we already see continuing in 2012. We also increased the number of contracts with partner institutions positioning AAE students for placement throughout the United States.<br><br> I am very pleased to report that AAE received AIRC Certification in 2011 and we are very proud to be associated with this organization. With offices in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam and Philadelphia Pennsylvania, US, we find ourselves uniquely positioned to collaborate with our 200 plus colleges, Universities and Preparatory schools developing innovating marketing campaigns that are designed to produce results. Our teams in Philadelphia and Ho Chi Minh are always available to work with your teams in developing such a program.<br><br> We welcome all of our partners to visit us on your next trip to Vietnam and let us show you how we can achieve success together. All of us at AAE would like to thank you for being our partner! We are honored to represent you and look forward to a very prosperous 2012.<br><br> Sincerely, Jim Barger CEO         Lorem Ipsum Dolor Issue #, Date  2  AIRC Certification In 2011, AAE officially received AIRC certification for the period from June 2011 3 May 2014. In fact, AAE is the first educational consulting agency exclusively focused on the Vietnamese market to be awarded this honor and only the second agency in the country to be AIRC certified.    It makes our team and management very proud to be bestowed   this honor.<br><br> This validates all of the hard work our team has done for Vietnamese students over the past two years.     Event Sponsorships VietAbroader Fair: Silver Sponsor We spent quite a lot of time preparing for VietAbroader 3 arguably our most important fair of the year! As VietAbroader is a grassroots, student-run organization, AAE is proud to work closely with them and help them grow.<br><br> AAE maintains close relationships with many Vietnamese alumni of US schools who now devote their time and energy to making this fair happen. Vietnamese students should have access to the best education opportunities for their study 3 regardless of their socioeconomic background, and AAE is proud to believe in this. At this fair, AAE staff members represented a variety of schools at their tables for them and at the AAE table, our cHourly Ipod Shuffle Giveaway d helped generate many leads for us to follow up on.<br><br> Capstone Community College Fairs: Silver Sponsor AAE has now been a sponsor for the Capstone Community College fair on three consecutive occasions. This fair is focused on Community Colleges, an important part of AAE 9s business, and has a smaller feel that is conducive to parents and students actually sitting down and talking to school representatives. If students needed assistance or guidance, AAE 9s table was there to help with school information and applications.<br><br> Underground Marketing Activities 3 AAE Facebook Club! AAE has started an innovative and cool Facebook club 3 with some of the over 2,100 friends we now have on Facebook! As part of this club, members get cVIP d cards and are invited to periodic events where we do fun things and help them become more confident, well-rounded leaders as they prepare to study abroad.<br><br> One large event to kick off our   AAE highlights from 2011 ! "#$%&'()!*)+$%)(+&,)(-!.$'%/&+#$)+!0,/)'&-! !"#$%&'()*)&+$ $ "''$11!"#$%&'()!23/'(+&,)4!550 $ *,'$(!&$-&'),+$ $ 6/)$4!7899!+:%,/;:!<(=4!789>!<br><br> ! .,$"%!)&/& $ "*.0 $ %&'()*)%"(),01 $ "''$11!"#$%&'()!23/'(+&,) $(!&$&**&%()/&0&##$,*$(!&$#&'/)%&#$'&0+&'&+$ )0$'&%'2)()03$42"5)*)&+$#(2+&0(#$(,$"%%'&+)(&+$-,#(6#&%,0+"'7$&+2%"(),0"5$)0#()(2(),0#$)0$(!&$$ 80)(&+$9("(&#$,*$:;&')%" <$$$ $ .!&$#%,-&$,*$%&'()*)%"(),0$*,'$$ "''$11!"#$%&'()!23/'(+&,)4!550 $)0%52+&#$(!&$*,55,=)03$,**)%& $ $ !! ?,!0:&!<&):!0&+=4!@&$+)(#!<br><br> !! ! !<br><br> $ !!2-(&)$!6(%':,A! ! !!!!!!!!<br><br> B+$C:$)!D,1+$% ! !!!! >)'&%(,'$,*$?&'()*)%"(),0$$$$$$$$$$@'&#)+&0($     Lorem Ipsum Dolor Issue #, Date  3    Continued Youtube celebrity who also studied abroad in the US.<br><br> Students gathered at a coffee shop while an AAE marketing team member interviewed Don in front of the audience. It was wonderful! Students appreciated the candid Q&A session that ensued with a well-known Vietnamese entertainer.<br><br>   Charity Work - Singing with a Vietnamese Celebrity in his Home Music Studio!   As part of AAE 9s continued efforts to improve the community and give back, we wanted to do something new and different to generate leads from the Capstone Community College Fair. And a great idea was born 3 cFund raising with a Celebrity d.<br><br> This would be singer Lam Truong 3 arguably one of the top few celebrities in Vietnam!! When each student took part in the activity cSinging with Lam Truong d lucky draw (no fee charged), AAE would donate 5,000 VND to Thien Duyen orphanage. In addition, one lucky draw winner would be able to record a song with Lam Truong at his home studio.<br><br> This was an activity that benefited all who took part in it 3 AAE could generate many leads and have something to give back to the community, the singer could build a good reputation for being part of the charity and one lucky fan would get a chance to sing with their idol at the studio. So at the end of the day, everyone was happy! It was a great idea born through the work of Xuan and the AAE Marketing team.<br><br> cSpecial Care d 3 Visiting and Taking Care of our Students at US Schools To make sure our students are settling in and happy at their schools, Jack and Kate recently paid a visit to several schools in the Philadelphia area before the holidays. We could really see the positive changes in our students in general after being in schools in the U.S. for a few months.<br><br> One student invited us to her home and showed us her homestay host family! Jack and Xuan had previously driven their motorbikes 3 hours to this student 9s family home in the Vietnamese countryside before she left for the US&so Jack was happy to see her new host family and report back to her parents how she was doing. One other student gained much more self-confidence   compared with the cShy d version earlier in the year before   practicing with AAE for the Visa Interview.<br><br> So all in all, the trip let us see the significant changes of our students and our AAE employees even took some pictures with them to bring back to Vietnam and show their parents how their children are doing. AAE First HCMC Recruiting Fair HCMC, Vietnam, September 2011 - AAE held its first Information Seminar and Networking Session. It took place at Kim Do Royal Hotel and attracted over 125 high school students, parents and schools administrative staff.<br><br> This event featured SUNY, Findlay University and Northeastern State University. AIRC Annual Conference With the 2011 annual AIRC conference and another ICEF workshop occurring in December, it was a good time to reconnect with the issues relating to the usage of international recruiting. Plus, this was a very exciting event for AAE to look forward to because we received our official AIRC certification at the conference.<br><br> Well done AAE team! 2012 3 A Promising Year Ahead AAE would like to take this opportunity to personally say c Thank you d for your trust in us. We continue to make strides, and as a young and growing company, we have been innovative in meeting the needs of our students in furthering their higher education goals in the U.S., whether the students are from big cities or small towns.<br><br> Looking ahead, we will have many more exciting developments and plans for the year 2012. So please stay tuned! Access American Education Team     Lorem Ipsum Dolor Issue #, Date  4    I have long urged U.S.<br><br> Universities that Russia and the former peripheral states are a fertile field for U.S. Universities to recruit students. Parents and students in these locations whom I have met frequently in my travels are well informed and know about the quality of the U.S.<br><br> Higher Education System. They, however, have to this date primarily gone to the EU if they pursued education out of their home area because of the lack of information in their own language and in their own country on U.S. Universities.<br><br> Quite frankly also there has been a lack of initiative by many U.S. Universities in developing this market and recruiting these students. The net result is that Russian and former Soviet States countries are still under-represented at most U.S.<br><br> Universities even though they are highly qualified and the interest and the resources do exist in many families to send their children to the U.S. The above is a great personal loss, but it also a greater strategic and diplomatic loss for both sides. Because of the limited number of Americans studying in Russia and the former Soviet States and the similar lack of Russian and former Soviet States students studying in the U.S.<br><br> both countries do not have as large of a pool of informed experts and those with country experienced travel. This means that Russians at all levels don't have a wide knowledge of actual conditions in the US and that the U.S. public at large really has a very limited and often inaccurate view of current conditions and trends in Russia and the former Soviet States.<br><br> This mis-information is a tremendous loss for the U.S. and for Russia and the former Soviet States as obviously the U.S. is the largest economy and its success or difficulties affect the entire world.<br><br> Because of this, every country needs to understand and be aware of what is happening in the U.S. Similarly Russia and the former Soviet States are very large mineral and energy producers and occupy highly crucial geographic positions that make them highly of interest to the U.S. In the 1960s there was much controversy in the U.S.<br><br> and Russia about a "missile gap", I would argue that in 2012 we have an even more critical and dangerous gap - a misunderstanding and misinformation gap between the U.S. and Russia and many of its peripheral states. Increased interaction in the education front and increased studies in the U.S.<br><br> by Russian and peripheral state students would be a great way to start bridging this gap and it could be solved by knowledge, educational exchanges and increased contact. It is for the above reasons that I have advocated Access American Education (AAE) to utilize their innovative and resourceful Russian speaking staff to increase education fairs and University recruitment. AAE had their first education fair in 2011 and it was a tremendous success.<br><br> State University of New York, one of the largest University Systems in the U.S., was a pioneer in working with AAE in this. In 2012, AAE will be having an additional outreach trip by U.S. Universities to Russia and the neighboring States.<br><br> I encourage U.S. educators to note and to take advantage of this important opportunity. Christopher Runckel Note on the Author: Christopher W.<br><br> Runckel, a former senior US diplomat who served in many counties in Asia, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Lewis and Clark Law School. He served as Deputy General Counsel of President Gerald Ford 9s Presidential Clemency Board. Mr.<br><br> Runckel is the principal and founder of Runckel & Associates, a Portland, Oregon based consulting company that assists businesses expand business opportunities in Asia. ( www.business-in-asia.com ) Until April of 1999, Mr. Runckel was Minister-Counselor of the US Embassy in Beijing, China.<br><br> Mr. Runckel lived and worked in Thailand for over six years. He was the first permanently assigned U.S.<br><br> diplomat to return to Vietnam after the Vietnam War. In 1997, he was awarded the U.S. Department of States highest award for service, the Distinguished Honor Award, for his contribution to improving U.S.-Vietnam relations.<br><br> AAE in Russia   Access American Education is holding a Russia  Recruitment Trip in February 2012. If you are interested in  details and participation, please email Kate Lyapustina at  kate@aae.us.com . 

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