Update
December 2007
Greetings CDCSD Members Only,
CONTENTS
1. Holiday party time!
2. Closing out the year with gratitude
3. Member comments
4. You're invited!
5. Favorite experiences of 2007 from Office Staff
1. Holiday Party Time!
December 6th, 2007
Great food and service with Mary Pappas at Athens Market Taverna in downtown, with very talented singer Jonathan Kurrant, with our visitors from Pakistan, India, and Nepal, with members, board members and guests, and with gift exchanges all around. All the ingredients of a fun time, nourishing the holiday spirt!

Member Liz Gary, English Language Officer Margot Fox, staff Courtney and Mel, Board
Member Ileana Ovalle.

Visitors and staff gather for a goodbye photo

Visitor from India was THRILLED with the party. Said there is
nothing like it where she is from.

The grin says it all. Mickey is a hit anywhere.

Visitors always bring us gifts. Enrique sets a new style trend with his Nepalese hat.

Anne Porter, Margot Fox and Scott Doyle know how to have fun!

Ori Guttin (Tanya Chongchit’s love) and his Bi-lingual computer
for kids.

Joan Dahlin and Jonathan entertaining us!

Billy, Ori and long time CDCSD citizen diplomat Kaye Porter.
Ahem. It seems the winning table in Greek Trivia might have had
a Billy Colestock Blackberry aiding their cause...Ahem.
2. Closing out the year with gratitude
A BIG piece of our success is our San Diego experts who give of their time and knowledge to our international visitors. We get so busy throughout the year that we seldom have the time to formally thank them other than an email comment as we ask for their time again….. Well, no more. We took a breather from everything else we do, and all got involved in thanking over 550+ of our volunteers who helped this year! We included the hotels we use, Balboa Transportation (who is excellent in getting our visitors to their meetings), and everyone else we felt we didn’t thank enough.

We also extend our thanks to our interns: Marko who has been doing Monkey Surveys with past visitors to see what they think after getting home. Andre who has been working all quarter with our Board Member Gabino Guerrero on business memberships. Parisa and Will who write proposals to our DC partners, attend visitor meetings, and do anything we ask of them willingly. Even to the other day when Will and I went thru the office on a ‘pitch and toss’ mission and transformation of things that needed pitched and transformed.
Gratitude feels good. We have plenty of it and it was nice to spread it around.
3. Member comments
We are here to serve our international visitors and you our members. When the two come together and it works, ahhhhh. We love hearing from you.
“Hi! Thanks for the Update newsletter telling of the comments of our global visitors! Somehow I have the feeling the only way to world peace is thru organizations like the Citizen Diplomacy Council, where we really get to join others in realizing we are, tho from different cultures, all very much alike in our hopes and dreams for a better world. It's hard to be angry at a friend, and Citizen Diplomacy Council is making global friends everyday.”
Best regards,
Dotty Turner
Happy Hour
“Thank you, again, for the kind invitation to the Old Town Happy Hour. (Coyote Café with a delegation of 17 women from 10 countries in the Middle East, and a delegation of young Muslim leaders) It was fascinating to talk with several physicians--all of them women--from Israel, Libya, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. What lovely, brilliant ladies. I hope to hear from them, again.”
Best,
Dr. George McClane
(FYI: In the new year, we intend to make many more opportunities for you to interact with our visitors via Happy Hours at their hotels. –Cath)
4. You're invited!
SD Press Club Invites CDCSD Members to their Holiday Party
at the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library next Thursday evening, December 13th.
With live entertainment, sparkling wine and hors d'oeuvres, this will be a fun gathering and a place to pick up more holiday spirit.
Tickets are $25 all inclusive.
For reservations, call the San Diego Press Club office at (619) 231- 4340.
National Conference in Washington DC
Each year in February we close the office and go off to Washington DC to conference and connect with our national network of citizen diplomats. Great speakers, breakfast on the Hill, visit an embassy, etc. Our board members and member members are more than welcome to join us. The dates are February 13 -16. Email Cath if you are interested in learning more.
5. Favorite experiences of 2007 from our Staff
►Getting to know the staff and realizing how lucky I am to be working here!
►Connecting with a Community Connections visitor via Facebook after he returned home. How the internet connects us! – Mel Miro, Operations
►Meeting and being around Muslim men. I was nicely surprised at how fun and loving they are. Nothing like face-to-face encounters to wipe away preconceived notions.
►Connecting with our SD citizens who hosted international visitors in their homes for three weeks! What amazing people they are.
►Having Geoff McCloud (who hosted an Azeri) tell me that his neighborhood in North Park is in touch with the US Embassy to become a ‘sister neighborhood’ with Baku in Azerbaijan. They had a block party for our visitors from Azerbaijan and this was the result! It just makes me grin.
►The collegial, fun board meetings we have. - Cath Destefano, Executive Director
►The enthusiasm of the breast cancer group! - Courtney Giordano, Programming
►Dinner hospitality with Venezuelan visitor involving my mom and family. Our discussion was amazing and very enlightening and I learned first hand account of Venezuelan current affairs. – Enrique Meza, Programming
It’s been one amazing year. I think of us as the organization who truly does, every day, spread Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men (HUMANS).
May your holidays, whatever it is that you celebrate, be meaningful, smooth, and fun,

Cath DeStefano
Executive Director
Citizen diplomats know that one person
can make a difference.
We do it every day. |