In the community of radio amateurs scattered around the planet we have
a habit of getting together with others to have fun in whatever shape
that takes. The obvious ones are HAMfests, car boot sales, raffles and
other amateur adjacent pursuits, but we also do things like licence
training, weekly on-air nets, contesting, portable activations, climbing
mountains, or hills, setting-up in parks, or lighthouses, we set-up on
a field day, just for fun, and find excuses, sorry, reasons, for any
number of other activities.
Some of these are solitary affairs, but many are best enjoyed shared
with multiple friends, both old and new ones. Having been a member of
this community since 2010 I’ve come to observe an aspect of this
community that is odd, to say the least.
We organise all these events, but rarely promote it beyond a single
email to three people, if that. It’s almost as-if the average
organiser thinks that their event permeates the community by magic
osmosis.
Even if there is any form of promotion, there’s sometimes a date and
time, but hardly ever does it show that time in UTC, even if it’s a
radio event, it’s like we’ve forgotten that radio waves pass through
time zones, or there is a misconception that everyone on the planet
knows what your local timezone is, let alone if it’s summer or winter
time at the time of the event.
So, what does promoting your event look like if you actually want people
to know about it?
For starters, you should consider who you want to have as a participant.
A local HAMfest is unlikely to attract people from around the globe, but
Friedrichshafen and Dayton are examples that contradict that notion.
A VHF-only event might be intended for local amateurs, but what if it
allows for satellite or digital contacts, like say via Allstar, IRLP
or Echolink? Similarly, you might run a weekly on-air net, but have
visitors from around the planet.
The point being, that your audience might not be exactly what you
initially think. In other words, there might be people playing from
further afield. Consider that when you announce what time the event
starts, and finishes. Speaking of finishing, adding an expected closing
time is helpful for participants where only one member of the family
lives and breathes amateur radio and the rest just want to get on with
their respective lives, so consideration is welcome.
Aside from telling your audience when and for how long the event goes,
adding a location is not optional. You’d be surprised how many events
say things like: “it’s again in the usual location”, or “we’re
at the community hall” without ever publishing an address. I can tell
you, it’s fun discovering that the name of the hall isn’t unique.
Now, for the big one. After putting the information together about the
event itself, where and how do you announce it?
For starters, on your own website, in whatever form that takes. It
serves two purposes, announcing to the world what is happening, but
it’s also the definitive place where the right information is
published. This is important because things change, get cancelled,
moved, updated, whatever. Life isn’t static, so you need to define a
place where the official announcement lives.
At this point I’d like to mention that this is often where promotion
stops. It’s easy to think that in your universe everyone you know is
aware of your website, but that’s just not true. A single place to
publish is not the end of the process, it’s the start.
Then you need to use things like the local news broadcast, the national
news broadcast, the international news broadcasts, contesting websites
and calendars, social media, fediverse and whatever else you can get
your hands on. You need to include it in your own club news, in club
newsletters from other clubs, on the local amateur notice board, you
need to talk about the event on-air, share it during on-air nets and if
it’s recurring, tell the world that it’s going to happen again next
year.
Nothing here is revolutionary, it’s not like launching a rocket into
space, this is basic common sense and you too can do this. If you need
help, ask.
So, if you have an event that you want to have participants for, you
need to make noise. Publishing the announcement at the local planning
department in Alpha Centauri 50 years before the event is going to cause
issues, as will defining the date for an annual event as: When the June
solstice is on a weekday (Monday through Friday), the weekend following
shall be the weekend of the event. When the June solstice falls on a
Saturday or Sunday, that weekend shall be the weekend of the event, but
only for the Winter field day, the Summer one requires you to count back
four weekends, or forward, depending on if you’re talking about the
Spring or Summer event, and add one if it falls on the weekend.
In case you’re wondering. No, I didn’t make that up. It’s real.
I’ll leave you to ponder how you’d add such an event to your family
calendar.
