Dr. John Sullivan, ACVFA Chairman, welcomed attendees, thanked Jocelyn Rowe for organizing the meeting in Atlanta, and introduced a new member of the Committee: Deborah Bensen, Vice President of Media and Government Relations for Operation Blessing. He also introduced the new members of the ACVFA Public Outreach Subcommittee: Paul Clark, Subcommittee Chairman and Principal, Paul Clark Communications; Deborah Bensen; Craig Charney, President of Charney Research; Mike Kiernan, Senior Director of Communications and Media for Save the Children;
Robert Tappan, President of Weber Merritt Public Affairs; and Ellen Yount, Chief Information Officer for Management Systems International. Three members of the Subcommittee could not attend: Mike McCurry, Principal at Public Strategies Washington, Inc.; Johanna Schneider, Executive Director–External Relations for the Business Roundtable; and Sig Rogich, President of The Rogich Communications Group. He also thanked Janice Rhys and Kari Hackett of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, John Hicks of Georgia State University, and the staff of the Commerce Club.