Sister Cities International Conference

Sister Cities International
2012 Midwest Regional Conference
Where: Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio
When: October 5-6, 2012


Top 10 Reasons to Attend the 2012 Regional Conference!

1. Get information you can use immediately. Sessions are geared toward practical knowledge that makes complex issues easy to understand and apply in your sister city relationship.

2. Learn from the experts and leading authorities! Conference speakers include the most respected authorities and practitioners in citizen diplomacy who will provide their expertise and insight.

3. Select sessions for your specific needs. With 2 tracks and almost a dozen sessions to choose from, you can schedule your time to maximum advantage.

4. Extend your training opportunities. Take advantage of our Mayor’s Reception on Friday evening, to network or come in early on Thursday, October 4, for the TEDxCincinnatiSalon event on the topic “Every Citizen A Diplomat.”

5. Make your voice heard. Take part in discussions during Q&A sessions, meet with your Sister Cities International State Coordinator and Sister Cities International staff members to share your feedback on membership, training and your needs as a local program.

6. Network with your peers. Learn about the other great programs in your region, share best practices, network to find solutions to common problems, or just enjoy the company of like-minded citizen diplomats!

7. Get motivated by hearing about innovations in the network and new ideas for how you can strengthen your local program or collaborate with other organizations.

8. Check out the exhibit area! The exhibit area will allow you a chance to see what other states in our region are doing with their sister city programs, or meet new vendors who can help you take your program to the next level!

9. Meet your peers face-to-face – It’s good to connect over email, better to connect over the phone, but the best way is face-to-face. Look for partnership and joint venture opportunities with another state program!

10. Cincinnati’s a great city – check out the Freedom Center, art galleries, Fountain Square, entertainment at The Banks and our rich, exciting Downtown area!


Copyright © 2012 Sister Cities International, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
915 15th Street NW
4th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Congratulations Dr. Edward Lin

Dr. Edward Lin is a member of Sarasota Sister Cities as well as co-founder, past President and current Honorary Board Adviser of our alliance organization of the Gulfcoast Chinese American Association. SSCA is proud to have Dr. Lin as a member and pass this announcement on to our membership in recognition of his major accomplishment.

          

Dr. Edward Lin, founder and CEO of HealO-Medical, has won the highest award for technology innovation in an international competition sponsored by Sarasota’s Chinese sister city of Xiamen, a Special Economic Zone on China’s southeastern coast.  In addition to 6 million RMB (approximately 1 million USD), Dr. Lin’s company will be provided with five years of research and development facilities in a state-of the-art technology park.  

HealO Medical’s innovative technology is designed to accelerate wound healing, making it applicable to a wide range of uses, including wounds related to battle, accidents, antibiotic resistance, and chronic diseases such as diabetes.  Treating chronic wounds is a growing problem in all developed nations, with costs in the US alone running to $25 billion annually.  “Our breakthrough technology will save lives, ameliorate suffering and reduce healthcare costs,” said Dr. Lin, a physician and inventor who expects to introduce the technology within two years.  

The revolutionary medical technology, trademarked O-ACE-Sys™ (pronounced “Oasis), promises major benefits to patients and caretakers alike.  The need for frequent dressing changes is eliminated by a disposable chamber in which hyperbaric oxygen and negative pressure wound therapy are delivered through a smart pump with the clear view-chamber allowing direct visual assessment at any time.  Improved oxygenation and increased blood flow result in rapid healing, and the system supports a range of adjunct therapies including antibiotic cleansing, tissue engineering, and stem cell therapy.  (For more info, please visit www.HealOMedical.com.)  

HealO, the medical-device company headed by Dr. Lin, is headquartered in Sarasota and plans to manufacture its product locally with the US market as its primary focus. 

Dr. Lin is past President and founding member of the Gulfcoast Chinese American Association, a member of Sarasota Sister Cities Association and of the US-China Peoples Friendship Association Sarasota Chapter.  

Irene Leung
President GCAA

Meet & Greet @ Flemings Tuesday Aug 21

Sarasota Sister Cities Association
Meet & Greet @ Flemings
5 to 7 pm
Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Small Plates,
Great Tastes

Sarasota Sister Cities August Meet & Greet will be at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Their happy hour features a "5 For $6 'Til 7" specials with a choice from 5 premium cocktails, 5 distinctive wines by the glass and 5 generous appetizers. Each selection priced at just $6. See all selections at http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/bar-menu-and-cocktails

Courtesy RSVP for the Meet & Greet requested by Sunday, Aug 19th. This will allow the restaurant to ensure they have sufficient staff for our group. As always, we welcome last minute walk-ins. Also inviting friends to join us is encouraged.

Contact:

Gayle Maxey, Events Director
Sarasota Sister Cities Association
RSVP: gmaxey632@gmail.com
or call 941-416-3565



Fleming's located at the corner of US 41 (Tamiami Trail) and Siesta Drive, just across the street from Westfield Southgate Shopping Center and minutes from downtown.

http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/

Pinterest

I am excited about our new social media site – Pinterest

SSCA now has a great presence on social media, especially great as we look forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of SSCA in 2013.  Here’s what’s happening and what it means to you, our membership, our alliance organizations and our twinned communities.  We are getting close to having a new web site.  Target date is October and it may happen sooner.  Our blog is working well and will be made more user friendly by the end of August.  The blog is currently the place to go for current information. 

But now we have something special with the unveiling of our Pinterest site.  If one picture is worth a 1,000 words – we now have more than a quarter of million worth on our Pinterest site.  Please see the attached information sheet on our social media, which includes Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.  All these sites are available today, but our refinements to Facebook and Twitter will not begin until September. 

Pinterest is the place where we can have an unlimited collection of current and historical digital images and videos  to provide anyone access to learn who we are, what we do and the community impacts we have made.  Consider it a pin board or even a refrigerator door where you have your favorite photos to informally share with friends. 

What’s in it?  It is broken into sections including a section for each sister city, great photos of Sarasota, Meet & Greets, Current Events, and Historic Collections.  Nearly 300 photos in all and more to come.  In fact, when you see something missing and you have photos you know need to be included, you can get them to me by email, disc or flash drive. Also – please advise of any corrections needed.

What can I do with it? This sight is not just to look at.  It is to share. It is our best opportunity to expand community knowledge about SSCA – bypassing the established news media.  It allows anyone in our twinned communities to learn more about Sister Cities (although all narrative is presently only in English). The main point here is we need to spread the word.  For example, it is simple to forward the address for our Pinterest site to all your friends and professional acquaintances. 

As a board member, add the site on the back of your business cards; create an email signature with both your email address and our Pinterest address. Share it with your counterparts in our Sister Cities.  Ask them to spread the word with their government organizations and to local news media. Use your imagination to get the word out on a wide scale.

What’s the address to get to the site?  To access the site just click on (or copy and paste the address in your browser address block) http://pinterest.com/sarasotasister  
Navigation is easy.  There are currently 16 sections with photos.

Our Pinterest site created by Craig Hullinger, VP for Communication, provides a major leap forward in getting SSCA recognized and letting interested people know they can get involved as citizen diplomats with SSCA.

Tom Halbert
President, Sarasota Sister Cities Association 

·       Web:        sarasotasistercities.org

·       Blog:        sarasotasistercities.blogspot.com

·       Twitter:    twitter.com/#!/SarasotaSisterC

·       Facebook: facebook.com/SarasotaSisterCities

·       Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sarasotasister