At a recent Consular Summit in Florida, I lost track of how many times distinguished speakers and panel moderators made reference to “consuls general and honorary consuls” as if the two stand in contrast to each other. This is not the case! Going back to basics, let’s review: Consuls come in two groups: career and…
Read MoreMany readers have asked about a blog, so here it is! I’ll be talking about what it means to be a foreign consul (or is it perhaps “c-o-uns-e-l”?) and share my experience with dealing with these officials in all kinds of settings. While my book has a Q&A section from real-live scenarios, I have many…
Read MoreIs a consul also counsel or a council? It never stops to amaze me how “everyone” (sorry about my choice of such a broad concept) seems to remain confused about the main term for a foreign consul. While some people may argue it doesn’t matter if you refer to such an official as “counsel” (particularly…
Read MoreA column in yesterday’s Miami Herald (Oppenheimer, Oct. 13, 2013) introduced a term that was new to me, but it got me thinking. It seems “sub-national diplomacy” is a much-discussed concept as some city and state governments, here and abroad, have entered into formal agreements directly with other nations. Normally, these relations are of course conducted through…
Read MoreYou can imagine how excited I was when I learned about the selection. Here’s the “scoop” … As the former manager of Microsoft Network’s Books and Reading Community, Steve Brock has a large following of book fans who read his monthly list of recommendations, which has proven to be a valuable resource to not only…
Read MoreAs a golfer, I got a real laugh out of reading about Davie Golf Course (between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) that’s added the position of Ambassador of Fun to its management (well, OK, if you really want to be picky about it, Dave Harris, who holds that title is really the Marketing Director). Although my book is…
Read MoreRecently, a person shared a story about how he called a local consulate with a trade inquiry relating to the country that the consul represents. When he was surprised over the helpful advice he got I told him about commercial activities being a major part of consular functions. As long as there have been consuls…
Read MoreConsulate general is the office of a consul general. Just like you wouldn’t say about someone that he’s a law office you cannot call a person in the consular service a “consulate.” A consul general is the head of post, which is the consulate general. He may be the only consular official in that physical facility (as is often the…
Read MoreFor those of you who like to hear an author speak about his/her book: you can find me on TheAuthorShow.com where the interviewer asks me about such matters as the need for the book, what makes it unique, the fit with the genres of reference and education, as well as the purpose of the memoiristic format. Just…
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