Evaluations/ Games/ PET/ Beliefs - 7/22/09

[Smartmarriages]

-  I NEED YOUR EVALUATIONS

If you need continuing education credits, I know you'll complete an
evaluation.  And, I thank you.  Do it before it all fades.

But we also need to hear from those of you who are not licensed
professionals/therapists to get a balanced view and meet the needs of both
counselors and marriage educators/lay couples.

You don't need to rate every session, just enter any session # which gets
you to the basics: What you liked, what you didn't
like, and suggestions for speakers/topics/format for 2010.

For guidelines read this info first:
http://www.smartmarriages.com/evaluation.faqs.html

I can't plan 2010 without your help.  I am closing in on a contract and
dates.  I think we'll be on exact same dates - July 6 - 12 - with a slightly
different pattern (Tues - Mon instead of Mon - Sun) to allow people to fly
on July 5th instead of July 4th.  I've managed to get this flexibility in
several cities. Now for the arm wrestling.

Send me emails about Keynote and Institute ideas - yours or others.

Diane 

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- GAMES PEOPLE PLAY!

> Hi Diane. 
> I've created a relationship board game called "Authenticity". Please take a
> look at my website. I would love to meet with you to share the concept of the
> game and learn how it can partner with your mission.
> 
> Sheila Brown 
> Aliehs Communications, Inc.
> www.playauthenticity.com

Very pleased that you've found us.  I don't meet with people - there's one
of me and over ten thousand coalition members so the odds don't allow
in-person meeting time, but I can tell you how to grab an oar and get
started.  

In fact, to help me make the point, another couples board game creator,
Barbara Jenkins, found us just before the last conference, exhibited her
Couple Links game, and sold out the 54 games she brought almost immediately.
I talked to her today and she's already shipped that many more to folks who
placed orders in Orlando.

Same thing happened to Money Habitudes - a card game for couples.  The
creator, Syble Solomon, sold out all her stock the first day of the
conference, reordered twice and sold everything she FedEx'd to Orlando and
is now busy filling orders placed at the conference.

This makes sense - the couples play workshops were by far the most popular
sessions (and loudest!) at the conference.  (I apologize for those of you in
nearby sessions - the hotel told me their sound walls were perfect and being
a brand new hotel, I believed them.)

In any case, you have to wait another year for the annual conference, but in
the meantime, you can list your game on the website, subscribe to the free
email list, and consider yourself a member.

See the listings for Couple Links & Money Habitudes here and send a listing
for your game if you'd like to list it:
http://www.smartmarriages.com/app/Directory.BrowsePrograms#type_54

###########################
- PARENT EDUCATION/MARRIAGE EDUCATION

Diane,   
If P.E.T. can raise a Bill Gates -- it gives an idea of the potential of
Marriage and Relationship education skills.  Wow.

And it certainly makes me feel proud of having taught Parent Effectiveness
Training (PET) for so many years.  - Patty Howell

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=113586786011&h=mq3Gb&u=BI7Vh&ref=m
f

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- BELIEFS THAT WEAKEN MARRIAGE

In the coalition, we agree with the friends (the add-ons referenced below) -
that young peoples' (and old peoples') fear of the 50% first-marriage and
65% remarriage failure rates is one of the biggest problems. Which is why
marriage education which will give people confidence that they CAN learn how
to succeed at marriage is the best route for restoring confidence and hope -
and marriage.  - diane

> Diane:
>  
> Here is an item that might be of interest to you and your list.
>  
> It is a summary I did recently on the various factors that have been weakening
> marriage in the US. And as I have said to my co-workers here, it is hard to
> fix something if you don't know what broke it! :-)
>  
> Of course, no such list can be exhaustive, but these are the key factors many
> family historians and sociologists regularly mention. Of course, not all the
> items are bad in themselves, but they have had an effect on marriage.
>  
> I have a had a few friends mention some additional important factors such as:
> 1) Decline of church discipline and authority surrounding divorce and
> remarriage and  2) young people's fear of marriage because of the possibility
> of failing at it like their parents did.
>  
> Here is the url: 
> http://fota.cdnetworks.net/pdfs/2009-07-09-Beliefs-Factors-on-Marriage-Decline
> .pdf
>  Even though it is in the form of a memo to co-workers here at Focus, it
> is OK for distribution to your list.
>  
> Glenn Stanton

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