Face to Face With World Leaders and Thinkers

By S. Alison Chabonais

Rubbing mental shoulders with the world’s best minds

broadens one’s perspective, raises intellectual capital, and rockets a business

person’s savoir faire. You need not read voraciously, be politically connected,

or travel abroad to chance such encounters. You need only frequent easily

accessed local forums to link arms with those in-the-know. Here is an

introduction to the best ongoing opportunities to widen your horizons by

meeting and shaking hands with leaders and innovators from every walk of life —

all within less than an hour from home.

Bonita Springs Speakers Assembly

The newest arrival on the scene, the Bonita Springs Speakers

Assembly celebrates its fifth anniversary with a roster of eight programs

dedicated to a growing and informed citizenry. Distinguished leaders of

national and international reputation hail from business, finance, media,

education, and government sectors.

High-profile names on tap in the 2000-2001 season lead off

November 17 with Robert Siegel of National Public Radio’s “All Things

Considered.” Other speakers include Lee Hamilton, president of the Woodrow

Wilson International Center on Foreign Affairs, and John Clifton Bogle, founder

of the Vanguard Group.

“Board members actively seek speakers whose ideas play a

real role in building an identifiable sense of community here,” says Audrey

Georges, executive director of the Bonita Springs Speakers Assembly. She

emphasizes that participation by high school students also exposes promising

future leaders to worldwide careers and opportunities.

The Bonita Springs Speakers Assembly meets at the Bonita Bay

Clubhouse Fridays at noon, November through April. Recent program expansion has

opened the door for new members. Register with Jessica Novins at sponsor

Leadership Council, Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce. Annual membership

is $125, with a one-time initiation fee of $125, plus $20 per luncheon meeting.

Call (941) 992-2943.

Naples Council On World Affairs

“Our speakers focus on current events and what’s really

happening in global hot spots, going well beyond what we read in the

headlines,” says Llewellyn Schmidt, vice president of the Naples Council on

World Affairs.

This provocative lecture series has brought informed

discussion of timely and critical issues to Southwest Florida since 1981. This

season, which runs November through March, explores ambassadors’, state

ministers’, and think tank directors’ perspective on economic opportunities with

Russia, China, and other high-risk countries. Other prominent speakers will

expand upon topics of “New Technology in the International Context” to

“National Security Challenges for the New Administration” to “Globalization and

U.S. Foreign Policy.”

Nearly 200 avid world affairs enthusiasts go a step further

with thrice weekly foreign policy discussions on “Great Decisions.” Another 200

high school students from 17 schools model a two-day United Nations conference,

competing for scholarships.

You are invited to join this group of global thinkers

Mondays for the 4 p.m. or the 7:30 p.m. session. The Naples Council on World

Affairs gathers in Kiney Hall at St. John the Evangelist Church. Member

admission for the eight-lecture series is $50 per person. Group discounts to

$32 are available. Or guests may buy individual $10 tickets at the door. Call

Beverly Miller at (941) 434-3782 for this year’s schedule and notice of special

presentations.

Naples / Fort Myers Town Hall

Town Hall’s dynamic speaker mix of celebrated movers and

shakers reads like a Who’s Who of world arts and politics. Founder Jeanne Jones

set a lasting tone by contracting the hottest, most charismatic speakers on the

world lecture circuit just at the pinnacle of their influence and demand. Past presidents,

prime ministers, authors, celebrity reporters, and newsmakers attract a

sell-out crowd months before their appearance here.

“People who go are interested in history, arts, politics,

and sciences. They want to stay informed. And they want first-hand, personal

contact with and knowledge of these people who are world renowned,” says Betsy

Rutter, general manager for Town Hall’s 18th season. After all, she queries,

“How many times do you get a chance to have dinner with General Colin Powell,

or sit and hear Margaret Thatcher or Shimon Peres in a small arena?”

After-dinner question and answer periods accelerate the

excitement. Particularly with the likes of Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes

author, White House watcher Sam Donaldson, former South African president F.W.

de Klerk and astronaut Captain James Lovell.

Town Hall forums are at the Registry Resort at 6 p.m. on

designated weeknights four times a year between January and April. A reserved

seat for the lecture series is $270, with unreserved seats available for

renewing members at $190. Add the private reception and dinner, and you can

enjoy four nights on the town for $695 per person. A portion of the proceeds

goes to Lee and Collier county educational foundations. Call Alexis Lassow at

(941) 261-6524 for news of the 2000-2001 Town Hall speaker line-up.

The Quest Educational Foundation

Creating options and opportunities for young people is

Quest’s raison d’etre. Its celebrated lecture series annually presents four

world-class speakers. And is patronized by community leaders out to make a

difference in the lives of children. High-profile authors, correspondents,

financiers, politicians, and educators take the platform between January and

March to raise four-year scholarship funds for deserving, economically at-risk

children.

To date, 231 youngsters academically qualified in the fifth

grade are being mentored through the Collier County school system under a

program known as Quest for Kids. The first high school graduates, with the

venture since 1995, are set to launch into higher education venues beginning in

2002.

“We’ve seen children in the program since fifth grade

getting D’s now getting A’s in eleventh grade,” says Pam McKenry, executive

director of The Quest Educational Foundation, which funds and sponsors Quest

for Kids. “Our aim is to help children reach their highest career potential.”

And give them incentive to achieve good grades while staying crime, drug, and

violence free along the way.

The 2000-2001 slate of high-caliber speakers will be announced

this month. George and Barbara Bush, Dick Cheney, and General Norman

Schwarzkopf have all graced center stage at The Ritz-Carlton. Four Friday at 6

p.m. dinner programs priced at $845 per person for the series regularly

sell-out, and so have been joined by four complementary Friday at 11:30 a.m.

luncheon programs at $745 per person. Much of the fee is tax deductible. Call

Pam McKenry at (941) 643-3573.

Spes Society

World leaders bring their thought-provoking expertise to our

communities and schools through the SPES (pronounced “space”) Society, Latin

for fraternity of hope. Inspiring and motivating adults and students alike,

they boost awareness that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things.

Three community talks at The Vineyards Country Club are paired with visits to

area schools where students hear first-hand accounts of how these eminent

individuals overcame self-doubts and fears to “go as far as they can dream.”

Videotaped talks distributed throughout the Collier County school system have

furthered the message since the program’s founding in 1992.

“Schools are hungry for examples of successful leaders from

the real world,” says Nick Linn, co-founder and secretary of the SPES Society.

“Their presence here lifts students’ sense of isolation and encourages them to

grasp hold of the promise and opportunity awaiting them.”

Naples’ SPES Society tour of real world ambassadors have

included William Colby, former CIA director, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and Martin

Fitzwater, press secretary to President Ronald Reagan. This year SPES welcomes

Sidney Friedman, author of Your Mind Knows More Than You Do on the power of

subconscious thinking in January. And Barbara Olson, former White House Chief

Investigative Counsel and author of Hell to Pay, the unfolding story of Hillary

Rodham Clinton, in March.

Register for this season’s three dinner lectures for $170,

or lectures sans dinner for $100, followed by a reception. Individual lecture

tickets are available for $40, with an additional $35 for dinner. Monday

dinners start at 6 p.m., followed by the lecture at 8 p.m. Call Nick Linn at

(941) 353-5015.

S. Alison Chabonais is a free-lance business writer and

public relations consultant.