GCIV was honored to work with the U.S. Embassy in Belgium to coordinate a reporting tour for eight Belgian journalists in October 2008. These journalists traveled to Atlanta and Orlando to gain a better understanding of the upcoming elections, and were focused especially on economic issues and the minority vote. While in Atlanta they met with representatives of the Carter Center, Georgia State University's Center for International Media Education, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Kennesaw State University Political Science Department, the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, the Georgia State University Economics Department, the Fulton County Commission, and the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections. They also visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, CNN Studios, a presidential debate-watching party, and enjoyed dinners in the homes of GCIV members.

On Oct. 2, 2008, Clayton State University Vice President and Provost Dr. Sharon Hoffman; and John Parkerson, director of Clayton State's Office of International Programs; hosted an informal discussion and lunch with David Kitzinger, managing director of the John von Neumann Digital Library in Budapest, Hungary. Kitzinger is formerly with the Hungarian Ministry of Informatics and Communications. He is a widely acknowledged expert in media and communications and was visiting the Atlanta area as an official guest of the U.S. Government. The purpose of his visit to the U.S. was to learn more about efforts to digitalize U.S. libraries, to explore digital preservation of culture and arts, to learn about intellectual property rights protection, and to explore legal aspects of digitalization. Click here to read more about his trip to Clayton State University.

The new year is approaching, and we are gearing up for the 2009 Great Decisions series. GCIV is working with a number of groups in the community to create and sustain discussion groups. If you are interested in starting your own Great Decisions group, or joining an existing one, please contact Ashley Mastin at 404-832-5560 x 13. We are also looking for community support for the program - please let us know if you can offer meeting space, if you're willing to help moderate discussions, or if you know of any possible financial support for the program. We look forward to bringing you more information about the program next month!

Do you get all of the information you need from GCIV in our communications? In every monthly GCIV e-newsletter, we include a list of the upcoming delegations in the left-hand column. Under this list are the opportunities to host visitors in your home for a meal, drive exchange participants to their professional meetings, and volunteer in other ways. Near the end of the right column is a list of upcoming GCIV events. Below the GCIV events are other community events that might be of interest to you. You can also click on the table of contents in the top left-hand corner of the message to get to any particular story or upcoming events. If your newsletter is only text, please click on the link at the top of the page to see it as a web page (this will make it much easier to view). You can find an archive of GCIV e-newsletters on our web site.

We also send out other emails between newsletters, including home hospitality opportunities. Typically an announcement is also sent out for each GCIV event, and includes more details. If you are not receiving these and would like to, please go to the bottom of this email and click on the link that says "Update Profile/Email Address." This will take you to a page where you can update your email preferences. You can sign up for the monthly e-newsletter and monthly updates, for home hospitality notices, and for our young professionals group, Envoy. You can also choose to only receive the e-newsletter. Please direct any questions to Ashley Mastin at 404-832-5560 x 13.

GCIV is gearing up for the elections next week! The U.S. State Department has asked us to take advantage of this election year, and give every single one of our international visitors an opportunity to see the American political process. All five delegations in town next week will have some opportunity to connect to the electoral process. Two will be here on election day. Please let us know if you are attending an election results-watching event and would like to bring some international exchange participants with you. While we have given them suggestions of public events, we would love for them to be accompanied by GCIV members. Contact Emily Bushey at 404-832-5560 x 15 if you'd like to participate.

GCIV's membership is critical to the success of our organization, as it serves as an important indicator of community support for the U.S. Department of State and other agencies that rely on us to arrange programs for hundreds of international visitors each year. Becoming a member is easy - just visit our membership page to download an application. You can now pay for your membership online using paypal!

Thursday, November 13th, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
IWA October Meeting
The International Womens Associates will hear a presentation from Ms. Lisa Schnellinger, a journalist, journalism instructor, education advocate, and photographer around the world. Please contact Ashley Mastin at 404-832-5560 x 13 to receive an invitation.

Thursday, November 20th, 12:00 - 1:00 PM
GCIV Global Lunch Forum: Recording History in Nicaragua
Join GCIV and two international exchange participants from Nicaragua for a lunchtime discussion about their work to archive the most recent presidential administration, Enrique José Bolaños. This Global Lunch Forum will be at the Regency Suites Hotel, 975 West Peachtree Street in midtown. You can bring your own lunch at no cost, or order a boxed lunch in advance for $10. Registration is 12:00-12:10, and the Global Lunch Forum begins promptly at 12:10 PM. Space is limited, so you must make a reservation to attend. Contact Ashley Mastin at 404-832-5560 x 13 to RSVP.