Alert 3/25/08     Host a Meeting!!

 

Dear Animal Welfare Fans:

 

We need to have regional VVAW/VAW meetings, and we need help to get them scheduled and help to build attendance.

 

Who will work on this? So many of you have said you want to help. Here’s a chance to do so, and it won’t take that much time.

 

We want meetings across the state, and we hope to get to places we haven’t been before. All we need is a place to meet and at least 20 people in attendance and we will come.

 

Typically meetings are on Sundays from 11 am to 1 pm (but we’re open to Saturdays or weekdays if that’s better).  We’d like you and/or your group to partner with us to make that meeting happen.

 

We want to use these meetings to promote continuation of the collaboration from the last session of the General Assembly - collaboration that brought animal welfare people closer together and showed a significant number of significant bills could be passed. 

 

Sponsoring a meeting means:

1.   Secure a location for about 20-30 people.

 

2.   Get the people in your area(s) aware and excited.

 

3.   Encourage participation of elected officials and others who deal with or influence what happens with companion animals on a daily basis.  We want your state delegate(s) and state senator(s) to attend (or at least be invited and get a meeting packet), Boards of Supervisors, ACOs, shelter staffs, Commonwealth Attorneys and judges, local veterinarians - in other words, all who impact the way companion animals are treated in Virginia. We will help here if you want us to do so.

 

Send this special group special invitations via US mail.  We will supply invitations if you supply names and US mail addresses. (optional)

 

However, what we want most of all is that lots of people in your area come.

 

4.   Get media attendance or at least coverage.

 

5.   Distribute flyers in pet supply stores, vet offices, pounds and shelters, libraries, supermarkets.  We will supply flyers that can be printed from a computer.

 

6.   Serve as hosts and hostesses for the meeting itself.

 

What we'll do: 

 

1.   We will conduct the meeting and discuss 2008 legislation, legislation under consideration for 2009, and various programs VAW is working on (Court Watch) or considering starting (Pet Shop Watch, Pound Watch and Breeder Watch), and the collection of budget/dog licensing information. 

 

2.   We will ask you to take meeting time to cover topics of interest to your group.  That could include a special recognition of legislators in your area, saying thanks to them for their support and/or patronage of animal welfare legislation. Alternatively, it may be an opportunity to encourage legislators who have not supported animal welfare legislation very much that we are serious about wanting their participation.

 

3.   We will also contact people and encourage them to attend.  This means some may get more than one invitation to attend, but this is good.

 

4.   We will bring as many of our Board members to the meeting as possible and ask, if your group wants to help, that you will do the same.

 

We hope you'll join us in this next step.  Let's keep the momentum going.

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

Lillian Clancy and Don Marro

 

 

PS:  We are up against time pressures and so would like to get going on these meetings as soon as possible.  What date would work for you? And if partnering with other animal welfare groups in the area for this meeting is an advantage, that would be wonderful.