I grew up in a small town surrounded by eccentric, fun and genuine people. “Unvarnished” is how a former girlfriend refers to them. Among them was a grumpy, good friend for whom insincere banter and idle conversation were anathema. I am not sure why, but rather than say “hello” when greeted he would say, “Nice day for it.” He never said exactly what it was a nice day for, but it sounded positive and made us laugh like hell. I often use it to reply to greetings. (In New York, I usually get very creative responses.)

I was thinking about this when I started planning ways to speak about our new global campaign to promote the diverse virtues of satellite: How Satellites Make a Better World.  We are getting the long-term project underway, helped along by project partners CASBA, GVF, SIA, ESOA, World Teleport Association; as well as media partners Satellite Executive Briefing and others.  The “Better World” campaign is designed to do for satellite professionals and our industry what the “Got Milk?” campaign once did for dairy farmers.  It made milk cool and desirable – and made kids and adults drink more of it.  Better Worldis for anyone whose work and life touch the satellite industry or who are thinking about what their life and work will eventually touch.  It has begun to create awareness for the industry, which will lead to new opportunities.  Most important, in my view, it will let people know that because satellite is behind so much of human activity that is positive, it is always a “nice day for it.”  Ask George Clooney, whose Sentinel project credits satellite for keeping the government in Darfur honest (well, as honest as that government can be.)

Our industry needs this campaign.  We are not terribly good at telling our story.  Like my grumpy, creative friend, we are genuine people and we are fun.  But we remain skeptical of the insincere promotion and the “bragging” that necessarily goes along with it.  Good for us.  Engineers and scientists make-up a large part of our population, but so do marketing experts and CEOs who need to have their story told so that they can scale their businesses and so we can continue to battle the big guys with their shinier toys. 

So here’s my deal to you: let SSPI and its partners do the talking.  You make the world better and have fun doing it.  But support us.  We will tell the stories and demonstrate to audiences worldwide that satellites show up in the most unlikely places, like on THE soccer ball.  True. Did you know that the sporting company, Adidas, nicknamed the soccer ball “Telstar?"   Find out why Adidas did that here.

On 17 March in Washington’s Convention Center, our chairperson Dianne VanBeber will tell industry CEOs and other leaders about the campaign. She will explain how their companies’ support for SSPI helps to fund it.  This will take place at our Chairman’s Reception.  I hope that you will be one of the companies that decides to become a sponsor of SSPI, or renew your support, so that we can continue the campaign.  

Look, it takes funding.  Pure and simply.  You and I both know that a campaign like this cannot be done by any single company.  Do decide today to renew or become a supporter.  It is easy to do and easier to decide that when it comes to the growth of our industry, it is always a nice day for it! 

LZacharilla@sspi.org – Skype: lou-zacharilla