Troop Talk
Ok, guys. I’m really excited. As you may know, my company’s client, MyVetwork, is building the community for US military personnel and their families. Every day, we learn of another family deeply affected by the sacrifices made by a soldier, sailor, marine, airman or guardsman. Men and women, active duty or vets– each of them is someone to whom we owe more than our thanks. And their stories are ultimately affirming. You can’t help but be awed by the single minded devotion of these people to their flag and country.
So- we’ve agreed to join Expand the Circle, a 501(c)(3) organization, to jump start a word of mouth campaign to tell their stories. We’re buying a bunch of “flip video “ phones to send to military personnel and their families in different locations here and in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re asking simply to record what they like the world to know, and we’ll share it. If you’d like to join in, welcome! Make your contribution to Expand the Circle. It will be tax deductible and we’ll use it to buy more cameras (each camera is about $100). The more cameras, the more stories we’ll have to share.
Below is the press release to announce the initiative:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wf360 & MyVetwork Call Upon
Community To Support Our Troops With The Gift of Communication.
New York, NY (June 16, 2008) - Wf360 has teamed up with Expand the Circle, a
non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, to support a Wf360 initiative called
MyVetwork, an upstart social networking community for military service
people. The plan is to call upon Wf360’s friends and supporters to join
Wf360 in donating Flip Video cameras to troops stationed at bases around the
country and abroad. MyVetwork was created by a group led by John Campbell of
NYC, a Vietnam era Marine veteran who knows first-hand how challenging a career
in the military can be and the strain placed upon families kept apart for long
periods of time.
“We created MyVetwork to help our service men and women cope with the
day-to-day struggles associated with serving our country. One key component of
the MyVetwork community is the ability to share stories, experiences and
resources with friends and family through a variety of media, including
user-generated video content in which people in the military—and those who care
about them, like sisters, brothers, parents, friends—can document things in
their daily life and share their unique perspective with the rest of us”
states Campbell.
The Flip video camera was created by Pure Digital of San Francisco and has been popular with journalists and users alike due to its small size and ease of use. Each unit retails for approximately $100 [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ONDRDU] and allows the user to record up to 30 minutes of high quality video. “We are thrilled that for a small donation of just $100 each, we can send one of these dandy little cameras to support the men and women in the military working so hard to defend our country. We hope that our community will respond enthusiastically with individual and corporate donations” adds Susan Bird, CEO of Wf360.
In honor of the 4th of July, MyVetwork plans to send 100 cameras to soldiers at Fort Benning, Georgia, Marines at Camp Pendleton, California and military personnel stationed at other military bases around the globe.
Individuals who would like to contribute are asked to visit Wf360's blog at http://wf360.typepad.com where they can
submit tax deductible donations via credit card to Expand the Circle using a
paypal widget in the sidebar. Corporations interested in donating should
contact Brent Phelps at SupportOurTroops@myvetwork.com.
MyVetWork is an online community for all US Military Veterans, their spouses, families and friends - particularly those who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, with special attention paid to the wounded and disabled. MyVetWork's objectives are twofold: 1) to provide veterans and those who care about them with a means to support each other in ways that range from the lighthearted and entertaining to deep and meaningful connection and 2) to create an information exchange where veterans of all conflicts can produce information, career advice, educational ideas, mentoring and other work-related resource to recently separated Vets transitioning from the military to civilian life.
Web: www.myvetwork.com
Wf360 is a marketing and communications company changing the “rules of engagement.” Wf360’s corporate clients learn to discard the notion of “telling, then selling.” Instead, Wf360 helps them find the most strategically powerful ways to actively engage their customers and employees, both on- and off-line. Ways that connect them compellingly with the values on which their organization is built. Wf360 is focused on developing and sustaining practical word-of-mouth conversational marketing to build a following of people who live and breathe the client's brand…and willingly become evangelists who influence others to do the same.
We call it Brandversation™. And that’s worth talking about.
Web: www.wf360.com
For more information contact:
Brent Phelps
SupportOurTroops@myvetwork.com
(917) 270-9198









Author of I is for Intercourse: The ABC's of Conversation, Susan Bird is the visionary behind Wf360, and a sought-after speaker around the world for her views on leadership, the strategic importance of conversation, entrepreneurship, and the role of women business leaders.