March 7, 2002 - NPCA: COS Group Conference Planning Meeting Summary

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By Admin1 (admin) on Thursday, March 07, 2002 - 4:06 pm: Edit Post

COS Group Conference Planning Meeting Summary





Read and comment on this message from the NPCA on the latest schedule of activities for the Peace Corps 40th plus one at:

COS Group Conference Planning Meeting Summary *

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



COS Group Conference Planning Meeting Summary

March 2, 2002 1:00-3:00pm AFSA

On March 2nd the second meeting with Country of Service (Friends of ) group representatives was held to ensure affiliate group participation in the conference planning process and solicit information on affiliate group activities and concerns. The following group representatives were in attendance:

John von Reyn, Friends of Swaziland

Jen Varsak, Friends of Romania

Sarah Hall Goodwin, Friends of Honduras

Adam Tomasek, Friends of Paraguay

Patrick Thomas, Friends of Niger

Ellen Hunt, Friends of Morocco

Kelli Moore, Friends of Senegal and the Gambia

Sarah Mc Means, Peace Corps Alumni Association for Philippine Development

Cori Welbourn Bassett, NPCA

Michelle Ghiselli, NPCA

Joseph Permetti, NPCA Microenterprise Fund & Conference Committee Programs

Chair

Cori Welbourn Bassett opened the meeting by giving an update on the activities and events of the rescheduled conference highlighting the major schedule changes. See tentative conference schedule below, but for the most up-to-date conference schedule, always check the NPCA website under the Honor the 40th section. Please read the schedule carefully as there have been some changes since September.

Tentative Schedule for 2002 Conference As of March 6, 2002

Dates: Thursday, June 20 through Sunday, June 23, 2002

Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel

Wednesday, June 19

Afternoon: Board Meeting, Part I (1 pm – 5 pm, Omni Shoreham)

Evening: Advocacy Day Orientation (7 pm – 10 pm, Omni Shoreham) May 20 is the deadline for sign-up to participate in Advocacy Day.

Thursday, June 20

All Day: Business Symposium (9 am – 5 pm, Omni Shoreham) The luncheon is a separate charge.

All Day: Advocacy Day (Capitol Hill) If you are signing up for Advocacy Day, you must attend the orientation on Wednesday night.

All Day: Global Challenge (9 am – 3 pm, Shriver Hall in the Peace Corps Building)

Afternoon: Advocacy Everyday Panel (4 pm – 5:30 pm, Capitol Hill) Evening: Congressional Reception (6 pm – 8 pm, Great Hall in the Library of Congress)

Friday, June 21

All Day: *Bazaar (9 am – 8 pm, Omni Shoreham)

All Day: **Career Fair (9 am - 5 pm, Omni Shoreham)

All Day: **Career Workshops (9 am - 5 pm, Omni Shoreham)

Morning: Opening Ceremony (9 am –10 am, Constitution Hall) Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo is the confirmed speaker.

Morning: Ruppe and Shriver Awards (10 am -10:30 am, Constitution Hall)

Morning: Host Country National Awards Ceremony (10:30 am - 11:15 am, Constitution Hall)

Afternoon: ****Lunch ($7 in advance or $10 onsite TBA)

Afternoon: Major Panels and Workshops (1 pm – 5 pm, Omni Shoreham, including “A Peace Corps Mandate” 1:30 pm – 3 pm)

Evening: ***Country of Service Group Dinners (5 pm – 11 pm, embassies and restaurants)

Evening: ****Peace Corps Staff Reception (6 pm – 9 pm, National Museum of Women in the Arts. Tickets are $50.)

Saturday, June 22

All Day: *Bazaar (9 am – 1 pm, Omni Shoreham)

All Day: **Career Workshops (9 am – 5 pm, Omni Shoreham)

Morning: Board Committee Meetings (9 am – 2 pm, Omni Shoreham)

Morning: *Multi-Cultural Education event (9 am – 5 pm George Washington University Campus)

Early AM: Volunteer Day (8 am – Noon, location TBA)

Morning: *President’s Forum/Annual General Meeting/Newsletter and Website Awards (10 am – noon, Omni Shoreham)

Afternoon: *Concert, *Exhibits and ****Box Lunch (Lunches are $7 in advance or $10 onsite at the National ZOO.)

Afternoon: Panels, Workshops (1:30 – 5 pm, Omni Shoreham) and Country of Service Updates (3– 5 various locations)

Afternoon: ***Country of Service Updates (3 pm – 5 pm, various locations including George Washington University, Omni Shoreham)

Evening: ****Fundraising Reception and Dinner (6 pm – 10 pm, Omni Shoreham) Bill Moyers is the emcee. Tickets will be $150 and $250. Tickets will be available April 1.

Evening: *****Dance (9 pm – 1 am, Omni Shoreham)

Sunday, June 23

Morning: *Procession to Arlington National Cemetery across Memorial Bridge Morning: *Closing Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery Afternoon: ****Picnic and *Games (Ball fields at 23rd and Constitution)

Afternoon: *Board Meeting, Part II (1 pm – 5 pm, Omni Shoreham)

* This is a free activity open to non-conference registrants.

** If not registered for the conference, a separate ticket is required to attend this event.

*** Contact your COS group to see if there will be a charge to attend this event.

**** A separate ticket is required to attend this event.

***** Tickets for non-conference registrants will be available at the door.

Affiliate groups should note that the Country of Service Group Dinners are now scheduled for Friday, June 21st as the Fundraising Reception and Dinner has been reschedule for Saturday, June 22nd.

Joseph Permetti, announced that there will be a workshop for those interested in the Microenterprise Fund during the conference, possibly on Saturday morning. A brief description of the NPCA Microenterprise Fund is as follows:

- The NPCA's newest initiative, the Microenterprise Fund (MEF), is an investment vehicle that allows individual RPCVs to earn a modest return on their investment while reengaging in Goal One of the Peace Corps -- to help individuals in developing countries improve their lives.

- The MEF provides Peace Corps Alumni a way to invest their money while at the same time helping primarily women in developing countries to create their own employment and raise their own incomes, so that they can provide for their families over the long term.

- The MEF is a partnership between the NPCA and FINCA International (Foundation for International Community Assistance) -- one of the leading microfinance institutions.

- The MEF kick off of NPCA's newest initiative was Wed., February 27, 2002 at AFSA headquarters in Washington, DC.

- Information about how RPCV groups can participate is being prepared and will also be available soon via the Web site.

Affiliate Groups Subcommittee Co-Chairs Sharon Sugarek (mailto:sharonsugarek@hotmail.com) and Deb Most (mailto:debmost@prodigy.net) will serve as the COS Groups Liaisons for the rescheduled conference.

COS groups have been asked to designate one person as a point of contact for their conference related events and activities. It is imperative that NPCA and the Conference Committee have one point of contact for each group as there are events such as the Opening Reception, Fundraising Dinner, and Procession to Arlington where COS groups will have an active role. We must know whom to contact regarding your group’s role in these events. Please send your point of contact to Sharon and Deb.

All COS (Friends of) groups planning to hold events, updates, etc. at the rescheduled conference are asked to resubmit their plans to Sharon and Deb. This information will be assembled into a reference booklet that will be distributed to all conference participants at registration. If there is an additional charge for any of these events, please make that clear in the description.

To further communicate information about COS group events at the conference, COS groups are asked to add summaries of their events to their affiliate group directory pages on the NPCA website using the following template:

Country:

COS/”Friends of” Group Name:

Event(s):

Date:

Time:

Location:

Cost (if applicable):

Contact:

The conference planning committee will assign locations for COS updates based on the number of conference registrants from each particular country. They will inform all COS groups of the locations of these updates as soon as possible. Groups that know they will have large numbers of update attendees that are not registered for the conference (inflating the size of the room needed) are encouraged to find their own space for their COS update and to provide NPCA with that information so that it can be included in the reference booklet for conference registrants.

Michelle Ghiselli fielded questions on current affiliate group issues such as the reaffiliation process noting that the deadline for reaffiliation (March 1st) had passed. She stressed the importance of making sure that each group has at least one officer on the NPCA Group Leaders Listserv and reiterated the need for each group to have a point of contact for the Conference as the NPCA will be using both the group leader listserv and a list of points of contact to distribute information about the conference and the COS events. Michelle also discussed the Presidents’ Forum scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 10am – noon and emphasized that each group needs to have a voting representative at that session (although other group members may attend the session as well). She repeated Joel Rubin’s request for issues for the President’s Forum and asked groups to send their ideas directly to Joel at mailto:joelrubin@hotmail.com.

The group representatives in attendance provided valuable feedback on a variety of issues relating to the conference. Due to the success of these meetings, a third meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2002, from 1:00-3:00pm at AFSA (2101 E Street, NW, Washington, DC) in the second floor meeting room.




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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; RPCV News - 40th plus 1

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By Rosemary F Pricci on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 7:19 am: Edit Post

What is going on with the PERU COS? Will there be a dinner at the Peruvian Embassy?

I was in Peru I Group and want to have any information which would pertain to them.
Thanks for forwarding any and all such information.


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