Ciao a Tutti!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Valentine’s day! Here is another update in the outline format. It seems that for my updates, many of you found it easier to find the information that you were interested in:

1. Social Meet-ups

 
a. This weekend we are having our second Mozzarella Making Workshop! The first one, last month was a huge success and a lot of fun! I encourage you to sign up if you are interested. It only shows one open spot but there are always people who have to cancel so don’t hesitate to get on a waiting list! You will probably still end up going. You can find all of the details as well as where to go to rsvp at : http://iltavoloitaliano.com/GroupNews/

b. In addition we have a lot of other great events coming up including a party, a wine tasting, a dance workshop, going out for pizza and our 2nd annual group anniversary cookout at my house! We do have a couple of events where we have to have a minimum attendance in order to cover expenses so if you are planning on going to an event, remember to rsvp as soon as possible. For instance, if we fail to make the minimum for our next dance workshop by the first weekend in March we will be canceling it. You find more details about upcoming events and rsvp at: http://iltavoloitaliano.com/GroupNews/

c. We are still looking for members who would like to host a social event at your home sometime during the following weekends; The weekends starting March 9th, 23rd, April 6th, May 4th, 19th (we may have a volunteer for one of the May dates) and June 9th. You can choose to host it Friday evening, Saturday evening or Sunday. You can set a limit on attendance and decide on exactly what you would like to do. Home meet-ups (social events) always seem to be more intimate and many a friendship have started at them. In the past folks have had pot-lucks, Italian movie night, game night, just a social gathering as well as many other ideas. It would be up to you. If you think you would like help our group by hosting an event, please email me. We greatly appreciate it.

2. Learning Italian

 
a. Well the pronunciation class started off with a bang last week! Sort of a “Pronunciation Boot Camp”. I really think this class is going to be beneficial in a lot of ways and I am more excited about it now than ever. We will be making more room in class so you can still sign up. It is not too late for this class. This Saturday we will be doing class 2 of 6. More information is available at http://iltavoloitaliano.com/GroupNews/ at the bottom of the page.

3. Trip to Italy Poll

 
a. You are probably aware that I have posted a poll to find out who would like to go with a group of us for a 2013 trip to Italy. I will only be keeping the poll up for about 2 more weeks. If at that time there is just no interest then I will remove the poll (and head to Italy!). If there is sufficient interest we will aggressively start preparing to leave in 2013! Currently only 2 people have voted. Please let your voice be heard. You can find the poll at:
i. http://www.meetup.com/The-Charleston-Italian-Language-Meetup/polls/

4. Facebook Page

 
a. For those of you learning the Italian language, check out Il Tavolo Italiano Facebook page. There is a slow but steady growth in the use of this page. There are a few perks to keeping an eye on it among which are: Practice reading and writing Italian, find out the latest about the il Tavolo website almost instantly, keep up on events and news brought forth from other members and use it as a venue to find information on some topic of the Italian Language that maybe you are struggling with. But most of all, it’s a great place to converse (by pen) in Italian. Let’s get some conversation going about anything you want to talk about in Italian on our Facebook page at:
i. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Il-Tavolo-Italiano/112273928840383

5. YouTube Anniversary

 
a. We continue to rapidly approach our one year anniversary of posting to YouTube our Italian language related videos and they just continue to surprise us now reaching a monthly average of over 5,000 viewings with a grand total of over 27,000 viewing so far! Less than a week to go! At that time we’ll announce several interesting statistics!

6. Pen pal program

 
a. Once again for you students of Italian we have another opportunity for you to use the Italian you know! It is our pen pal program. Many of you are advancing in your use of the Italian Language and you are ready to take it to the next level. This can help. Find out more at:
i. http://iltavoloitaliano.com/American_Italian_pen_pals/

7. Sponsors

 
a. I would like to welcome our newest sponsor; “Apartment La Loggia”, perfect cozy base for experiencing the magic of southern Tuscany, northern Lazio and parts of Umbria. In the middle of a UNESCO World Heritage zone, the apartment offers beautiful, pristine landscapes in every direction, and a private terrace--perfect for morning cappuccino or to relax in the evening with some of the region's notable wines. And now Il Tavolo Italiano annual membership card members can get $75.00 off of a week rental! Find more by clicking on their banner at:
i. http://iltavoloitaliano.com/OurSponsors/

b. Our sponsors are important to our group in several ways. Some invite us to have workshops there keeping us from having to rent space and keep our prices very economical. Others offer discount to card members adding real tangible value to our $25.00 Annual Membership Card and others still opt to advertise on http://iltavoloitaliano.com/ which also assists in keeping our costs for classes, etc. as low as possible. To be honest, I am not the best at finding these sponsors. Instead they are almost entirely because some member talked to a business owner or manager they knew and then put me in contact with them. Thank you for that. If you know of a business that you feel could benefit from being a sponsor either because of our discount card program or advertising on our site, I would greatly appreciate your help in the way of referrals. It does not have to be a restaurant and in fact it would be beneficial to have sponsors in other industries. So if you are so inclined to help me in this area please feel free to email me.

8. Thank you

 
a. This week I especially want to thank our native Italian members for being so kind, patient and accommodating to the rest of us. They are all so kind, offering assistance and just by being such good friends. Thank you for all you do for us including the making of the videos/podcasts.

Ci vediamo presto!

   Carlo