There was a comment posted with regards to virtual posts... i thought that was a great point to discuss here so here are my two cents...

Virtual Post vs. Virtual Community

I recently became aware of many legionnaires, posts, districts, and departments wanting to test out the idea of a “virtual post”. Florida has actually put together one of these and you can visit one of them at http://post401.ning.com/

You can also visit the following virtual posts hosted on ning.com:

Colorado Department virtual community: http://colegion.ning.com/

DC Post 1 http://americanlegionpost1.ning.com/

And http://americanlegionpost133.ning.com/

There are a few things to remember when you are planning and executing a virtual post:

- It is not a virtual post alone. If you strictly focus your effort on reaching members online it will be difficult. If you combine your virtual tools with a visible community presence, your virtual post will be successful with a reinforced purpose from the grassroots activities your post carry… this is why we are encouraging these different virtual posts to carry visible initiatives to enhance their virtual outreach… DC post 1 has done poker games, bike rides, golf outings… this combined with their various user groups on ning, myspace, facebook, has help their membership to increase.
- Use your virtual post as a way to communicate and lead your members. This is a place where you can update your event calendars, let people know of post involvements in the community, solicit feedbacks, and drive discussions for your post… if your post lack a post home, you can also use the virtual tools to host meetings, contact your members etc…
- Be sure to keep your virtual post site updated frequently… if you post some information and leave it behind, no one will want to be part of it… here is a real life criticism for DC post 1: First impressions now that I’ve transferred in.

“24 hours later no welcome message, not even an automated welcome.
Looks like it was born September 2007 and died November 2007.
Last post in the forums was Nov 2007.
Last meeting was posted as being Dec 6th 2007. And I don’t have a clue how or where the meetings are held.
Post’s MySpace page was last logged into in May.
Total membership appears to be 23.

It’s almost like it doesn’t enjoy much support and is intentionally hidden as it has no mention on National website and isn’t even listed in the post directory. I’m waiting for responses to my e-mails and to see if I actually get a new membership card…stay tuned” --internet user
o From this you can see that even if you have a virtual post, communication is very important to get new members excited about your post…

to conclude, i recommend that you build a virtual post as a tool to help your actual post succeed... you have to build it with some tangable real life purpose.. Department of Colorado built their virtual post to anticipate the new GI Bill intatives and is attempting to combine virtual interactiosn with student veterans outreach.. that is only one of the many great ways to build and sustain a virtual presence for The American Legion

DD214

click here for information on how to request a copy of your DD214

click here for information on how to locate a veteran, servicemember

click here for resource for veterans

Department Web Sites

Since assuming the duties of WebMaster for American Legion of Montana, I have visited the Web sites of every department. There are two things that stand out:

1. The number of departments that do not have a Web site. We talk about reaching a younger generation of veterans, yet, we don't communicate in their prefered media. Today's generations views the Internet in the same way that our generation viewed newspapers. It their primary source of information.
2. In my tour of department Web sites, I noticed that many were static, and presented out-of-date information. In my view, this is like sitting in a Doctor's waiting room, looking at last year's Newsweek. Information changes, and the Web site needs to change to keep pace.

Am I satisfied with our department's Web site? I am never satisfied. It is growing and evolving every day. I will be more satisfied, once I complete my list of projects. Alas, for every item I take off the list, more join the list.

Bill Anderson
WebMaster
American Legion of Montana

setting the record...

In the last 24 hours of launching W.R.I.T.E.S. I have received some feedbacks from departments unsure if this is for just leadership or for the entire membership of the western regions.

I wanted to remind everyone thinking along that line that the purpose of TAL W.R.I.T.E.S is to open dialogues and have transparent communication between all levels of leadership and volunteers. The purpose is to empower our leaders, our members, our volunteers with knowledge about the organization and its current initiatives as well as relevant technologies that can make their jobs easier…

So I encourage you to let everyone know about this and invite them to contribute… who knows… maybe a good idea from Idaho can help California with some of its challenges or vice versa…

So be open, be honest, share, and help each other to be successful…

Thank you sincerely,

jin

DMS 99

There have been some questions regarding the test DMS members this year. As you know, the national headquarters is testing an inhouse DMS to cut cost. all new members solicited through this new DMS will be supressed from the department records. we are sending out the first welcome letter/email to encourage them to transfer to their local posts and bring a copy of their DD214 to verify their eligiblity. if they do not wish to transfer, then we keep them in the DMS99 HQpost and will try to retain them for one year. If you receive calls from individual indicating that they joined recently online or by mail, and you do not have records on them, then they are DMS99 members. Their memebrship card will say they belong to Post (your department code) 99... for example, if i joined online in California, then my card will say CA Post 5 99

let me know if you have any questions...

New GI Bill

The American Legion launches the new GI Bill site: www.mygibill.org

this will help you with your student veteran outreaches

TroopTube

www.trooptube.tv

this is a new site from Military One Source. it allows servicememebrs upload videos to share with others... you can create a free account and upload department videos for these servicememebrs to see. it is a free marketing opportunity.

The American Legion Department of Colorado Social Network aimed to serve student veterans

Click here to find out more about Colorado's initiatives to build a social network connecting student veterans with legionnaires.

VetCam for Legionnaires and Servicemembers

The American Legion launches VetCam, a free one-on-one video conferencing – to enable you to talk face-to-face with friends and family across town or overseas; one-on-one; or with several people at a time.
Members of The American Legion, as well as members of the United States Armed Forces (active duty, Reserve and National Guard), their families and friends, are welcome to use this complimentary technology to remain connected with those people most important to you.
Visit http://vetcam.ncbintl.com/ for more information.