FAMILIES IN GLOBAL TRANSITION (FIGT)
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
By Andrea Martins & Jill Lengré
Houston, Texas, United States
29 March 2007 – 31 March 2007
As expected, the 8th annual Families in Global Transition Conference brought together a wealth of expatriate experience from all around the globe. Expats, repats, HR coordinators of expatriates, international schools, researchers, and a wide range of service providers gathered for three days in Houston.
Barbara F. Schaetti, of Transition Dynamics, is a dual-national Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) with over twenty years experience in the intercultural field. She described the conference as “a place whereby participants come seeking ways to give vocabulary to, and to better articulate, their experiences (and the experiences of their employees and/or clients) overseas,” in order to better assist/guide individuals, couples and families through the global transition process.
Jane Bennett, the Executive Director of the International Communications Institute, opened the conference by making us all think about curiosity. She stated it is the lack of curiosity that causes many communication problems between cultures. We should view cultural differences as an opportunity to leverage distinct benefits. We all should be a little more curious and then we truly could enjoy living in our multicultural world.
We were able to sit in on sessions such as:
- Anchors in a Sea of Change: Navigating the White Waters Through Transitions
Linda Maguire, Centered Life Transitions
Cindy Smith, Private Consultant/Trainer & Life Coach
- The Challenges of Work-Life Balance for Today’s Global Family
Robin Pascoe, Expat Expert
Lois Bushong, Eagle Creek Counseling Services
- The Third Culture Kid Profile: Understanding the Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds
Ruth Van Reken, co-founder of Families in Global Transition, and co-author of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Amoung Worlds.
- Corporate Policies for Families: Best (and Worst) Practices
Bill Sheridan, International HR Services, National Foreign Trade Council
Susan Musich, The World Bank Career & Global Mobility Specialist
Paul White, Human Resources and Administration, Harvest Natural Resources and before 20 years with ConocoPhillips
- An Incredible Journey: Lifelong Benefits of Living Abroad as an Army Brat
Peggy Love, Full Circle International Relocations
Marty Marks, Army Family Team Building
Bess Marks, US Department of Homeland Security
It is impossible for us to list ALL of the sessions that were offered.
Ruth Van Reken, co-founder of Families in Global Transition, and co-author of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Amoung Worlds, was honored, among others, for their commitment to the conference.
Ruth VanReken, accepting an award.
Jo Parfitt, successful author, trailing spouse and manager of the Outpost Family Archive Centre in The Hague, closed the conference by telling us of her 18 years of living as an expatriate and how she created her own portable career while taking care of her husband and two children in five different countries. We all laughed and cried with her as she brilliantly took us on her 18 year rollercoaster of culture shock.
Andrea Martins, Jo Parfitt, and Jill Lengré
In closing, a big congratulation to the hard-working team at Families in Global Transition (), especially Joyce Blake, for organizing such a rich and well-structured conference, attended by about 250 people from around the world.
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