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We're a small state Veterans Affairs department in a large, rural state. It's difficult to conduct outreach in all the areas so we've updated our website, started a Facebook account, and Twitter account. Anything else we can do?
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 12
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1SG Thorstad, I am a CVSO in a large, urban county and we face the same challenges. The tricky part of the problem is that veterans are EVERYWHERE, urban, rural, high rent districts and public housing, you name it... makes it almost impossible to do 'target advertising', what radio station(s), country, pop, rap? Vets listen to them all, but who has the budget for 'blanket advertising'.
While I agree with web, FB, Twitter, etc., word of mouth has been our best friend here.
While I agree with web, FB, Twitter, etc., word of mouth has been our best friend here.
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MSG Wade Huffman
MSgt (Join to see) , it doesn't appear that Washington had County Veteran Service Officers (employed by the county) so I would see no problems with using any VSO in the state. I would recommend that you ensure that the VSO is accredited, and by who (most 'post level' service officers are not).
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MSgt (Join to see)
MSG Wade Huffman I believe I'm going to need the assistance of a VSO in my appeal to the VA. A couple of buddies have told me to stay away from the DAV here not much help. My hope is maybe I can find someone in Seattle. Not sure what I should be looking for in them being accredited.
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MSG Wade Huffman
MSgt (Join to see) , here is a link to get you started. As far as accreditation goes, your Service Officer should hold at least one (I, for example, hold accreditation through ODVS, NACVSO, DAV, VFW, AMVETS, American Legion, MOPH, and VVA). Not saying that more is necessarily better but give a broader background as far as training goes. If you use a SO from a service organization, they will, in all likelihood only hold accreditation from their specific organization (VFW, DAV, etc) and that's not a bad thing, just what it is.
http://www.dva.wa.gov/service_officers.html
http://www.dva.wa.gov/service_officers.html
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1SG Dan Thorstad We Retirees are too "old", Top. We pale in comparison to 4th graders and their knowledge of social media. The VFW's are complaining that there are not enough young veterans joining and then you go there and see shuffleboard and WWII pictures on the wall. I love WWII and have mad shuffleboard skills, but then again, my 19 yr old thinks I'm a dinosaur. We need the young "kids" to get the word out by putting them to work in the very agencies we are trying to promote. In Alaska, it was so rural that they did video conferencing with therapists. It was immensely popular. They also had case managers that did telephone appointments with clients. Please keep us in the loop so we can share ideas. V/R Mark
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