July 1998 South Texas PIO Report

Sorry for the delay in this month's report and missing last month.  I'll try
to ensure it does not happen again.

                             Media Hits

Summerfest publicity yielded a couple of minor hits in the form of event
announcements in the Austin Chronicle (weekly paper) and the Austin High
Tech Calendar (web page).  No word yet on other possible hits.

                             Media Traffic

John Weber reports:

   I am trying to get one of the local tv stations to use ham radio as a set of
   "eyes in the sky" for severe weather.  They will have their own t-shirts and
   amateur radio will be mentioned whenever their information would be used.  I
   will keep you posted as things progress.

Thanks John!

Roger Wines reports that he continues to work on getting a weekly cable TV
program on Amateur Radio on the air.

                              Training

Martha Underwood (N2VRF) hosted the Summerfest PIO session, which was a great
success.  We had planned/hoped for about 20 attendees.  At the highwater mark
we had 22 stuffed into the room and more than that attended for at least part
of the presentation.

Martha provided everyone with some great pointers on how to become more
effective in getting the media to listen to our pitches and cover Amateur Radio
events.

Three current members of STX's PIO team were in attendance including Martha,
David Nowak (KI5JI), Roger Wines (W5WIA) and myself.  The meeting was a great
opportunity to get together and compare a few notes.  Would any of you be
interested in making this a yearly event, even if only an informal basis?

                              Recruitment

We have one new PIO joining our ranks.  Ken Neal (K5KEN) has just joined us
and will be working the Kerrville area.  Welcome Ken!

                            Upcoming Events

Oct ??    Simulated Emergency Test (More on this next month)

Someone at the PIO forum mentioned an effort in Houston to demo Amateur Radio
during a National Night Out gathering.  National Night Out is an effort to get
people out of their homes to meet their neighbors and help foster closer 
community ties.  A group in Houston will use the opportunity to demonstrate
Amateur Radio and show how Amateurs benefit the community.  This is something
we should all think about doing during future events.

Please send me your comments and suggestions!

73,

Robert Barron, KA5WSS