Storm Chaser Community Outreach

[Cris Schroeder]

I had a great experience last night, providing a positive image of chasing to the community. I was invited by a neighborhood association in Wichita to give a presentation on chasing at their monthly meeting. No multimedia resources were available so I printed off a handful of 8x10's (nothing special...just some basic storm structure and lightning shots) and brought my gear bag for show-and-tell.

I had a 15-minute slot to discuss why I chase and how it benefits the community. The talk ended up running nearly 40 minutes. The crowd was mostly retirees (some of them very retired), so I decided to go light on the technology rundown and focus on the people aspects.

I had a blast. I was surprised at how interested the crowd was, and how many questions they asked. I probably could have sold some photos on the spot if I were set up to do so, and I received a number of requests for business cards. It was a very enjoyable experience overall. I'm thinking of assembling a standard 15-20 minute multimedia presentation for future use if the opportunity presents itself again.

Talk about great motivation during the off-season!

 

[Stuart Wilson]

Sounds great Cris.
I've done a couple of talks on Storm chasing to our local Rotary club (they only give me a free lunch so I'm cheap!) - one last year on chasing in general and one last month on the results of this year's chase with Cloud9. Both talks went down very well and like you many older people in the audience so not many future chasers but at least a few more in the know.
I also did a story for our in house magazine (Cummins Generator Technologies) and I know at least one person who is very likely to go on a paid tour soon as a result! (Yes Charles I did give him your details along with a few others).

 

[Shawna Davies]

That is so wonderful Cris! I've been doing this on and off for the past 10 years and that's part of what I will be talking about and encouraging chasers to do in some talks at spotter/chaser conferences this spring. There's so many ways chasers can contribute to their communities, and leave a really positive impression on people.

Awesome!!!

Shawna

 

[Brandon Ivey]

Awesome Cris!

I have had little experience in doing presentations up until this past May. I got to do several presentations to co-workers in our propulsion building out at Spirit. Hopefully, I can do it plant-wide this next spring!

Keep doing the talks! I'm going to try and do more in the future. It is amazing how well people's attention spans are when you're talking about a subject like tornadoes. Everyone always has their own personal story to tell also. Those are always interesting to hear!

 

[ABlaser]

I've started doing talks about storms and safety to various strip clubs and hooters restruants, free food and the fringe benefits are OUT OF THIS WORLD!
Showing strippers how to utilize the full potential of hailstones makes me very happy indeed!

 

[Tim Frieze]

Good job Cris!! I have the opportunity to speak to a group where I work each year and I love it. This year, over Memorial day weekend -- yes while the storms were firing up in NW Kansas -- I got to speak to a group of folks in Oakley. I followed the Logan County EM, which was a little stressful. But, I had a great time! The NWS and ARC provided the materials I handed out. With the tornadoes dropping around us, the crowd was sure interested in what both Pappy and I had to say!

Keep doin' what you're doing! Public awareness and education will always be key.