Applications Due | African American | Marriage Education in Schools | Bridal Show | Job | ASPE | Marriage and Baseball - 10/3/07

[Smartmarriages]

- PRESENTER EXTENSION
- AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE MOVEMENT TELECONFERENCE
- FREE TELECONFERENCE: HOW TO BRING MARRIAGE EDUCATION INTO SCHOOLS
- BRIDAL SHOWS
- JOB LISTING
- CORRECTION: ASPE NOT ACF
- MARRIAGE AND BASEBALL: HOWARD MARKMAN


- PRESENTER APPLICATION EXTENSION

Find the application at:
http://www.smartmarriages.com/abstract.html

Presenter applications for SF conference are due Fri Oct 12. I've been asked
about an extension.  I will be out of town, so you can have the weekend -
end of day Mon Oct 15th is fine.  If you can't get the entire application
completed or can't find a color photo to attach, do the best you can.  At
very least complete the title, description, presenter names, and learning
objectives. 

I cannot answer questions about whether or not a workshop is likely to be
accepted.  We won't know till we see how much space is available.  So please
don't ask.  Just submit, and we'll see.

I am trying to acknowledge receipt via email of applications as I receive
them. 

IF YOU ARE A PRIOR PRESENTER AND HOPE TO REPEAT A PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, YOU
MUST EMAIL TO LET ME KNOW.  I would also appreciate hearing from you if you
know you will not be in SF.

Hint: I have received nothing on infertility. - diane

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- AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE MOVEMENT TELECONFERENCE

Thurs, Oct 11, 7pm EST.  Brainstorm about how to enhance and support ALL
marriage and relationship education programs - those that were funded and
those that were not and discuss what is working, and what is not.  Anyone
working with African American marriage and relationship education is
encouraged to join.  To do so, contact Ernesta Wright, at The G.R.E.E.N
Foundation, at: thegreenfoundation3 at yahoo.com
<http://us.f502.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=thegreenfoundation3@yahoo.com>

#####################
- FREE TELECONFERENCE: HOW TO BRING MARRIAGE EDUCATION INTO SCHOOLS

Tues, Oct 16, 9-10 pm (EST) MP Wylie and Marc Payán, will present innovative
strategies for bring marriage education for parents into schools based on
their success in California in low-income, high Hispanic population schools.
Listen and ask your questions, by calling  712-432-9998 and use access code
498485#. The call is free except for your long distance charges.

######################
- BRIDAL SHOWS

Diane, 
After 3 years of talking about it, we finally managed to get ourselves into
a Bridal Show!

St. Louis Healthy Marriage Coalition will be promoting pre-marriage
education at the MidWest Black Bridal Show in a few weeks.
In addition to handing out pro-marriage materials, we'll give the browsing
brides a heart key chain with the reminder: Key words to a successful
marriage: I love you. Thank you. I'm Sorry.

In addition, there will be three give away baskets.  Among the contents of
the baskets are:
The DVD 10 Great Dates for Black Couples and accompanying book.
J. Gottman's Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.
A wedding candle and other marriage items.

The best part is that the other vendors think that it is great that we are
there promoting marriage education.

Bridget Brennan,
SLHMC 

I can hear your excitement.  Be sure to write and tell us how it goes.
Wish I could get you "After the Glass Slipper" to add to the baskets but
it's not published, yet. It's an extension of the Cinderella story, what
happens in the first year of marriage after you marry your prince or the gal
whose foot perfectly fits the slipper.  I've seen a pre-publication copy and
it's wonderful. I'll let everyone know when it's available.  - diane

########################
- JOB LISTING
 
Public Strategies is hiring a full-time Project Manager to support its
technical assistance contract with the Texas Health and Human Services
Commission (HHSC) to develop a statewide healthy marriage initiative.
See the full listing at: http://www.smartmarriages.com/jobs.html

If you have a job listing that has been filled, please let me know so I can
remove it.  - diane

#####################
- CORRECTION: ASPE NOT ACF

I said ACF announced the Marriage Research Center Grant. Wrong.
The new Center at Bowling Green is under the auspices of ASPE, not ACF. (One
clever person said I apparently don't know my ACF from my ASPE.) They're
both at HHS and both involved in marriage initiatives, but are distinct
entities. ACF (Administration for Children and Families) only has a budget
of $47 billion a year.  ASPE is Planning Research and Evaluation and is
directed by Melissa Perdue.  Wade Horn directed ACF.  His replacement is not
yet approved.  And, then there are a whole bunch of other offices at HHS
(Health and Human Services)....all with their own set of initials. I try.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/_/index.cfm
- diane

######################
- MARRIAGE AND BASEBALL: HOWARD MARKMAN

Wish I'd had this one in time for yesterday's "fun" posting....
Dancing, Yard Sales, Movies, Sex, and Baseball..... - diane
 
Study shows Denver divorce rate decreased 20 percent after
Wildcard Champs Colorado Rockies came to town

Other MLB cities show similar trend

DENVER/ In 1990, a year before Denver was awarded a major league baseball
franchise, the city¹s divorce rate stood at six divorces per 1,000 people.
Ten years later, and seven years after the Colorado Rockies played their
first game, the divorce rate had declined 20 percent to 4.2 divorces per
1,000 people. In contrast, the overall U.S. divorce rate dropped 15 percent.

University of Denver psychology professor Howard Markman, director of the
Center for Marital and Family Studies, conducted a study looking at that
question more than a decade ago, while Denver still was debating whether to
build a stadium to support a major league baseball team. The study showed
that cities with major league baseball teams had a 28 percent lower divorce
rate than cities that wanted major league baseball at the time (such as
Denver, Phoenix, Miami, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C.).

Markman also studied divorce rates in other cities that welcomed a major
league team and found a 30 percent decline in divorces in Phoenix, a 30
percent drop in Miami and a 17 percent drop in Tampa Bay. While there could
be many explanations for this significant difference, Markman stresses the
importance of fun and friendship in a healthy marriage. Going to baseball
games is one way couples can have fun together and talk as friends.

While Markman can¹t definitively prove a correlation, he says that ³baseball
still can be used as a model for a healthy, happy marriage.²

Markman uses a baseball analogy to explain the steps to a happy marriage:

·     On First Base we have the importance of handling negative emotions‹any
relationship that¹s going to work must need a way of talking without
fighting about the inevitable conflicts that happen in the relationship.

·     At Second Base we have maintaining and/or restoring positive
connections‹the fun, the friendship, the romanceŠthe reasons why virtually
all of us dream of happy, healthy marriages for a lifetime.

³Going to a baseball game and not talking about relationship issues, but
rather having fun and talking as friends is one of the ways to protect and
preserve love,² Markman says.

·     At Third Base we have commitment and sacrifice.  Making a relationship
one of the important, if not the most important, priorities in your life is
crucial. ³One must sacrifice at critical times in your relationship as a
batter sacrifices by bunting at critical times in the game,² Markman says.
³Couples need to make their goals as a team more important than individual
goals from time to time.²

·      On the Pitcher¹s Mound we have doing your part, your own part, to be
the best possible partner you can be for the ³home team.²

·     At Home Base, we have being safe at home in terms of not having
conflicts break out at any time, and safe from physical harm and danger.
This is critically important to a happy, healthy relationship.

Markman¹s baseball model of a healthy, happy marriage and 30 years of
research on what makes for a great marriage and how to have a great marriage
in your own life, are summarized in the book ³Fighting for Your Marriage.²

³One way to get going is to head for your nearest ballpark,² Markman says.

To help Denver area couples reinvigorate their relationships, Markman is
offering  research-based educational, fun and romantic couples  retreats,
with the next one being the weekend of Oct 13th  .within walking distance of
Coors Field.  The programs are based on the internationally known PREP
Program developed by Markman. Information about the workshops is available
by calling (303) 482-7588 or log onto www.loveyourrelationship.com
<http://www.loveyourrelationship.com/>


The University of Denver (www.du.edu), the oldest private university in the
Rocky Mountain region, enrolls approximately 10,850 students in its
undergraduate and graduate programs. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the
University of Denver as a Research University with high research activity.

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12th Annual Smart Marriages® Conference, Hilton San Francisco Hotel,
July 2 - 5, 2008  
Pre-Conference Training Institutes June 30-July 2
Post-Conference Training Institutes July 6

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http://www.smartmarriages.com

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Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education, LLC (CMFCE)
Diane Sollee, Director
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http://www.smartmarriages.com
202-362-3332

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