The question is how to push this change, when it seems those at the "top" of the hobby, don't listen to the every day ham?
I think the key to driving new membership is being missed on two fronts - first of course is when we have such a tragic event as Helena happen, we need to focus on the fact that "fear sells"... for several weeks after…
The question is how to push this change, when it seems those at the "top" of the hobby, don't listen to the every day ham?
I think the key to driving new membership is being missed on two fronts - first of course is when we have such a tragic event as Helena happen, we need to focus on the fact that "fear sells"... for several weeks after Helena, social media platforms were flooded with "how do I get into ham radio?" Or "how do I study for the ham licensem" or "what radio do I need to contact my family"... there should have been a marketing plan with a budget set aside at the national level to drive these individuals to the local clubs or VEs or even the training sites. The second missed opportunity I feel is the fact the ARRL (and manufacturers) aren't working hand in hand with every S.T.E.M. School in the nation. My daughter when to a public high school that had education tracks for Engineering, Architecture, Medical, & Software Development. They had a whole slew of academic clubs - but nothing regarding ham radio... Lexis and Thompson give access to their legal databases to every law student in the nation for free... first touched, often becomes the preferred system of the student. Student graduates and starts their own practice they subscribe. If they join a firm that uses the same software they are happy, if not the are forced to use the other... but when they become partners, they push for their favorite systems even though they haven't touched it for 4 or 6 years.
Mike - In fairness to ARRL, they are making significant effort in the direction you suggest - https://www.arrl.org/teachers-institute-on-wireless-technology... though it mystifies me why they don't try to establish a strategic relationship with Make Magazine / Maker Faires, etc. to advertise Amateur Radio (in a relevant way) to the Maker / STEM communities. Not to mention that ARRL has no significant relationship (that I've seen) to IEEE which works hard to reach out to techies in college.
As to why ARRL doesn't "make its materials widely available like Lexis and Thompson... ARRL's true core business is being a publisher of magazines and books, and if they "open sourced" that... their entire financial structure would become precarious. At least... ARRL feels that's what would happen. In my opinion, ARRL's biggest issue isn't profitability... it's irrelevance at hiding most of its material behind a paywall, which essentially means that it's invisible and uninteresting to the newer Amateur Radio Operators. 73 Magazine, available on the Internet Archive's Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (DLARC) - https://archive.org/details/73-magazine is more relevant to new Amateur Radio Operators than any of the ARRL magazines because it's completely and totally available online without restriction.
The question is how to push this change, when it seems those at the "top" of the hobby, don't listen to the every day ham?
I think the key to driving new membership is being missed on two fronts - first of course is when we have such a tragic event as Helena happen, we need to focus on the fact that "fear sells"... for several weeks after Helena, social media platforms were flooded with "how do I get into ham radio?" Or "how do I study for the ham licensem" or "what radio do I need to contact my family"... there should have been a marketing plan with a budget set aside at the national level to drive these individuals to the local clubs or VEs or even the training sites. The second missed opportunity I feel is the fact the ARRL (and manufacturers) aren't working hand in hand with every S.T.E.M. School in the nation. My daughter when to a public high school that had education tracks for Engineering, Architecture, Medical, & Software Development. They had a whole slew of academic clubs - but nothing regarding ham radio... Lexis and Thompson give access to their legal databases to every law student in the nation for free... first touched, often becomes the preferred system of the student. Student graduates and starts their own practice they subscribe. If they join a firm that uses the same software they are happy, if not the are forced to use the other... but when they become partners, they push for their favorite systems even though they haven't touched it for 4 or 6 years.
Mike - In fairness to ARRL, they are making significant effort in the direction you suggest - https://www.arrl.org/teachers-institute-on-wireless-technology... though it mystifies me why they don't try to establish a strategic relationship with Make Magazine / Maker Faires, etc. to advertise Amateur Radio (in a relevant way) to the Maker / STEM communities. Not to mention that ARRL has no significant relationship (that I've seen) to IEEE which works hard to reach out to techies in college.
As to why ARRL doesn't "make its materials widely available like Lexis and Thompson... ARRL's true core business is being a publisher of magazines and books, and if they "open sourced" that... their entire financial structure would become precarious. At least... ARRL feels that's what would happen. In my opinion, ARRL's biggest issue isn't profitability... it's irrelevance at hiding most of its material behind a paywall, which essentially means that it's invisible and uninteresting to the newer Amateur Radio Operators. 73 Magazine, available on the Internet Archive's Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (DLARC) - https://archive.org/details/73-magazine is more relevant to new Amateur Radio Operators than any of the ARRL magazines because it's completely and totally available online without restriction.