The five members of the outbound Group Study Exchange team, from Rotary District 6930 are embarking on a month-long vocational and cultural exchange with Rotarians in District 3690 that encompasses outlying areas of Seoul in northern Gyeonggi Province.  The team from Florida is developing a multimedia presentation to describe the best industrial and cultural features of the East Central and South Florida region.   The team returns home on April 19.

Denny is Past-President of the Titusville Sunrise Rotary Club and is GSE Team Leader.  Carey Beam is the communications specialist with Craig Technologies in Cape Canaveral, and is the VP of Communications for the FPRA Space Coast Chapter board.  The other team members are Krista McGowan, owner of Orcom Labs in Indian Harbor Beach, Ryan McGill, an engineer with Harris Corp. in Melbourne, and Ana Petkovic, a pharmacist manager with CVS in Boynton Beach.

Since being brought together in October of last year, the team has spent many hours researching Korean culture and principals of Rotary International, met for a series of preparatory meetings, received coaching from native Korean speakers, attended Rotary club meetings and service projects, planned for international travel, practiced conversational Korean phrases, and shared authentic Korean meals with their families at locations throughout the District.  The Group Study Exchange program is made possible by funding from the Rotary Foundation.

The team from Florida will be making updates to their trip journal on-line at http://district6930tokorea.wordpress.com/.  Community members are encouraged to follow the team as photos, videos and written accounts about the GSE exchange are added periodically.   To learn more about Rotary International and the Group Study Exchange Program, visit the website, http://www.Rotary.org.  To learn more about Rotary District 6930, visit http://www.rotary6930.org/index.php.

The Ford Motor Company is one of America’s iconic brand names recognized worldwide: one of the so-called ‘Big Three’ US automakers that includes General Motors and Chrysler – all presently embroiled in US government actions to support the industry with a proposed $14 billion bailout.

While this business backdrop sets the scene for mainstream media headlines and reporting, Ford continues to communicate and engage with its stakeholders and other interested parties, employing the full spectrum of tools and channels as appropriate.

It’s the area of social media and communication that is the prime focus of this “For Immediate Release (FIR) Interview” with Scott Monty, Head of Social Media at Ford’s worldwide headquarters in Dearborn, USA. In this conversation with FIR’s Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz, Scott talks through the events surrounding a Ford fan site and alleged counterfeit Ford parts, how criticisms of Ford’s legal moves blew up across auto-enthusiast and other websites and blogs in a 24-hour period, and the key role Twitter played in enabling Scott to rapidly defuse and help to successfully address those criticisms. Scott also talks about The Ford Story, and offers five critical tips for any communicator embarking on deploying social media in the enterprise.

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