This morning, I got a e-mail from a ham who says:
At our meeting last week, we decided to investigate an attempt to do something similar to your one-day licensing class. Being a bunch of careful planners, we have come to the conclusion that, rather than jumping right in, we should try to drum up some local interest in amateur radio by educating the public. Beyond the idea of an article or two in the local newspaper, we have no further ideas.
I replied:
- Why wait? Even if you only get one or two people to sign up for the class, it will be worth the effort, and having only a few people in the class will help you work the bugs out.
- Give a talk on amateur radio to as many community groups as you can find including public library, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, middle schools, high schools, senior groups, government emergency management folks, Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, university groups (engineering school?), Chamber of Commerce, etc.
- Set up a special event station at the local mall, library, state park, science museum, etc. Work that station all day. Pass out flyers. When you do this, set up a code oscillator and key and teach people how to send their names in Morse Code. Kids, especially, love this.
- If no one in your club is an ARRL Public Information Officer (http://www.arrl.org/public-information-officer), twist a few arms until someone “volunteers.” Being a registered PIO has several advantages, including being able to get ARRL brochures for just the cost of shipping.
Well, that’s all I could think of off the top of my head. Please help us out here and tell us what’s worked for your club. Thanks!
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