October 1, 2009
To All VAFP Members:
I’m pleased to announce information about our renovated website and its new companion site along with the dates and location for the 2010 Spring Conference.
Imperial Multimedia has successfully “soft launched” our new web site and its Virginia outdoors companion site. The soft launch was necessary to get the sites established on the internet so that Imperial could debug them before we do a “hard launch” attendant with media publicity.
The debugging effort is ongoing for both sites and, during the next couple of weeks, we’ll be working and meeting with Imperial Multimedia, Virginia State Park System, and Dominion Foundation representatives to develop a hard launch strategy.
The VAFP website address remains www.virginiaoutdoors.net. This site is very content rich and includes multiple pages (note the “next page” icon at the bottom right of each page). From this site, for example, you can take a virtual hike of any trail in any Virginia State Park. By clicking on the green “America’s State Parks” logo on the left hand side of the home page, you’ll bring up a U.S. map along with a Canada Parks and a Puerto Rico Parks button. Click on any state, Canda, or Puerto Rico and you’ll bring up the home page for that entity’s park system. Thus, you can plan a multistate trip from the Virginia Outdoors site.
Please visit the sites and invite your friends, family, and others to do so as well. Also, please encourage them to become a VAFP member, either by accepting the free Associate Member opportunity or by paying dues. The options are fully explained by clicking on the “Membership” button on the site toolbar. I think that you and they will really enjoy spending some time on each of our websites.
Now, let me turn to the 2010 Spring Conference. Many of you have asked to be notified of the conference dates and location as soon as possible so that you can reserve your calendar and thus be better prepared to manage conflicts. The VAFP 2010 Spring Conference will be held at Smith Mountain Lake State Park on March 18 – 20, 2010. Details will be provided later.
Check out the websites, encourage others to do likewise, and annotate your calendar for the 2010 Spring Conference. Thanks for your continuing support of Virginia’s state, national, and regional parks.
Johnny Finch
For more information on the Virginia Association for Parks, click here.