AmateurRadio.com

The Edmonton Amateur Radio Society is sponsoring a “Try Amateur Radio Day”  tomorrow at the local high school. When I saw this online, I thought, “That’s a pretty great way to get the hobby in the public view.” Just setup, do some operating and invite people to stop on by and have a look or even get on the air.

Photo Courtesy of Tryon ARC/K2JJI

Now I have helped with something like this with the Tryon Club I was a member of back in my home town. We have what’s called “Railfest” which is just a little fair near city hall and organizations from the area come to setup and meet the public, as well as having food and games and such. It’s a lot of fun. But something I noticed was that my fellow club members never went beyond saying ‘Hi’ to people that stopped by. They didn’t engage them in a conversation. It was like they were shy.

So I took the initiative and started talking to folks. That what I do for a living. I talk and engage listeners and people. Kids, passersby and such. It made for some nice conversations and getting the word out, that there is a club in town. Plus we had the usual pamphlets and PR material and a couple radios setup. All would be just nice to look at and be kind of there if you didn’t engage your visitors. So that’s a good bit of advice. Engage them in a conversation. If you get a small group of people around your table or area, and others see it, they will probably make it a point to stop there and see what is going on.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.