I am pleased to announce that our Guest Speaker for the October Club meeting on October 4, 2023, will be Sierra G Harrop, the Public Relations and Outreach Manager for the ARRL.
“Needless to say, I love my job! I get to come to work each morning and work to advance this hobby that has been a part of my entire life. I lead the teams that produce the weekly ARRL Letter, a member benefit e-newsletter that covers news of the week in amateur radio. I also curate ARRL News, the news feed that is aggregated out on thousands of sites across the ham radio space. Also in my department is ARRL’s social media team. You can engage with your National Association on Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and (coming soon) TikTok. It is a tremendous honor to get to serve amateur radio full time!
I was first licensed as KD5IUT in 1999 at the age of 15. I changed call signs to WX5USA in 2006, when I was employed as a storm chaser for a TV station in Oklahoma. I upgraded to General in 2013 and Extra in 2020. In July of 2020, I filed for my dad’s old call sign, W5DX. If there’s one call I liked more than my vanity, it was his.
Both my parents were hams. My dad, Paul, was W5DX from 1996 until he passed in 2019 and had been WB5NDN before that. My mom, Carolyn, was KB5IDV until she passed away in 2008. My younger brother, Seth, is KK4MYZ. I grew up with a tower next to my swing set, and a ham shack down the hall from my bedroom. I’ve never known a world without amateur radio being a significant part of my life.
I spent a 20 year career as a TV storyteller, and now I work full time to grow amateur radio! I started January 16, 2023 as the Public Relations and Outreach Manager for ARRL. It is a tremendous honor for me to be a part of this organization. I have lofty goals for my work for our league. I want to increase public understanding and appreciation of ham radio to levels never before seen. You can help me by telling your friends about the hobby, the importance of the Amateur Radio Service and by being a member of ARRL, if you’re not already. We need to convert the hundreds of thousands of amateur license holders into hams. Let’s share our passion for this amazing avocation and grow it together!”
BARS will announce the link to join the Zoom meeting before the meeting, but it will be posted to the BARS email list and should not be shared outside our Club. Are you on the email list? If not, please send an email to bars-subscribe@w1hh.org and then simply reply to the robot response from the server and you will be subscribed.
Observing our Zoom meeting requires only a web browser and headphones/speakers. You do not need a webcam or microphone unless you want to speak or be seen.
Before our meeting date, please go to https://zoom.us/test and see if it will function for you. If you have problems, we can try to assist – feel free to ask questions on the BARS email list.
We are looking forward to “seeing” many of you on Wednesday 10/4 here at 1900.
Doug, N1WRN
