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National Resource Center
for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes Newsletter
February 2014
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Greetings from Kali
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Our horn tooter this month is from Maine artist Winslow Homer -- and his seaside is a bit less snow-covered than our current one! But the days are longer and spring is coming. Meanwhile, February is Black History Month and we have seen announcements of a number of classes and events across the network. We couldn't feature them all, but we chose a post from the newsletter of the OLLI at University of Las Vegas to represent the activities. You will note that we also chose a representative sample of OLLI videos to highlight this month. The ones chosen were mentioned in recent online discussions, and each illustrates a different approach to making an OLLI promotional video. Click here to find these and others at the NRC home page. Best regards, Kali
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OLLIs -- Toot Your Horns!
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 | | The Dinner Horn (Blowing the Horn at Seaside), by Winslow Homer, 1870 |
Toot your horn! Does your OLLI have news that you are proud of and would like to share with the network? The NRC newsletter is looking for articles about those
special happenings that you know will inspire and excite others. So, keep the network newsletter in mind as a place to "toot your horn!" If you have a story to share, please send it (with photos if possible) to Fran or Anne at the National Resource Center.
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Kali Lightfoot, Executive Director of the OLLI national Resource Center was invited to write an essay addressing the theme of "Not Your Mother's Retirement" edited by Mark Evan Chimsky. Mark is the editor of '65 Things to Do When You Retire,' named by The Wall Street Journal as "[one] of the year's best guides to later life."
Copies of the "Not Your Mother's Retirement" printed by Sellers Publishing will be in bookstores by the end of February. So order your copy now!
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OLLI National ConferenceWebsite for Attendees Now Open!
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The 2014 OLLI National Conference will be held at the Park Hyatt Aviara, Carlsbad, CA from April 28-30, 2014. Information regarding programming, schedules, plus many more details are available on our website at osher.net. (Look for the conference link in the left hand menu bar.)
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OLLI at the University of South Florida and its partnership with the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI)
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For the past two years, OLLI at the University of South Florida has partnered with the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) to offer some phenomenal courses on positive psychology, morality and ethical living. Titles include "Unlocking Your Hidden Potential" and "Living with Integrity".
JLI's Tampa representative, Rabbi Mendy Dubrowski (seen on the right), has led the courses to great success. JLI provides course materials including a thoroughly researched curriculum that allow students to examine original texts and engage in dynamic discussion. Rabbi Mendy guides the group to discover their own views and opinions, using multimedia and metaphoric illustration to animate and personalize the assimilation of ideas. Of course no lecture is perfect without a great sense of humor, and Rabbi Mendy's JLI courses often get the best reviews for entertainment. The partnership with JLI has broadened the curricular offerings at OLLI-USF and has been well received by OLLI members, who found these courses generally exceeded their expectations and were relevant, useful and enjoyable.
The JLI operates in 622 communities globally and currently offers a wide range of courses on 20 OLLI campuses. To arrange a JLI offering on your campus, please contact Yossi Klein at (718) 221-6900 Ext. 124 or email yklein@myjli.com.
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OLLI at UNLV Celebrates Black History Month
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February is Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. In addition to a complete calendar of UNLV campus events throughout February, the UNLV libraries have partnered with the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to create an expansive website dedicated to the African American experience in Las Vegas. Explore this new, informative, and interactive website.
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Lunch & Learn Plus a Success Story from OLLI at the University of Washington
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 | | Lunching and Learning at OLLI! |
Hello from Washington State. We have really enjoyed our success with our monthly Lunch and Learn program in which members bring their lunch and get a chance to both build community and listen to a speaker. Highlights have included a columnist from the Seattle Times newspaper, the chief meteorologist from a major TV channel and a retired law school professor who spoke about recent Supreme Court decisions. We invite our members to bring guests, which is a wonderful recruitment idea and has resulted in numerous new members. Our lovely OLLI-UW member Helen Oppenheim will be at the national conference so feel free to ask her about this successful program!
As you are planning your future events, we wanted to share a success story. Our summer enrollment in courses was low but members continually expressed the desire to have something going on. Last summer we tried one day or half day events in which members pay a smaller fee. It was a huge success for the members and the instructors. Social events that we have in the works are planned by members and in the next couple of months include a trip to the local Conservancy to view rare orchids and a specially guided tour of the Seattle Art Museum. Isn't this a great organization to be a part of? See you at the conference!
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How to throw a successful potluck in OLLI at CSUMB style!
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Feast by Leon Chwistek
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1. Invite the OLLI community.
2. Bow in gratitude as volunteers ready the room for a party.
3. Watch with delight as the tables fill with sweets and savories.
4. Stand back and witness the magic of the community coming together.
This 'Zen-like' thank you to volunteers from Michele Crompton and her team was spotted on the OLLI at CSU Monterey Bay website by the OLLI NRC.
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OLLI Videos
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As OLLI staff know the OLLI National Resource Center recently launched a new communication system called Basecamp. This system is designed to help OLLI staff share questions and information with each other across our network of 117 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes.
Thanks to Basecamp, we saw a wonderful exchange take place which addressed the use of OLLI videos. Videos are an excellent way to help people understand what to expect when they join an OLLI. Many OLLI staff have found their videos have been highly effective in promoting their Institute. It is intriguing to read how different OLLIs have set about creating their promotional videos and we thought you might be inspired by seeing some of the videos that were discussed on Basecamp.
Before you reach for your popcorn and sit back to watch the following OLLI promotions here is the original Basecamp question posted by Emma Carrasco, OLLI at Texas Tech University: "Has your OLLI produced a professional video/commercial? Anyone have one that is more general in nature about OLLI that we could view? We did one over 10 years ago and it is too outdated to use anymore."
 | | OLLI at University of Nevada Las Vegas (YouTube) |
Rich Easter - OLLI at the University of Nevada Las Vegas: "OLLI at UNLV actually reached our to the university's film department and recruited a film student to produce a video for us. It was good practice for the student and a nice PR piece for us."
 | | OLLI at the University of Denver (Website) |
Vonnie Wheeler - OLLI at the University of Denver: "We are very proud of our video on our home page entitled, "...then what are you Doing for the Rest of your Life?" The message is really timeless. We were very fortunate to have both a professional producer and a retired radio personality as members so it didn't cost us any dollars to produce! The video was the brainchild of Charlie Holtz (producer) and the voice over was provided by Harry Cullis who sadly has since passed away."
 | | OLLI at the University of North Dakota |
Connie Hodgson - OLLI at the University of North Dakota: "The video was done by UND's Public Relations department. All of our other videos are done by an extremely talented OLLI member, Michael Harvey."
 | | OLLI at University of North Carolina Asheville |
Catherine Frank - OLLI at University of North Carolina Asheville: "A local real estate company here in Western North Carolina has a series of videos about what makes our region unique. They offered to make a video about OLLI, which I think turned out well (and cost us nothing). It only took a couple of days of shooting. Of course it has the commercial aspect of being a promotion for the realtor, but they have been a long-time sponsor of our Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend, so it felt okay and even a good way to leverage partnerships in a time of shrinking budgets. We are thinking of hiring the videographer to do a series of one or two minute videos about our other programs."
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Unable to attend the OLLI National Conference?
Then sign up for the 2014 Southern Regional Lifelong Learning Meeting: July 30- August 1, 2014
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The southern regional meetings are open to volunteers and staff from both Lifelong Learning Institutes (LLIs) and Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLIs). Attendees will have the opportunity to "share learning and fellowship, to discuss best practices, and to explore issues ranging from how to plan a membership social to how to raise funds."
Call for Proposals
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OLLI Network Position Openings
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Image information:
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Lunching and Learning at OLLI. Image by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - "Cafe Chantant II". Courtesy Wikicommons
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The Dinner Horn (Blowing the Horn at Seaside), by Winslow Homer, 1870. Courtesy Wikicommons
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