Public Relations

Public Relations

40 et 8 Public Relations

As we begin the run to the finish of the 2011-2012 year perhaps it is time to reflect on the first four months of the year. From what I can see most of our activity has been directed toward membership. It is necessary of course because it is our life blood. So why does it does it have to be such a painful and drawn out experience every year?

Perhaps it is because of the economy? I doubt that is the case because it has been a painful drawn out experience for years through good and bad economies.

Perhaps it is because of apathy? I have talked to several Commanders of Veterans Service Organizations and they are having problems even getting a quorum at their monthly meetings. These are Organizations with 300 to 600 local members having less than 20 at a meeting? What is going on? Believe me; I am not pretending to have an answer! But, I know that the answer to any problem is never forthcoming until the cause is identified. What it takes to keep people involved and interested involves generation, regional or local culture, priorities and above all pride. We are all proud Veterans but our backgrounds, politics, religion, financial positions and age are as varied as the pieces of a huge puzzle.

The only common factor, one that is paramount in getting and keeping people involved is pride. Pride in the accomplishments, the association with and involvement in those accomplishments. The other factors are all as varied as fingerprints and require local leaders to come up with local solutions. Pride will come when your Voitures accomplishments appear the local media; when a photo of a local Voyageur receiving or presenting an award appears in the local paper. Or a story of the locale Voiture meeting the needs of returning Vets or helping Nursing Home bound Comrades. How about the children who we help after a tragic fire or natural disaster or the Nurses we have helped get their educations?

These types of activities happen every day and never appear in the local media. Moreover, members of the local Voiture who don’t attend Promenades don’t know about them or find out about them after the fact.

What is the answer? As I stated before I don’t pretend to have the answer but here is a suggestion. Develop a contact list for your local media and send them a press release when you have an event. Form a “call Committee” from those members who attend Promenades regularly. Give each of them a list of five members who do not attend regularly. Then task them with calling their five members the day before your Promenade to remind them. Won’t hurt to give them a proposed agenda and perhaps have a social hour before the Promenade also.

I hear every day about our Voitures having to call members to ask for their dues. I would think that call would be unnecessary if the member was attending Promenades regularly. Will it work? Will it even help? You never know until you try!

Bob "OB 1" Cearlock

National Directeur, Public Relations

La Societe 40 et 8

National Directeur, Public Relations

La Societe 40 et 8

As we all continue to press to meet our goals for Membership it is perhaps a good time to pause briefly and evaluate the
tools available to us. http://www.fortyandeight.org/local-web-sites/ provides a listing of Locale and Grande websites
that are available. I ask that you take the time to visit these sites and glean information for your own use. Some are
outstanding, some are in need of upgrading and some are defunct. So if you have a website in your Locale or Grande
make sure that you maintain it and contact Nationale to get it added to the listing. These sites are invaluable tools in
reaching young Veterans but if they are not maintained they present a picture of unprofessionalism that is a quick “turn-
off” to younger web savvy vets. The best way to overcome this problem is to recruit a young vet to be your webmaster.

Obviously, some of our older Voyageurs do not use the web and have no intention of doing so. Therefore the written
word and snail mail is the only way to convey information. This is an expensive and time consuming endeavor but these
Voyageurs are incredibly important to the 40et8 and must be kept in the loop. It is a possibility to ask those who have
email to opt out of the snail mail option in favor of having the newsletter, bulletins and even newspapers from both the
Locale and Grand emailed to them. This saves both money and time.

In the final analysis it all boils down to communication. Ideas are worthless unless they are communicated to those that
can evaluate and implement them. I am sometimes discouraged as I view the news releases and publications of other
Veterans Service Organizations [VSOs] touting their accomplishments and notice that as many as half of the Veterans
pictured are in fact, Voyageurs. This is as it should be because the Voyageurs in the articles were most likely invited to
join us because of their service to their community and the VSOs that serve it. The frustration arises from there being no
mention of their 40et8 affiliation. How do you fix the problem? Run a parallel article in your publications or on your
website giving acknowledgement to the Voyageurs involved! This activity is reportable as Voiture Activity but your
community doesn’t see that report and unfortunately, most Voitures do not report it anyway.

Bottom line is that Voyageurs are not asked to give up their affiliations, much to the contrary we need to maintain and
expand the activities we participate in with other VSOs. Fact is, Voyageurs are for the most part the past and sometimes,
present leaders of other VSO Posts. They are the hard working, hands on individuals that get things done. They are a
“Brotherhood of deeds, not words” and many activities would not be successful without their input and hard work. We
need to encourage that, but we also need to make others aware of it!

Now that the Christmas season is in full swing I ask that you observe the activities in your communities closely. When
you are at an event look at the organizers and see how many Voyageurs or Dames are involved. Look at the workers and
if they are not Voyageurs or Dames ask why not. I have observed that a 40et8er is one of the greatest assets another
VSO can have!