Greetings from Minneapolis! I hope you all have some time to relax and enjoy time with friends and family this summer. I'm pleased to report on some wonderful opportunities developing for our organization both here and abroad.

On the road

This summer promises to be a busy and exciting time for a contingent of us who are traveling to China to represent NCFR and the family professionals field. We will be guests of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, a well-respected public institution that wants to promote training and resources for family life educators in China. Anqi Xu, Professor, and her team—including Wenrong Liu, Associate Professor; Yali Xue, Associate Professor; and Liang Zhang, Associate Professor—are organizing the meeting.

Ruth Yan Xia, the International Section chair, is coordinating the participation by our group, which comprises past board member Glen Palm, NCFR Fellow Judy Myers-Walls, CFLE program director Dawn Cassidy, and me. We will be actively leading a 3-day training event working with the academy's faculty and with service providers from the Women's Federation (a government unit) and other agencies. We will be covering a variety of topics, including family life education, methods and skills in working directly with parents, curriculum development, and the application of research to practice.

Parent education, fathering, and couple relationships are key focus areas. Thus, in the training we will be covering real practice and methods: facilitator skills and leading discussion; father–child relationships; and understanding development issues, such as pressures on families with adolescents.

What makes this trip so exciting for us at NCFR are the possibilities of working internationally with family professionals, the potential development of a certification program like the CFLE credential, and filling an important role in the advancement of professionalism in delivering parent and family education in China.

And back home

I was pleased to meet with other NCFR members here in March for the formation of the annual conference's Local Arrangements Committee. There were many great ideas shared in our discussion that will almost certainly make for a rich conference experience. Two very promising options are developing—one with a professional perspective and one with a social twist.

Highlighted Programs and Agencies. Our hope is to identify resources and outreach agencies in the Twin Cities and Minnesota that tie to our conference theme of human rights and families. These service providers then would be invited to have a presence at the conference, discuss the value of their work, and share how they make a difference in the lives of the families they touch. Maybe sections or focus groups could become involved as hosts or sponsors; we'll see what develops.

Neighborhoods and nightlife. The committee members are a spirited group, and they want to show off the cultural corners of the Twin Cities. We have restaurants, hang-outs, ethnic centers, and art and entertainment options galore that reflect the history, diversity, progressiveness, and chic that put Minneapolis and St. Paul at the top of livability lists. So we're working now on our lists of where to go and what to do!

Finally, thanks to all of you who responded to the recent survey the Board sent out to all members. This is part of our effort to stay in touch with all of you and help make our decisions reflective of our collective wisdom. We were gratified to see that there was a high response rate. We are analyzing the input and hope to share the results with you in the near future.

That's all for now, and in the meantime, stay well.

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