So it’s been just about a month since our Washington D.C. trip for NCIV’s annual conference. This year was the 50^th Anniversary, and we started off with a lovely gala at the Marriott in downtown D.C. It was a “black tie” event, so it gave us the opportunity to dress to impress! There was a reception to start off the evening, where we heard from elected officials. Then everything was moved to a large ballroom that encompassed rows of elegantly dressed tables, which seated guests from all over the nation, as well as several international guests. The dinner was three courses; a salad, a chicken entrée (perfectly prepared I might add), and a small but perfectly portioned dessert.  We had the opportunity to listen and learn from professionals in the field and inspirational speakers from other countries with past experiences with the program. Many awards were given out and our very own boss, Max Stewart, had the pleasure of presenting some. Let’s not forget to congratulate one of our board members, Larry Chastang for his gold star award! The evening ended with an after party at one of the lounge spaces in the lobby with live music and some dancing.

Varun and I had the opportunity to have “Breakfast on the Hill,” where once again we ate with the privilege of listening to elected officials and there input on the National Council of International Visitors organization. After a quaint breakfast we were free to tour the senate and congress buildings. Max had an old friend working with Congressman Mica, but when we went to his office, instead of meeting with Max’s friend we were pleasantly surprised by Mica’s presence. He simply walked in and began introducing himself to Varun and I, then allowed us into his office to have a quick chat. He was supposed to be out of town that day, but we didn’t mind the pleasant surprise and his career advice. The breakfast on the Hill was very informative and once again another great opportunity to meet new people!

- Adriana Gutierrez

On the night of 18th, us interns were privilaged enough to be invited for a dinner reception at the residence of the Ambassador of Yemen. After a challenging ride through tight corners of the hilly suburban area of D.C. (all credit due to the bus driver!!), we reached the awe-inspiring mansion of the ambassador. H.E. Abdulwahab Abdulla Al-Hajjri welcomed us into his residence and after a brief introduction, we had a chance to tour the residence. The ambassador had a great collection of art from the Middle East, and jambiyas (daggers in Arabic) around the house. Afterwards, we were served an assortment of delecious Middle Eastern appetizers. While munching on the delecious falafel with humus and sambosa, we had some interesting discussion with some of the other guests, about the recent challenges in the Middle East. Later on, all three of us dressed up in traditional yemeni clothing, and took pictures. After the dinner reception, Adriana went out to explore – Kara and I decided to head back to hotel, and order a pizza.

-Varun Gandhi

(And delicious pizza it was!) So, both Varun and Adriana have covered many of those opportunities we were fortunate enough to take part in during our DC trip. Collectively we participated in a lot of the appointments, but the three of us were able to experience a few of the capital’s unique sessions individually. So, while the two of them enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast on the Hill, I ventured off to the State Department to hear from the Secretary of State herself.

Secretary Clinton highlighted the importance of people-to-people diplomacy in advancing a more cohesive global community. The personal reciprocity is essential to genuine and unpretentious relationships, that the Secretary made clear to all of us. Though her appearance was brief, it was nonetheless a unique experience for me to hear her speak (and Mrs. Clinton is actually the most famous person I’ve ever seen up close!).

So, needless to say, the three interns had their fair share of life in the capital city. Of course, I am leaving out some of the best parts of our journey, those simple moments, after all was said and done, when the three of us (and even Max!) were able to explore, shedding some new light on those hidden, best parts of DC. We traveled through the Smithsonian’s, folded over in Dupont Circle after some Krispy Kremes, and really got to know the back streets of the city when Max led us on a wild goose chase for miles and miles. (Well, okay, it was like a couple of blocks, but I couldn’t feel my feet anymore!) Eventually we settled for this unique Korean restaurant, and I can safely say that it was a pleasant and perfect ending to our trip.

I hope everyone enjoyed reading another post! Some pictures from the trip are below. Keep reading the ICCF e-newsletters to check up on our upcoming projects. Oh, and Happy St. Patty’s day!

- Kara Solebello

]]> http://iccfvip.com/blog/2011/03/17/nciv-conference/feed/ 0 http://iccfvip.com/blog/2011/01/20/year-in-review/ http://iccfvip.com/blog/2011/01/20/year-in-review/#comments Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:27:39 +0000 Kara http://iccfvip.com/blog/?p=129 Greetings everyone, Happy 2011! All of us in Orlando are looking forward to what promises to be an innovative year. To kick off 2011 we have prepared a year in review for you, including our highlights, some pictures, and a brief look at how we’ve progressed over these twelve months. Of course, the most important part is reading about us, the new spring interns! At the end of the review we’ve included our individual biographies, and then, taking a look at our upcoming projects, we’ll explain what the new World Affairs title means for the future of this organization. Scroll down to see what Orlando has been up to – the best is yet to come!

In late September, the International Council had the privilege of hosting a South African delegation for six days. Pictured here are the four visitors with Marco Rubio (second in from the left) at a campaign event. The five conversed about local politics, and the role that the American value system plays in government elections. The group was also able to tour both the State House and the University of Central Florida, the third largest university in the country.

Courtesy miamieverydayphoto.blogspot.com

The first week of June marked the regional NCIV meeting in Miami, Florida. Above is the lush Mayfair Hotel and Spa where the Orlando crew spent their week. The ninety-five percent humidity did not bode well for the interns in their suit and ties, but it was a great experience to see CIV members and interact in a formal setting.

In late October, the Council hosted a group of young political leaders from Australia. During their stay, the group was given an insight into the politics of Florida and local elections. The delegation had an opportunity to see the campaigns of both major political parties, attending a rally with the Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Marco Rubio and visiting the headquarters of the Orange County Democratic Party to discuss voter outreach strategies. The group also went to the University of Central Florida, the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, and last but certainly not the least, the group had the opportunity to go to the ever famous Magic Kingdom.

In early September, a State and Local Government project of eleven participants came to Orlando. The visitors, mostly from Southeast Asia, met with Orange County officials to learn of Central Florida’s rich history, and explore local election technology. The group also took a trip to MetroPlan Orlando to examine public transportation issues and the development of a light rail through Central Florida.

Our final picture pays tribute to the capital city as former fall interns candidly pose in front of the State Capitol building. This picture was taken in early December when the Central Florida crew had an opportunity to visit D.C. for five days and explore the sights and sounds of Washington, meeting with several NPAs (National Programming Agencies) along the way. It looks like they may even be enjoying the frosty weather! We wish them all the best for the future.

The D.C. experience is one of many highlights from 2010, and we hope that this review has given some light to these events, demonstrating the impact that Central Florida continues to make within the international field. To expand on this, the closing below includes an overview of future programs for the World Affairs Council, as well as a brief look at the interns who keep it all together.

Without further ado, the new 2011 spring interns! The Orlando overview follows.

Varun Gandhi

Varun Gandhi is an international student from India. He was born and raised in Bhavnagar, India. He has been in the United States since early 2006. He is a senior at University of Central Florida, studying International Relations and a minor in Business. He intends to go back to India after graduation and work there for an inter-governmental organization. After gaining significant work experience, he wants to return to the United States to pursue MBA in International Business.

Adriana Gutierrez

Adriana was born and raised in Central Florida. She is a 21 year old student at UCF and this is her fourth year as an International & Global Studies major, with a minor in French language. Her family focused on her cultural awareness and expanded her life experiences by travel, beginning at a young age. She intends on sticking to an international future whether it be finishing her academic career with an MBA or a masters in Journalism. Adriana’s goal in life is to pursue a career that will make a difference.

Kara Solebello

Kara is from the little state of Rhode Island, moving to Florida to attend its largest university, UCF. Currently she is an Interdisciplinary Studies major focusing on Multicultural Anthropology and French, maintaining two minors in International & Global Studies and World Comparative Studies. This past fall Kara spent the semester in DC working for the Institute of International Education, trying to get a sense of her future plans. She hopes that these two internships will help her better understand the international field so that she can eventually pursue a PhD and foster a career in political writing.

I know how excited you are to hear more about us in the future, but there’s still so much to be said about the Orlando Council!

We have many ground-breaking and exciting plans for the year of 2011. One of the biggest changes comes with the organization’s new title, the International Council of Central Florida is now the World Affairs Council of Central Florida. The name better clarifies the diversity of our programs, and it’s very exciting! Of course, we expect to accomplish a wide variety of International Visitor Leadership Programs, but this year we also hope to establish some new projects of our own. Academic Quest, for example, is a nationwide school competition for international studies, and we will be working with regional middle schools to incorporate this type of coursework into the curriculum and create teams to compete on a national level. Another project for this year is the International Calendar, an online  monthly bulletin that will arrange all of Central Florida’s internationally affiliated organizations, and their events, collectively onto our website. As summer draws near we will assisting some local businesses with their overseas relationships by providing our delegation services. I hope you enjoyed our look back at 2010, keep checking for news on WACCF’s upcoming projects for 2011.

-Academic World Quest; a program for middle school students to learn more interactively about the world in a competition format. We will start the process of partnering with the local middle schools and introduce this concept during the spring. We are in the process of conducting research on which schools and school systems to begin with.

-Great Decisions; a speaker series program designed to highlight the current situations and issues from around the world. The World Affairs program provides speakers on these issues and we facilitate the speakers programs

-Corporate Training; unlike any other training program available, this will allow us to partner with major companies in the Central Florida area to facilitate cultural understanding for both incoming delegates and also when businesses travel overseas.

We will still have the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) which is our flagship program and the highlight of many of our members experiences with the organization.

Look for these changes to begin in 2011 with a new website, email, address, and of course name.

We are excited to what 2011 will bring for Central Florida and we are preparing for the best.

-Lauren

About a week and a half ago we hosted a group of visitors from a couple of countries in Asia including China, Burma, Samoa, Mongolia and a couple others. We had an amazing time! We started at 8:30am and didn’t stop until 3pm, going from the senator’s office to the orange county elections office and a small museum in downtown. I would love to mention the fact that these visitors are not only amazing at a professional level but they are extremely fun as well. Burma got extremely nervous when he thought he had unintentionally stolen a soda, I tried to explain it came with the combo but he seemed not to believe me haha, later in the limo-bus everybody was laughing and having fun at such accommodation they were given in transportation, oh and when they found out the limo-bus had a refrigerator, oh that really got to them there were even pictures involved!!

The visitors also shared some of their professional experience with us and were always eager to ask questions at all the meetings,then there was an exchange of business cards and an effort to convince the interns to make a trip to each of  their countries ASAP!

Overall it was a great day, I can’t wait for the next group!

Juan

this should be a great event.

I also want to thank our sponsors for the event.
LarsonAllen
SunTrust
BellPerformance
FruitSeed Microfunds

This winter look for some interesting changes at ICCF and re-tooled programs and events.

Sorry for the absence of blogs.  We have had issues with access to the website here at the office.  Last week we showed a group of Chinese visitors around Central Florida.  In between meetings the visitors had some time for recreation to visit Daytona Beach and Disney World.  ICCF thanks Mr. Sam Goodwin and Dr. Don Matthews for meeting with the visitors and discussing development in Daytona Beach.  At the end of August ICCF has two programs coming up back to back.  The first group is from Kazakhstan followed by a group from Kyrgyzstan.

Best Regards,

Joe

Today we worked on getting the project booklets done for the visitors coming from China on Sunday.  They will be here through the middle of next week.  I’ll be spending the day with them on Tuesday, which I am really looking forward to.  Other than that I got another project proposal nearly finished, so I should be sending that one out soon.  With any luck one of Joe or I’s project proposals will be accepted and we’ll be able to add a new and interesting project to our list for the coming months.

We’ll keeo you updated on the group from China, so stay tuned for more information!

Best Regards,

Alex