Quick notes, and not necessarily grammatical or spelled correctly! From the telephone/web conference with Cindy Tackett and others of the U.S. Postal Service’s Stamp Services department. I’ll keep updating this page while the conference is on, so refresh this page for the latest. [Added: Click on the links to go to the specific pages for those issues.]
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Attending: Cindy Tackett, Bill Gicker, Joe Brockert, Mark Saunders, Donna Dow of the USPS; Chad Snee of Linn’s, John Dunn of Mekeel’s/Stamps, Don Neal of ESPER, Foster Miller and Chris Lazaroff of the AFDCS and other groups, Dave Kent of Mekeel’s/Stamps, others.
Upcoming:
Feb. 21st Bobcat reprint @ Aripex
Feb. 27th Stars & Stripes Presort @ Texpex
March 20th Water Lilies @ Garfield Perry
March 26th Martin Ramirez, NYC, 6pm event at the gallery
March 27th Ferns Reprint, PSA Coils of 3,000 or 10,000, no event, KC first day (Forever design) one has a 2015 predate, one doesn’t, USPS is checking, new printer (Sennett) in offset; last printer was CCL in gravure..
late March, From Me To You, trying to lock down the event in Washington. Can’t confirm Greeting Card Association winter meeting (my question)
April 9th, Civil war series, in Appomattox Court House, Va., 11 a.m. ceremony. (Foster points out there is no post office in A.C.H.) Will be doing a product for the entire Civil War series, during the holidays, similar to the limited edition for the War of 1812. Not sure of the format at this time.
April 10th, Gifts of Friendship, joint issue with Japan, in Washington, DC, both Dogwood and Cherry Blossom trees (one stamp for each, 2 stamps from each country). U.S. panes shown to the press. Sheet of 12 stamps, 10 will be the U.S. versions, plus the 2 Japanese stamps. The Japanese designs will have the Forever denomination. It will be the reverse on the Japanese panes. Awaiting agreement and designs from Japan, could be as soon as Monday the 23rd. Coincides with the centennial of when President Taft sent the 50 dogwood trees to Japan, in return for the 3,000+ trees Japan sent the U.S. in 1912.
Date still TBD (possibly April), but design now shown for Special Olympics World Games (which will be held July 25-August 2nd in Los Angeles).
May, Forget Me Not stamp for Missing Children; May 25th is Missing Children Day but that date has not yet been confirmed. Pane of 20. The Forget Me Not flower is the symbol of the campaign. (Image below.)
May 25, Medal of Honor, 3 stamps, for Vietnam, 3rd is Air Force. The front and back of the panes will be a little different. There are 48 living recipients who have agreed to be part of this. Some will be depicted on the front, some on the back, and a listing of all the recipients. Panes of 24. 1 p.m. ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Wall. 
Coast Guard may be earlier in the summer; the USCG is asking for a reconsideration of the August date.
Illustrations of the full panes of Civil War Year 5: 
End of conference 10:10 a.m. The VSC 2015 U.S. Stamp Program will be updated this evening.
Seems like a nice enough selection of stamps — but still devoid of honoring specific people by name. Any mention of the Music Icons series for 2015? It seems to be a glowing omission.
Also from the USPS via e-mail, “we’re waiting on the PMG to sign off on a major stamp announcement that could occur any day now.”
There was no mention whatsoever of Music Icons. We were told again that no announcements on anything until the pertinent details were nailed down firmly. I asked about the Greeting Card Association Winter Meeting for “From Me To You,” and was again given that answer: No comments until completely firm.
A version of the circular special olympics logo would have made a great Global Forever stamp.