CED Divisions Presentation

The early part of this week and the better half of last week I was presented with the task of developing a PowerPoint Presentation regarding all of the Divisions that make up the Community and Economic Development Department. Essentially, the point of the presentation was to show how Phoenix Sisiter Cities, which is within the International Relations Division, can help the other divisions and also how the other divisions can help PSC. For the most part I was told what information should be included in the presentation but it was up to me to determine how it would be presented and to add my own sense of creativity to it. Now, I have done my fair share of powerpoints but mostly for short class presentations where the neatness and preciseness of the information on the powerpoint was not a large component of success. However, this one was a little more challenging. In the end I was able to complete it and feel pretty good about the finished product. The best part was when my supervisor asked me to include "woosh" techniques. When I asked her what she mean by "woosh" techniques she tried to go further into detail by saying, "You know, like when the information just goes "woosh!" onto the screen one at a time or something like that!" Also, try to picture her rocketing her hand into the air every time she says woosh! Awesome. At that point I knew exactly what she was talking about and I was successfully able to incorporate the "woosh" effects into the presentation.

Chinese Week 2012

Although I have only been an intern here at Phoenix Sister Cities for a short time, I cannot even begin to describe how much I am enjoying the experiences and opportunities within the organization. Yesterday, January 23rd marked the beginning of Chinese Week "The Year of the Dragon" here in Phoenix and I had the privilege to be apart of the celebration as I was asked to help set up for the opening reception and and news conference at Phoenix City Hall Atrium. The reception and news conference have become a yearly tradition to kick off the extensive celebration and numerous activities that constitute Chinese Week. The opening event went very well as several people spoke to kick off and pay tribute to Chinese Week. Of those who spoke were Tony Tang who is the acting president of Chinese Week 2012, Councilwoman Williams, and Vice Mayor Johnson, who has devoted much of his time to facilitating the relationship between the City of Phoenix and Sister City Chengdu, China, where he visited in 2008. The reception was very warm and interactive as a variety of Chinese refreshments were served while highly respected martial artists performed a kung-fu demonstration and a traditional dragon dance. Everyone I met at the reception was extremely nice and outgoing and I sincerely enjoyed each and every conversation I had throughout the afternoon. Attached is the link to the Chinese Week 2012 brochure if anyone is interested in taking part in the festivities throughout the week: https://phoenixsistercities.org/images/stories/Chengdu/brochures/2012chinesebrochure.pdf

City Council Meeting

Today I was given the task of creating an excel spreadsheet to keep track of the members of Phoenix Sister Cities and the non-members that are planning on attending the Grenoble Committee Membership Mixer on February 1st. As I am still new to the membership database, it took a considerable amount of time to determine who is and who is not a member of PSC. The Grenoble Mixer is a yearly event that is highly anticipated by those in Community and Economic Development Department. Additionally, the Executive Director of Phoenix Sister Cities asked me and the other interns to represent the department at the City Council meeting in order to see who would be appointed the new Vice Mayor of the City of Phoenix. Council-member Johnson of District 8 was appointed the new Vice Mayor of the City of Phoenix to replace Ms. Williams. Towards the end of the council meeting, there was an elderly gentleman who was very long-winded and angry about a particular item on the agenda. When his two minutes to speak was up, he refused to sit down and he had to raise his voice after his microphone was turned off. Needless to say, it was very entertaining.

Phoenix Sister Cities Introduction

To start, I'd like to give an overview of what Phoenix Sister Cities is exactly. PSC is actually within the International Relations Division in the Community and Economic Development Department at the City of Phoenix. The purpose of PSC is to facilitate various educational, cultural and business exchanges in order to promote relationships and opportunities between the City of Phoenix and the sister cities. These exchanges occur through delegation visits as each Sister City is equipped with a committee of volunteers who are firmly committed to the goals of the program. Currently I am working on a long-term project that entails creating an itinerary for the upcoming PCS Delegation visit to Ramat-Gan, Israel, which is one of the sister cities to Phoenix. Other sister cities include Calgary, Canada, Catania, Italy, Chengdu, China, Ennis, Ireland, Grenoble, France, Hermosillo, Mexico, Himeji, Japan, Prague, Czech Republic (inactive), and Taipei, Taiwan. The PSC Delegation visit is set for early May, so I have until the end of March to develop the itinerary and tourism guide. Not only is the delegation set to visit Ramat-Gan, but they will also venture to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. Besides the actual itinerary itself, it will include a description of each member of the PSC Delegation, a complete weather forecast, a historical timeline for each of the cities, and brief guides for what to expect as far as electricity, currency exchange, and even fashion. Currently, I am working on important historical events to share with the delegation regarding each of the cities. As can be expected, Jerusalem is taking a considerable amount of time. In any event, I am definitely looking forward to adding my own creativity and depth to this assignment and I look forward to sharing my progress.