We hope that everybody in the northern hemisphere is having a good summer, while those in the south are surviving their winter. The Communication and Marketing Committee is getting ready for what looks to be one of the most exciting years in ISSTD history. We are, for the first time, going to be having our annual conference for 2019 in the Big Apple, New York City! We want to make very sure that this is going to be an amazing conference for everybody who is interested in learning more about trauma and dissociation. Over the next few weeks, details will begin to come out about some of our plenary speakers and other events and activities. In order to make sure as many people as possible are aware of what we are offering, we are looking for some additional short-term volunteers who are willing to contact universities in the tri-state area to make sure that they are aware of the conference. ISSTD is now offering an organizational membership, so that not-for-profits, treatment facilities, multi-therapist practices, government associations, and colleges/universities can join ISSTD and have several people from their perspective organizations attend the conference at a group rate. This is a great opportunity to not just promote the conference but to also promote this exciting new membership category. For those who volunteer to help us spread the word, we will be offering educational incentives through free access to some of ISSTD’s high quality and popular webinar recordings. In addition to this, we are in the midst of our “35 for the 35th” fundraising campaign. We are trying to raise $35,000 to fund our brand-new and completely updated website, which will also allow us to do so much more than we’ve been able to do with our current website. Our new website will be a visible face to the world which is streamlined, modern and accessible. Information for the public will be updated and there will be an easily updated and more user-friendly Find-A-Therapist service. Quite importantly the new website will enable more interactive communication between members, such as discussion groups, interactive project groups and allowing mentors and mentees to meet each other, connect and communicate. We live in a world where our website is the face of our organisation, and often the only way many people interact with us. We need it to be wonderful. If you want to make any donations this year, please make sure you donate to our website development before the year is out. Speaking of websites, we do live in an exciting period of history as social media continues to grow by leaps and bounds. ISSTD is part of this growing trend. The Communication and Marketing Committee continues to find innovative ways to connect with the world through social media, ably lead by Rochelle Sharpe Lohrasbe – Chair of Social Media Sub-Committee. Through social media we are finding more ways of letting the world know about the causes, consequences and treatment of complex trauma and dissociative disorders. Through social media we can also let the world know that we are the premier group to educate people about best practice treatment of these disorders, as well as the broader social impact of complex trauma and dissociation. Our committee is always thinking of new projects. For example, we are interested in making sure the information for consumers on our new website is up-to-date, accessible and appropriate. We are looking at developing not just written resources but multimedia resources as well. With all these projects happening we are always interested in volunteers. Volunteers do not need to be engaged with the committee on a long term basis, but may be interested in helping out on a short term project. Volunteering for our committee is a great chance to use marketing, communication or writing skills you have developed in your career. However if you are a ‘newbie’ to communication and marketing, but interested in developing these skills, our committee is a great place to learn and be mentored. We are interested in hearing from people who can help promote the conference, write educational and promotional material, or participate in other forms of marketing and communication through the website, social media and multimedia resources. If you are interested in being one of those volunteers, you can contact me at robertslater@counsellor.com or email HQ at info@isst-d.org and they will forward your interest on to me.
