Publicity
Prepare a flyer describing the event four months in advance. Sample content
is shown on this site. Sufficient copies should be made to allow the local BSA Council to mail one to each Scout troop three
months in advance. Additional copies should be posted at local science centers, scout camps, electronics specialty
shops, etc.
Consider making a brief presentation at your local Scout District's monthly meeting of Scoutmasters. The
date and location of these meetings, called "Roundtables" can be found from your local Boy Scout council. Keep your presentation
brief and bring lots of copies of your event announcement flyer.
An announcement in your local radio club newsletter
is a good idea. Active hams may know Scouts that they might wish to steer towards the event.
You might also offer the Merit Badge as part of a Jamboree On The Air event in October or just use JOTA as place to give
out flyers for it. If your local council offers a Merit Badge Fair, approach the organizer with an offer to teach Radio
Merit Badge there.
Frequency
Ideally, hams should offer the event at least annually in each of the
three hundred BSA councils across the nation. If only ten Scouts take the event each time, over 3,000 new teenagers will be
exposed to radio each year. This could double the number who earn the badge on their own and is obviously a boon
to both Scouting and Amateur Radio.
If sufficient demand exists in a given area, the event could be offered twice
a year, once in the spring and the fall.
Once you get a pattern going, ask your local Boy Scout Council to add it
to their annual calendar of events.
