APPRECIATION

WHEREAS Our Host Committee, chaired by Jossy Mansur, Diario, Oranjestad, Aruba and composed of Jossy E. Mansur y Margaret Wever, Aruba Daily, Oranjestad, Aruba, provided an atmosphere of hospitality and cordiality conducive to professional and social activities WHEREAS the Midyear Meeting received the generous support of the following organizations that sponsored hospitality events, offered services and provided useful and informative material and equipment: especially the Aruba Tourism Authority, as well as Avian, Diario, Aruba Daily, the family of Sir Jerry Schouten, Taoist Tai Chi Society, Juan Valdez Premium Colombian Coffee, Aruba Salsa, Aruba Government, Firgos, Rennaisance Mall and Market Place, Pelican Adventures, MANA, Educación Profesional Intermedio (EPI), Setar, Aruba Classic Car Club, Archeological Museum of Aruba; Palm Beach Plaza Mall and Partner Restaurants WHEREAS Jossy Mansur, Diario, Orajenstad, Aruba, hosted a magnificent welcome reception WHEREAS The Government of Aruba of Prime Minister Michiel G. Eman hosted the closing luncheon of the mid year meeting WHEREAS the Governor of Aruba, Fredis Refunjol, the Prime Minister of the Dutch Antilles, Emily De Jongh-Elhage and the Prime Minister of Aruba, Michiel G. Eman honored us with their presence and opening remarks at the inaugural ceremony of the Midyear Meeting 2010 on March 20 WHEREAS Jossy Mansur, Diario, Oranjestad, Aruba and Margaret Wever, Aruba Daily, Oranjestad, Aruba, addressed the meeting with words of welcome on behalf of the Host Committee and before the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information WHEREAS Rafael Bonnelli, director de Digital Strategy and Social Marketing, NCA & Asociados, Madrid, Spain, delivered a successful seminar titled “Marketing in Social Media and its Impact on Brands, Traditional Media, and the Advertising Market ” and also collaborated during the session on social networks in the Freedom of the Press discussion on Friday, March 19 and Gustavo Mohme, of the La República group, Lima, Perú, offered words of welcome, and Claudio Paolillo, Búsqueda, Montevideo, Uruguay, moderated the session WHEREAS Greg Swanson, of Journalism Online, LLC, New York, offered an instructive presentation on “The Journalism Online Platform: To Charge or not to Charge?” with the collaboration of Claudio Paolillo as moderator WHEREAS Bill Sabo, Private Label Media Partners, LLC, Brentwood, Tennessee, presented a seminar on “Alternative Sources of Newspaper Revenue” and the moderator of the session was Ernesto Kraiselburd, El Día, La Plata, Argentina WHEREAS Jossy Mansur enlightened participants with a Special Presentation on Papiamentu on Friday, March 19, and was introduced by Margaret Wever WHEREAS The meeting seminar “Experiences in Latin American Newspaper Integration” was led by Fernán Saguier, La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina, along with the ex-President of the IAPA, Earl Maucker, Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the present First Vice President, Gonzalo Marroquín, Prensa Libre, Guatemala, with the collaboration of Francisco Miró Quesada, El Comercio, Lima, Peru as moderator WHEREAS The first panel of the meeting, Kevin M. Goldberg, Legal Advisor, American Society of News Editors (ASNE), Washington, D.C. and Sidnei Basile, Editorial Abril, São Paulo Brazil, covered the interesting topic of “Access and Transparency within the Press and Beyond” and the chair of the Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information, Robert Rivard, San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, Texas, moderated the discussion WHEREAS José Miguel Vivanco, Human Rights Watch Americas, New York, New York; Miguel H. Otero, El Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela; Luis Pardo Sainz, president of the International Broadcasting Association (AIR), Montevideo, Uruguay and Asdrúbal Aguiar, Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB), Caracas, Venezuela participated in a very illustrative discussion on the panel “Freedom of the Press in Latin America: Update on Venezuela,” with Gonzalo Marroquín in the role of moderator WHEREAS Miguel Franjul, Listín Diario, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Héctor Peña, El Nuevo Día, San Juan Puerto Rico; Rui Ferreira, Miami correspondent of El Mundo, Madrid, Spain, spoke knowledgably on the panel “The Caribbean: Haiti, Joining Forces and Gaining Strength: Media Coverage,” with Milton Coleman, The Washington Post, Washington D.C., as moderator WHEREAS The President of the IAPA, Alejandro J. Aguirre, Diario Las Américas, Miami, Florida, chaired a panel consisting of Max Chauvet, Le Nouvelliste, Port-au-Prince, Haití, Daly Valet, Le Matin, Port-au-Prince, Robert Shaw, International Media Support, Copenhagen, Denmark, titled “The Caribbean: Haiti, Joining Forces and Gaining Strength: Aid.”. WHEREAS Andrés Cavalier, Fastrack Media, Washington, D.C. and Robert Rivard spoke in the seminar “How to Put Social Networks to Work for Relevant Journalism: Examples from Latin American Newspapers,” with Ernesto Kraiselburd as moderator WHEREAS Adriano Tejada, Diario Libre, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Jose Santiago Healy, Diario San Diego, Chula Vista, California offered first hand information as panelists in the seminar “Free Newspapers: Success stories and how they came to be”, with Gustavo Mohme as moderator WHEREAS Globovision of Venezuela offered live broadcasting during the mid year meeting in Aruba THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to express on behalf of the president, its officers, directors and members its deepest gratitude and appreciation to the people and enterprises that contributed to and supported this meeting.