Newsletter
October 2014
The Alpha Omega Club has had a very good and very interesting year thus far. Following the IFALPA Conference in Panama, where we had good participation at a really nice venue, we also participated in a lively debate and precedent setting vote concerning our newest two members. We also recovered a number of older member contacts and addresses thanks to our Regional Coordinators’ efforts. As a result I feel the Club is more energized and healthy and have an optimistic view on our long term success.
As for the future we do have some preliminary news for the Conference in Madrid next year. The dates of the Conference are: April 10-13th, 2015; Hotel: NH Collection Madrid Euro Building. The hotel is about 6 km north of the Plaza Mayor in the area of Charmatin and close to the Real Madrid football (soccer) stadium. Room rates will be published in the Conference announcement.
Here’s the hotel website:
http://www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/spain/madrid/nh-collection-madrid-eurobuilding.html?action=search&navigationBy=gfi
IFLAPA staff has been very helpful in early coordination with SEPLA and we will be reviewing some recommendations of venues for our evening dinner in the vicinity of the hotel shortly.
As this is a European location with good airline connections, we anticipate quite a large Alpha Omega Club participation. We had 11 members in Panama and 34 members in Dublin. I have received quite a bit of interest from members already and we might see numbers rivaling our Dublin meeting.
We will definitely be inducting our two newest members, Jim Johnson and Seth Rosen, along with new Scroll of Merit and Clarence Sayen award winners. There were two Scroll of Merit selections last year that could not make the conference as well as several others being considered for next year.
If you are planning to add some extra time on either end of the Conference, the Conference dates are a few days after Easter Sunday. The previous week is Holy Week, “Semana Santa.” There are processions on the streets in almost every city or town, some are glamorous celebrations and others are somber and solemn. It is a difficult time to get hotel reservations so planning ahead is a good idea.
Our website is on-line now with access from the link on the latest e-mail. The Alpha Omega site can also be reached directly from IFALPA’s website. The contact information is accessible via our password. Let me know what you think and inputs for improvements.
Frank Santoni
Alpha Omega Coordinator