AANR Weekly Report 4/23/2010
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*Erich Schuttauf, Executive Director*
c/o execasst@aanr.com **
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As you may know, the American Association for Nude Recreation’s mission is to advocate for nudity and nude recreation within appropriate settings and to educate and inform society of the benefits of such through ongoing membership growth.
For the past two weeks, we have provided you with many, many examples of AANR’s education and information efforts at work. From radio to television, to online blogs and printed newspaper articles, AANR stories about airfares, nakations, Earth Day, and even nudity in the ancient Olympics, reached millions of viewers, listeners, and readers.
These week’s report turns back to AANR’s other valuable work providing a voice of advocacy for nudity. Specifically, I’d like to share several examples from just the past few days:
*Providing Government Affairs Expertise to our Nudist Friends in Croatia*
On Tuesday, we received a request from the International Naturist Federation for some government affairs guidance for a fellow nation’s organization.
It seems that nude resorts in Croatia are being called into question by some pundits there. This is unexpected and highly unusual. With roots dating to the early days of the Tito communist government, then-Yugoslavia promoted naturism as a way of attracting Western travelers, and there are still some promotional souvenir posters around our office in Kissimmee attesting to that.
Today as the country seeks to “blend” into the world economy, some view ties to older days and regimes with disfavor. Moreover, with the subject of child abuse on minds the world over, some view places that offer nude experiences to families with children a potential risk. (Sound familiar?) In fact, some public sources have voiced disapproval for the Croatian tourism board’s role producing a brochure titled “Naturism” which has been updated and published for years to educate travel agents. Their chief complaint: that the occasional photos of nude children and their families interspersed among the pages is tantamount to “pornography.”
Not having dealt with such prejudice and misinformation in their lifetimes, Association officials have turned to AANR for samples of the materials we use to educate the public and lawmakers on these important topics. By Wednesday our office had rushed a comprehensive package overseas and offered to contact officials in “stateside” offices if requested, too.
*Merchant Account Assistance*
Meanwhile, an AANR club in the northeast contacted our office after it was turned down by no fewer than three credit-card processing companies who refuse to do business with companies in the “adult” industry. (Note: While the club already has a vendor, its processing rates are less attractive.)
You can imagine how annoyed we were to hear this news, and we immediately dispatched materials ranging from Wall St. Journal and New York Times stories about the dollar value of the nudist market, to Claritas demographics data, and much more along with strongly worded letters to each institution. This is not the first time that AANR has battled with banks and financial institutions over similar circumstances. We will keep you apprised of whether we’re successful at changing mindsets in this case.
*License Plates from Southeastern States…*
An active member and voice for nudism contacted us to let us know he had been turned down by his state’s registry of motor vehicles after he requested plates with such benign wording as Ndist. We have prepared an appeal to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.
If this sounds like “Déjà vu all over again,” you are not mistaken. We intervened two months ago with the Arizona highway authorities and convinced them to issue plates to a member couple in that state.
*More AANR Expertise at Work*
The last example of advocacy in action came when AANR-East roving ambassador Pam Pelc advised the frustrated mom of an adult son who suffers from autism to call Kissimmee. It seems that this adult son was asked to move from the complex where he has leased and lived in an apartment for the last six months after a neighbor spied the young man on his balcony in the nude early one morning in the pre-dawn hours. As noted, this man is autistic, which helps explain why he often remains nude in the privacy of his apartment—many with this disability find clothing especially uncomfortable—and an occasional lapse of memory.
We prepared a letter and package requesting that the apartment company management reconsider, while reminding them that disability laws could also have implications.
*Facebook Fans of AANR Top 500 Today*
Today the Association’s page on the top-recognized social networking achieved a milestone when the “fan” based crossed the 500 mark. (It now stands at 517). To commemorate the event, one lucky winner among these fans was selected to receive a complete Nakation-in-a-Box.
Facebook will no doubt be an ever-increasing way to reach the public with the message about nude recreation. Media recently reported that at peak times, traffic to Facebook has exceeded visits to Google, the most-visited website on the Internet.
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*CAROLYN HAWKINS*
*Positive Publicity*
Here is another article that was generated from our baggage press release:
http://newsok.com/naked-truth-for-airlines/article/3454490
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*LYNN VON HAGEL, DIRector OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS *eleccomm@aanr.com **
*E-Bulletin*
The latest issue of the E-Bulletin went out yesterday to 17,000 readers. Not receiving the E-Bulletin? Sign up on the home page of www.aanr.com.
*Facebook Fans*
AANR now has over 500 Facebook fans. Become a fan at www.facebook.com and connect with other nudists.**
*Website Redesign*
We are almost finished reviewing proposals for the redesign of the AANR website. We’re excited to begin work on the new site, which will be much more user-friendly and interactive.
*Linda Berry, Director of Publications*
*The Bulletin*
Martha Young and I went to Mail Unlimited this week to make sure the May issue of The Bulletin and the voting packages were sorted properly and ready to mail. Watch for yours soon.
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*Advertising Opportunities*
There are several prime spaces available for your advertisement on www.aanr.com including the Featured Club’s page at: http://www.aanr.com/top_featured_clubs.html . Contact Martha Young at bulletinads@aanr.com or 800/879-6833, ext. 228 for rates and details.
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*Terry Justice, Club/Member Liaison*
There are no directory changes this week.
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*DEBRA SUE STEVENS AND NANETTE WICKERSHAM, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS*
REQUEST: Print the following in your Club Newsletter or send to your members in your E-News, when timely and appropriate. We want the members to know what GAT does for them!
*AANR Legislative Tracking*
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*Statistics for 2010:*
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*In Session: *There are 23 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and US in Regular Session. There is 1 state in Special Session.
*States in Regular Session:* AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IL, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NH, NY, OK, PA, SC, TN, US, VT, WI
*AANR Statistics: *
o *1650* bills have been reviewed personally by AANR in 2010.
o *131 *bills have been reviewed in full text by AANR in 2010.
o *193 *bills are being monitored for movement/amendments. This figure includes some carryovers from 2009.
o *16 *bills have been moved to the “Archived 2009 List”
AANR encourages our membership and like-minded nudists and naturists to assist in the process of tracking bills and news impacting nude recreation. *Always contact the AANR Office before taking action.* This ensures that your actions are aligned with the strategy underway for any particular bill or advocacy effort. Remember, AANR GAT works for you! _______________________________________________ eNews mailing list eNews@aanr-nw.org http://aanr-nw.org/mailman/listinfo/enews_aanr-nw.org
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