You are on Page 3 of Section 3

● Introduction & Index ● What is PR ● Job Expectations ● Types of Media ● Building Relationships ● Media, Hams & FCC Rules ● The Basic News Release ● Interviews and Live ● Making your own show ● Easy P.R. ● Public Service Events ● Piggy-back to Events ● Pictures NOW! ● P.R. Research Aids ● Making Friends ● ARES® PIO ● Final Exam Information Next Page

Job Descriptions ARRL Public Information Coordinator and ARRL Public Information Officers In each section, there is to be one Public Information Coordinator, PIC, appointed by the Section Manager and serving as the leader of their Public Relations efforts. There may be as many Public Information Officers, PIOs, as the Section Manager desires. The Section Manager may or may not delegate the nomination of PIOs to the section’s PIC, but in any case the PIO ultimately serves at the will of the Section Manager. ARRL PIOs must be a member of the ARRL at the time of their appointment and maintain membership throughout their term of service in this role. Public Relations for Amateur Radio happens at two levels, local and national. The ARRL PR Department takes care of publicizing ham radio at the national level. But by far the most publicity generated by and for our service is done at the local level, in newspapers, on radio and TV, and speaking opportunities before the public. This “grass roots” publicity is the job of the ARRL Public Information Officer (PIO), with guidance at the Section level from the Public Information Coordinator (PIC). Amateur Radio needs to be perceived as performing vital public services, not just in times of communications emergencies but in our day to day activities, from training young people in electronics and communications to being good will ambassadors the world over. At the same time, we need to project an image of amateur radio as a fun activity and a high-tech yet accessible hobby. We don’t want to be seen as troublesome nuisances or just as a group of people pursuing a little known and slightly peculiar hobby. We have a public relations problem when the only times we are heard from are when we’re protesting a restrictive antenna ordinance or are on the short end of an interference controversy. You are not expected to do all of this by yourself, of course, but, as a Public Information Coordinator or Officer, you can and should be a critical part of this process and a key player in making it all work. Doing the job really well can be an exciting challenge and a source of great satisfaction.