Southwest Conference

Southwest Conference 2012 

Mark your calendar to attend the next Southwest Regional Conference at the newest city in our region – Wichita, Kansas on March 23-25, 2012. The Kansas Club is doing the work now to provide members of our region with a great conference. Set aside this weekend in March to renew acquaintances and make new friends in other cities, learn some new things about Friendship Force, and explore ways to build a better club. And – it’s always fun! 

http://www.friendshipforceofkansas.org/

FYI: Kansas is celebrating their Sesquicentennial this year with many events should you be passing through Wichita. 

Southwest Conference Clubs (except for Dallas club membership is not up to date)

Louisiana Members: 61
Website: www.ffbr.org

New Mexico Members: 104
Website: www.friendship-force-new-mexico-usa.org

Oklahoma Members: 60
Website: http://friendshipforce.homestead.com/oklahoma.html

Kansas Members: 92
Website: www.friendshipforceofkansas.org

Austin Members: 58
Website: www.ffiaustin.com

Dallas Members: 110
Website: www.friendshipforcedallas.org

Fort Worth Members: 58
Website: www.fffw.org

Houston Members: 53
Website: www.ffhoustontx.org/

San Antonio Members: 51
Website: www.friendshipforcesa.org  Not working

Rio Grand Valley - does not have a website

Our successful conference has concluded. 

See Conference Handouts that are available at the bottom of this page.

See a slide show of photos taken at the SW conference and put into a PhotoDex presentation by Ken Walker. There are two ways you can see it, and you will leave this site by clicking on either of these links:

See video on the new Performing Arts Center as shown by Donald Winspear at our conference.

(You will leave this site by clicking on this link.)

Some feedback:

From: Robert Urban <bob-stella@att.net>
Subject: Thanks for the wonder conference.

Bob and I wish to thank everyone for the wonderful Southwest Conference. I did not think anyone could top the one that was held in Baton Rouge but you all pulled it off.

The workshops we attended were so interesting and informative, the food was the best I have ever eaten at a hotel and the accommodations were great.

I know if takes so much work and many volunteers to put on a conference such as this, so to all....thanks for your hard work.

Stella Norman
Bob Urban

[erperez note: stella got us some free audio tourguide tickets for the King Tut exhibit! gave them to the 10 folks who went!]

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From: Debbie Powell <dpowell@thefriendshipforce.org>
Subject: Sincere thanks to The Friendship Force of Dallas

Dear Wendy and members of the Dallas conference committee:

Greetings from Friendship Force International! It’s Monday morning and I’m back in the FFI office in Atlanta . I wanted to thank you all again for your warm welcome and hospitality this past weekend. I enjoyed getting to know some of you for the first time and becoming reacquainted with old friends in the southwest region. Your choice of speakers and the workshops that I personally attended were all well-prepared and very interesting. I should mention that I took extensive notes during Michael Colatrella’s talk on handling disputes and hope to present a condensed version to our staff here in the near future. His tips are something we can all benefit from.

Kudos again to everyone who participated in the organizing of the SW regional conference, or presented or moderated a workshop. It was certainly a real success.

My only regret, of course, is that we ran out of time Saturday afternoon for further Q&A from the attendees. I do hope that anyone with questions for the Friendship Force International staff will contact me, or one of my colleagues, anytime by email or phone. As always, we look forward to hearing from you and assisting you.

In friendship,
Debbie Powell
Director of Program Planning and Development

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From: Jim Young and Berry Bock <jim_and_berry@hotmail.com>
Subject: Great Conference

Congratulations on a great conference. We appreciate all the work that you and so many to the Dallas club did to make it such a success.

Did the SMU professor who presented the conflict resolution material leave a copy of his presentation? If he did, I would like to have a copy if possible. I would also like a copy if his hand-out which I missed. This would be very good for us to remember.

Jim

NOTE: See below.

Southwest Conference 2009

What:     Friendship Force SW Regional Conference Dallas Club is hosting the best conference ever!

See how we can put into practice FFI goals to       

  Explore  •  Understand  •  Serve

Friday: Meet new friends and renew friendships from the ten clubs in our Southwest Conference in our Hospitality suite with private patio. Attend small group dinners at area restaurants hosted by FF Dallas members 

Saturday: Attend buffet breakfast, hear speakers, FFI representative, morning workshops; see club displays, have lunch, attend afternoon workshops and SW Club reports, enjoy social hour, evening banquet and entertainment. (Three meals and parties included in the fee!)

Sunday: Attend optional buffet breakfast and say farewells in our Hospitality suite. Attend optional 2009 Discover China preview & Chinese New Year Brunch. Host and/or participate in one-day post-conference home stay. Visit the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art.

When:     Friday - Sunday, February 6-8, 2009

Where:    Crowne Plaza Hotel North Dallas-Addison

14315 Midway Road, Dallas, TX  75244. 972-980-8877

website: http://cpgalleria-nr.crowneplaza.com  Hotel rate $79+tax

Fee:         $90

Registrations received by December 31, 2008 pay $90 (regular rate). Registrations received after December 31 pay $100 ($10 late fee). UPDATE: Late fee waived - pay $90 rate!

Mail your registration form with check or money order payable to Friendship Force of Dallas to FF SW Conference, c/o Edward Perez, 9511 Liptonshire Dr., Dallas, TX 75238.

Once we process your registration, we will send you a confirmation per your selection.

Thanks for coming!

edward perez: erperez@acm.org.  
Registrar, Friendship Force 2009 Southwest Conference
Treasurer, Friendship Force Dallas

Workshops and Events

We had three sessions running simultaneously in the morning and three in the afternoon. Each of our three rooms was dedicated to one theme or subject matter during both sessions. They follow FFI's theme of explore, understand, and serve - exchanges, communication, club administration. We are excited about the quality of the presenters and relevance of the topics.

Handouts received are available at the bottom of this page and on request.

10:45 AM Room 1, Communications      It’s One World After All
Sue Jones, guest presenter from Richland College-DAL – Cultural Sensitivity Workshop: interactive activity
Moderator: Teresa Wilkin 

10:45 AM Room 2, Exchange Management      If You Build It, They Will Come 
Ed Edgren-DAL – Domestic exchanges; Jerry Tuttle-FW  - Outgoing exchanges; Joyce Rulon-OK –  Recruiting ambassadors; Randy Thomson-FW – Directing an inbound exchange 
Moderator: Jim Bourn 

10:45 AM Room 3, Club Administration      Moving Into the 21st Century 
Mary Suther-DAL and Ray Enstam-DAL –  Tax update for non-profits and new 501(c)(3) regulations; Ken Walker-DAL – Slideshow presentations; edward perez-DAL – Finance record keeping and software 
Moderator: John Whaley 

****************************

1:30 PM Room 1, Communications      Ben Franklin Would Love It 
Ken Walker-DAL – Newsletters; Mary Williams-DAL - Designing websites
Moderator: Chris Michalek 

1:30 PM Room 2, Special Exchanges      We’re Off to See the Wizard 
Ed Edgren-DAL – Planning a special exchange; Dave Kalan-Wis – Eco-adventure tours; Peggy Benton-DAL – Discovery trips
Moderator: Ray Enstam 

1:30 PM Room 3, Club Administration      The Rocky Factor: Building Strong Clubs
Jim Young-FW and Brud Kisner-DAL –  Recruiting, care and keeping of new members; Recruiting and training new officers; edward perez-DAL – Database management 
Moderator: Wendy Whaley 

* We had two keynote speakers - Donald Winspear from the new Dallas Performing Arts Center and Michael Colatrella from the SMU Dispute Resolution program, plus Debbie Powell from FFI and Jim Young, our Southwest Regional Rep.

Discover China Luncheon

 Chinese New Year Brunch Banquet

The Olympic Games of 2008 gave us a ringside seat on 21st century China. Now, six months
later, join us for another great opportunity to learn about Chinese culture. We ushered in the Year of the Ox, a year traditionally devoted to the hard work aimed at consolidating the glitzy progress of the outgoing Year of the Rat. There was a presentation on China and the growth in that country, a preview of sights on the upcoming trip, and the Chinese zodiac and what it can tell us about the year ahead as China builds on its new image as an Olympic host.

PDF files

If you don't have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can get it as a free download from http://get.adobe.com/reader.

To view the PDF documents, just click on a link below.
To save the PDF document to your computer:
1. Move cursor over the link.
2. Press right mouse and select "Save Target as..." [Internet Explorer] or "Save Link as..." [Firefox].
3. Specify where you want to save the document and click OK.

   Conference Flyer

   Registration form

   Directions to hotel

   Discover China Flyer

Conference Handouts

PDF, Word, and PowerPoint files of the workshop handouts that are available are listed here. Feel free to use them, but please credit the folks who created them.

Presentations on PowerPoint are labeled Presentation. You need PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer installed on your computer to access them. (Working on converting these to Word documents.)

If you don't have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can get it as a free download from http://get.adobe.com/reader.

Conflict, Communication and Culture - Michael Colatrella

Discover Exchanges - Peggy Benton
Domestic Exchanges - Ed Edgren
Easy Websites - Mary Williams
Exchange Policies 2009 - FFI
FAQs Dallas - Brud Kisner
Far Away Places - Peggy Benton

FFI Eco-Exchanges - Dave Kalan

Inbound Exchange Committees Presentation (PP) - Randy Thomson

IRS Requirements for Non Profit Agencies - Mary Suther and Ray Enstam

Managing Finances - edward perez

Managing Membership - edward perez

Membership Ideas - Brud Kisner
Membership Success - from Lincoln Neb club
More Newsletter Tips - Ken Walker

Newsletter Tips - Ken Walker

Newsletters - Mary Williams (not available at the conference)
Planning a Special Exchange - Ed Edgren

Outbound Exchange Success - Jerry Tuttle

Outbound ED Leadership Presentation (Word) - Jerry Tuttle
Recruiting and Selecting Ambassadors - Joyce Rulon

Recruiting and Training Members and Officers - Jim Young

Resources Photo Sharing - Mary Williams

Slideshow Presentations - Ken Walker

Southwest Conference Presentation (PP) - Jim Young

Summary Exchange Workshop - Jim Bourn, moderator
Working With Photos - Ken Walker

Click to see the video on the new Dallas Performing Arts Center as shown by Donald Winspear 

(You will leave this site by clicking on this link.)

For presentation (PowerPoint and Word) on Easy Websites, contact Mary Williams - txtravel@flash.net.