Each month, we highlight a council that is doing exceptional work or has shown exceptional improvement.

The Houston World Affairs Council was highlighted in July.

The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia was highlighted in June.

The Minnesota International Center was highlighted in May.

The World Affairs Council of Jacksonville was highlighted in April.

Featuring the Houston Council

Our Houston Council is one of the largest and most successful councils in the nation. Started in 1990, it had a modest budget, no staff, and around 120 members by 1995.

In late 1995, the board of directors made a decision to grow, developing an aggressive plan to add corporate directors and program themes with broad appeal. Linda Wuest, the current Executive Director, joined at that time and Houston has grown in membership and activity ever since.

The council now has a budget of over $1 million, 6 full-time staff members, over 75 public programs annually, and 4000 members! The council, namely Linda, has created its own method of direct-mail membership appeal, one of the secrets of its success.

Key to the council's overall progress has been its focus on quality programs, on convenient and sociable settings, on encouraging members participation, and on the highly personalized ways of dealing with members.

The Houston WAC also has an extremely active Educational Outreach to high schools. Key program components include:

Conversations with History - small groups of students meeting figures like Lech Walesa

Young Leaders Forum - serves 400-500 students each month

Educator Seminars - twice each month, serves 75 teachers at each event

International Extravaganza - a 550-student banquet during International Education week

Academic World Quest - involving 300 students from about 25 high schools

Summer Institute--week-long teacher training program.

The Education Outreach program, run by Jennifer Gigliotti, also includes lesson plan contests, scholarships, total immersion workshops and an international trip for select teachers. Last June she took 14 teachers for a week trip to China.

The council organizes several international trips each year. Planned for 2005-2006 are Vietnam and Cambodia, Libya and Tunisia, Turkey, and Russia.

The council also supports Great Decisions groups and has an active Young Professionals series of programs. Houston will soon launch GlobalHouston.org which is the third portal website in the council system.

Linda Wuest served on the national board for 6 years and as National Treasurer for 4 years, for which she received an award and national recognition as one of the most successful council leaders in the system.

Congratulations to the Houston Council and to Linda Wuest and her wonderful team for their remarkable success over the last ten years! From 120 to 4000 members is just incredible!

Fantastic Trips with Philadelphia

The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia has for 25 years offered a travel program open to all world affairs council members across the country. It is one of the premier educational travel programs in the country.

Their trips often feature an expert on the subject who travels with the delegation. Jerry Leach and his wife Marianne will lead the September trip to Turkey. Amb. Mark Johnson will be leading next year's trip to Egypt.

Philadelphia trips include briefings with embassies, business people, journalists, politicians, writers, artists, historians, and archaeologists. Their shorter "one-center" tours entail meeting with the experts and having lectures throughout the week.

Already completed 2005 trips include Tanzania, Libya, South America, Inside DC, Ireland, Balkans and Albania, and the Italian Lakes.

Upcoming 2005 trips include Scotland, Russia, Central Europe, Turkey, Dalmatian Coast, Seine River, China, Egypt and Jordan, Tunisia, Antebellum South, and Poland (space still available).

The 2006 trip plan includes Thailand; Egypt; Mexico; Libya and Tunisia; Inside Washington; Classic Rhine and Strasbourg; London and Berlin; and the Eastern Baltics. Shorter tours include Italy; Russia and Ukraine; Serbia and Montenegro, Vietnam and Cambodia; Beijing; and the Caribbean.

This program offers an outstanding benefit to your membership. Councils receive between $100 to $300 for each of its members who go on a trip.

Philadelphia will send your members brochures for free if would you like or they can send you a supply of the 2006 flyers that you can distribute.

For more, please contact Joan Russell, Travel Director, at 1-800-942-5004 x 209 or Travel Coordinator, Shoshana Remetz at x 217.

Great Success Story in Jacksonville

Under the leadership of Amb. Marilyn McAfee and a core group of board members, the council launched a major revitalization plan four years ago.

Its membership is now over 800, a 12-fold increase. The budget is 34 times larger than it was. The council has also made the very difficult transition from all-volunteer to paid-staff status.

Its prestigious flagship speaker program "The Global Issues Forum" draws audiences of 750 - 1,000. It has also launched an ambitious new educational program "The Global Education Forum" that partners with the University of North Florida and area high schools. The "Global Economic Forum" is a new luncheon series that focuses on the city's business leadership.

Reasons for the council's outstanding success include:

• Vigorous reformist leadership including a core group of 5 very active individuals
• Putting in many more labor-hours of work per week on council affairs
• Revitalizing the board
• Bringing in high visibility speakers, often with corporate funding
• Concentrating on quality not quantity in programming
  Holding some programs on what is hot in the news
• Partnering with Univ. of North Florida to enhance credibility and standing.
• Making membership-building a systematic and continuous public relations, marketing and publicity effort
  Creating a vastly improved web site
• Branding and strategic planning, including new pro bono logo and newsletter design.
• Working actively and continuously on fundraising and sponsorship, including a financial relationship with the University and a tiered membership system.

Congratulations to Marilyn McAfee and all who have worked so hard to generate such remarkable progress.

What a Success in Minneapolis!

The Minnesota International Center (MIC) is the world affairs council of Minnesota. It won the President's Award for Council Excellence in 2003.

The center has about 2,500 members, over 1,100 volunteers, and a budget of about $900,000. It organized 1,200 activities last year with a total attendance of 30,000.

MIC's schools program, International Classroom Connection, recruited and trained 100 volunteer speakers from 46 countries will make an estimated 717 presentations to a student audiences totaling 22,000 this year. This is MIC's fastest growing program at MIC.

MIC's International Visitor Leadership Program hosts hosted 310 visitors from around the globe in 2004-5, a 50% increase over the previous year. MIC members have provided dinner hospitality to 275 international visitors and students.

MIC presented and co-presented 39 world affairs speaking events attended by more than 10,000 people last year. During the last 2 years, MIC has hosted ambassadors from Belgium, France, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, China, the UK, and the Czech Republic

MIC's Great Decisions discussion program has grown locally to include 44 groups across Minnesota with over 4,000 participants.

MIC's innovative partnership with Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) serves as a key content provider for TPT's Minnesota Channel, which has taped and broadcast 11 of MIC's World Affairs public forums these past two years. It estimates that an additional 132,000 viewers have seen MIC programs through television.

MIC has also participated in Minnesota Public Radio's "Golden Baton" program which has enabled them to publicize their programs.

MIC's corporate membership program has 33 corporate members and contributes to about 1/3 of MIC's annual budget.

Carol Engebretson Byrne, MIC's Executive Director, was a former member of WACA's National Executive Committee. She now serves on the National Board of National Council for International Visitors.

Carol serves on the Nobel Peace Prize Steering Committee and organizes a Minnesota event each year for the current winner. She also went on the Governor's trade mission to Poland and the Czech Republic last year.

MIC uses a country-specific theme, this year the Czech Republic, as the basis for its annual fundraising gala event. Twenty percent of its annual budget comes from this event.

We all congratulate MIC on its sterling program and incredible track record of achievements.