Lawrence Sister Cities Advisory Board
September 10, 2008 minutes
Approved October 7, 2008
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MEMBERS PRESENT: |
Linda Hyler, Jon Josserand, Bob Moody, Andrew Tsubaki, Ken Albrecht, Michael Kennedy, Lynn Ground, Lori Hutfles, Kathleen Hodge, Gina Ross, Kelly Herndon, Bill Keel, Stuart Boley, Lynn Ground, Bob Schumm |
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MEMBERS ABSENT: |
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STAFF LIAISON PRESENT: |
Michael Tubbs |
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PUBLIC PRESENT: |
Cathy Hilliard |
The Chair announced the presence of a quorum.
The Board engaged in addressing invitations to the upcoming fundraiser in a back conference room due to a conflicting meeting. When the City Commission Chamber became available, the location was moved there and an abbreviated Board meeting was then conducted.
Josserand reported that August minutes were not yet available for review.
Boley Distributed accounting documents. They were received and approved.
Hiratsuka report
o The Japan Festival will be occurring at JCCC this month.
o Expenses for Hiratsuka 2008 trip were distributed and explained by Cathy Hilliard.
o Linda Hyler suggested that chaperones for the Hiratsuka trip come from dues-paying members of the Sister Cities organization. Specifically she wanted to recommend Lynne Renick from Southwest Junior High. Lynne has been a generous contributor to the scholarship fund. Lynne’s daughter has been on the Hiratsuka trip and Lynne has a great rapport with students.
Eutin report
o A report has been received from Eutin that the sculpture has been moved for safekeeping.
Scholarship Fundraiser (Moody)
o Invitations to the event have been received and everyone believes look quite nice. Moody and other members of the committee have been actively seeking sponsorships. A generous gift has been provided by the Hodges to help offset catering costs. In addition, an anonymous gift has been made to underwrite beverage expenses of the event. Moody requested anyone seeking sponsorships to coordinate with the committee so that duplications are not made.
Report from International Sister Cities Convention
The discussion of ideas generated from the Sister Cities Convention started last month continued, due to lack of time last month. A number of ideas for fundraising and publicity were suggested by Hyler:
o Providing Dip-N-Dots labor at KU athletic events
o Have students write articles about their experiences for publication
o Remember to use “Lawrence” magazine for publicity
o Web site – get applications for students on line
o Utilize blogging/Facebook/emerging technologies
o Blending a membership/fundraising event
o Creation of an annual award
o Use Lawrence public library/Hy-Vee for displays
o Civic group presentations – speakers bureau
o Photographs in LJW “Friends and Neighbors”
Hodge amplified on some of these ideas and made the following observations:
o State of Kansas has an official Sister Cities representative
o Hodge thinks the conference was very worthwhile and attendance should continue.
o Hodge stressed the importance in fundraising of the consistency over time of a signature event which is annually anticipated. The event must be recognizable and held annualy. A “Festival of Trees,” and “Taste of Lawrence” were provided as examples of such an event. One idea she relayed was a “Beers Around the World” event held in St. Louis.
o Hodge believes that we should consider the engagement of a public relations/marketing professional to assist the Board in some of these deliberations.
Keel mentions a number of committees exist which could and should consider these ideas, and discussed the idea of a “new technologies” committee.
Third Sister City Committee Report (Schumm)
The Committee met on August 28. Five of six were in attendance. The committee reviewed the information which had been shared by Christilles and others and reviewed the “new city questionnaire” in the context of a possible relationship with Iniades. Iniades is different in some ways from other Sister Cities possibilities because of the existing high level of interest and motivation by the destination city. Professor Tsubaki was quite familiar with this area, having first visited in 1986. Iniades is part of a new six-city collective municipality. The combined population numbers approximately 12,000.
In particular, it appears that there is already significant interest from the Greek side in having their citizens visit Lawrence to gain and improve upon English language skills. There would be differences in the programming for this city compared to our two existing cities.
Schumm warned everyone that these things can take a significant amount of time and should not be rushed. It is important to go through incremental steps to carefully measure local support at the destination city before advancing any formal proposal to elected officials. After discussion, it was the unanimous recommendation of the committee to continue to pursue this potential opportunity including a possible visit of Lawrence individuals to Iniades to gauge first-hand the potential for collaborative programs and local support for a relationship.
The meeting was adjourned.