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● 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

“The loyal opposition” Any good shooter will tell you the the importance of knowing what your target is - and what it is NOT. In PR work you will often encounter various types of people and their messages. Two are critical and you need to know if you are dealing with one or another. The Curmudgeon. No matter what you do, say or try - you will be wrong and they will go to extreme lengths to verify your erronious ways. They actually DO hate you. Their lives are wrapped up in hammering topics and people into dust. Often this is compensating for some other area of life they cannot control but is making them miserable. Their counterbalance is to try to control you, and all of Amateur Radio. Until you can send Prozac through the phone, you cannot win. The best you can do is say, “Thank you for your unique perspective.” The Loyal Opposition - Be careful here! Often these people are mistaken for Curmudgeons and they are not at all! For example, back during the DTV conversion period, an email was received complaining that the ARRL had missed a major PR opportunity by not encouraging hams to go into people’s homes and do hands-on help with converter boxes. “Liability - Schmilability,” the writer claimed we blew it in a major way and was not at all happy. The long email went on to discuss how the author had told us so before and felt ignored - and really was not happy. Was this a Curmudgeon? No! The goal of the writer was to make things better, not to control or defeat people. The author actually had the interests of the ARRL as the prime motivation. This is what we call “The Loyal Opposition.” These are people who do not agree with you or the decisions that have been made, but are taking the time and effort to try to correct what they see as an error to make the group better. The Loyal Opposition type is actually a friend. Often they can become agitated when they do not believe they were heard in the decision making process, but don’t discount them. They often actually DO have good ideas, insights and just need to be heard out.