National Safe Boating Council Announces 406Day Media Contest Winners
Manassas, VA (April 11, 2016) – With the help of many contributing organizations and engaged boaters nationwide, this year’s #406Day helped promote the important “Saved by the Beacon” message, educating boaters about the importance of registering and carrying an emergency locator beacon. As part of this year’s awareness event, the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) hosted a media contest encouraging boaters to share photos of themselves with their emergency locator beacons. In total, #406Day and #savedbythebeacon resulted in over 2,600 organic impressions and nearly 4,600 overall impressions on April 6. The NSBC and companies, organizations, and boaters shared photos, articles, and information about emergency locator beacons, how to register the beacons correctly with NOAA, making this year’s #406Day a truly viral educational event. Top boating media outlets, including Boating Magazine, BoatU.S., and Trade Only Today, brought greater awareness to #406Day with nationally-distributed articles and social media posts.
This year’s winners will receive a copy of the NSBC’s Saved by the Beacon book. The book is part of the NSBC’s Saved by the Beacon national campaign, produced under a grant from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Saved by the Beacon campaign helps explain why owning an emergency locator (406 MHz) beacon and knowing how to use it correctly in case of an emergency are important. There are thousands of stories of peoples’ lives who have been saved by the use of emergency locator beacons. The Saved by the Beacon bookhighlights some of these stories and shares key information about emergency locator beacons. To learn more, please visit www.savedbythebeacon.com.
The winners, Ashley Stephanie, Mikele D’Arcangelo, and Ken Cook Marine, represents the Atlantic, Central, and Pacific areas of North America. See their winning posts below:
“We are so pleased with the amount of coverage #406Day received,” commented Rachel Johnson, NSBC Executive Director. “The importance of registering a 406MHz emergency locator beacon cannot be undervalued and to participate in such an awareness day is crucial to spreading knowledge. We are already looking forward to April 6, 2017!”
The NSBC would like to acknowledge the U.S. Coast Guard, ACR Electronics, NOAA, Boating Magazine, Boat Ed, The Fishing Wire, BoatU.S., Saltwater PR, Cruising World Magazine, CM Hammar, US Sailing and those that tweeted and shared Saved by the Beacon safety messages in support of this year’s #406Day. To see a Storify documenting some of the media coverage from #406Day, please click here.
About the National Safe Boating Council
The National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) is the foremost coalition for the advancement and promotion of safer boating through education, outreach, and training. The NSBC accomplishes this mission by promoting outreach and research initiatives that support boating education and safety awareness; improving the professional development of boating safety educators through training; and developing and recognizing outstanding boating safety programs. To learn more about the NSBC and its programs, visit www.SafeBoatingCouncil.org.