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A Letter From your Ambassador! (Bologna)

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Dear InterNations Bologna members,

It is with a heavy heart that I communicate to you that after a long period of uncertainty, my husband's new assignment has been activated; moving our family to Shanghai China in the Spring of Protected content a new and exciting experience. As all good things come to an end, so will my experience living in Bologna with all of you. I thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of my heart for your important role in my growth and development. Without you, I could not have brought so much of what I love to the public. I truly owe everything to you. I hope that I was able to give back to you something special and that you will carry with you forever. I hope that even if by a small degree, our experience together has somehow improved your life.

What does this mean for the family?
The SItawi-Bottone family will be leaving Bologna in the Spring and have the entire summer to get settled and familiar with our new surroundings just in time for Neren's fall school term. Neren will only be three years old so we do not foresee any drastic integration issues. Nila will start day care at 18 months as planned so we are actually quite happy to make all of the big changes at the same time. Shanghai is a wonderfully international city with multiple international schools, parks, large homes with gardens, international restaurants, fresh food market, luxury, antique, design, artisan shopping districts, rich in cultural and extra-cirricular activities, children's parks, water parks, zoos and an efficient public transport system. In addition the city is both safe and clean and full of english and italian speaking expats and their families!

What does this mean for InterNations and Bologna Connect?
I have had the great honor of finding three very enthusiastic and excited InterNations memebers who are interested in carrying on the InterNations Bologna torch. Ofelia Alberti, who will replace me as Ambassador of Bologna and Massimiliano Mattioli along with Lisane Schuh who will serve as her co-Ambassadors. As for Bologna Connect, my heart is still very much involved in the project and I will be continuing to work with the association from abroad in China on interesting and strategic projects that bring the Bolognese culture to Shanghai and bringing Chinese tourists, shoppers and businesspeople to Bologna! I will meet with Bologna Connect and its partners and members on my bi-annual trips back to Bologna for my seasonal fashion production during which time, I hope to align myself with the monthly InterNations meetings.

What does this mean for the NEIMASITAWI business? Nothing changes from a production point of view. I will keep my pattern making here in Italy as well as production and (as long as they are still in business) I will continue to source my materials from Italy as well. I will be creating full production cycles and dividing them among my Europe based and Asia based clientele. Although I will not be able to satisfy your orders one at a time anymore, I will still be able to take your haute couture and custom orders in batches and on a case by case basis. For those of you who have asked me to develop entire personalized wardrobes, I will also continue to work on these projects and take would be more than happy to take on new ones. In the Spring I will launch the NEIMASITAWI Trousseau concept, so keep informed! We will just need to coordinate my visits to Italy and Germany to make this work. In Bologna, I will keep a events and quality team to insure that you are the first to know when new collections become available.

My expected move date is March 15th but with the holiday trip to the USA in January and the house hunting trip to China in February, there is very little time to say goodbye.

Please let's try to see each other as soon as possible to build bridges between our relationship today and our future.

I am not abandoning Bologna, I will still be very much part of your community no matter where in the world you find me!

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!!!

Your truly,
Neima

ps: Please check Protected content soon the latest news on NEIMASITAWI and the Shanghai project!!

Please check Protected content for latest news about Bologna Connect and Project China! See article in Corriere della Sera: Protected content

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