Hello Everyone!
My name is Nakkisa Akhavan, and this year I am the Director of the Fourth International Conference on the Iranian Diaspora. It’s 9 days until our conference kicks off, so we are all working hard to make sure every detail is in place! However, I wanted to take some time out from all the work to update all of our supporters on our program. This year, our conference is at UC Berkeley’s Pauley Ballroom in Berkeley, CA on April 4-5, 2009.
This conference will be the first of IAAB’s programs to happen on the West Coast. As a Bay Area native, I can’t tell you how exciting it is for me to be able to plan one of our events out on this coast! We’ve put together an amazing schedule with some really incredible speakers. We have seven (!!) panels, two small group workshop periods, performances, and videos. It’s incredible how we were able to fit it all into two days! IAAB always strives to think outside the box, to create programs that we have yet to see elsewhere. I think this conference does just that: we have innovative panels on the media, on cultural production, and on challenging established views. We’re also very excited to be hosting a roundtable discussion with some of the Iranian-American community’s leaders to gain some insight into their successes and advice for the community.
Our Saturday night event also promises to be a success. We are lucky to have Fared Shafinury &Tehranosaurus and Sholi performing live at Pauley Ballroom at 8 PM on Saturday, April 4. After the performances, IAAB is hosting a night of dancing with DJ Aykut at Cossu Restaurant, Bar and Lounge in San Francisco until 2 AM.
We are excited both by our unprecedented programming, as well as by the unprecedented support the community has given us. We are lucky enough to be hosted by UC Berkeley’s Iranian Student Alliance in America and have the support of UC Berkeley’s Iranian Students’ Cultural Organization, both helping us to make our program as successful as possible. And with PAAIA and IABA as primary sponsors of the conference, and groups such as Persian Center, Persian Mirror, Kodoom Events, and NIAC also supporting us, we are sure that this year will be an incredible conference.
Registration is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis, so we hope that you will register on our website today and that you will join us as we hold our Fourth International Conference on the Iranian Diaspora!