May 04, 2009
USAA Sponsors “Spouse Club Hub” Web Sites, Provides Financial Readiness Articles, Videos
HAMPTON ROADS, VA – CinCHouse.com has launched a cutting-edge upgrade to its Family Readiness Group and Spouse Club web site development software allowing installations and individual units to quickly create new web sites and easily manage membership and club business online.
The new “Spouse Club Hubs” are built on ASP.NET technology –a technology that allows anyone to create a modern web site – making them the most secure and user-friendly. Thanks to the generosity of USAA, a fully integrated financial services company serving military members and their families, these customizable and easy-to-use web sites are free to FRGs and Spouse Clubs.
The Spouse Club Hub web sites allow spouse leaders to quickly create professional web sites within minutes. Features include event calendars with eRSVP capabilities, photo galleries and announcement sections. Spouse leaders especially enjoy managing their members via the Hubs. Rather than taking phone calls or emails to update their membership lists, members update their own information online without bothering the spouse leader. Members can also choose which groups they wish to belong to, such as the Book Club or Mom & Tots, and can easily register or unregister themselves.
With the upgrade, new features include the ability to:
- Post video galleries, Flash-based photo galleries and videos from YouTube
- Add RSS feeds of news from the military or command
- Email newsletters with attachments to the entire membership list or specific groups
- Collect donations or charge membership dues online via PayPal
CinCHouse.com and USAA originally teamed up in 2004 to launch the first version of the Spouse Club Hubs. Now 25 groups, including the USS Wasp FRG, Malcolm Grow Medical Spouses (Andrews AFB) and MacDill Enlisted Spouse Club, have successfully tested the new system and launched their new sites.
“The new web authoring tools are SO much better than the old site. Now the sky is the limit - it's great!” said Barbara Drummond, webmaster for the Guam Oakleaf Club (Navy Medical Officer Corps spouses).
As part of its support for military spouse groups, USAA is providing free non-commercial financial readiness news and video feeds for use on the web sites – the same content which has been featured on official military venues such as Stars & Stripes, the Pentagon Channel and AFN TV.
”In today’s rocky economy, even the most money savvy are looking for financial advice and solutions,” said Mike Kelly, USAA’s director of military communications. “This is a practical way for USAA to deliver helpful financial advice and information directly to military families. We want to equip those who serve our country with the right tools to make informed financial decisions.”
Because CinCHouse.com is the largest online community of military wives and women in uniform, a major goal of the Spouse Club Hub program is to drive new members to their respective FRGs and spouse clubs.
More information on the Spouse Club Hubs, including a demonstration site, is available at http://cinchouse.com/Hubs. Extensive video and text tutorials are also available for Hubs webmasters, as are live tutorials and technical support.
For more information, please contact Meredith Leyva at (757) 410-4926 or cinc@cinchouse.com.
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About USAA
USAA, a diversified financial services group of companies, is among the leading providers of financial planning, insurance, investments, and banking products to members of the U.S. military and their families. For the past three years, BusinessWeek magazine ranked USAA among the top two "Customer Service Champs," highlighting our legendary commitment of providing highly competitive financial products for 6.8 million members. For more information about USAA, or to learn more about membership, visit www.usaa.com.