's going on is amateur radio!


I think actually there is some reference, but it is merely in a passing
reference. I would have to watch it again to make sure though. It's been a
while since I have seen that movie.....



I'd also bet that there really aren't that many people who are really
that interested in radio. That's okay. I don't pick my hobbies on their
popularity. I pick them because I like to do them.

Radio "for its own sake" has always been a niche avocation. I went to a
highschool (class of 1972) that had 2400 boys and a heavy academic
emphasis on
math and science. In my senior year there were exactly six licensed hams
there.
Of those six, three remained active long after high school. Now we are
two,
with the untimely passing of WA3RVT some years ago.


Hey.... I don't know what it is like around where you are at, but
unfortunately around here, electronics are no longer being taught as an
elective class choice. In fact alot of the "vocational" classes that one
could take as an elective in high school around here are being cut out. But
of course the sports and art classes are still supported.....



More publicity can't hurt. But amateur radio isn't a spectator sport - for
most, anyway.


Oh really..... then that statement in the past about 20% do most of the work
in groups and associations is wrong then??



--
Ryan, KC8PMX

"Symbolism is for the simple minded....."











--

There was a great article some years back which I will now paraphrase.

The author whose name escapes me now said that there were three basic
kinds of
hams - operators, communicators, and tinkerers. Or words to that effect.

Operators simply like to get on the air and make contacts. It's the medium
more
than the message, the skill as much as the results.

Communicators are there for the message. Radio is the tool to get the job
done,
that's all.

Tinkerers are into the technology of radio, the projects, etc.

Of course most hams a a mixture of all three, but you can see that the mix
varies widely in different individuals.

It's also clear that as things change, the attractions of these three
reasons
wax and wane.

Once upon a time, amateur radio attracted lots of communicator types
because
there were so few alternatives within reach of the average person. I
recall
reading of hams who got their licenses simply to keep in touch with family
members across the country or around the world. With the advent of
cellphones,
email and cheap longdistance, much of that is gone.

Tinkerers are still with us, but it's a different game now. In the past,
most
hams had to do some pretty serious tinkering just to get on the air - even
with
manufactured equipment. While that sort of thing is still around, it's not
so
prevalent as before.

Operator types are most numerous today, for obvious reasons.

The situation is analagous to cars - there are those for whom driving is a
joy
in itself, those for whom driving is a means to an end (transportation),
and
those who like to mess around with motor vehicles.

73 de Jim, N2EY