Tuesday, 21 August 2012

30 June 2012 Session Minutes


TIiA Session Minutes by Rosie
Date: Sat 30 June 2012
Place: Design for Change office, Taipei (between Zhongxiao Fuxing and Daan MRT stations)
Attendees: Lynn, Liang, Jasper, Christine, Hal, Rosie
Part 1: Icebreaker, led by Lynn
Everyone brought an object that represented one of our passions.
--Liang loves delicious food and social networking. He is a big fan of TED TALKs.
--Jasper has a passion for taking notes in a notebook about anything he's interested in. He alternates using a white, and then a black notebook!
--Rosie has a passion for eating snacks, drinking coffee and collecting art sketches.
--Christine is passionate about her bank job and reading. She has worked in the same company for decades. She has devoted herself to her job. She's hoping her boss will see this blog!
--Hal brought his professional camera. He is into photography and told us about many things that he's experienced.
--Lynn feels she may be one of just a few people around who can say they maybe get TOO much exercise. She does 2 sets of stretching exercises every morning, and then cleans her floor. As long as it's not raining, she bicycles to work. She swims 3 times a week (for the last 35 years—it's her religion!) and always walks up and down the MRT escalators!
Part 2, led by Liang
Topic: HOW to ENCOURAGE MORE MEMBER PARTICIPATION in TIiA, using the Design for Change model of problem-solving
This was a continuation of our last session on 16 June.
First of all, he played a video “How to start a movementDerek Sivers” on the TED TALK webpage.

Discussion re: QuestionIf I’m a quiet person, is that good for TIiA or is TIiA a social group requiring more talkative people?
Answer:
We all have an important role to play in a small group. Everyone should have their role to play. For example Steve Wozniak is a quiet guy and quite a different character from Steve Jobs. He contributed to Apple in the way he was good at.
Actions taken:
We started a TIiA community Facebook page. It’ll be managed by Christine mainly; Liang and Rosie will assist her. Before future sessions, we’ll announce the topic and add the related link to the TIiA blog. After each session, we’ll post the Session Minutes and any photos taken at sessions.
The final To Do list:
1.Blog banner / create a TIiA logo.
2. Collect photos related to Taiwan. We’ll put photos on FB or blog and rotate them every once in a while .

All of us had fun. We finished at around 5:10pm, an hour beyond the normal finishing time!
NB: No donations taken at this session—Lynn forgot to pass around the red bag!

11 Aug 2012 Session Minutes


TAIWAN ISSUES in ACTION MINUTES by Louis
Saturday 11 August 2012
Time: 13:30-16:00
Venue: Christine Hsu's house, near Liuzhangli MRT station
Participants: Christine, Rosie, Hal, Joyce, Lynn (x2!), Catherine, Caroline,
Anne, Louis
Icebreaker: Led by Hal. Tell the group 3 things that are special about you.
Topic: Strengthening Employment and Entrepreneurship for Women in Taiwan
Guest Speaker: Bi-shia Sun, long-term (30 yrs +) Taiwanese govt Labor Dept staff
The situation which we are facing now is:
  1. Our women's labor force participation rate has risen since the 1980’s, but is still below other countries: the govt wants to improve it.
  2. The Roles of Women and Men in the family have changed.
  3. The women who quit Jobs at the marriageable age of 30 and want to return to work after their children grow up face difficulties finding suitable jobs.

Therefore, the Government is trying to help women find jobs or become an Entrepreneur through various strategies and programs. Detailed information is below.
Employment training programs http://www.evta.gov.tw/home/index.asp
Encourage entrepreneurship-business start-up Phoenix program

Discussion after Bi-shia's presentation
Most of us were pleasantly surprised at how well it seems the Government is dealing with this issue. We felt more people could be helped if they only knew about the programs. So, we started brainstorming how the Govt could let more citizens know about what it's doing:
--TV ads
--Facebook

Actions we can take to help:
--Pass along information to people we know who might be interested
Bi-shia gave us brochures. (Lynn to let Yvonne know; Anne to let a Taiwanese friend who makes jams and sauces know)

Other information
Here is introduction of南庄向天湖咖啡 on internet.

Announcements:
1. There's a Salvador Dali exhibit on at Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall until sometime in Sept.
  1. There's an interesting-sounding FREE event on Fri 24 Aug 2012, 7-9pm, sponsored by Design for Change. A talk in English (with Chinese interpretation) by the Taiwanese architect who designed the Beitou library and a visiting British elementary school principal. They'll be talking about Education for Sustainability.
  2. Next session: Sat 25 Aug, at Christine's. Topic: Design for Change + TIiA (II): How to Keep TIiA Sustainable?
Donations collected: 1300 NT.
Expenses: 350NT (Taiwanese soy sauce bought by Rosie as gift for Bi-shia)
TiiA's balance now is 8290 NT.

Friday, 17 August 2012

Experience a Group Problem-Solving Activity: Design for Change + TIiA (2) 25 Aug 2012 Session Announcement

Date:  Sat 25 August 2012
Time: 1:30-4pm
Place:  Member Christine Hsu's house (Thank you, Christine!)
Christine's apartment building is a 3 min walk from LiuZhangLi MRT Station (on the brown line), on the same side of Keelung Rd. There's only 1 exit at this MRT station, so you can't get lost!  After you register, you'll be sent the exact address...


Topic: Experience a Group Problem-Solving Activity: Design for Change + TIiA (Part 2)

In this session, we'll continue our discussion (started in the 28 July session) about How to Keep TIiA Sustainable. It's easy for us to find new members...but how to have sessions with more members attending?

We'll use the Design for Change framework for our discussion. It's really interesting and useful! Everyone gets a chance to participate! 

For planning purposes, please register for this session by 12 noon on Fri 24 August. Please email me on:
lynn.conant@britishcouncil.org.tw (My hotmail address isn't working!)

Thanks! It would be great to see you!

Cheers

Lynn

Saturday, 4 August 2012

11 Aug 2012 TIiA Session Announcement

Date:  Sat 11 August 2012
Time: 1:30-4pm
Place:  Member Christine Hsu's house (Thank you, Christine!)
Christine's apartment building is a 3 min walk from LiuZhangLi MRT Station (on the brown line), on the same side of Keelung Rd. There's only 1 exit at this MRT station, so you can't get lost!  After you register, you'll be sent the exact address...




Topic: Strengthening Employment and Entrepreneurship for Women in Taiwan

How many times have you had the chance to meet and talk with a high-level official in the Taiwanese government? Our guest speaker this session is Ms Bi-shia Sun, who's been working for the government for 32 years. She's focused now on Women's Employment Programs. She'll be telling us the current situation in Taiwan now regarding women and jobs...and what the government is trying to do to make improvements.

For planning purposes, please register for this session by 12 noon on Fri 10 AugustThanks! It would be great to see you!


Cheers

Lynn