Dear Officers, Directors and Vice Directors,

An informal update from Bob NQ1R ... He's been in Oskosh all week ...

Traffic to the ARRL exhibit has been brisk all week. I’m supported by a
fantastic team of volunteers… hams from throughout the Wisconsin Field
Organization and even from around the country. We’ve already seen 400
ham-pilots visiting the booth...many members...and many more prospective
hams. We have signed over 20 memberships to people who don’t even have a
call sign yet!

The booth meets a strategic objective to develop interest in Amateur
Radio from groups with likeminded interests. Director Kermit Carlson
originally conceived an a ARRL exhibit at AirVenture. This is our second
year here.

The exhibit has also increased the visibility of Amateur Radio and ARRL
among the manufacturing community. National reps from Icom and Yaesu are
here. Icom lent us a receiver to include in our display. Icom is also
promoting the IC 7300 here...a very popular radio among new HF ops.
They’d like to explore ways to support our exhibit in 2020.

An EAA Board member organized a radio construction project-building
activity for youngsters attending the show (thousands). The crystal
radio project was designed by a 21-year old RF engineer (his dad is a
ham). The project involves component identification, assembly,
soldering, coil-winding and tuning. The radio is initially tuned to
pickup air traffic control, but it’s fun to see kids using the included
tuning tool to see “what else I can pick up!” Many of the youth aviation
projects include major corporate sponsors. ARRL has been invited to
explore a sponsorship role for 2020. They’re already hanging our banner!

I’ve also used the opportunity to investigate resale opportunities. A
major aviation publication seller may take-on our Ham Radio License
Manual. It’s a natural fit.

Members and Life Members visiting the ARRL booth have given us high
marks for this effort. I’m exhausted! It’s a full week of exhibiting
8-hours a day, and supporting the all-volunteer ARRL team. These
member-volunteers are awesome, and have their sights set on growing
Amateur Radio. It’s a great synergy between HQ staff and
members-volunteers.

There are also 2 special event stations on the grounds, one organized by
the Fox Cities ARC, and the other by Icom’s Ray Novak.  Frankly, though,
we see much more networking traffic through our exhibit.

I’ve been posting pics and videos to the ARRL Facebook page throughout
the week. The experience is a great example of the work all ARRL members
must support to increase Amateur Radio’s visibility. Other organizations
exhibiting here include the National Park Service, all of the military
branches, AARP, and many colleges and universities.


73 Howard, WB2ITX


--
Howard E. Michel, WB2ITX
Chief Executive Officer
ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio®
225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA
Telephone: +1 860-594-0404
email: hmichel@arrl.org

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