| Alumni |
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Dear prospective Alumni,
On behalf of the SAAN 2007 Central Planning Team, we are excited that you are interested in this year’s SAAN 2008 Conference: Catalyst for Change. Alumni are an essential part of our conference and add a vital perspective to the discussion that takes place. Below, you will find details about the three day conference and why should you register and take part in this exciting and transforming experience.
Regards,
Shahid Ali - SAAN IT Chair
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| “What is this conference about?” |
Our goal for the conference is to motivate individuals to reflect on the impact they can have on the world and to inspire action. We believe that this goal will strongly contribute to forming a cohesive South Asian community in the context of an international network. The SAAN 2008 conference will enable participants to evaluate their own role in the global community and will, we hope, ultimately serve as a catalyst for change.
The SAAN conference introduces its participants to relevant topics of discussion which affect the South Asian American community. The uniqueness of this conference is its ability to transcend beyond the South Asian community and reach others who share interest in similar topics of conversation. Some of the content of this year’s conference include post-911 coalition building, art culture, religion and statehood, transgender and sexuality, the healthcare crisis and much more. We hope to inspire participants through keynote speeches from rising South Asian Americans and engage them in workshop discussions led by student facilitators.
Since many of the concerns SAAN conference addresses are universally shared by other minority groups and affect the broader population, we highly encourage students outside the South Asian community to take advantage of this conference and bring their ideas and opinions to the table. To encourage a well-rounded and unbiased perspective, we have arranged workshop speakers such as Dr. Bollinger from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who is an expert on healthcare disparities affecting communities originating from the Indian Sub-continent.
For more specific details about the schedule of the conference, please see the
student schedule. |
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| “What are Tracks? I’m used to workshops!” |
| For alumni who have attended the conference in the past as students, this year we are introducing “tracks” at the conference to give participants a more focused experience. The tracks range in topics from “Economics and Development” to “Pop Culture and the Arts.” Based on the track you have chosen, all the workshops will relate to the track selected and will provide participants an opportunity to network with other individuals interested in a particular area. |
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| “What extra aspects of the conference can I take part in as alumni?” |
| As Alumni of SAAN, we would like to reward you for your previous hard work and commitment to this wonderful organization by giving you the unique opportunity to interact with our keynotes and speakers. On Friday night, we will take you out to a special dinner at one of our favorite Ann Arbor restaurants. This dinner will be attended by conference speakers. We also have arranged for an afternoon lunch with speakers on Saturday. During the conference, you have the option to float between workshops as you wish even though you have selected specific Tracks or provided preferences for individual workshops. We hope that you will join us in making SAAN 2008’s vision a reality by serving as exceptional and motivating role models for our younger participants. |
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| “Registration: Why should I do it and how do I do it?” |
For Alumni who have previously seen the SAAN registration form, the new online registration module will have some of the old features and some new features. If you have already registered, you may choose to disregard this section.
The primary reason for our registration is to obtain your basic information and to ask you if you would like to share your basic contact information (name and email address only) with other registered students. All registered users will be able to login to the website and access the email address database list of all registered users who have opted to share this information. We believe that this is another way for participants to maintain ties with one another. If you are concerned about the privacy or security of such information, you may choose to remove your sharing preferences anytime.
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| “What are the Tracks and Workshops offered during the conference?” |
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| “Registration costs” |
| We believe that Alumni were an integral part of SAAN in the past and will continue to impact the network in the future. Thus, in order to encourage your active contribution and participation in the conference, we have made the cost of Alumni package constant at $40. Please take advantage of this affordable offer and the extras of the package. |
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| “Ready to register?” |
| Please go to
http://www.saanconf.org/user/reguser1.jsp |
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| “Support SAAN” |
| Please support SAAN by contributing to our organization. We accept all PayPal accounts and any form of major credit cards. Please click on the link below. |
| http://www.saanconf.org/files/SAAN_Finance_Packet_2.pdf |
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