Third Annual Fall Workshop

November 13, 2020 - online

On November 13, 2020, CJSCN held its third annual Fall Workshop for all California sister city supporters. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was made to host the event online. While it was unfortunate to not be able to meet in person this year, the online format provided new opportunities, such as being able to easily welcome attendees from across the entire state of California, and even from Japan. We had approximately 170 attendees join the event, representing 54 cities in California and 5 cities in Japan, plus 13 JET alumni. The Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco acted as the main host and emcee for the event, and we are grateful for all the support they provided, as well as the support given by the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles.

The event began with words of welcome from San Francisco Consul General Toru Maeda, Los Angeles Consul General Akira Muto, and CJSCN Board President Meg Mizutani. We greeted representatives from our sponsors, including Steve Teraoka of Teraoka & Partners LLP and Pegasus Tech Ventures CEO and General Partner Anis Uzzaman, and had a short presentation on travel conditions in Japan from NTA representatives Yuko Oku, Hiroki Sato, and Mei Wong. We also heard remarks and presentations from our partner organizations, including Sister Cities International (SCI) President and CEO Leroy Allala, SCI Southern California Chapter President Anthony Al-Jamie, SCI Northern California Chapter President Bill Hinkle, JETAANC President Melissa Golden, and JETAASC Co-President Jon Harwell. Links to these presentation materials can be found at the end of this article.

Following the opening remarks, CJSCN Communications Manager Kelley Cortright gave a presentation on “Bridging the Pacific Creatively: Sister City Relationships Under the ‘New Normal’,” sharing ideas submitted from active California sister city organizations on how they are staying connected with their Japanese sister cities during the pandemic. There was also information on how CJSCN can help support sister city organizations. At the end of her presentation, Ms. Cortright conducted an informal poll of the event attendees, asking how their programs are faring during the pandemic, etc. a A link to this presentation and the poll results can be found at the end of this article.

Next, representatives from Crescent City, Del Norte County, and Rikuzentakata gave the event’s keynote presentation on “Building a Forever Relationship.” Crescent City Mayor Blake Inscore, Del Norte County Supervisor Chris Howard, and Rikuzentakata Mayor Futoshi Toba and Special Representative of Mayor & Senior Executive Advisor Kiyoshi Murakami shared the inspiring story of how their cities became connected following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami when a boat from Rikuzentakata washed ashore in Crescent City, and how their relationship has evolved and deepened since that time almost 10 years ago. They also shared that NBC has created a documentary about their sister city relationship called “Kamome.” The presentation was very well-received by the audience, and CJSCN is grateful for Mayor Inscore, Supervisor Howard, and Mayor Toba’s willingness to share their incredible story. Links to the presentation and documentary can be found at the end of this article.

Finally, attendees were given the chance to network and chat during a breakout room session. They were asked to think of one key concept that could help their organization cope and come out stronger on the other side of this challenge. These concepts were shared with the other attendees and collected into a word cloud (shown in the photos below). Clearly, the event’s theme of “connecting creatively” echoed with many people, as the most popular key concept was “creativity.” The event wrapped up with a door prize giveaway sponsored by NTA, Pegasus Tech Ventures, and Takara Sake USA.

CJSCN would like to once again express our deep gratitude to the fantastic consulate staff from San Francisco and Los Angeles who made the Zoom event possible; to our fabulous sponsors for sharing your time and knowledge with us; and to all of the wonderful sister city volunteers who came to hear the presentations and participate in the discussions, both from California and Japan. We could not have hosted this event without all of your support. We look forward to seeing everyone again at our Spring 2021 online event!

Links to presentations & resources

• CJSCN presentation on Connecting Creatively during the Pandemic

• NTA presentation slide (Note: due to image copyright concerns, the NTA presentation is limited to the contact information slide only.)

• JETAANC presentation

• Crescent City/Del Norte County and Rikuzentakata presentation on Building a Forever Relationship

• Kamome documentary link (Note: if you do not already have a PeacockTV account, you will need to create a free account to view the documentary.)

• Poll results