April 1998 South Texas PIO Report


                             Media Traffic

Fred Mann (N5IVZ) of McAllen reports that he has taken a video public
service announcement (PSA) from the ARRL and gotten it played over the
McAllen cable network.  The cable system reaches an estimated 60% of the
homes in the area of 100,000 people.  He is also working on a dub to send
to local network affiliates.  Great work!

For those of you who do not know, the ARRL has available a number of PSA's
in common broadcasting formats available for free!  Send me email for more
information.

Martha Underwood (N2VRF) reports that she has assembled a committee of 5
people to help organize the public relations effort of the Williamson
County ARC Field Day operation.  Now is certainly the time for all STX PIO's
to jump start their Field Day PR efforts.  This event is one of the biggest
of the year for Amateur Radio so please give it your best shot.

                              Training

Martha Underwood (N2VRF) has expressed a willingness to hold a session during
Austin's Summerfest on Amateur Radio public relations, including some real-
world information on the Jarrell tornado.  Here's a great opportunity to learn
some important PIO tips from perhaps the most active PR Amateur in the section.
If you would like to attend please let me know so that we can plan ahead.

                              Recruitment

We've been joined by yet another new PIO in South Texas this month.  James
Hall (KC5OFV) from the Corpus Christi area is the newest member of the team.
He already reports that he has been feeding the local Radio Shack stores with
information on Amateur Radio in Corpus Christi.  Welcome James!

                            Upcoming Events

May ??    Fumore Middle School SAREX Contact (Austin)
Jun 27-28 Field Day
Jul 31    Summerfest (Austin) - See training section above.
Oct ??    Simulated Emergency Test

Fulmore Middle School's Amateur Radio Club is apparently on the list of schools
that will be allowed to make a contact with the MIR space station's Amateurs.
Details are still being worked out and an exact schedule has not been set up
at this time.  If you are in the Austin area and want to help promote this
event please let me know.

Please let me know what you intend to do to cover these or any other events!
Samples press releases are available on the STX PIO web page.

Please send me your comments and suggestions!

73,

Robert Barron, KA5WSS