ADC Convention Registration Deadline: Saturday, March 1st for Early Bird Pricing

posted on: Feb 27, 2008

The deadline for the Premium Early Bird Convention registration of $295 is Saturday, March 1. The 2008 ADC Annual National Convention, “Securing the Principles of Liberty,” will be held June 12-15 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC.

The Annual National Convention is the largest annual gathering of Arab Americans in our nation’s capital and ADC invites you to be part of this annual tradition. This year, the ADC Convention program of panels is built on three tracks: foreign policy, domestic policy, and cultural affairs. A detailed updated program with confirmed and invited panelists and speakers can be viewed at http://www.adc.org/PDF/convsched08.pdf.

Register Online at: www.adc.org/convention

Exclusive to the purchase of full Convention package is a special 90-minute performance by international singer and songwriter Chantal Chamandy entitled, “Beladi.” The performance is open to ADC Convention attendees only, individual tickets will not be sold for this event.

For more information on Chantal Chamandy’s music and performance, please see: http://www.chantalchamandy.com/. Chantal’s performance of “Beladi” live at the Pyramids of Egypt will debut on PBS stations across the US in March.

For a full schedule of airings for “Beladi” on local PBS stations, please visit: http://www.arabdetroit.com/news.php?id=46

Also, ADC has secured a rate of $129/night at the Grand Hyatt Hotel for the Convention; this is a $30/night savings from last year’s price. Please call the hotel directly at (202) 582-1234 and mention the ADC Convention to make your room reservations or see: http://www.adc.org/Conv08/hotel.html

For sponsorship and advertisement opportunities please visit:

Click to access sponsor.pdf

For exhibit table opportunities, please visit (available on a first-come first-serve basis):

Click to access exhibit.pdf

Highlights of the Convention

A special luncheon with invited keynote speaker Mustapha Barghouthi commemorating 60 years of Palestinian dispossession

The Arab-American Leadership Seminar with Dr. Hussein Ibish

A luncheon on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and their staff

-Panel and Roundtable Discussions

Darfur: The Myths and Realities of a Human Tragedy
–Confirmed speakers include: Alex de Waal, Professor, Social Science Research Council; Amjad Atallah of the Strategic Assessments Initiative; Samer Abdelnour of the Foundation for Sustainable Enterprise and Development; and Francis Deng, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (invited)

Rights, Refugees and Return: The Palestinian Diaspora

Human Development in the Arab World: Setbacks and Prospects
–Confirmed speakers include: Omar Kader, Chairman & Owner, Pal-Tech. Inc; Atif Kubursi, Professor of Economics, McMaster University; Amat Al Alim Alsoswa, Ambassador, Regional Director for Arab States, UNDP; James Kunder, Acting Deputy Administrator, USAID (invited)

Unity and Disunity in the Arab World
–Confirmed speakers include: Juan Cole, Professor of History, University of Michigan; Michael Hudson, Professor of International Relations, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University; and Bassam Haddad, Director, Middle East Studies Program, George Mason University

A discussion on the role of the police in immigration enforcement
–Confirmed speakers include: Cecilia Munoz, Vice President, the National Council of La Raza; Hubert Williams, President, the Police Foundation; Vincent Eng, Deputy Director, Asian American Justice Center; and Farhana Khera, Executive Director, Muslim Advocates/National Association of Muslim Lawyers

–Invited award recipients Sean Penn and Oprah Winfrey

–The Annual Civil Rights Awards Lunch themed, “The Legacy of MLK and RFK: 40 Years Later,” with invited keynote speaker Sen. Ted Kennedy