Marina Baldry

Public Relations Student, University of Oregon 503 679 0579 | mbaldry@uoregon.edu

BACKGROUNDER Alliance Francaise of Portland is a non-profit organization that promotes French culture and language. Headquartered in Paris, it is one of more than 1,000 Alliances world in the world. The Portland organization, founded in 1983, offers French classes to adults and children and organizes French culture events. Its board of directors serve on volunteer basis. The Alliances executive director, Linda Witt is also the officer of the Order of Academic Palms and vice president of the French-American Chamber of Commerce Pacific Northwest (FACC PNW). The Portland group is the only Alliance in Oregon and ranks eighth in the United States. LARGEST IN NW It provides French classes to 900 adult students a year and also offers a separate program for children. Annual memberships to the Alliance start at $36 and offer discounts at 15 French-themed restaurant and the Alliances events, access to the language classes, French-culture resources and more. For adults, the Alliance offers true beginner, low beginner, intermediate, high intermediate and advanced classes. The organization also highlights local interest spots for students, travelers and Portlands French community. It offers recommendations for travel in Paris and Frances provinces, conversation groups and helps facilitate activities for French-speaking newcomers to Portland. The Alliance successfully uses a combination of email marketing and online surveys to connect and serve its audience. Its newsletter, Quoi de Neuf, reaches 5,380 subscribers and is released three to four times per month. It contains information on the Alliances upcoming events, news in the Portland metropolitan area and French-

connected postings. The newsletter has received positive recognition for three years as an industry all-star based on its open and click rates. The Alliance assesses gets feedback on its events and classes through a Constant Contact Survey tool that allows members to provide them with easy, electronic answers. This helps the Alliance to better serve its customers in such a niche market. The organizations First Annual Dinner and Auction, Soire Moulin Rouge, will be held Saturday, April 20, at the Multnomah Athletic Club. Bastille Day will be Saturday, July 13, at Director Park. Bastille Day is open to the public and usually draws a crowd of around 7,500 people. The Alliance is also known for celebrating a worldwide tradition during its Beaujolais Nouveau Festival. On the third Thursday of November, bars, restaurants, bistros and pubs serve the new wine harvest at midnight. The grape has only been harvested for a year and provides the wine with a unique sweetness. The Alliance fell dormant during WWII, and was reinstated in 1983 as a teaching Alliance. Its located in the office and classroom space on the ground floor of the historic Kamm House, built in 1871 in southwest downtown Portland. The Kamm House is said to be the only remaining French Second Empire style house in Portland.

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