Cranes Club Europe - 2017 Annual Meeting Report

- LONDON - WRITTEN BY MATTHEW HUISH, EDITED BY ELISA BRANN

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Around 60 professional young men and women from around Europe gathered in London between 31st March and 2nd April to attend the second Annual Meeting of Cranes Club Europe. This group was mainly brought together by two things: firstly by the shared background of growing up in the community rooted in True Parents; secondly by a desire to offer their experience and expertise for the sake of something bigger than themselves.

As evidenced by the enthusiasm of participants, the weekend proved highly successful. This was partly due to the strong sense of fellowship created by the relaxed atmosphere, in which everyone felt like one family, happy to meet old friends and excited to make new ones. In addition to this, numerous people expressed their pride at hearing of so many first and second generation success stories, as well as feeling inspired by the prospect of future collaborations and projects.

MAIN PROGRAM Participants were welcomed on the first evening by a brief opening address from the FFWPU European Continental Director, Jack Corley. This was followed by a report from the 2016 Cranes Club General Director, Ely Loew, who outlined the organisations vision as well as the past year’s activities. Participants then had the opportunity to get to know one another during a lively speed-dating style icebreaker.

The following morning, Segundo Marchan testified to the support of the HSA-UWC in developing TONGIL, a successful business in Spain. He explained that in 1975 True Father instructed European members to sell ginseng products to the European market. Faithful to this direction, and eager to develop a business foundation through which to support missionary activities, the young Spanish members started a business which, forty years later, is now employing dozens of staff - both FFWPU members and non-members - as well as creating an annual turnover of millions of Euros. He concluded by emphasising the importance of creating businesses that can support the community of faith.

The next keynote speaker was Alan Becker, a second generation brother from the USA who has found success as an Keynote speaker, Alan Becker, has 2.6 animator. He shared about his journey, million subscribers on YouTube.

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starting as a home-educated teenager who found success with one animation, facing various trials and challenges until eventually he is earning money from his YouTube videos and managing teams of animators and volunteers. He talked about the need to collaborate with others, but reserved special praise for God’s involvement in his life, who has guided Alan through every step of his journey.

There was a networking session in smaller groups meeting by area of interest, which included: business and finance, creative industries, science and technology, medicine and health, education and social work, policy and society. During this time participants could share about their personal interests and experiences of the professional environment, having the opportunity to meet new people and build connections.

The afternoon was dedicated to more focused breakout sessions, which included seminars and project proposals. These included: a round table discussion for business owners; a creative industries mini-workshop; a project proposal in the Toby Suda, Oliver Davies and Matthew Huish, creators of The Orange Songbook podcast, share area of mental health; a round table their inspiration in a breakout session about discussion about the spirit world and hearing the voices of Unificationist members. science; a project proposal for an education conference; an online marketing mini-workshop; a project proposal for communications in the Unificationist community; a project proposal for improving nutrition in low- and middle-income countries; a mini- workshop on being a faithful person in the working environment; and a project proposal for establishing an orchestra for young classical musicians.

After a special dinner in a high-end Thai restaurant overlooking the Italian Gardens of Hyde Park, Simon Cooper, a business manager, former FFWPU UK national leader, and father of five, offered a personal reflection on the topic of ‘Balancing spiritual, work and family life’. Following this, participants could unwind and experience some light entertainment by some talented second generation musicians – Jude Greeves (S.C.O.O.P), Carmel Mould and Mia Gardener - who delivered a greatly enjoyed and interactive musical performance. Audience members listening to Keynote speakers

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Conference concluded on Sunday morning with an AGM, at which the Cranes Club constitution was discussed and ratified and the 2017 directors were nominated and elected (see below). There was some discussion about membership fees and finances, and a brief discussion prioritising the planned activities for the following year, including the following:

• A focused effort by directors on sourcing funding for Cranes Club activities and projects. • Supporting several conferences planned throughout 2017 that build upon some of the projects discussed during the conference. • Network brokering to facilitate the introduction of Cranes Club members to individuals or groups who can help them in achieving specific aims or goals. Romica Spiegel-Jones gives her views at the AGM The Cranes Club plans to increase the benefits for membership and use the membership fees, in addition to further funding from elsewhere, to carry out activities, thus helping to release the great potential that exists amongst second generation members in Europe. With the aim to Network, Mentor and Support young Unificationists in their professional pursuits, Cranes Club will be able to not only strengthen the FFWPU community but also serve the rest of the world.

NEW DIRECTORS The following are the newly appointed directors for Cranes Club Europe during 2017. Their primary responsibilities include supporting the development of Cranes Club projects, management of the organisation’s finances, and overseeing the preparations for the third Annual Meeting in 2018.

ANTTO ELISA BRANN JUNGJAE HUR ELY LOEW SONJA READ HASSINEN - UK - - UK - - IRELAND - - FRANCE - - FINLAND -

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PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK

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SPEAKER BIOS (In program order)

ELY LOEW WELCOME ADDRESS/ONLINE MARKETING (MINI WORKSHOP) Ely Loew is an experienced digital marketer, working with the world’s largest advertisers (Google) on integrated Video and Display product solutions. I specialize in YouTube strategy and international branding campaign coordination, and have excellent product knowledge of the digital video marketplace, including non-Google product and solutions.

In 2016, Ely served as General Director of Cranes Club Europe and he is also national leader of FFWPU in the Republic of Ireland.

SEGUNDO MARCHAN KEYNOTE SPEAKER/BUSINESS OWNERS ROUNDTABLE Segundo Marchan is the Director of Tongil Spain, a market leader of natural health products in Spain. Since 1975, Marchan has led the company from selling Korean-imported Ginseng on the streets to become a multi-million-euro company that now produces and supplies a wide range of natural health products to over 1,500 retailers all across the country. Marchan is convinced that the principles of “Faith, Obedience, and Hard Work” have been the main contributors to the success of the company. After more than 40 years directing the company, Marchan is aware of the present-day and future challenges, however he is confident that serving the public good rather than personal interests is guarantee for long-term success. Married to Gudrun Sell, Mr. Marchan is the father of three daughters and has two grandchildren.

ALAN BECKER KEYNOTE SPEAKER/CREATIVE INDUSTRIES (MINI WORKSHOP) Alan Becker is a self employed computer animator, famous on YouTube for his “Animator vs Animation” series. His videos have been viewed 240 million times, and there are 2.5 million people who are subscribed to his channel. He was born in Cincinnati, OH, and went to art college in Columbus, OH. He currently resides in Northern California with his wife Kaori, who is also self employed as a cooking instructor.

SIMON COOPER BUSINESS OWNERS ROUNDTABLE/FIRESIDE TALK I have a BA in English Literature from Newcastle University. And later got a law degree from the London College of Law and completed the Legal Practice Course, before working as a trainee criminal defence lawyer for 18 months. But for most of my time since my third year of my Newcastle degree course I have worked in our Unification Movement (FFWPU) doing a variety of different missions over the last 20 years in the UK and on the main land of Europe: from fundraising, to interfaith projects, from CARP to PR, as a local pastor, and a few years in the UK

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About 5 years ago I decided to make a personal plan towards the goal of Vision 2020 and ironically it meant I decided to take a break from working in the church and started to help my 80 year old father with his small business doing financial compensation claims against the big banks for consumers. I am now working full time helping to manage an office of 12 people. I also manage a small property portfolio of 6 flats renting them out to tenants.

PASCAL H BUSINESS OWNERS ROUNDTABLE Pascal H is a passionate entrepreneur, father, motivator and world traveler. He holds master’s degrees in Business Administration and International Management, worked in asset management, acted as sales director for an international startup, is founder and board member of several companies himself and currently operates as the head of an international marketing agency. In addition to this he is engaged as a mentor and consultant in the CEE (social impact) startup ecosystem. His expertise lies in internationalization, business and product development.

DANIEL LINDSTROM BUSINESS OWNERS ROUNDTABLE Daniel is an entrepreneur and humanitarian. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Stockholm University, has previously worked as an International Sales Director from a Swedish Health Food Brand, and is currently managing his own UK based health food ingredients company, Impact Foods International. This is a social enterprise that supplies health food ingredients to businesses in the UK and abroad with parts of the profit going towards supporting the goal of ending world hunger. His main expertise lies in sales, logistics, purchasing, and relationship building.

JAMES POWELL SPIRIT WORLD, THE PRINCIPLE AND SCIENCE ROUNDTABLE James Powell is a self-taught and interdisciplinary theoretical scientist who established the science organization S.T.A.R.S. in Cheongpyeong in 2010 with the purpose to answer unsolved questions concerning the Principle and spirit world.

James has given talks and workshops by invitation, during which he has shared his S.T.A.R.S. content with brothers and sisters, in UK HQ, Ireland HQ, Netherlands HQ, Colorado, Wales, Cheongpyeong, Austria and others. One of his articles, The Science of Spiritual Life and Death, is published on the UTS blog (Applied Unificationism) and another, The Real Four Position Foundation in Theoretical Particle Physics, is coming soon.

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NATALIA LADSTÄTTER THE POWER OF EDUCATION (PROJECT INCUBATOR) Natalia Ladstätter (age 26) is currently studying to become a secondary school teacher in the subjects English and Russian, finishing by spring/summer 2018. Her interests include language teaching in general, as well as innovative teaching methods and creative teaching.

ELISA BRANN HEALTHY MINDS (PROJECT INCUBATOR) Elisa Brann is a researcher in Cognitive Neuroscience. She is currently working at University College London, where she conducts research on the area of ‘the experience of self in action’ and will soon begin her PhD at King’s College London, sponsored by the UK Medical Research Council, focusing on the development of novel therapeutic interventions in psychosis.

In addition to having spent seven years formally training in the fields of Psychology and Brain Science, Elisa’s skillset in mental health also stems from numerous personal experiences of being confronted with related issues through her voluntary work and caring for family and friends within and beyond the Unificationist community. She is passionate about improving the wellbeing of membership and bridging the gap between Principled perspectives and current clinical and scientific interpretations of the self.

OLIVER DAVIES, MATTHEW HUISH AND TOBY SUDA UNIFICATIONIST VOICES: THE ORANGE SONGBOOK PODCAST (PROJECT INCUBATOR) Ollie Davies is a PhD candidate for theoretical physics. He works with several Unification Movement organisations in different fields. Due to personal insecurity and desperation for social approval, you will never not see him wearing a suit. Although he claims in episode 1 to be of dashing good looks, he is 27 and still single… listening to him, you will soon understand why.

Matthew Huish is the national leader of FFWPU in the UK and the pastor of the Bromley FFWPU community. He has completed an MA in pastoral theology. He is the father of 6 children… 7? 8? We stopped following his social media page a long time ago due to excessive posting of baby pictures, so if you know the number, drop us an email.

Katsuyoshi Toby Suda is a storyteller at heart. He has completed an BA in Digital Film Production and is keen to work towards directing films and animations in the future. He failed as a professional football player, let’s hope he doesn’t fail at podcasting too… applications for a replacement host will soon be open.

SONJA READ FEEDING THE FUTURE (PROJECT INCUBATOR) Sonja Read, MSc, is a public health nutritionist with a focus on and interest in middle- and low- income countries (LMICs). She carried out qualitative research on acute malnutrition in infants

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under 6 months in Malawi and has published a paper on this research. She is currently working with Action against Hunger France as Nutrition Advocacy Officer.

Sonja holds a BBA specialising in strategic management. With a passion to support non-profits to work more strategically, she supported a Finnish development NGO to improve their strategic management and worked in various support functions in different NGOs.

THERESA EARLE ‘THE CHALLENGES OF BEING A ‘FAITHFUL’ PERSON IN THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT’ (MINI WORKSHOP) Theresa Earle was born in Boston, USA and grew up in Birmingham England with her parents and three siblings. She decided she wanted to go into medicine in her early teens and on completing school she started at Birmingham Medical School in the summer of 2006. She graduated with a medical degree in 2011 and began her two year foundation post as a junior doctor at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. By this stage she knew she wanted to go into General Practice and in August 2013 started her training to be a GP. She took one year out when her daughter Chloe was born in 2015 and returned to work last year to complete her training. She is looking forward to working as a GP with a specialist interest in Palliative Care.

BENJAMIN LAJDA ESTABLISHING AN ORCHESTRA FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS (PROJECT INCUBATOR) My name is Benjamin Lajda (22 years old) and I come from the Czech Republic. Currently I am studying two schools in Prague: classical music at the State Prague Conservatory of Music and Korean studies at the Philosophical faculty of the Charles University. I have started my studies in September 2016. Before that I have been living in Korea for almost 2 years and most of that time I have been studying Korean language actively. I graduated from the Korean language institute at the Sun Moon University. I am very much interested in music field (orchestral work, chamber music, arrangements…), Korea (country, culture, traditions, history, religion, values…) and languages (Korean, English and Spanish).

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