|
Minority Affairs Committee
Jerry Yamamoto, Chair
The Minority Affairs Committee
has decided not to conduct a workshop at the Greenville
Leadership Conference. Instead, the committee will man
a booth in Vendors Mall to answer questions of conferees
on a one-to-one basis. The committee members will be available
to answer questions whenever Vendors Mall is open. Committee
members will rotate shifts to ensure continuous coverage
of our booth.
Membership Affairs Committee
Bill Meeks, Chair
The majority
of people involved with VVA define “membership
development” as “strategies used to recruit and
retain members.” Throughout our history, membership
development has been a series of tasks with success or failure
measured by the number of new or renewing members. While
the raw numbers are relevant, the significance of the membership
development process is much greater than the number of names
in the database. The success of every publication, program,
activity, and event in VVA depends, in some way, on a strong,
informed, and active membership. Membership development is
successful only if the organization’s mission, programs,
and leadership contribute to overall member satisfaction.
This seminar will teach you how membership development can
put your State Council or chapter on the right path to successful
membership recruitment and retention. We’ll have a
Q&A with members from some of the largest VVA chapters
on what works and what doesn’t. Wednesday, July 16,
11-12:30, Continental 2
Public Affairs Committee
Keith King,
Chair
Keith King, Mokie Porter,
and Jim Boyd, Presenters
How to write a press release that
will get read; how to write a PSA and get it on the air.
Learn about a million details and how to manage them. Public
Relations is a difficult task but not an impossible one—and
the potential rewards are enormous. In a give-and-take between
presenters and audience, the impossible becomes possible,
the daunting becomes easy, and the business of PR starts
to make sense. It’s all
about what you know, who you know, the opportunities available
to you, and how you bring them together. You’ll receive
a broad overview while learning some clever tricks of the
trade. Wednesday, July 16, 11-12:30, Regency DEF
National
Secretary
Barry Hagge
Barry Hagge, Fred Elliott, & Bruce Whitaker, Presenters
You May Think You Know…But You Have No Idea. Is the
VVA Chapter or State Council Secretary position on your horizon?
1) Your VVA responsibilities and legal sinkholes: Real and
Imagined 2) Your value to the Chapter or State Council 3)
Minutes: What you do and What you should do. Wednesday, July
16, 2-3:30, Regency BC0
Parliamentarian
Mike Swift
We will examine the ins
and outs of meeting procedures by demonstration and by participation.
Members will observe and discuss a scripted meeting from
beginning to end. Following this demonstration, members will
observe a presiding officer handle ten motions that commonly
occur in meetings. After each motion is demonstrated and
discussed, a volunteer will preside over the meeting and
handle the motion. The group will then critique the handling
of the motion. Templates for writing State Council and chapter
bylaws will be included in the handout. Wednesday, July 16,
2-3:30, Regency 2 Wednesday, July 16, 3:45-5:15,
Continental
2
Agent Orange Committee
Buzz Sawyer, Chair
Betty Mekdeci, Presenter
Betty Mekdeci, CEO of the American Birth Defects Registry,
has long experience in the areas of Vietnam veterans’ birth
defects. A special staff adviser to the VVA Agent Orange
Committee, she has been invited many times to testify on
Capitol Hill. In the Nov/Dec issue of The VVA Veteran, Mekdeci
wrote an article on birth defects. That article also was
included in a recent issue of the San Francisco Medical Journal.
Thursday, July 17, 9-10:30, Regency BC
PTSD & Substance
Abuse Committee
Tom Berger, Chair
Dr. Matthew J. Friedman, Presenter
Although most war veterans
will have a successful homecoming, everyone should be prepared
for a few bumps in the road, especially at first. A significant
minority, however, experience problems such as PTSD that
require professional attention. We will review what can be
done to promote normal reintegration and what treatments
are available for those with PTSD and other mental health
problems. Dr. Matthew J. Friedman is executive director of
the VA’s National Center for Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder and professor of psychiatry and of pharmacology and toxicology
at Dartmouth Medical School. He has worked with PTSD patients as a clinician
and researcher for 35 years and has published extensively on stress and PTSD,
biological psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and clinical outcome studies on depression,
anxiety, schizophrenia, and chemical dependency.
Dr. Friedman is a Distinguished
Lifetime Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association,
past president of the International Society for Traumatic
Stress Studies, chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of
the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and has served
on many VA, DoD, and NIMH research, education, and policy
committees. Thursday, July 17, 10:45-12: 15, Regency BC
Government
Affairs Committee
John A. Miterko, Chair
Patrick W. Welch and Thomas Insley, Presenters
Another presidential election year is upon us. Veterans
make up about 8 percent of the nation s population. We know
that our voices must be heard and that we can make a difference.
How you prepare, approach, and present your message to elected
officials is critical in getting them to listen and act on
your agenda. The Grassroots Advocacy session will provide
basic training for everyone interested in learning the do’s
and don’ts
of working through the public system. That includes, how
to: a) make telephone contact; b) personal contact; c) write
letters and emails; d) work with staff personnel; e) dress
for success; and f) present your position. The only way to
make a difference in veterans advocacy is to get engaged.
This session will show you the basics and have you asking
for more. Thursday, July 17, 9-10:30, Regency DEF Friday,
July 18, 2-3:30, Continental 2
Region 3
Director
Bruce Whitaker,
National Secretary Barry Hagge
Communication
between VVA Chapters, State Councils, and the national office—high-quality
communication that leads to action—requires an exchange
of information. There is no such thing as “over-communication.” There
must be a constant flow of mail, memos, media, minutes of
meetings, and face-to-face conversations. When communication
is working properly, VVA leaders can become awash in paper
quickly if they do not have a system for disseminating and
storing information. Keeping track of communication is the
foundation of administrative management of chapters and State
Councils. This seminar focuses on management of communications
and recommends a way to
maintain records. When you go back to your chapter or State
Council, you’ll
have a handout and inventory for your records to make sure
you are doing the right things. Thursday, July 17, 10:45-12:15,
Regency DEFFriday, July 18, 3:45-5:15, Regency BC
National
Board of Directors
Tony Catapano
Fundraising: What a bad word. Does it
have to be? No, it can be a blast. With some planning, proper
equipment, and people, you can have fun and still make funds.
Come see how. We’ll offer Do’s and Don’ts
as we cover the where, how, and what of local fundraising.
Saturday, July 19, 8: 30-9:15 Regency DEF
POW/MIA Committee
Gary
Jones, Chair
Steve Thompson, Presenter
Steve
Thompson, who works at JPAC Headquarters, will describe what
it takes to solve a case in order to bring home our missing
brothers. Saturday, July 19, 8:30-9:15, Continental 2
The
VVA Talk List
Dick Southern, VVA Talk List Moderator
That’s What I’m Talking About You
will learn the basics of email use, which we will demonstrate.
We’ll also provide plenty of tips, tricks,
and shortcuts to make e-mail easier for you. There will be
Q&A
time for you to ask any and all questions. Saturday, July
19, 8: 30-9:15, Regency BC
Veterans Incarcerated Committee
Terry Hubert, Chair
Terry Hubert, Thomas Burke, & Allen Manuel, Presenters
VIC 101 will focus primarily on the programs and activities
that veterans incarcerated organizations have developed.
The seminar presenters represent three state prison systems
with a variety of prisoner-generated program efforts. Terry
Hubert will discuss the activities of the Nevada prison system
chapters; Tom Burke, the Ohio State Corrections Department
veteran chapters’ endeavors and successes;
and Allen Manuel, the incarcerated veterans at the Angola
prison in Louisiana. We also will highlight the difficulties
associated with developing prison veteran programs. Of particular
concern will be the roles of outside volunteers and cooperative
relationships of inside staff sponsors. We’ll feature
a slide presentation of successful VVA incarcerated programs.
Saturday, July 19, 9:30-10:15, Regency BC
|
©2006-
2008, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8605 Cameron
Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910