Southwest Conference – Houston, 2015Notes: Mary Williams – mwilliamstxtravel@yahoo.com

Opening Session and Leadership WorkshopAna Smulski and Cinda Clark

Joy Huntington Cinda Clark Charles Bennett and Cinda Clark

Wayne Smith service medal –awarded to Baton Rouge member presented by President Keith Corkern to Charles Bennett (with Frances – a previous winner)

Ana Smulski9 year with FFI – from Brazil. Speaks Portuguese, Spanish, English.Promo movie for FFI. 2 minutes

Leadership – Overview

365 clubs – concentration in US16,000 members. 5000 travel every year. What are the rest of the people doing? Hosting, other activities with the clubs.Not as many requests for the US – more domestic, global, themed exchanges here.Looking at new ways to have exchanges.

In the US there are 97 active clubs, 6031 FF members, Strong field rep system119 weeks of hosting offered, with 44 requests

Some new exchanges:Explore IndiaExplore Taiwan For this fall – need EDs for these exchangesOther proposals welcomed – need EDs

SW Conference 10 clubs, 612 membersJohn Heard field rep; list of field reps in other regions

Field Rep - Volunteer for experienced FF leader- Support and assist clubs in the regions with

o Communication with FFI. Clubso Exchangeso Club development – training for clubs and exchange directorso Regional conferences / president’s meetingo New ideas

Good leaders propose new ideas - get help from FFI, field repsHow to do various things – budgets, training, etc. Will set up video calls, for discussion, dialogueHave videos online available

News from FFI- New fee for 2016: $10 per night for domestic exchanges- Developing cruise programs with Grand Circle – river cruises in Europe / educational; FFI may get own

cruise ship- Pioneer Exchanges – with 6 people to explore possibilities- Discover exchanges (to develop a club; 5 nights in hotel, 2 in homes)

o Want club in Italy; 6-10 people will meet with contacts we already have (who has additional contacts) – in Rome, Milan and Venice

- Anniversary Exchanges o Ex: 30 year anniversary – invite other clubs we have ties with – visit them

- Language Learning Exchangeso Guadaloupe – Global exchange in Frencho Spanish – Columbiao Quebec – Frencho Home stays for 2-3 weeks o Want more language opportunities to complement our exchanges

- FFI in Action – service projects/ humanitariano Jamaica – more opportunities in June

- New club in Georgetown TX – May 30 kickoff- New partners:

o Homestay.com – headquarters in Dublin (2 years) 30,000 members Purpose is to Increase host capacity, especially in Europe, bring their members to us Book hotel for extra people who want to go on an exchange – do the day activities With homestay.com – book homestay for you if extra people want to go 52% of requests are to Europe; homestay.com would complement what we offer for extra

families Additional fee if they stay with these people; less than hotel, but extra fee

- Vancouver conference – FULL – 400; more capacity may open up- Board of Directors Nominations (deadline May 15)- 2015-2018 Strategic Plan (Jan 29)- Fill the Seat Policy – 100 days out – put under-subscribed exchanges on FFI catalog e-mail

o 9/9 - OK to Somerset and Leuveno 10/6 - KS to Cairns, North Moreton, Tweed Valley and Melbourneo Austin to Sao Paulo and Maringa, Brazil

- Vetting Process – not automatic to become member/host – need to interview, recommendations- New website to take e-memberships- Vetting committee – Laurie Ann Scott; will report in Vancouver

Brainstorming Ideas of success from your club- Chairs for various activities – exchanges, meetings, President only conducts Board meetings- Membership

o More Presentations, bring a friendo Membership recruitment

Have a meeting with interesting program – invite people to attend. Ex: Dr. Matthew Perry – FW. Great-great-grandfather was Matthew Perry who

opened up Japan to West. Donations received from interested people to pay for transportation to bring him; sister cities gave him 2 free nights in hotel; home dinner with members; breakfast to member party. Invited those groups – some attended, exposed to FF.

Bento Box dinner - $5 – Japanese presenter (FW) – invite Japanese/American club Chair should be outgoing, leader, proactive Get information when they visit – send meeting flyer for next 3 months List new members’ info in next newsletter; supplement to yearbook Get them involved soon Have someone take new member or guest around to meet people at meetings New member luncheon-orientation – Dallas / dessert reception KS

Invite everyone new since last one (one per year in spring) Invite new members, interested guests – those who have visited, suggestions of

interested people from members Ask people to join

o Travel section announcement of meetings (Dallas)o Get attention in the newspaper from trips; put contact in newspaper (Dallas)

- Officers recruitmento Bigger pool of members (DLS)o Incentives – Farewell dinner for hosts free; gas card to drive to FW (Dallas)o Ask: How would you like to help out our club? (Dallas)

- Exchange Director recruitmento Training every few years for being an ED; be an incoming ED before an outbound ED (some

experience working with FFI, manuals, forms)

o Reimburse ED (NM - $1500 toward outbound expenses; OK – airfare or inbound – credit for a net fee $500 from club/$250 from ambassadors)

o Domestic exchange with San Francisco Bay Area. Do something different in SF because we have all been there – went to biker bar, Mission District – murals (Dallas)

o Two places back to back: Columbia Cascade and Olympia – 2 weeks; had 20 people for each (Dallas)

- How to get people to go on exchanges:o Endowment – for a scholarship with some talent – musical, perform, artist, etc. (Baton Rouge)

- Save an Exchangeo Invited Cincinnati who didn’t have an exchange – had only 8 from Australia, added 8 from

Cincinnati (Dallas)o Invited SW clubs – had 8 from SW clubs / 8 from Gold Coast club (Dallas)

What Does FFI Do?Ana Smulski and Cinda Clark

See handout.What is FF?- A philosophy and a way of life- Network of 365 clubs across 60 years- Depends on local and central organization- Clubs are chartered by FF International- We are all members of FF- Strong international organization- Develops, maintains and supports global club system and its exchanges- Develops new programs- Conducts partnership programs- Promotes FF globally

38 years of continuity – Wayne Smith founder5 presidentsOnce up to 25 staff, now 16

FFI structure- Board of Directors: not a representative body; does not act like a parliament, rather represents the global

interests of or ourganization; support politics; don’t represent clubs; continuity, new programs, integrate globally;

- Joy – CEOStaff list- Finance – Ebony Rogers, Joy Fitzgerald, Hap Petty- Programs/planning – most staff- Communications – Jillian Walters, Maggie Smith- Conferences – Pallie Savoie

- Clubs - 1980 Clubs, FFI develops, maintains and supports the global club system and its exchanges.Charter for each club – own officers and activities

- Members- FF exchanges- Ambassadors and hosts- Community at large- Field Reps- Regional cooperation

FFI organization- Supports clubs and partnerships.

- Create more partnerships to grow; make contact with like-minded organizations – increase variety, ability to host, new experiences. Ex: In China, Myanmar FF doesn’t work with culture – have partnerships there.

New clubs: - newest is Georgetown TX- Taipei, Taiwan- Victoria/Vancouver Island- Sao Luis, Brazil- Osher Life Long Learning Institute - FL- Sochi, Russia

Exchanges- Surveys all clubs- Exchange matching- Exchange monitoring / support (dates not established, problems, canceling)- Techniques to prevent cancellation- Evaluation - followup

Domestic Exchanges – contact Kristin Harrison to tell you when your exchanges will take place so you can plan when to have domestic exchanges

Communications- International FFI Staff- Monthly FFI Communique – feature 4 exchanges- Exchanges Catalog - Email alerts- Club Resource Website– information about clubs- Social Media

Leadership Development and TrainingParticipation in National and regional ConferencesGlobal field rep system:- Brazil- Japan- Europe- Australia- NZ- Canada- US

Field Rep – volunteer position for experience FF leaders. Each region unique in terms of geographic challenges and number of clubs. Field Rep brings personal strengths and styles to the program to help, support, and assist clubs in their region. No direct link to Board members.

Develop New Programs- Friendship in Action- NextGen – younger participants, more freedom- Pioneer- Anniversaries- Leadership – Dave Kalan (how to become leaders, some cultural activities)- Explore- Discover- Language- Professional – teachers, hospitals – doctors, nurses

Partnership programs

- Cruises- FF languages- F in Action- NextGen Exchanges- Pioneer- Leadership

Promotes FF Globally- Branding and Marketing- International PaintPals- Meetup- Facebook page- Catalog- Signup- Google – help to choose key words to promote FF so when Homestay put into Search – Friendship Force

comes up (now it doesn’t or is way back); when we get these inquiries, we don’t know who is applying; we need to get references when someone applies for an exchange

Special Exchanges Panel

edward perez, Dallas Geneva Hancock, Oklahoma Judith Mead, New Mexico

Geneva Hancock – Planning and conducting one – already done one, planning another with one more club Judith Mead– Considering having one, planning one, and conducting one – for next yearedward perez– participant’s experience in attending one

Types:- Themed – shared interests, education, humanitarian, language- Global – specific theme or cultural understanding- Discovery – short homestay with travel – help to form new club- Partnership and Contract – cruise, tour, etc.

Participate or have your club do one – reasons:- Homestays going down, special exchanges going up- Big revenue getters for FFI

Geneva - Taming America’s Great Plains – overall title- Unique topic; activities depicted what was happening in early American history; Did one similar in 2013 –

but only Omaha in Neb; Won Club of the Year award

- This exchange had an Executive ED – who was in charge of organizing a global themed exchange with 3 states and 4 clubs; each club also had an ED to arrange activities/hosts for that segment.

- Participants in new exchange: 2 clubs in Neb – Omaha and Lincoln, 1 club in OK, 1 club in KS- Different locations/clubs - topics included:

o OK – Cowboys and Indianso KS - Home on the Rangeo Lincoln – Neb territory, new land, new peopleo Omaha – Iron horse on the Plains

“Doubtful Handshake” painting – shows homesteader making friends with Indians who lived there.- Choose something unique in your area to showcase.- Very popular – 30 ambassadors and waiting list

- Planning: o Each club appointed an ED and a treasurero Executive Committee treasurer collected exchange fees and distributed money to clubso Activities planned early for advertising and avoiding duplicationo One person arranged all bus transportationo Executive ED represented all ambassadors during exchangeo Opening – ice cream social, cakewalk.

- Successes – Tipso Began planning early – 1 ½ years o First night in a hotel in 2013o Deciding which club would focus on whato Trains came in to move beef. Cattle drives through Indian Territory – built trains, cattle walked to rail

– Abilene KS.o Start with the trains – Omaha; fly into Omaha.o Each club had ED and treasurer.o Stay with theme so activities not repeated in another club. o Coordinate activities. 4 nights in each club + one extra night on arrival day.o Advertised exchange at FF Conferenceo Sent special invitation via FFI’s e-mail listo Advertised in Catalogue – 1st of Aug for spring trip Set max # of ambassadors at capacity +2 in case

of cancellations - 21 ambassadorso Treasurer handles all the money in and out. FFI handles all exchange fees. o Not regular application form – special form sent to ambassadors. o Follow FFI guidelines; applicants need recommendation from person (usually President) in their

club. o Did not put them on ambassador list until fee paid.o 300 brochures printed. People took them from Intl Conf and back to clubs. o Respond promptly to inquirieso Special invitation on email from FFI – received 39 requests for applications; 5 countries

represented: 5; also inquiries from other places.o Now maximum 20-21 ambassadors booked this year.o Conference call once a month for clubs involved – every club represented; discuss progress and

any problems.

- Difficultieso Planning 8 months out hard – get it ready for International Conference – necessary.o Things happen – be Flexible Force.o Local event changed their date to one week before the exchange started – found comparable

replacement. o Fort Sill – (Geronimo kept there) changed the rules about visiting there – needed special approval

for each person. Had to have an application with an original signature – mailed back.

o Treasurer put all budgets together to determine exchange fee.

edward perez – participant in Jamaica Friendship Force in Action service project- Built greenhouse, bathroom - With partner One Love One Foundation at Montego Bay - Director there knew Joy diBenedetto – partnering; goal listed specific needs.- Survey show need for new opportunities – Friendship in Action- Themed – humanitarian

One Love mission:- Peace, Prosperity, Understanding – Soil, Soul, Society- Get young adults back to gardening and farming – grow food, chickens, get produce and feed people. - Feed 800 kids a day with produce from their farm in Africa.- Teach their culture – videos of their own culture, singing, dancing. Drumming- Farm has contract to deliver food to nearby resort.

Accommodations at Highland House – Oscar Hammerstein owned the houseBrenda Isaac and Tonya Moses – owners; Mary Mwambay, EDCanadian and US AmbassadorsOLOF Farm - view of Montego Bay- Gardening: 7 acres of 20 acres owned for vegetables and trees (banana, palm, etc.)- Lead farmer – hired to work the farm, also going to college, learning about business, live there and work

there.- Insecticides – organic; learning- Seeds had been out in the open - disappeared in elements- Built greenhouse, signs, place to put seedlings.- Two guys live in a treehouse; no storage- Framed bathroom/shower; can go there and not to top of the hill to the house- Canadians bought a fridge for them- Edward, Dale Klosterman, Paula Rose bought a lawnmower for them, drill

School visit: Ivy Hall Basic School- Lot of kids there; bring supplies to kids – personalize with their name on the book.- Pre-K – coloring books.- Drumming with the kids – energy building.- Kids dancing, involved. Talked to little kids.

People/drumming: - Mama Ita, daughter. Mama Ita and daughter - Dale participated in drumming. Learned about that culture.- One young man taught the other boys drumming; dancing; singing. - All learned gardening.- Like an exchange, a holiday, a service project.

New exchanges coming up: June 10-16; sign up now – or it will cancel. Only 3 signed up so far. Need 20. Need to be physically fit to do manual labor.

Judith Mead – Ancestral Puebloan and Contemporary Pueblo Societies – New Mexico - Asked - what could we do in our area that is unique – old pueblos, abandonment, resettlement; Compare

Anasazi / Ancestral Pueblo to contemporary. Ex: Kiva at Chaco Canyon - outliers; grinding stone – at yucca house. Lowery ruin – was a great house; moved when drought set in. Chaco Canyon – great ruins. Petroglyphs.

- Now working on it for 2017

Plan:- Global exchange or NextGen exchange- Two weeks long

- Include significant travel within NM- Requires overnights away from host

Activities (with lead archeologist):- Intro to theme of exchange – schedule of activities- Lectures by local archeologist – with expert on Field trips – Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Aztec and

Salmon ruins, Salinas Pueblo Missions – Abo, Gran quivera, Quarai- Lectures by Contemporary Pueblo leaders- Visits to Contemporary pueblos – Taos, Acoma, Jemez – tribes migrated to the pueblos; visits to some- Jemez Visitor Center – one will be visited. (one of NM members has a family she sponsors there)- Help ambassadors understand the cultures of the ancestral Pueblo people and how the cultures related to

contemporary Pueblo- Appreciate art- Indian Pueblo Cultural Center – Albuquerque – art and history along Rio Grande + 2 others- Issues –

o Status as sovereign nationo Education, youth and demographicso Assimilation into general population o Problems with drugs and alcoholo Casinos and gamblingo Employment

Plan details:- Set date – no summer – 2 weeks – early May or late September- Determine number of ambassadors – how many can be accommodated; not more than 20- Put the word out- Screen applicants according to FFI guidelines- Select speakers – both ancestral and contemporary- Logistics for field trips- Visit venues for art and artisans- Home and day hosts – 2 weeks- Arrange for venues for lectures and activities

Map of New Mexico – itinerary:- Albuquerque

o Indian Pueblo Cultural Centero Acoma Contemporary Pueblo

- Chaco Canyon lecture (stay in Grants)o Chaco canyon National Historic park – lecture/guideo Hike; visit pueblos there – Chaco Canyono Julia Garrett – archeologist for CC

- Back to Albuquerque and Petroglyph National Monument – ties stories together- Santa Fe – Palace of the Governors, NM History Museum; stay a night in SF – tie in 1500s- Bandelier Natl Monument – Tsankawi Ruins – not as old; self guided tour- Puye ruins and Santa Clara Cont Pueblo – old/new same people- Contemporary Pueblo Leaders lecture- Coronado State Monument – Jemez – contact with conquistadors – mission church – influx of Spanish- Salinas Natl Monument - Contemporary Pueblo visit – mission churches – may be IsletaFree day and Farewell dinnerOther languages? May be Spanish/English

Handout of contacts – for questions, ideas, commentsWill offer instruction, specialty of the regionGet information out on FFI list.

Other special exchanges:1. Anniversary of Wright Brothers in Dayton

2. Baton Rouge – Pick Your Passion global exchange to New Orleans - April 6-18, 2016 – French Quarter festival, entertainment - hotel room – on your own, but people as support- River cruise – to Chalmette – Andrew Jackson- Voodoo, above ground burial, what to see in NO - architecture, Cajuns, Creole - Day of gospel spiritual music- Crawfish and rice – crawfish boil- Dance hall – dance Zydeco – Cajun culture- Petroleum – 30% comes in through LA – oil platform (30 years old – working real platform)- Canoe Bayou Teche, or boat. First entry into bywaters designation- Cotton plantation, tour of plantation (computerized cotton gin)- Understand wetland areas

3. Joseph from Austin – led an exchange to bird watching in central Texas. Mainly US ambassadors, one from Canada. Trained Austin hosts – state parks and different places. Also cultural activities in Austin. Spring migration a good time. Not too strenuous.

4. Houston – quilters – Hosting ambassadors after quilt show.

Strategic PlanAna Smulski - ana@friendshipforce.org

See handout for specifics for each point. (at end of this document)1. Enrich FF Exchanges2. Maximize Exchange participants and hosting capacity3. NextGen for everyone4. Leadership Development5. Branding and Marketing6. Leverage Modern Technology7. Initiate Partnerships8. Enhance and Secure revenue streams

For next 3 years- Work in progress- Separate items but integrated- NextGen component in every piece- Goal – increase participation by 10% in all activities

o More people going on exchanges- Global survey – members

- Setting FFI on a sustainable course- Diversity, new clubs, thematic, partnerships- Meaning – Friendship in Action – humanitarian projects- Learning:

o professional development, o education – more Road Scholar programs, Cuba, o language schools where there are clubs. o SERVAS (member based, no clubs). o Homestay.com – more hosting

- Fill the Seat Policy to fill under-subscribed exchanges – post 100 days before- Average 5000 ambassadors a year – not growing. 70% not traveling; exchanges not full.- Accept good ambassadors, get references- 52% requests to go to Europe. Maximize Europe.

NextGen – for active people who want active component, more freedom- Target active, existing FF participants as well as soon-to-be retirees and younger generation- Dave Kalan – head of this outreach- Newsletter for NextGen – what it is about, understand how to get involved- Laura – 10 NextGen exchanges – with Youth council. Want flexibility, interesting activities, active

Leadership Development – ask clubs for ideas. 7 ideas:- add field reps- create task forces on a variety of topics- encourage clubs to embrace a goal and report progress- Offer frequent and accessible training – new models, tools

Branding/marketing- New promotional video- Global friendship campaign- Include clubs and members in fun global and local community projects and events – like photo contests

and exhibits

Leverage Modern Tech- Build information database – better member services- Develop global online community platform and website- Improve usability of website

Partnership- Increase program variety and participation with partnerships with- Like minded or- Complimentary missions

Enhance revenue- Fundraising – purpose – diverse donors- Digital fundraising - more FFI exposure- Explore potential for funding through grants- Endowment fund

Artwork projects- My Dream of Peace

Member decline- Video: Friendshippromo – on YouTube

Morocco – Isabella Iverson and Gerry Arens

I did not attend this; ask for her notes. They went to Morocco with FF last year.Iiverson12@sbcglobal.net