IWC President's Archive

2004-2006 - Silvana Rizzi Lenahan

ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE CLUB YEAR 2005–2006

When I look back to all the events, activities, tours and at the quality of the work generated this year, I feel the need to start this report by saying a big “Thank You” – to all those members who filled an official position in the Club like the board members, the coordinators (the web editor, museum study group, advertising and international coordinators) and the nominating committee members who took on their duties in a very professional way; to all the committee members who have supported the work of the board chairpersons and to all the friends, who behind the scenes and in many different ways, have helped us to make things happen.

The biggest innovation this year concerns the work of the Hostess Chairperson. As decided at the last AGM our smaller luncheons (September, November and January) took place at the restaurant Erik’s Gondolen, while other major ones (October, December and April) at the familiar and traditional place of Operakällaren. The increase in numbers participating in the smaller luncheons validated this idea and appears to have been welcomed by most members. A challenge was to find programmes that suited the layout in the Gondolen which was a new and smaller environment. However Kukase Garba, the Programme Chairperson, very successfully found a range of programmes to suit different tastes.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank Maurizio Barberis, as representative of the management of Operakällaren, for all the support and generosity received from them this year. Twice we were not charged the rental fee of SEK 3000, instead they asked us to donate that money towards the philanthropic project in question.

I would like to thank both Ellen Wetterlind, who covered the Hostess Chairperson position until the end of September 2005, for all the work she did last year to prepare the ground for this innovation and Marilda Ericsson who took over this position in November and carried the work forward, always in control of the situation and always with a smile. A special thank you also goes to Debora House-Bengtsson for helping us with the October luncheon.

The Spring of 2006 brought with it the celebration of the 45th anniversary of our Club. A commemorative luncheon at the Grand Hotel on the 8th of March on International Women’s Day – which we shared with members of the Diplomatic Women’s Club, the American Women’s Club and SWEA – opened this period of celebrations. At the April luncheon we paid special tribute to those members who have been part of the life of the Club for 25 years or more. A “Thank you” card and a rose were given to each of these members present, and the card sent home to those who could not be with us on the day. A free buffet offered by the Lord Mayor Berry Andersson to 250 of our members will close the celebration of the IWC’s 45th anniversary. This invitation from the City of Stockholm, together with the congratulatory letter from Her Majesty Queen Silvia received on the 8th of March, shows considerable recognition of the quality of the work which IWC carries out. A special publication on the 45th Anniversary celebration has been prepared and will be sent to all members as a memento, and to sponsors and other organizations as a means to increase public awareness of the work of our Club.

The Philanthropic work is a central part of our work and over the last two years we have raised a total of around SEK 400 000, of which SEK150 000 was raised this year. Nika Nair, the Philanthropic Chairperson this year, organised with her committee a successful Bazaar and many outsiders who came to the event mentioned their desire to take part in the event next year also. It was with much regret that for personal reasons Nika resigned in late February. To fill the gap the other board members shared the responsibility of the philanthropic work among themselves. Of course the continuous success of this work is also thanks to the philanthropic committee members and other friends, who have continued to give us a hand whenever needed.

The increased number of members with a full time job has determined that a greater number of events were organised in the evenings and on Saturdays. In February we substituted the monthly luncheon with a dinner on the 14th of February, Valentine’s Day, which proved to be the perfect date for such an event! The Vice President Lauren Amazeen introduced the “Blue Hour”, a monthly after work gathering, when one can meet friends for a drink. This is of course in addition to all the afternoon teas, the morning coffees and the “coffee talks” already organised for you all. In addition to the great variety of tours that Renate Pfeiffer, our Tour Chairperson organises to help us get to know this beautiful city, she also organised tours on Saturdays and some evenings. Other leading social activities, like the walking group led by Brigitte Frick Meijer, have included extra activities on Saturdays. All these initiatives have been well received by the members.

Thanks to Ágnes Mészáros until December and to Liliane Doumèche-Hall from January onwards, the work of the Social Activities group is evolving more and more. In addition to the list of activities provided by the Club there is a new “OBS page” which will be a permanent feature of the Social Activities pages, where you can find useful information if you wish to further improve the quality of your social life in Stockholm. A clear distinction is now being made between the Social Activities, which are free of charge or where a fixed contribution is needed for the activity to take place and those activities where a member is offering her expert work for a fee. Let’s also not forget that information on transport and medical care is being put together to further help newcomers and will soon appear on our web page.

Both the Bulletin and the Web page are complementary sources of information for all the members and for those who want to learn about our Club. While the Bulletin continues to be the inside channel of communication, our web page reaches the outside world too and the information presented there must be appropriate to its larger audience. Thanks to both the Bulletin Editor and the Web Editor for keeping these channels of communication very much alive!

Behind all the work we have just mentioned, there is the solid and steady work of three people to whom goes my most sincere thanks: the Treasurer Annika Vonck, the Membership Chairperson Charlotte Marinus and the Secretary Olga Irish. Their work represents the backbone of the work of the board. The high quality of their work has given us others opportunity to develop all our respective areas.

To have been the President of IWC over the last two years has been a great experience for me. It was a steep learning curve and provided me with the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in areas I had little experience of before. I have enjoyed the challenges that this position has presented and the opportunity to get to know so many of you. The support and encouragement I received in my work from everyone turned this experience into a very rewarding one!

I wish to finish by saying a big thank you to our Patron, HRH Princess Lilian for her continuous support throughout my two years tenure as President of IWC. In spite of her busy schedule, our patron joined us on five different occasions this year. Her presence has always been perceived as a great sign of support for our Club and very encouraging for us all!
 

ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE CLUB YEAR 2004-2005

To write an annual report is a very useful exercise, not only because the end product provides information to the members but because it also compels the writer to reverse her way of thinking: it is not about what can we do next but what we have done up to now, how we have done it, and how successfully have we achieved our goals.

My colleagues’ reports prove the amount and quality of the work done this year with the help of the members of all the committees – my most sincere thanks to them all! And I am very grateful for the commitment the Board members have shown throughout the year and their determination to make things work at their best, even when difficulties crossed our path.

When we started to work in August the Board was not running at its full capacity since we did not have a Bulletin Editor. This meant a lot of extra work for everyone but we put our individual skills to work and shared what was needed to be done for the benefit of the Club. The monthly Bulletin had to be produced so I added to my personal job of president, the task of compiling it for the first three months while the other board members shared the task of organising the collection of the Bulletin from the printer, the preparation of the address labels and the mailing.

The same happened for the directory. Only after receiving all the payments was Yadira Jondal, our Treasurer, able to give us the realistic picture of the total number of members we actually had in the Club (312). Following this Lea Silander, the Membership Chairperson, was able to bring the Club membership database up-to-date. The lack of previous directory records in the computer was compensated by my previous experience as Membership Chairperson and the directory was produced and sent out to arrive at your doorstep within December, again thanks to the teamwork of our Board and their willingness to help one another. I am happy to report that IWC is maintaining its true international character as it embraces 65 different nationalities. In this Club year we welcomed 43 new members – a number which shows confidence in the work of our Club. As Lea has other commitments she is unable to carry on in her position next year but I wish to thank her for leaving an accurate and up-to-date database of members.

The Special Meeting, requested by the members at the AGM 2004, was held on the 3rd of November. It was the first Special Meeting the Club has ever held. This meeting was conducted in a spirit of openness and fairness and we were able to bring to closure a number of issues left unresolved from two previous AGMs. This type of meeting requires considerable preparation, both in the material to be presented and in the organization to be put into place. And of course, it increased the operating costs of the Board this year. We are very thankful to the Italian Cultural Institute for having given us the opportunity to hold this meeting in its premises at a very favourable rate. A reception was held once the business was over. After this experience the Board has decided to hold the AGM in the same location. This decision was determined by two considerations: the positive feedback received from the members after the Special Meeting, and the conviction that it was necessary to keep the business issues separate from the monthly luncheon to give every member the possibility to be part of the decision making process.

By December, a hard working Nominating Committee (NC) filled all the positions on the Board. I am very grateful to Regina Rehbinder, the Chairperson of the NC and all the members of her committee, for all the work they have carried out throughout the year ensuring fast and smooth transitions.

In September, Ágnes Mészáros was nominated as the Social Activities Chairperson and, soon afterwards, new activities were introduced such as the “Play Reading Group” which brought together those ladies in love with Shakespeare, and the “Find a way group” intended to help the “settling in” process of all the new comers. The successful “Activity page” with useful information on concerts in Stockholm, was also introduced for the benefit of the music lovers.

In November, the NC appointed Ursula Gunnarsson as the Bulletin Editor just in time to produce the December Bulletin. Within two weeks Ursula had to learn a new programme and produce a Bulletin. And she made it, proving to be a fast learner. Unfortunately Ursula will leave the Board this year as her husband has been posted to Malta.

In January, our website returned to life after a 6 months hibernation thanks to Maria Faxander who accepted to take over the position of Web Editor. Due to its specialised character, the Web Editor position is a 4 years appointment with the possibility of renewal for a two further years. Thanks to Maria, non-resident members can now follow the life of the Club. Talking about Club coordinators I would like to thank also Elisabeth Hammarskjöld for offering us very interesting trips to museum, exhibitions and auctions and to Hannelore Randquist for organising a trip to the beautiful Roma late in May.

Another surprise came in February when Caroline Bray, our Vice-president, had to go back to the UK. Caroline was a reliable person with a positive and rational attitude to her work. A great loss! Thanks again to the NC her position was filled immediately by Lauren Amazeen allowing us to carry on the work in our full capacity. The Lucia celebration organised with the Tour Chairperson in December was a real success. Apart from the monthly coffee mornings organised to introduce the new members, now we also have “Coffee Talks”, thanks to Lauren, where members can enjoy coffee and a stimulating talk at the same time. I consider myself lucky in having had two outstanding VPs this year. I would like to give my personal thanks to all the ladies who opened their houses to us for our activities. Without you our work would be impossible!

Throughout, our reliable Secretary, Olga Irish, has given solidity to the Board by looking after us and providing the material and information we needed to carry out our job. Her introduction of “From the Board” page in the Bulletin, to keep the members updated with the work of the Board, has been very well received.

Renate Pfeiffer, the Tour Chairperson, has successfully enriched our knowledge of Stockholm by organizing one or two tours a month covering many different areas of interest. Her enthusiasm is contagious and we are looking forward to what she has in store for us next year. The Boat trip to the archipelago at the end of May is a good example of how to combine the work of both the Tours Chairperson and the Hostess Chairperson. There is nothing better than being in good company, sharing food and enjoying together what this beautiful city and its surroundings have to offer.

Ellen Wetterlind, the Hostess Chairperson, had a lot of extra work this year. After a careful analysis of the number of participants at the lunches in the last two years, and after listening to the various comments coming from the members, it was obvious that this area of widespread concern had to be dealt with. So a questionnaire was prepared and sent out to have more feedback from members. Once the information was put together, Ellen had to find suitable alternatives to propose to you. At the same time the April lunch was organised on the ferry Victoria to give the members first hand experience of a different venue. And at the AGM we will decide together the way forward regarding our monthly meetings.

When we think about luncheons we think about programmes and Kukase Garba, our Programme Chairperson. She has surely spoilt us this year by providing very different programmes to suit every taste. You only need to look at her report to realise the diverse and high quality programmes that she has proposed this year. For the first time a country from Africa hosted our Christmas luncheon and the overwhelming beat forced us to dance together in harmony.

One of the objectives of our Club is to give financial support to philanthropic projects, especially those of an international nature. “To help those in need” has been the underlying philosophy of all the activities we have organised or supported this year. Art Wiklund, our Philanthropic Chairperson, has been an endless source of ideas and together we have been able to concentrate on some projects very successfully. Some, like the Botswana Night, were supported by other organizations and this has helped to put IWC in the Stockholm picture as a serious Club that is ready to join hands with other organizations to help those in need. The “Emergency and Crisis Fund” was another of Art’s ideas – long before the devastation of the Tsunami. The Philanthropic work goes hand in hand with the work of the Treasurer. A big thank you goes also to Yadira for keeping up with all these fundraising activities. To raise a total of SEK235,550 in one year meant a lot of work for everybody, work that we have all undertaken happily together in the knowledge that our contribution will bring at least a smile to the faces of some children who are less fortunate than ours. Many thanks for your support!

 

 
Last Update: 05 September 2007