ACR Update is sent on a regular basis to share important conflict resolution news and organizational updates with our members. We encourage you to scroll through the items listed below, and hope you'll find this information useful. We look forward to your feedback!

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IN THIS ISSUE:

1. ACR’s Annual Report to Members

2. National Youth Violence Prevention Campaign: April 4–8, 2005

3. Publications Update

4. 2005 Annual Fund

5. 2005 Annual Conference Marketing Opportunities

6. Sections Update

7. Chapters Update

8. Quotations

9. Message from Our Sponsor: Solomon Publications—New ADR Books and Online Courses

Note: If the above links do not work, scroll down to view full body below.

National Youth Violence Prevention Week is April 4-8, 2005! This nationwide, web-based initiative educates students, teachers, school administrators, counselors, school resource officers, school staff, parents and the public on ways to reduce and prevent youth violence. Each day of the campaign focuses on a specific prevention strategy and includes information and activities to address youth violence and unite communities. ACR has been involved with the campaign for several years and is proud to be a Strategy Sponsor. The National Youth Violence Prevention Campaign was founded by the National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere (S.A.V.E.) and GuidanceChannel.com, a brand of Sunburst Visual Media.

To learn more about the campaign, or to become involved, please contact Jennifer Druliner at jdruliner@ACRnet.org or 202-464-9700, ext. 228.

Exciting Advertising Opportunities!

You love reading ACResolution and Conflict Resolution Quarterly—now you can reach others in the field by advertising in an ACR publication. New rates for 2005 offer exciting opportunities and great value. For more information and to place an order, visit http://www.ACRnet.org/advertising/publications.htm or contact Alison Talbott at 202-464-9700, ext. 230 or publications@ACRnet.org. The deadline for advertising in the Spring ACResolution is extended to March 7, but act now as space is filling up!

Editorial correction:
In the Winter 2005 edition of ACResolution, James MacPherson’s article titled, “Delivering the Promise: America’s Most Successful Mediators” included a reference in the “Case Management” section (page 24) to a MIMS software program for mediators. The website for the software referenced in the article was incorrect and should be noted as http://www.trucetech.com.

2005 Annual Fund

Help strengthen ACR and the conflict resolution field by making a tax-deductible gift to ACR’s 2005 Annual Fund Campaign.

Beat the last minute rush—make your 2005 Annual Fund pledge today! Pledges of $250 or more can be paid on a quarterly basis.* Call 202-464-9700, ext. 218 for more information.

*All pledges must be fulfilled by December 31, 2005.

Promote your services, products or business at ACR’s Fifth Annual Conference: “Conflict Resolution in a Changing World: Building the Practice and Fostering Hope.” The deadline for reserving pre-conference brochure ads is coming up soon—place your advertisement by April 1, 2005 and reach more than 30,000 conflict resolution practitioners, professionals and educators.

Visit ACR’s website to learn more about advertising, exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities at ACR’s Fifth Annual Conference or download a complete marketing brochure at http://www.acrnet.org/pdfs/ac05marketingbrochure.pdf. Email marketing@ACRnet.org for more information.

Consumer Section Update

Join the Consumer Section for an informative teleconference titled “Marketing Yourself and Your Practice with Grace Cleaves.” Mediation services are primarily a referral business. Your clients come to you from others who know your work. How are you assuring that your referrals are being maximized to their full potential? To register for this call, which will be held on March 24, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. EST, please email Anne-Marie Burton at sections@ACRnet.org or visit http://www.mediate.com/acrconsumer/pg10.cfm.

(Please note: Consumer Section teleconferences are a Consumer Section member benefit. To join this Section, login to the Online Member Center, click on “My Account History,” then “Add Sections,” and select and select “Consumer Section.”)

Family Section Update

Join the Family Section for its Telephone Talk titled “Transforming Conflict in Families with Louise Phipps Senft” on March 21, 2005, at 12:00 p.m. EST. Despite conflict’s destabilizing impact, people have the ability to rebound and recover from its alienating effects. While conflict unfolds, people can and do make dynamic shifts along two dimensions, empowerment and recognition. Learn more about the shifts along these two dimensions and the impact on the mediation process by participating in this telephone talk. To register for this call please email Anne-Marie Burton at sections@ACRnet.org.

(Please note: Family Section telephone talks are a Family Section member benefit. To join this Section, login to the Online Member Center, click on “My Account History,” then “Add Sections,” and select “Family Section.”)

OCM Section Update

Mark your calendars for the OCM Section conference: “2005 Conflict Management Systems and Beyond: What’s Next in Conflict Management Systems Design?” The conference will be held April 15-16, 2005 in Denver, Colorado. Come and enhance your understanding of conflict management systems and how it fits with other systems, build your knowledge, expertise and potential services as a conflict management practitioner, and impact the future direction of conflict management systems design. Registration is now open; a discounted registration rate is available until March 25. Book your hotel reservation by March 31 to lock in a lower room rate. For more information visit the OCM Section webpage.

Spirituality Section Update

The Spirituality Section is launching a spring teleseminar series. The first program will be “The Spiritual Cost of Conflict” featuring Kenneth Cloke, March 23, 2005 at 3:00 p.m. EST. This program will explore the spiritual cost of conflict, as well as its spiritual value. According to Kenneth Cloke, “[E]very conflict represents a spiritual crisis in the lives of its participants, and therefore, potentially, a path to spiritual learning and transcendence.” Cloke is the author of “Into the Heart of Conflict: A Guide to Resolution Transformation and Transcendence” (to be published in 2006). For more information about the teleseminar, visit the Spirituality Section webpage.

ACR–Dallas Chapter Update

ACR Dallas was privileged to welcome Justice Carolyn Wright from the Fifth District Court of Appeals as its guest speaker for its February 22nd Chapter meeting. Justice Wright, a fourth-generation Texan born in Houston, has served in the judiciary for the last 20 years. While many of the positions held by her have been historical firsts for women and minorities serving in the Dallas Judiciary, her election to the Court of Appeals marks the first time in Texas history that an African-American woman has ever won a multi-county election for any elected office.

On February 25th and 26th more than a dozen Dallas ACR members served as Volunteer Ambassadors during the annual Texas Association of Mediators (TAM) conference in Dallas. Volunteers from both the Dallas and Houston Chapters represented ACR at the TAM Conference.

For more information about the Dallas Chapter, contact Sheikha S. Hobeiche at sheikha@hobeiche-mediation.us.

ACR–Greater Delaware Valley

Twenty-four members of the Delaware Valley ACR Chapter and guests gathered for the Chapter’s recent inaugural meeting. Chapter President Jim Rosenstein made a few brief announcements before the guest speaker, Peter Maida, Ph.D., was introduced by Program Committee Co-Chair Ed Blumstein. Dr. Maida, who is ACR’s Vice-President, gave a presentation on the topic of mediator certification.

ACR–North Carolina Chapter

ACR–NC is a co-host of the Quad State Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Conference in March and has lined up five great presentations for conference participants. On Thursday evening of the Conference, the Chapter will host its second meeting. For more information, please see http://www.mediate.com/acrnorthcarolina/pg15.cfm.

ACR–NC is planning to host a third membership meeting in conjunction with former ACR Board Director Bernie Mayer’s upcoming presentation for The Mediation Center in May.

Increasing awareness of conflict resolution is a top priority of ACR–NC members. Chapter members are working to create a syndicated, regular column that presents a conflict and a resolution that a member has facilitated. Other ACR Chapters are invited to participate, and the Dallas Chapter has already expressed interest.

ACR–NC is spreading the word about dispute resolution internationally. The United Nations has designated 2000-2010 the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence. ACR–NC took the opportunity to express its opinion concerning the importance of mediation and conflict resolution. You can read the Chapter’s response at http://decade-culture-of-peace.org.

The New England Chapter will hold a Member Meeting on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at the Sheraton Hotel, 727 Marret Road, Lexington, MA. This program is titled “Why Won’t This Case Settle?”

Melinda Gehris will lead the interactive workshop designed to help mediators identify reasons that a case has not settled and provide insight into ways to assist parties in working through the stumbling blocks of impasse. The workshop’s focus is on process issues including rapport and trust with the mediator, desire of the parties to reach an agreement, attorney-mediator and inter-attorney competition, procedural justice needs of the parties, absentee key parties and disagreement about the negotiation process.

Please call 617-536-3227 or email neacr@neacr.org for more information.

Solomon Publications Offers New ADR Books and Online Courses

Solomon Publications Offers New ADR Books and Online Courses Basic Skills for the New Mediator and Basic Skills for the New Arbitrator, Second Editions by Allan H. Goodman are now available.

Online courses in ADR advocacy for attorneys and other professionals are also offered. Visit Solomon Publications’ website, www.solomonpublications.com, for details.

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