Not your Average Special Event: Meme Appreciation Month”
Special Event Call Signs: K3K – VB3HARAMBE – VB4LIGMA – VB3YEET – VB6DANK – VC3DEEZ – VC3RIKROLL – VC9CATGIRL –
June 25 to August 5: All Bands, All Modes
Ben Riehl, VA4BEN
I’m currently a 17-year old who’s graduating out of high school in Rural Manitoba this year. I’m planning to head out east to Quebec or Ontario for Computer Engineering. I’d like to become an Electronics Technician later down the road.
I’ve been a licensed Amateur for about a year and a half now. I have my Canadian Advanced as well as my USA Extra. I hold VA4BEN, VA4OOF, VE4LID and AD2DF. I’m also the President of “Not A Cult ARC”, which is a youth focus club. Now onto the main event!
This event was originally spurred out of nothing other than an inside joke with a group of friends from both the Young Amateurs Radio Club and the Amateur Radio Operators of Canada discord server. But I however took it to the next level and filled out the application for a special event call sign on New Year’s Day. Once I shared the newly approved call around, a handful of other Amateurs decided they wanted in on the fun. To us, this event is a way to express our group’s feelings that special event call signs don’t have to be “so serious”. We want to show the goofy side of the hobby, something that could click with youth to potentially bring them in the hobby.
Some might also see it as a way to put ridiculous call signs on the air, but we see it as a way to acknowledge the impact that “memes” have had on pop culture and our lives. Memes are something that we share amongst our friends, family, strangers, etc. They’re created by people all over the world to cater to various types of humour. Just like how there’s a wide variety of music genres, one size doesn’t fit all.
One thing that memes have in common with all their variants is how rapid and widespread they can be sent and viewed by other people. This is where Amateur Radio comes in, only like if it was a matter of time until a bored high school kid filed an application for VB4LIGMA.
Note: The event was supposed to be named “Ligma Awareness Month” which would occur in July. Which is where search results for memes peaked according to Google Trends. The Amateur Radio Service Centre correctly suggested we rename the event to something that wouldn’t get them calls to the front desk asking “what Ligma is” so we agreed that “Meme Appreciation Month” was the new name. Now you need to look up “Ligma” …
We plan to be active from June 25 to August 5 on all bands / all modes, with a strong emphasis in HF SSTV due to its image-sharing potential.
QSL policies per each call sign will vary, so please check out the QSL info for each call sign as needed. Most should be able to do both direct and bureau cards and will be listed on https://www.qrz.com/ for more information. Donations to offset the costs of the cards would be greatly appreciated. VB4LIGMA & K3K – VA4BEN / AD2DF (me). Amateurs can contact me on my listed email address on QRZ.com.
For more information please visit: