NVMA@Work Blog Moving to New Website Platform

New Multi-featured Site Launches Next Week

With next week's launch of the new Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) website, the NVMA@Work blog will appear exclusively on the platform that is embedded within the website.

This separate Blogger platform no longer will be used. It was initiated a year ago due to the limited capacity of the old website to auto-generate email notifications and employ social sharing. Blogger has both of those functions, but they will be included within the new website, which launches next week.

If your email address is in the NVMA database, you will continue to have access to email notifications of NVMA@Work blog posts. Next week, NVMA members for whom we have current email addresses will receive an email invitation to sign on to the new website. The email will include a link that takes you to the site. If you have never signed on to the new site before, when you click the link you will first be prompted to set your password.

If you are a first-time visitor, you will be invited to complete your profile and indicate whether you want your NVMA directory listing to be visible to others.

You will then set your communication preferences. You may opt to receive all, some or none of the email notifications sent by the NVMA, including notifications of new posts to NVMA@Work.

When you have completed the initial signup, you will be taken to a Welcome Page that summarizes the site and its functions. Use it as your guide for exploring the site.

NVMA Text Service

This section is for those who wish to receive messages from the NVMA's new text service.

At the end of this post is a link where you may sign up for the NVMA text messaging service. When you click the link, you will be offered these service-level choices:

NVMA ALL -- Receive all text messages generated by the NVMA.

NVMA@Work -- Receive only text notifications of new posts to the NVMA blog.

NVMA REGS -- Receive only text notifications of bulletins from the State Veterinarian, the Board of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, and others.

NVMA XGR -- Receive only text notifications of updates on legislative matters.

Click here to join the NVMA text service.

NVMA 2016 Summer Business Meeting Includes Prescription Drug Monitoring Update

As a service to those who were unable to attend the 2016 Summer Meeting, here is a video record of the NVMA Business Meeting held on Friday, June 10, in North Platte. The meeting included a legislative update with information about the Prescription Drug Monitoring Task Force.

Two Minutes with NVMA Board President Shane Pedersen, DVM

To open video in a new window, click here.

Wrapping Up the Intro to the New Website

This is the last in our series of posts previewing the new NVMA website, tentatively scheduled for launch later this month.

The final three main navigation links will be CAREERS, FOUNDATION and NEWS.

The CAREERS section will be home to an NVMA-exclusive job board in addition to the affiliated Veterinary Career Network tools. Various online professional resources will be aggregated here as well.

The FOUNDATION section is essentially the current site's NVMA Foundation pages, including links to scholarship application forms. The new site, however, gives the Foundation an online fundraising app which can be used to create customized online resource development campaigns.

Finally, the NEWS section hosts links to the NVMA Vision YouTube Channel and to the NVMA Blog, which will be rebranded as the NVMA@Work Blog when the new site launches.

When the site launches, you will receive an email prompting you to log in and complete your membership profile.

ADVOCACY Link on New NVMA Website Will Be Visible to Members Only

Another in our series of occasional posts previewing the new NVMA website:

The ADVOCACY navigation link on the new Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association website will be visible only to members of the NVMA who have signed in to their accounts on the site.

This section will be the nerve center for legislative and regulatory matters. Included will be a link to the Legislation Committee's Community/Group page, an archive of reports from the NVMA's lobbyist and a "Take Action" center through which we will facilitate NVMA members' communication with elected officials.

The portion of the ADVOCACY section devoted to regulatory matters will include space for the periodic updates received by the State Veterinarian. The site will link to the AVMA's regulatory issues pages. A means to segment issues specific to the various districts of the NVMA across the state also will be provided.

The new NVMA website is tentatively scheduled for launch in late May.

NVMA STORE Will Bring Full-service E-commerce to the Organization

The NVMA STORE navigation link on the new Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) website is where you go to purchase NVMA-branded and related items.

Sponsors and advertisers will be able to conduct all of their business with the NVMA here. Certain services that are useful to NVMA members will be promoted and sold through the NVMA Store.

Also available through the NVMA Store will be a selection of branded attire and other items.

The NVMA Store is a full-service e-commerce operation, making it easy for NVMA members to transact business with the Association and providing new and changing revenue streams for the organization.

The new NVMA website is tentatively set to launch in late May.

New Website MEETINGS & EVENTS Function Will Be Seamless and Self-Contained

Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) members who responded to the website preferences survey listed an easy-to-use interactive calendar of meetings and events as their #1 priority for a new Association website.

That brings us to the MEETINGS & EVENTS navigation link on the new website, tentatively set to launch in late May.

The interactive calendar of meetings and events will be at this link.

In addition, at this link you will be able to register for events as well as register for individual sessions within events and pay your registration fees. All of the event management functionality will reside neatly within the NVMA website.

Each event will have its own landing page and all event information will reside within the site, eliminating emailed PDFs.

A Closer Look at MEMBER SERVICES on the New NVMA Website

Continuing with our introduction to the new Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) website:

When the new site debuts (tentatively in late May), the first navigation link you will be prompted to visit is MEMBER SERVICES. 

Under MEMBER SERVICES are drop-down menu links where you join the NVMA or renew your membership.

The drop-down MY PROFILE link will take you to your personal profile where you may (among other things) set your communication preferences (how much or how little email you want to receive from the NVMA), adjust the visibility of your profile information (you can set it so that others may or may not be able to view your profile on this site) and load in other data about yourself, including a means to keep track of your CE.

Another of the links in the drop-down menu is NETWORK, which links to a page that serves as a nexus of NVMA social media feeds and sites.

The drop-down menu link COMMUNITY links to the site's Group functionality. Groups of almost any kind may be set up here. Some examples: The Board, the Legislation and other committees, Districts, professional interest groups. Each Group will have its own section of the site where live forum discussions may be hosted, documents and videos shared, quick polls taken and group emails distributed. No more emailing PDF attachments, because each Group has an online document archive.

The drop-down MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS link takes you to a comprehensive rundown of membership benefits of the NVMA.

A drop-down menu link labeled VIDEO TESTIMONIALS takes you to a page that houses videos with NVMA members talking about why they remain connected with and active in the organization, and why they attend the events.

New NVMA Website Will Be Center of Gravity for NVMA Communication

The Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) is tentatively scheduled to launch its new website shortly after the May 19 Board meeting. Today's blog post kicks off a series of occasional posts that will familiarize you with the new site and its features.

The site will be the center of gravity for NVMA communication and it will include the features and functionality that have been requested by NVMA members.

This initial post on the new website serves as a general overview. In future posts, we will zero in and expand upon each of the areas listed below.  When you sign in to the site, you will see these top-level navigation links:

MEMBER SERVICES
This is where you will begin your membership, renew your membership, access and edit your personal or company profile on the site, set your communication preferences, access the member directory, view membership benefits and member video testimonials, and connect with the online community that will be created through this site.

GET INVOLVED
This section will outline for you all of your opportunities to become involved with the NVMA and its array of activities, outreach and leadership paths.

MEETINGS & EVENTS
An interactive comprehensive calendar of events will be located here. Also, you will be able to register online for events and make all of your arrangements for attending in this section of the website.

NVMA STORE
You will be able to complete online purchases of sponsorships, advertising, NVMA branded items, services and other items here. The link to the NVMA Classifieds will be located here.

ADVOCACY (Not visible to non-members)
This will be the home for legislative and regulatory matters and member discussions, including a legislative action center.

CAREERS
Housed in this section will be the job postings and professional resources for members.

FOUNDATION
Here we will provide you with a way to donate online to support scholarships and other philanthropic initiatives.

NEWS
Here is where you may tap into all of the NVMA's information sources and services, including the blog and the NVMA Vision YouTube Channel.

Please keep an eye out for blog posts throughout April with additional information about the new website.

Two Minutes With NVMA Board President Shane Pedersen

NVMA 2016 Winter Business Meeting: Report from the Board of Medicine and Surgery

As a service to those who were unable to attend the 2016 Annual Convention in Kearney, the following video captures the Board of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery report from Jim Unwin, DVM, delivered during the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) business meeting held on Thursday, January 21, 2016. Dr. Unwin is introduced in this video by Henry Cerny, DVM, immediate past president of the NVMA.

(Trouble viewing video? Click here).

NVMA Winter Business Meeting: Tech Program Update

As a service to those who were unable to attend the 2016 Annual Convention in Kearney, the following video captures the NCTA Tech Program report from Ricky Sue Barnes, DVM, delivered during the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) business meeting held on Thursday, January 21, 2016. Dr. Barnes is introduced in this video by Henry Cerny, DVM, immediate past president of the NVMA.

(Trouble viewing video? Click here).

NVMA 2016 Winter Business Meeting: State Veterinarian's Report

As a service to those who were unable to attend the 2016 Annual Convention in Kearney, the following video captures the report from Nebraska State Veterinarian Dennis Hughes, DVM, delivered during the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) business meeting held on Thursday, January 21, 2016. Dr. Hughes is introduced in this video by Henry Cerny, DVM, immediate past president of the NVMA.

(Trouble viewing the video? Click here).

2016 Winter Business Meeting: Report from the AVMA

As a service to those who were unable to attend the 2016 Annual Convention in Kearney, the following video captures the report from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) delivered during the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) business meeting held on Thursday, January 21, 2016. The report is presented by Ted Cohn, DVM, immediate past president of the AVMA. Dr. Cohn is introduced in this video by Henry Cerny, DVM, immediate past president of the NVMA.

(Trouble viewing video? Click here).

2016 Winter Business Meeting

As a service to those who were unable to attend the 2016 Annual Convention in Kearney, the following video captures major portions of the business meeting held on Thursday, January 21, 2016.

(Trouble viewing the video? Click here).

NVMA Holds Annual Session With State Senators

In foreground from left, State Sen. Matt Williams, District 36, Lincoln; NVMA President-elect Roy Gehrt, DVM of Lexington; and Vergil Heyer, DVM, of Ainsworth.

The Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) held its Annual Lunch with the Senators at the State Capitol in Lincoln on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Twenty-two senators or aides attended, along with the following NVMA representatives: Dr. Ron Wallman, Dr. Lance Roasa, Dr. Drew Olson, Dr. Bruce Brodersen, Dr. Rick Cockerill, Dr. Roy Gehrt, Dr. Al Doster, Dr. Vergil Heyer, VM2 Student Tessa Klein, VM2 Student Andrew Bose, NVMA Executive Director Dina Michel and NVMA lobbyist Michelle Weber.

Dr. Gehrt addressed the senators and aides, welcoming them, thanking them for attending and letting them know that the NVMA is available as a resource to them if they have any questions on issues that affect veterinary medicine.  Dr. Gehrt also thanked State Sen. Mark Kolterman of Lincoln for introducing LB 908, which provides for temporary licenses for veterinary technicians.  Dr. Al Doster gave an update on the UNL Diagnostic Lab progress and the Professional Program of Veterinary Medicine at UNL.

2016 Leadership Team Takes the Reins

From left, President Shane B. Pedersen, DVM of Pierce; President-elect Roy Gehrt, DVM of Lexington; Secretary-Treasurer Victoria Winfield, DVM of Hastings; Immediate Past President Henry Cerny, DVM of Lincoln.

Shane B. Pedersen, DVM of Pierce has been elected president of the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association for 2016. Roy Gehrt, DVM of Lexington is the NVMA's new president-elect and Victoria Winfield, DVM of Hastings will serve as secretary-treasurer. Henry Cerny, DVM of Lincoln is the immediate past president.

The new leadership team was sworn in on January 21, 2016 at the NVMA Convention in Kearney. Pedersen's first words as President to the Association are captured in this video:

(Trouble viewing video? Click here.)

Calendar and Electronic Commerce Top the List of Your Website Preferences

We invited all members of the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) to participate in an online survey to determine what you want the Association’s website to do for you.

Forty-four of you responded. Here are highlights of what you told us.

The top five features you want to see on the NVMA website:

1. Events calendar.
2. Electronic commerce: Capability to pay online through the website all membership dues, advertising bills, conference and CE fees, and any other dollar transaction with the NVMA.
3. Online continuing education opportunities.
4. Resources such as licensing information, career/employment opportunities and classified advertising.
5. Forum for member discussions of regulatory and legislative issues.

Several of you mentioned that a mobile app and mobile-friendly website also are important to you.

The vast majority of you wish to hear from the NVMA through email. A few want the NVMA to use other means, such as texting. We will communicate with you according to your preferences.

We will continue to seek input from the membership as we retool and improve the website and Association communication processes. The five features listed above, and many others, will be built into the new website.

This work will begin immediately and we expect to have the new NVMA website up and running before the end of the first quarter of the year.

Watch this blog for updates on our progress.

NVMA Works to Ameliorate Impact of Proposed Bill on Veterinarians' Business Operations

As you may have heard, the NVMA leadership is working to address an issue currently before the Nebraska Legislature. The bill, LB 471 (click here for detail on the bill), was introduced last year by Senator Sara Howard to implement a prescription drug monitoring program. The bill did not advance last year, but appears to be ready to advance quickly upon the start of the session in 2016. The NVMA Board and Legislation Committee are continuing to work with senators to find a veterinarian-specific solution to include in the bill. (Click here to learn more).

Why You Should Register for the Upcoming NVMA Convention

NVMA members who attended the 2015 Summer Meeting in Valentine, Nebraska talk about the value and fun of attending the organization's events. Find details and registration info by clicking here.