Welcome to summer 2018! I hope you have had the opportunity to enjoy the warmer weather and that you have some wonderful personal and professional plans for the summer season.
SIETAR USA has been planning several new offerings for you for this summer and beyond. These include our new Saturday Seminar Series which will launch in fall 2018. This series is designed to provide intensive, shorter professional development sessions several times a year throughout the United States. Read more below about the first seminar that will take place in Minneapolis in fall 2018. In support of our sister organization SIETAR Japan, which is holding its World Congress from August 8-11, 2018 in Tokyo, we are providing a webinar on Japanese culture in support of those of you who will attend. We also are sharing news of a new publication by SIETAR USA member Craig Storti titled “Why Travel Matters”, an important new addition for all of us who understand the power of exploring the world and meeting new people, not to mention the power of travel to continue transforming ourselves. Local group SIETAR Florida also shares updates and important offerings. Read below as well about plans for our next annual conference.
In this newsletter you will also learn more about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted by the European Union. The GDPR applies to any organization that collects, processes, manages or stores the data of European citizens. SIETAR USA is proud to have members and friends around the world who provide us with personal information as part of registering for conferences and similar activities. Because of this, GDPR does affect SIETAR USA. In brief, we need to hear from you about whether or not you want to continue to receive this newsletter and other communications from us and regarding the information we keep about you. Please provide us with this information as requested below.
In the July newsletter we will be sharing more information about upcoming webinars as well as information about how you can get involved at the leadership level of SIETAR USA. We need you! Please share your interest to work with us by sending an email to info@sietarusa.org.
Plans for the SIETAR USA Saturday Seminar pilot in Minneapolis are coming along well. What is the SIETAR USA Saturday Seminar, you ask? We have heard from you that you would like to participate in shorter regional events outside of our annual conference. In response, SIETAR USA has designed a seminar series that will provide you with a learning opportunity—a 1-day deep dive into a topic or theme. The plan is for a series of these seminars to be held in various regions in the United States over the next few years. Please note that the national conference will be returning next year as well.
The pilot Saturday Seminar will take place in the Fall of 2018 (October or November) in Minneapolis. The program will be a carefully-designed mix of keynotes, plenary presentations (4 of them!) and small group discussions for you to integrate what you have been hearing, share your thoughts and hear other ideas regarding the topic for the day. And, of course, there will be lunch! Several themes have emerged as important to interculturalists and diversity & inclusion professionals but no final decision has been made yet.
The intention is for you to leave feeling “well fed” and invigorated by the experience. Even though the pilot program is in Minneapolis, anyone from anywhere can register and that will be the pattern for the future. Stay tuned for additional details.
SIETAR USA will not be holding an annual conference in 2018. Why, you may ask? We have always strived to provide the highest of quality in our conferences and are proud to have achieved that, most recently at the 2017 conference in San Diego. While our annual conference is our “main event”, we also want to provide other offerings to our members such as webinars, regional events, and more since not everyone can attend the conference for a myriad of reasons. Doing so requires lots of time, energy, and commitment. As a 100% volunteer run nonprofit organization, we have taken a one year hiatus from hosting an annual conference so that we can determine how best to serve you, our members and friends, to ensure that we continue to offer the types of offerings you seek. As part of this process we want to hear from you. For the first time since 2015, we will soon send out a survey asking for your input; please participate when you receive the invitation. We are planning for the 2019 annual conference now and welcome your input and offers of support!
We are delighted to announce that Mrs. Yuko Deneuville has been named new SIETAR Florida Chair for 2018-19. Yuko Deneuville, half French and Japanese, is an Intercultural Transition Coach. She is located in Melbourne (FL), after living in several countries (France, Japan, UK , China). "I am very happy to take this new role after being the Communication officer. To start with, as the next major SIETAR event is the SIETAR Japan World Congress this August, I will be posting information on S-FL Facebook page, about Japanese culture directly from Japan this month!"
As we have several experts on Japanese culture among the SIETAR USA family, we are also designing a webinar for those attending the SIETAR Japan World Congress. The goal is to give several practical tips as well as key understanding of this unique culture for those going to Japan for the first time. Stand by for further details which will be announced later this month.
We are also excited to announce SIETAR Florida is coordinating a panel discussion series on "Bias" that is scheduled to begin in September. The series will be broadcast virtually and is available for anyone to view. We are eager to include SIETAR USA members and other local groups where possible. The goal is to have a meaningful discussion and leave viewers with several takeaways they can apply immediately in their own interactions and local communities. We would love your input to tweak the content. Please complete this 10-question survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z6NT53Z) to let us know your interest/needs. Please input your details at the end if you have interest in being a panelist or providing any information to the organizers.
SIETAR USA encourages our members and friends to support all SIETARs around the globe. One way to do so is to attend other SIETAR conferences. In light of the SIETAR Japan World Congress taking place August 8-11, 2018 (early bird deadline is June 20; https://sjwc2018.wordpress.com/), SIETAR Florida is putting together a webinar for SIETAR USA about Japanese culture. The goal is to provide practical tips as well as key understanding of this unique culture for those traveling to Japan for the first time or for those interested in general about Japan. Please pay attention to your email for the announcement of the webinar date and time as well as how to register.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and SIETAR USA
GDPR regulations adopted by the European Union went into effect on May 25, 2018. You likely have received several emails from various organizations you belong to asking you to opt into their services and to check your settings regarding information they provide you. Because individuals based in Europe routinely take part in SIETAR USA activities and work with organizations in the United States in various capacities, U.S. organizations are adopting tenets of GDPR to ensure their compliance with the regulation.
What is the GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation is a sweeping law that gives residents of the European Union more control over their personal data and seeks to clarify rules and responsibilities for online services with European users. The regulation expands the scope of what companies must consider personal data, and it requires them to closely track the data they've stored on EU residents. If someone in the EU wants a company to delete his or her data, send copies of the data, or correct an error in the data, companies have to comply.
SIETAR USA needs to hear from you regarding our services. Newsletter: To unsubscribe to this newsletter or to update your preferences, please do so using the links at the bottom of this newsletter. In addition, members and former members should logon to SIETARUSA.org to update your preferences regarding the communications you receive from us. If you need assistance, contact us at info@sietarusa.org or 630-986-1469. Thank you for helping us serve you!
Why Travel Matters: A Guide to the Life-Changing Effects of Travel explores the profound life lessons that await anyone who wishes to learn what travel has to teach. With engaging prose, delightful wit and a distinctive style, SIETAR USA member Craig Storti infuses his own experiences traveling the world for 30+ years with quotations, insights, reflections and commentary from famous travelers, great travel writers, historians and literary masters. Storti's vast knowledge of the literature makes him an expert curator of astute gems from the likes of: St. Augustine, Mark Twain, Somerset Maugham, D. H. Lawrence, Bruce Chatwin, Aldous Huxley and more.
This book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers.
Office Depot/Office Max has partnered with SIETAR USA to provide exclusive savings in-store and online, plus fantastic additional benefits. Society members receive preferred pricing, and the savings extend to a minimum of 10% off almost every item. One example is special pricing on copy and print for as low as 2.5¢ for black & white copies. Additional benefits including preferred customer assistance with Office Depot’s team of local Business Pros and access to Office Depot’s new suite of technology services designed to help your business thrive.
Click here to join SIETAR USA and start saving. Current members, click here to sign up for program and download your discount card. You will be asked for your logon credentials.
Are you involved in conflict resolution work in cross-cultural settings? Have you encountered challenges due to cross-cultural differences in your conflict management work?
Dr. Peter T. Coleman, Professor and Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution(MD-ICCCR) at Columbia University in New York is launching a research project studying the conditions and processes of effective cross-cultural conflict resolution practices (negotiation, mediation, arbitration, dialogue facilitation, training, etc.).
This 30-minute online surveystudy will examine how professional conflict resolution specialists (negotiators, mediators, instructors, dialogue facilitators) work in cultural settings different from their own and navigate challenges posed by cross-cultural differences. Our objectives are:
To identify the basic conditions conducive to more prescriptive versus elicitive approaches to cross-cultural conflict resolution and peace-building efforts.
To develop an assessment of cross-cultural adaptivity competencies for the professional development of conflict resolution practitioners.
To identify innovative strategies for optimally combining prescriptive and elicitive CR initiatives (hybrids, dual-process models, short-term/long-term strategies, etc.).
After answering some questions about your background and training, you will be asked to reflect on the most recent cross-cultural conflict resolution intervention you conducted where you encountered cultural challenges related to the project. Then you will be asked to respond to several questions regarding this specific case.
We will compensate your for your participation with a $10 Starbucks gift card and happily share the results of the study at the conclusion of our research.
Coach. She is located in Melbourne (FL), after living in several countries (France, Japan, UK , China). "I am very happy to take this new role after being the Communication officer. To start with, as the next major SIETAR event is the SIETAR Japan World Congress this August, I will be posting information on S-FL Facebook page, about Japanese culture directly from Japan this month!"
anyone who wishes to learn what travel has to teach. With engaging prose, delightful wit and a distinctive style, SIETAR USA member Craig Storti infuses his own experiences traveling the world for 30+ years with quotations, insights, reflections and commentary from famous travelers, great travel writers, historians and literary masters. Storti's vast knowledge of the literature makes him an expert curator of astute gems from the likes of: St. Augustine, Mark Twain, Somerset Maugham, D. H. Lawrence, Bruce Chatwin, Aldous Huxley and more.
Society members receive preferred pricing, and the savings extend to a minimum of 10% off almost every item. One example is special pricing on copy and print for as low as 2.5¢ for black & white copies. Additional benefits including preferred customer assistance with Office Depot’s team of local Business Pros and access to Office Depot’s new suite of technology services designed to help your business thrive.
Dr. Peter T. Coleman, Professor and Director of the 
