SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Image Consultants International (AICI) opened its 2009 Annual Conference with a surprise announcement and special guest appearance. During the opening reception, Thursday, May 14, at the Hyatt Regency, Irvine, CA, Katherine Wurzburg, international vice president of marketing, told attendees that this global organization of professional image consultants was launching a full-fledged Civility Epidemic, and encouraged everyone to "spread the word."

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090526/SF21747)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080326/AICILOGO)

She presented AICI's highest industry accolade, the IMMIE Bravo Award, to Dr. P.M. Forni, author of Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct (2002 St. Martin's Griffin) and co-founder of the Johns Hopkins Civility Project. His most recent book is The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude (2008). The IMMIE Bravo Award is presented annually to a person or organization whose work or contribution to AICI, its members or clients is outstanding. IMMIE stands for Image Makers Merit of Industry Excellence, and Bravo expresses appreciation for the recipient's contributions. Past awardees include TV Personality Oprah Winfrey, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Target Stores.

Wurzburg had another surprise for Dr. Forni: In Choosing Civility, he talks about coming to Los Angeles, fresh from Italy, and boarding a bus each day to the Westwood campus of UCLA, where he earned a Ph.D. He was impressed with how friendly and open the passengers were towards the bus driver. He wrote: "In Europe, nobody paid much attention to bus drivers." Prior to attending the AICI Conference, he was in Los Angeles presenting "Civility in the Workplace" at Cedars Sinai.

"We approached the Los Angeles City Council to present Dr. Forni with an official proclamation in recognition of his connection to Los Angeles and his tireless work in spreading Civility," states Wurzburg. The Council declared Wednesday, May 13, Los Angeles Civility Awareness Day in recognition of Dr. Forni's work on Civility and AICI's launch of the Civility Epidemic. "L.A. is our launch city for Civility," explains Wurzburg. "We have members in 20 countries, and it is our commitment to conduct civility projects in all our chapters around the world. In fact, we have submitted our proposal to Chase's Calendar of Events 2010 Edition, to officially declare May, International Civility Month."

AICI, the Source for Image Professionals in Education, Experience and Excellence, is the leading and largest professional association of personal and corporate image consultants worldwide. A nonprofit organization, AICI is dedicated to advancing the level of professionalism and enhancing the recognition of image consultants. On the Web at www.aici.org.

SOURCE Association of Image Consultants International