january/february 2007

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PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT
About To Launch

BY KEITH KING, CHAIR

The year 2007 is shaping up to be an exciting one on the communications front for VVA. We have launched the new VVA web site. We are still working on the bugs and glitches, but we hope that you will enjoy the site’s new look and search capabilities. Another aspect of the new site is the ability to make donations online. The addition of banner and video ads will provide us with a new source of revenue which, in turn, we will use to support our veterans’ programs.

We are about to launch a full-scale, web-based marketing campaign promoting what VVA is all about, and we hope to reach millions of potential new members. We already have released 90-plus “white papers” on subjects such as PTSD and Agent Orange to the web search engines. The response has been phenomenal. Our papers have been picked up and placed on more than 35,000 other web sites. We also are looking at other sites to link to our site and build up the amount of unique visitors to VVA.org

We have successfully conducted three test e-mail campaigns to VVA and AVVA members’ e-mail addresses. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do so today, and follow these instructions. In order to receive e-mail from VVA, you need to sign up.

There are three easy steps in the sign-up process:

1. Go to http: //www.vva.org/applications/emailsignupform.aspx
2. Fill out the information
3. Follow through on the confirmation e-mail when it arrives

Remember: Check the box if you want to receive e-mail from VVA. If you leave the box unchecked, you won’t receive any e-mail.

We want to raise money for VVA, and you can help by also checking the “Your partner organizations may contact me” box. This is an easy way for us to make some money at your inconvenience. What’s more, these are like the advertisers in The VVA Veteran, and you might find something useful or entertaining. It doesn’t cost you a cent. Just hit “submit.” For answers to some frequently asked questions, go to our FAQ page on the site. We will not sell your e-mail address to anyone.

We have recorded some new PSAs, and we are working on several new messages featuring our founding principle: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” We will distribute these commercials through the broadcast channels. Look for them to be posted as MP3s on the new VVA web site for you to download and use in your local market.

We are in discussions to update the quality of the paper that we use to print The VVA Veteran. We hope you have noticed that we have a large group of new advertisers in The VVA Veteran. It does help VVA when you call or order products from these ads. I want to welcome Fox and Associates to VVA. They are our new sales team for The VVA Veteran, and they have hit the ground running.

A lot of very dedicated people have been working hard to make all of these improvements a reality. Many of them are not veterans, but they truly care about us and our issues. I want to thank them all and wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.