The Directors of Wisconsin's five international Trade Offices made their annual pilgrimage to the state May 14-19. Participants included:

• Kara Smith and Kate Clarke, co-directors of the European Office headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands
• Vince Lencioni, director of the office in Mexico City, Mexico
• Paul Swenson, Director of the office in Shanghai, China, who was accompanied by one of his staff, Jane Zheng;
• Nancy Ward, Director of the office in Toronto, Canada, and
• Claudia Tomaselli and Vânia Zulatto, co-directors of the office in São Paulo, Brazil.

The directors attended a variety of events including:

• the 42nd Annual Wisconsin International Trade Conference in Milwaukee;
• a Global Perspectives Breakfast, sponsored by the Sheboygan County Chamber of commerce;
• a Global Perspectives Luncheon in Green Bay, sponsored by the Highway 41 Corridor International Development Program;
• a Doing Business Globally Seminar in Eau Claire, coordinated by the UW-Eau Claire Continuing Education/Small Business Development Center; and
• a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Madison International Trade Association.

The annual visit allows the directors to meet with a large number of Wisconsin firms interested in their markets, and also helps the directors learn about developments and changes within Wisconsin's exporting community. The directors had over 180 meetings with representatives of 88 Wisconsin exporting firms.

Next year's directors' visit is scheduled for May 12-16, 2008.

-- Stanley Pfrang

The newsletter is issued electronically every other month.

Please send comments or questions to Barbro McGinn, editor.