ITALIAN EMBASSY’S ANDREAS SANDRE EXPLAINS “DIGITAL DIPLOMACY”
For our fourth program of the year on July 26, 2015, AMHS members and guests enjoyed a delicious lunch followed by an interesting and informative talk on a very relevant topic in today’s world. We were pleased to have as our speaker Andreas Sandre, Press and Public Affairs Officer at the Embassy of Italy and author of “Digital Diplomacy:
Conversations on Innovation in Foreign Policy”. This publication, Guest speaker Andreas Sandre released in 2015, includes a foreword by Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero and interviews with twenty-eight leaders from across the globe.
The presentation on digital diplomacy, also called ediplomacy, expanded awareness of the use of digital and social media in the development of foreign policy, as well as the dissemination of critical policies relating to education, health care, home ownership and housing, the workforce, etc. E-diplomacy is used in a variety of environments even, as we learned, in space through astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. The astronaut sent tweets from outer space giving lessons to Italian schoolchildren and sending back photos of our beautiful universe.
Pope Francis is active on social media fronts, now having more than 22 million followers on Twitter. There is now even a new word in Italian, “twittare,” meaning “to tweet.” The delicious lunch, arranged by Sergio Fresco, was catered by Three Brothers Restaurant. Our thanks to all who helped with the lunch, especially Peter Bell (filling in for Lynn Sorbara), Rosina Brienza Schacknies, Maria Fresco and Edvige D’Andrea. Thanks to Deno Reed for helping with the sale of the raffle tickets, and our thanks to those who donated prizes for the raffle. The full proceeds of our raffle will be used for the AMHS Annual Scholarship Fund. Note: Andreas is from Val D’Aosta in Northern Italy. He resided in Washington, D.C. for the past four years.
FERRAGOSTO 2015
The Society’s annual Ferragosto picnic was held on the grounds of Villa Rosa Nursing Home in Mitchellville, MD on Sunday, August 16. Approximately 50 people came out to share lots of good food and friendship in spite of the heat and humidity!
It’s always amusing to see people start off sitting with their own “tribe” and later revolve around the space, meeting and mingling with more and more people by day’s end. Trading jokes, anecdotes and gardening tips as well as playing some serious bocce will do that to folks! As the day progressed and temperatures climbed, people made their way from the covered pavilion to the grassy fields where it was noticeably cooler. The clean-up process was humorous as stray items from tables – a couple of fresh ears of corn here, a leftover blackberry pie there -
were transferred to a lone rectangular table while chairs and circular tables were put away. The end product made for an interesting cornucopia and makeshift buffet for anyone who might still be hungry after an afternoon of happy feasting. A very special “thank you” goes out to everyone who helped with setting up and cleaning up. Thank you as well to all who came out and supported our picnic this year. It’s always wonderful to spend time with our AMHS family, especially at happy and festive occasions such as Ferragosto.
Everyone’s participation also helps keep our traditions alive and well, especially for the next generations. Several familiar faces and “regulars” - folks who come to many if not all of our events throughout the year – could not make it this time due to travel or other commitments. You were greatly missed. We’ll try not to be too jealous of those of you who were fortunate enough to celebrate Ferragosto in Italy! Photos of the 2015 Ferragosto picnic can be found on the Society’s Facebook page. If you haven’t done so already, please “like” us on Facebook and share posts with your family and friends who missed our event this year. We hope to see old and new faces alike at future gatherings.