Addendum 2

2017 EXHIBITORS, UN DAY

Alachua County Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Inc. 

Marie Samec . Richard Tovar                                                    

Altrusa & Altrusa House                                                          

Joan Suchorski, Fran Vandiver,  Lee Johnson

American Association of University Women                             

Evelyn Rooks-Weir

Cinema Verde international Environmental Film and Arts Festival

Trish Riley

Community Coalition for Older Adults     

Shirley Bloodworth,Sharon Faris

Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice                                    

Sue Blythe

Gainesville Woman’s Club                                                       

Margaret Gilliland

India Cultural & Education Center                                         

Shaheda Qaiyumi

League of Women Voters                                                         

Carole Fernandez

Sister City Program of Gainesville                                          

Steve Kalishman

Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is                                           

Taraneh Darabi

U.F., International Center                                                         

Mabel Cardec

U.F., Master of Sustainable Practice Program, Center for Latin American Studies 

Glen Galloway

Welcoming Gainesville and Alachua County                          

Richard K. MacMaster

Westminster Presbyterian Church                                          

Larry Green, Jeanette Hostetler

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom        

June Littler

10/8/17

Addendum 3

Feedback questionnaire results

Of the approximately 100 participants, 22 (approximately 22 %) completed the feedback questionnaire.

• Overall, multiple choice responses were highly favourable[1]:
• 17 respondents considered the theme “The United Nations: My World, Your World, Our World” to be “highly relevant”; 5 respondents found it to be “relevant”; and 0 respondents considered it to be “not relevant”.

• 20 respondents found the issues raised by the speakers to be interesting, on topic and engaging; one respondent found the issues to be interesting and on topic and “mostly” engaging; one respondent found them to be “mostly, some more than others” interesting, on topic and engaging.

• 21 respondents found the topics to be timely and in touch with the issues seen in our community; one respondent noted that poverty and general (sustainable development(?)) goals were not addressed.

• 20 respondents found the program to be well-organized and run; one respondent noted that it was “off-time”; and one respondent noted “mostly”.

• All respondents responded yes, that they enjoyed the luncheon and refreshments, offering the following comments:

• “Except: No plastic bottles! Hope they are at least recycled. Also, no Styrofoam. Look at sustainability goals and apply to events and meetings.”
• “No bottled water, when you’re speaking about environment.”
• “How can we save the Earth, if we don’t recycle?”
• “Sandwich (turkey) was tasty and filling; good content.”
• “Thank you, ESH!”
• “Maybe music during lunch.”

• 12 respondents indicated that they would attend next year’s event; 4 indicated that they did not know if they would; and 6 left the answer blank.

• 4 respondents belonging to a local organization indicated that they would like to have a UNA-Gainesville Chapter speak at their event (with one giving an email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); 5 indicating “maybe” (2 giving an email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); and, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); and 13 leaving the answer blank.
• 4 respondents indicated that they would like to have a speaker, exhibit or sponsor at next year’s event, with 3 giving their name/email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Shaheda Qaiyumi (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); and, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); 2 respondents said no; 6 said “maybe” (giving names: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Shaheda Qaiyumi (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); and 10 did not respond.

• 15 respondents said that the event increased their knowledge about the UN; 7 respondents did not answer the question.

• 13 respondents indicated that the event encouraged them to join the UNA-Gainesville, Florida Chapter or a local Model UN (with 3 indicating that they are already members; 1 indicating that s/he would contact the Chapter and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Shaheda Qaiyumi (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and Chloe Smith Lopez This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (904-315-5752) giving their contacts); one indicating maybe by putting a check mark between yes and no; 2 said no; and 7 leaving the response blank.

Comments in response to open-ended questions were generally favourable, with some suggestions and negative comments, as follows:

• Question IV: What did you enjoy/find most engaging of the topics discussed today?
• “Lauren Poe’s talk”
• “I found learning about people who worked at the UN most interesting.”
• “Taraz  - young professional”
• “How participating in MUN can benefit your future. Taraz Darabi gave a great talk.”
• “1. Mayor’s keynote; 2. UN official’s perspectives (Mitchell, Maxfield, Maxfield) and Taraz Darabi’s talk; 3 MUN students’ remarks.”
• “I enjoyed listening to other people’s stories of how Model UN helped them.”
• “Donna Chiurazzi, Chris Maxfield and Brian’s reflections on their careers.”
• “I really enjoyed hearing from the Maxfields about their experience abroad and then also connecting those same ideas to a local level through Mayor Poe’s keynote.”
• “Meeting different organizations doing great work in Gainesville.”
• “Taraz and Donna”
• “The panel with the 3 people who had worked for the UN for 40+ years.”
• “Kalishman, Villalón and Arreola’s presentations on target!”
• “I enjoyed hearing about the young professionals and Taraz Darabi.”
• “Seeing the activities of the young UN groups. Taraz Darabi’s talk and business philosophy.”
• “Work of U.N. Meeting people from other organizations.”
• “The variety of relevant talks delivered so successfully.”
• “Discussion of experiences. Mayor’s speech.”
• “The keynote speech presented by the Mayor and the talk from the female former UN worker.”
• “The recount of experiences by past UN staff.”
• “Panel and testimonies from former UN employees.”
• “Young people. Mayor.”

• Question IV:  What did you least enjoy/find least engaging of the topics discussed today?
• “Individual speakers were fine but the number of separate items over 3 hours was numbing.”
• “It dragged occasionally.”
• “Video presentations.”
• “Somewhat long.”
• “It was long.”
• “Long individual speakers. Limit time.”
• “None.”
• “Absolutely nothing.”
• “The recognitions in the beginning of the presentation.”
• “Music performance.”
• “Some speakers a bit long….”

• Question VI. Was the program well-organized and run?
• What was done well?
• “The topics were relevant.”
• “Food, speakers.”
• “Timing. Diversity of program. Speeches. Q & A. Earthman. Lunch.”
• “Speakers.”
• “I found Lauren Poe’s presentation enlightening – local solutions to global problems.  Good point!”
• “The speakers were all very engaging.”
• “The Panel.”
• “Organization. Exhibitis/posters.”
• “The Panel discussion.”
• “Thanks!”
• “Getting representatives of different organizations together. Explaining work of UN.”
• “The whole event.”
• “Program.”
• “The choice of who to ask to present.”
• “Guest speakers.”
• “Excellent choice of speakers.”
• “Nice work!”

• What could have been done better?
• “Select one or two.”
• “Time management.”
• “Two crowded an agenda; too full; wearing. Do not show videos. No bottled water when you’re speaking about environment.”
• “Break after 1-1/2 hours; 3-1/2 is way too long to sit.”
• “Maybe music during lunch.”
• “Staying on time.”
• “Jewelry sale – a little time devoted to browse. Wait for lunch just at 14 minutes too long. Otherwise fine.”
• “Time management.”
• “More time for questions to Donna, Chris and Brian.”
• “We could watch the videos during lunch.”
• “UN Goals: on screen change letters from white to black.”
• “Time management.”
• “Too long to sit. Advertise event more. Make Facebook event page so it can be shared and invites sent. Closer control of time.”
• “Nothing.”
• “Needed to be broken up more.”
• “Sound system. No recycling bins for plastic bottles!!”
• “Better choice of entertainment.”

• Question IX: Do you have any suggestions for topics to be covered at our next event?
• “U. N. Women”
• “Community cooperation.”
• “I truly enjoyed these speakers, so similar speakers.”
• “Immigration and refugees.”
• “Not yet.”
• “Sustainability, climate justice.”
• “Go over the 17 goals and briefly report how Gainesville – UN Chapter contributes to accomplish them.”
• “Give details of what U. N Gainesville does.”

• Question XIV: Do you have any general suggestions to offer?
• “Recruit more participants policymakers in Alachua City.”
• “Tell attendees how they can contribute or join the UNA-USA Gainesville Chapter.”
• “Plan to give attendees more time to visit tables set up by sponsors.”
• “I love how inclusive this event is – old and young!”
• “For personal stories help to motivate participation, but please limit time! And self-promotion.”
• “Wonderful effort. Great program. Thanks!”
• “Shorten length of event. Remind audience to silence cell phones.”
• “How can we save the earth, if we don’t recycle?”

[1] N.B. Questions marks placed after an item indicates that the respondent’s hand-writing may not have been properly understood.

Report on the Planning and Conduct of the United Nations Day – 5 October 2017

UNA USA Gainesville, Florida Chapter

1. Planning for the Chapter’s 2017 United Nations Day event began in the Spring, with preparations beginning in earnest in mid-August for the event on 5 October. For various reasons, the event was held nearly three weeks earlier than the official 24 October commemoration date – offering both challenges and opportunities.

2. I was honoured to chair the UN Day Planning Committee, which comprised Taraneh Darabi, Masuma Downie, Chris Maxfield, Lisa Renner, and Janet Tew. All Committee members contributed to the development and conduct of the program. To this end, the Planning Committee organized the following division of labour: Taraneh Darabi (outreach to speakers; advice and guidance to the Chair; development of the Program theme and concepts; representation at City and County Proclamation readings); Masuma Downie (arrangements for the “Jewelry from around the World” Bazaar; coordination with the Gainesville Woman’s Club, including set up and preparation of morning refreshments; expert advice and guidance to the Chair; and, taking over from Janet Tew, final arrangements with the caterer); Chris Maxfield (overall advice; coordination of the audio-visual program content; development and review of the feedback questionnaire; and, last minute speaker at the event); Lisa Renner (outreach and coordination of sponsorships, exhibitors and participant and invitation responses; overall advice); Janet Tew (engagement of the caterer (Culinary Institute of Eastside High; overall advice); and Donna Chiurazzi-Maxfield (overall leadership of the Planning Committee, with particular work on the development, coordination and printing of the Program; drafting, with Steve Kalishman and Chris Maxfield, of the Gainesville Sun Article “UN goals can apply to Gainesville community”; coordination with UN Day Chair, preparation of the UN photo presentation; preparation of invitations to guests; and, outreach to Oak Hall Model UN).

3. A number of Board members offered significant contributions to the effort, in particular: Paul Doughty (donation of Polly Doughty’s jewelry and proceeds for the “Jewelry from around the World” Bazaar); Vilma Fuentes (flyer design); Ann Girardin (Membership Desk, Flags; participation in City Commission Proclamation reading; and general support); Jacob U. Gordon (Greeter and general support); Steve Kalishman (engagement of keynote speaker, Mayor Lauren Poe, and UN Day Chair Dr. Leonardo Villalón; outreach to Model UN Clubs at the University of Florida; issuance of invitations; and, lead the delegation at the City Proclamation reading; co-authorship of Gainesville Sun article “UN goals can apply to Gainesville community”; and, general support); Pushpa Kalra (Registration Desk, Chapter Treasury Support and general support); Barbara McDade Gordon (Registration Desk and general support); Brian Mitchell (drafting, arrangements for and participation in the reading of the City and County Proclamations; preparation of “Do you know” flyer and Chapter Newsletter; and last minute speaker at the event); David Price (outreach to Model UN Clubs at Santa Fe and Eastside High, and sponsorship of Eastside High students); Anita Spring (lovely tribute to Richard Downie and Polly Doughty); and Bill Whitney (coordination with Lanny Smith and provision/conduct of audio-visual program and sound system). Sharon Faris managed publicity, including coordination with TV20 and the Gainesville Sun, and distribution of flyers. Sue Blythe coordinated and Lanny Smith contributed his musical performance. Board members contributed to the set up of the event site on 4 October and to clean up on 5 October.

Venue:

4. The Gainesville Woman’s Club proved again to be an excellent and accommodating venue. The competition of other events scheduled around the actual UN Day was one of the reasons for scheduling the event so early this year. The venue would be available on Thursday, 25 October 2018.

Recommendation 1: Tentatively book the Gainesville Woman’s Club now for the 2018 event.

Sponsors/Exhibits:

5. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Lisa Renner, the Chapter enjoyed the support of 32 Co-Sponsors, of whom 5 were individual Co-Sponsors (see Addendum 1) and 16 Exhibitors (see Addendum 2), despite the shorter lead time and the disruption caused by of Hurricane Irma. Exhibits were well-presented and staffed. Feedback from participants indicates that additional time could have been allotted for visits to the exhibits; this should be factored into the planning of next year’s event.

Recommendation 2: Work more time into the program for participants to visit with Exhibitors; consider allotting a few minutes in the program for Exhibitors to speak about the work of their organizations or publish an inset with a few lines about the work of each organization.

Luncheon:

6. By all accounts, participants enjoyed the luncheon provided by the Culinary Institute of Eastside High. Also, the Board’s decision to offer a $12.00 student rate for lunch and lunch at the Chapter’s expense for up to five Model UN Club members for each school appeared to greatly facilitate the participation of Model UN Club members and UF students, and enhance their experience. A number of participants expressed concern about the use of Styrofoam cups, plastic bottles, and the lack of recycling bins.

Recommendation 3: Again engage the Culinary Institute of Eastside High next year to provide lunch; maintain the practice of offering a student rate for lunch and financing the lunch of up to five Model UN Club members; and, address the concerns about the use of Styrofoam cups and recycling water bottles.

Invitations:

7. Some 30 invitations were sent to city, county, state and federal officials. Four respondents accepted the invitation and three were able to attend. Preparing the invitations presented certain challenges, as there were no available records of prior invitees and their addresses; nor was there a Chapter letterhead.

Recommendation 4: maintain a central Chapter repository of invitees to Chapter events and their addresses, building on the list developed for the 2017 UN Day event; design/print and have an electronic version of Chapter letterhead to be used for official communications.

Program:

8. By virtually all accounts and as reflected in the feedback questionnaire, this year’s Program was well-received by participants. The participation of Model UN Club members and the Young Professional Panel opened possibilities for an interesting and vibrant discussion. By and large, all presenters were found to raise relevant, interesting and engaging issues. However, a number of participants found the Program to be long without a break, and overly packed. They suggested allotting more time to browse the “Jewelry from around the World” Bazaar and the Exhibitors. The video presentation was challenged by sound difficulties and was not well-received by participants; consideration of a similar activity should factor in measures to address the sound system challenges and perhaps run the videos while participants are having lunch. The musical program also got mixed reviews.

Recommendation 5: ensure that feedback from this year’s event is factored into planning the Program in 2018; in particular, maintain the link between the work of the UN and the greater Gainesville Community, especially the Model UN Clubs and ensure that the Program reflects the work of the United Nations and the key issues being addressed by the Organization and the international community.

Event publicity and Chapter outreach:

9. Despite the challenges of Hurricane Irma, very short lead time and other factors, Sharon Faris was able to publicize the event through the placement of flyers and engagement of local media. The placement of the article in the Gainesville Sun and the TV20 spot gave good coverage. Earlier planning of the 2018 event with a greater lead time, should address some of these challenges. Some initial confusion with the information placed on the Chapter website was resolved early, although a number of changes to the Program created some confusion. Difficulty with the PayPal set up also needed to be resolved. One questionnaire respondent suggested that greater efforts could be made to engage social media, through perhaps opening a Facebook event page. Early in the planning process, the Chapter Board should brainstorm means of expanding outreach to the broader Gainesville Community and Alachua City (as recommended by another participant) for the purposes of both increasing the number of Exhibitors and Sponsors, as well as engaging students, business partners and other participants. Board members might brainstorm on how to improve its social media profile to engage the broader Gainesville Community and inform on the Chapter’s work. Greater efforts could also be made to engage Model UN Clubs directly in the work of the Chapter.

Recommendation 6: allow more lead time to publicize events, and increase outreach to participants, sponsors and exhibitors; take greater advantage of social media to publicize UN Day and other Chapter events, and to increase awareness of the Chapter’s activities and encourage new members; and, more systematically engage Model UN Clubs in the Chapter’s work.

Questionnaire:

10. To capture the feedback of participants, Chris Maxfield developed a questionnaire that was printed and placed at each table. Of the approximate 100 participants, 22 completed the questionnaire (an approximate 22 % return). An analysis of the responses – both multiple choice and open-ended questions – is attached at Addendum 3. Participant reactions to the Program, lunch and issues covered were quite favourable.

Recommendation 7: use the feedback from the 2017 UN Day event in the planning of future events.

General:

11. Planning the UN Day event under fairly tight time constraints placed considerable demands on the time and efforts of the Planning Committee. The lack of formal Chapter records added to these challenges. As an example, neither the Chapter nor Renaissance Printing had easily available records of the production of prior year Programs, flyers, invitation letters/addresses. Thanks to the institutional memory of Masuma, Lisa, Taraneh, and Janet, we were able to piece things together and get everything done. But, it would be helpful to maintain a central repository of all of the planning and event documentation. To this end, I have ensured that the final, sealed City and County Proclamations for 2017 are on record with the Chapter Secretary. For this purpose, I have also decided to write this formal report for the record.

Recommendation 6: create and maintain a central repository of planning documents and the questionnaire/analysis for UN Day 2017; and, send formal thank you notes to the presenters, the Gainesville Woman’s Club, “Earthman” Lanny Smith and the Culinary Institute of Eastside High.

12. In closing, I offer my sincere appreciation to the members of the Planning Committee, Steve Kalishman and all the members of the Chapter Board of Directors for their support and active engagement in making the 2017 UN Day celebration a success. It has been a privilege to lead this effort.

Donna-Marie Chiurazzi-Maxfield
Chair, UN Day 2017 Planning Committee
11 October 2017

More than 100 Gathered for United Nations Day Celebration
UN Day collage

More than 100 people from the Gainesville community gathered at the Gainesville Woman’s Club Thursday for the annual United Nations Day celebration.

The Gainesville chapter of the United Nations Association has existed for more than 35 years and serves to bring attention to issues that affect communities locally and internationally. Some of the goals include mitigating hunger, poverty, religious persecution and achieving environmental sustainability. The keynote speaker was the Honorable Lauren Poe, Gainesville’s mayor, who spoke on “Global Goals, Local Leaders.” Also speaking was Taraz Darabi, who founded the Model UN Club at Eastside High School several years ago and talked under the topic “Young Professional Perspectives on the United Nations and Global Engagement.” Dr. Leonardo Villalón, Director of UF’s International Center was the Program Chair.

For more information about the United Nations Association – Gainesville Chapter visit