GLOW News: Issue 3

31 March 2005

 

 

 

Have you been a GLOW worm?

 

Dear All,

 

Just six more weeks to go and the GLOW Functional Teams are waiting for inputs from many of you on a few things, so here is reminding all GLOW worms!

 

1.     Have you filled in the personal information questionnaire?

We have sent personal information questionnaires  to colleagues from the COTs participating in GLOW. If you have received it and not yet filled it, please do so by the deadline of Monday, 04 April 2005. Unless we have your personal information, the GLOW Logistics Team cannot make arrangements for your travel and hotel etc. Colleagues in the HQs and Liaison Offices will soon receive these questionnaires too.

2.     Have you sent your travel itinerary and cost proposals?

Many participants have not yet sent to the Logistics Team their travel plan proposals and ticket cost estimates. If you have not done so yet, please do it urgently! Time is running out for booking your flights… If you have not received the request for such information it’s because we have limitations of hotel space and are still trying to see if we can accommodate more colleagues.

3.     Have you sent us your idea for GLOW logo and motto?

The competition is open for a logo and a motto for GLOW. The deadline is Monday, 04 April 2005. So, all the creative colleagues out there, get your creative brain cells active over the weekend and send us your ideas soon! The sur-Prizes are waiting for the best ideas!! (Read more about the competition here: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2005/3/24/472347.html)

4.     Have you shared with us your memories of GLOW 99?

If you were one of the participants of the GLOW in 1999, do share with all “new” colleagues your experiences of that event. Tell us what's it that you remember strongest about the event and how we can make this year’s event even better.

5.     Have you volunteered to be part of any GLOW team?

We invite our colleagues (especially from the COTs) who are not yet part of any of the GLOW teams, to participate in the GLOW preparations by volunteering their time and skills. Feel free to join any of the teams where you think you can make a contribution or learn something new in the process! Contact directly the Team Coordinator of the team which you want to join!

 

Many thanks to those who have already done the above. Please also feel free to give us any comments and ideas on the GLOWeb site: about the site itself, the questionnaires, other arrangements or anything else. We do want to listen to your ideas, comments and opinions!

 

Best wishes,

 

GLOW Communications Team

Glow-comm@unvolunteers.org

 

THIS WEEK’S NEWS & INFORMATION

 

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FLASH NEWS!                                   FLASH NEWS!                       FLASH NEWS!

 

GLOWeb site crosses 10,000 page views!

 

Thank you all! for supporting the GLOWeb site by visiting it regularly and using it for GLOW. On average, more than 100 people (out of potentially 300 visitors) are visiting the site every day. This is a very conservative number, because if more than one person are using one PC or computer network to visit the site they are counted as one “visitor” for that day. This means, all HQ colleagues visiting the site are counted as only one visitor!

 

The site crossed 10,000 page views on Wednesday, 30 March. Compared to our public sites (UNV.org and WorldVolunteerWeb.org), this is very small: UNV.org receives over 10,000 page views every day, and the WorldVolunteerWeb.org receives the same in less than two days. But consider the fact that the GLOW site is limited to only about 300 UNV colleagues, while the public sites can potentially be visited by tens of thousands of visitors every day.

 

Keep coming to the site! It’s meant for you all!!

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Do I Makx a Diffxrxncx?

Xvxn though our typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works quitx wxll, xxcxpt for onx kxy, that is “e”.  Thxrx arx 46 kxys that function wxll xnough, but just onx kxy not working makxs a diffxrxncx.

Somxtimxs likx our typxwriter, not all thx individuals in an organization or sosixty arx working propxrly.  Onx may say, “Wxll I am thx only onx pxrson among so many pxoplx.  It won’t makx much diffxrxncx.”

But, onx should bx ablx to sxx that thx group to bx xffxctivx nxxds thx activx participation of xvxry pxrson.

 

So nxxt timx you think you arx the only onx pxrson, rxmxmbxr our typxwritxr and say to yoursxlf, “I am a kxy pxrson, and I am nxxdxd vxry much.”

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The true spirit of GLOW!

A colleague recently volunteered to help with the logistical arrangements of GLOW. When asked how she/he would picture daily logistics routines for organizing travels, service costs estimates, procurement contracts and making venue arrangements etc., and how she/he will help, the colleague sent a picture that tells more than 1000 words that we would write about it! The picture conveys the true spirit of GLOW and UNV as such, so have a look here: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2005/3/31/497338.html  

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Heard in the Castle:

Q: What did one glow worm tell the other?

A: Don’t glow your bum too much: it’ll burn out!

 

View the cartoon series here: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/Workapart/HeardintheCastle

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Personal Information Questionnaires: Posted for your reference

As we informed you last week, personal information questionnaires have been sent out to participants of GLOW from COTs. We've posted the questionnaires on GLOWeb

so you can have a look.

English: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_WebPages/PersonalInfoQuestEng.html

French: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_WebPages/PersonalInfoQuestFre.html  Spanish: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_WebPages/PersonalInfoQuestSpa.html

 

If you have received the questionnaire, please fill it in by Monday, 04 April. All GLOW participants need to fill it in to ensure smooth logistical arrangements.

 

A similar questionnaire will also be sent to participants from the HQs and Liaison Offices.

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A trip down the memory lane... to Cologne

Sonia (Josserand-Mercier) has shared with us some of her "great memories" of GLOW 99: "We were working lying on our stomach in the ducks room with an unfinished glass of Caipirhina brought straight from the disco-bar! Yeah, I remember the great parties we had every nite, drinking, laughing, talking, dancing... sleeping was not a priority!... well there was no time for it!"

 

Read more: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2005/3/28/485290.html  

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Nostalgic 99: Exclusively for GLOW 99 veterans!

UNV has changed a lot in the past six years, since the first Global Workshop happened in 1999. This includes the team itself: the people that make UNV such a dynamic and growing place. Many new colleagues have joined us since then and many have moved on in life and career... If you were one of the participants at the GLOW 99, this invitation is for you!

Read more: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2005/3/27/483059.html  

 

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V4D Essentials - suggested reading! (in French, Spanish and English)

Always worth reading...and keeping in mind!

 

"Volunteerism has common roots, but manifests itself with enormous diversity. This ranges from the highly organized operations of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world aimed at improving the conditions of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity, to the self-help voluntary activities of community burial societies in rural Zambia. However, some key universal principles of volunteerism emerge from this diversity."

 

Read UNDP Essentials No. 12 on Volunteerism & Development (PDF files):

English: http://glow.civiblog.org/Vol&Dev_Eng.pdf

French: http://glow.civiblog.org/Vol&Dev_Fre.pdf

Spanish: http://glow.civiblog.org/Vol&Dev_Spa.pdf   

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UN Reform - Suggested reading to all GLOW participants

In preparing for discussions at GLOW, the Programme Content suggests to all participants reading the following information on the UN Reform. The September 2005 Summit of world leaders at United Nations headquarters in New York is a unique opportunity for them to come together and agree on a collective response to the multiple threats and challenges faced by people everywhere in this new century. The Secretary-General’s report suggests bold but realistic decisions, which world leaders could actually take when they meet.

More informaiton: http://glow.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2005/3/27/482847.html

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