Update On Website Upgrade

BY TOM BURKE, CHAIR

The Public Affairs mission established by President John Rowan this year is very different from most VVA committees. Committees mainly are tied to specific topics. Public Affairs has expanded topics related to media and the printed word.

One of the items that the committee is currently working on is a way to upgrade, modernize, and redesign the VVA website. The current website has not been upgraded for some time. Many VVA members have contacted me since I became the chair of Public Affairs, and they have expressed a desire to see the website redesigned to reflect the modernization of VVA’s organization.

The Orange Factory designed the current website. It has maintained a relationship with VVA since the inception of our webpage. Originally based in Detroit and now in Toronto, the Orange Factory was asked to submit a proposal to upgrade and redesign the website.

A proposal was submitted that was reviewed at our October committee meeting. The committee felt that the proposal would provide some additional items of interest to the website. However, the cost of an upgrade (not a redesign) would be $24,000. A redesign with significant advanced functionality would cost more than $70,000.

We also received a proposal from Powerhouse at Laceworks, in Lambertville, N.J. It, too, was reviewed at the October meeting. We were advised that Powerhouse moved its operation to Pennsylvania after Hurricane Sandy. A couple of items submitted by the designer intrigued the committee and our National President, including a “Heroes’ Wall of Honor.” This would include an interactive element allowing visitors and family members to post comments about, and photos of, their loved ones.

There was also a suggestion that VVA should identify a high-profile honorary spokesperson to promote the organization and its agenda. Another recommendation was to establish stronger ties between Vietnam veterans and Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Also discussed was the idea that VVA should develop an educational venue for children and grandchildren of current veterans to learn about their parents’ experiences.

The cost of all of this, in the committee’s opinion, is extraordinarily low: $39,000. There are indications, though, that all of the items in the proposal cannot be delivered for that amount of money. It would probably be much higher. Although some components of the proposal seemed interesting, everyone seemed to be in agreement that this proposal would be cumbersome to establish and labor intensive to operate.

It is the committee’s opinion that more proposals are needed to compare costs and elements of interest that could be provided to VVA at a reasonable cost. We believe that this endeavor will cost $100,000 or more. We must decide if the benefits equal the cost of upgrade. Comments from VVA members on this project are encouraged. We want to hear from you.

Another topic related to media coverage is the explosion of posting VVA chapter events on the new VVA Veteran Facebook page—facebook.vvaveteran.org. Facebook is an awesome tool that our Veteran staff uses to advise members across the country about chapter events past, current, and future, no matter where the event is being held. Best of all, it’s free. And it saves space in the paper copy of the magazine for other news. We are also looking into Twitter as another social media tool.

In other news, Tom Hall, our Education Subcommittee chair, has proposed to publish the Education Handbook in electronic form.

Get in those nomination forms for VVA awards to Awards Subcommittee Chair Charlie Montgomery for consideration at the National Convention to be held in Jacksonville, Florida, in August. See VVA’s website for forms and information.