One of the challenges I’ve long experienced with any of my hobbies is they are often niche and beyond the interest of most of the people I talk with; Amateur Radio even moreso. Nearly none of the people I interact with in daily life “get it”. They have their phones and Internet and don’t recognize the continuous marvels which constitute Amateur Radio.
I think all the -OTAs (POTA, SOTA, etc) have done a wonderful job of increasing visibility of our hobby, but to really supercharge it, every radio operator should also be willing to hang a sign which encourages passersby to come ask questions and engage. I was up at a fairly popular community park with a 200’ (~61m) span OCFD and not a single person approached. I reckon they’re unwilling because of how “official” a setup looks and don’t want to risk crossing into an area they’re “not supposed to be in”.
There’s not enough popular media which portrays the utility of Amateur Operators, which is probably an extension of the general unfamiliarity of the hobby by authors. Think of what percentage of any of the movies you’ve seen in the last 20 years and one can probably count on one hand the accurate portrayal of amateur radio communications.
These are just my initial thoughts having woken up not too long ago. I’d really be excited to hear others’ opinions.