National Update
Monthly Newsletter of the World Affairs Council System
June 2005

In this issue...

Fantastic Trips with Philadelphia
New World in Transition Task Force
National Fundraising Workshop
NewsNotes

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.

New World in Transition Task Force

Peter White will run a newly-formed task force consisting of Sky Foerster, Curtis Mack, Lisa Maruyama, John Rossi, Chris Brown, and Jerry Leach and Keerti Hasija.

They will seek to build WIT as a Flagship Program and to get the series into classrooms all across the country.

WACA hosts this week its first-ever national teachers workshop. It will be on the European Union and will be for 22 teachers from around the country who use Europe in Transition in the classroom.

The workshop will be on all the big issues facing the EU and will feature top experts from the SAIS, the Bank of America, the EU mission, the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, and more. The EU is funding the event

The task force hopes to put on a workshop each summer paralleling one of the units in the World in Transition series.

National Fundraising Workshop

We will offer a special pre-conference 12-hour fundraising workshop January 17-18 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.

Council fundraising experts as well as external fundraising experts will address topics such as board role in fundraising, using databases effectively, and hiring fundraising consultants.

There will be breakout sessions for small, medium and large councils and a dinner and overview talks from Jim Falk, Jerry Leach, and a leading fundraising expert.

Sign-up and small fee are required to attend this event. A detailed announcement will be out in September.

Questions? Email Ljiljana Komnenic or call her at (202) 833-4557.

NewsNotes

* Our 10-person National Leadership Delegation is just back from a terrific week at EU Brussels. They met with officials in external relations, the military, law enforcement, counter-terrorism, the constitution, enlargement, parliament, agriculture, US relations, think tanks, European newspapers, the American Chamber of Commerce, and more. The trip report will be out in July.

* The Triangle Council (Raleigh) just won a $140,000 grant from the State Department to bring US and Turkish filmmakers together to create a documentary film. The council partnered with the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival for the proposal.

* WACA council leaders were recently hosted at the private reception and opening of the King Tutankhamun Exhibit in Los Angeles.

* Congratulations to Amb. Marilyn McAfee, President of the Jacksonville Council, who was chosen by the Florida Times Union for the prestigious EVE Award for her volunteer work in Jacksonville and her great success in revitalizing the Jacksonville council.

* Congratulations also to Dixie Anderson, the Executive Director of our Grand Rapids council, who was named the Distinguished Alumna of Grand Valley State
University for 2005.

* Congratulations to the Peoria Council which has just received $60,000 from the Illinois International High School Initiative. It will use the funds to develop materials for teachers, run Academic WorldQuest for high schools, put on World In Transition teacher training workshops, give student scholarships, and organize the Global Studies Forum in 2007.

* WACA is currently redesigning its website. Over 50 pages of new content have been added in the last month. A new home page and new functionalities will be launched in September.

* World Affairs Council of Greater Dallas and World Affairs Council of Greater Fort Worth signed on Friday a Memorandum of Understanding that has been approved by both of their boards to merge their organizations.

* Welcome to Scott Zander who has been elected President of the New Orleans Council.

"Too bad 90% of the politicians give the other 10% a bad reputation."
- Henry Kissinger -