Ken Johnson's comments As a first time attendee to the NCIV Annual Meeting I was interested in learning more about the mechanics of how the International Visitor Leadership Program works and to meet others from around the country who are doing programs similar to ICW. Also, as Webmaster for the ICW website, I was interested in seeing how other affiliated organizations were using the Internet to tell their stories. Since my return, I have compiled links to the web sites of those member organizations that attended. In these respects, the meeting exceeded my expectations. Our first evening speaker was Keith Reinhard, founder of Business for Diplomatic Action which is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to improve the international image for U. S. businesses. His PowerPoint presentation was impressive and did much to set the tone for the rest of the meeting. His speech is now available at the NCIV web site. Thursday's evening reception in the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room at the Department of State was a unique experience. This reception is an annual feature of the NCIV Annual Meeting as a means of the Department of State to show appreciation for the work that the NCIV does to assist them in their mission. (More to come) Vita Aronson's comments When Nadia called me and told me that I had to write an article about my experience at the NCIV National Meeting in Washington DC, I went for a walk to collect my thoughts. This was the first time when I was among so many people involved in this unique program of volunteers driven only by the idea of how to show the real face of their country to visitors from other countries. Visitors can have an independent experience of the warmth and helpfulness of Americans that they might expect only from family. The opening address by Keith Reinhard (President, Business for Diplomatic Action and Chairman Emeritus, DDB Worldwide) on Wednesday Feb 14 was the wake up call not only for me but also for everyone at the Meeting. In his presentation he told about how America’s image overseas has deteriorated. For example, international travel has increased worldwide by 67%, but travel to the U.S. has decreased by 36%. In a survey question, "where would you go to lead a good life," the United State was fifth after Australia, Canada, Britain, and Germany. My memory took me back many years to when my family could make a choice between Australia, Canada, Germany and the United States. There was not even a question: the U.S. was our first choice: land of the free, land of immigrants, land of equal opportunity. What has changed? This chart from Keith Reinhard presentation gives some answers.
How can we transform this global cooling of opinion about our country? Citizen Diplomacy is the answer. This program is unbiased: Our visitors can see a rich ethnic and cultural diversity, and experience the warmth and kindness of American citizens. I want to repeat the story that Dina Habib Powell told us on Thursday. She is Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Before the U.S. had diplomatic relation with Egypt, a private citizen came to the U.S. as part of the International Visitors Program. After three weeks of traveling, President Johnson debriefed him. He told the President that he did not want to come to America, but he was glad that he came and left the country as a friend of the American people. His name was Anwar Sadat, later to become President of Egypt and a Nobel peace price laureate. We cannot even guess to whom we open our homes and our hearts. Every day we had sessions where people shared their experiences, ideas, and questions. It was very important and helpful for me. My limited experience does not allow me to correctly estimate the value and usefulness of all this information. But, in my opinion, the following advice was useful for us in the office and I think for readers too. We need the help of the whole community in Central Massachusetts to be proactive in NCIV:
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