11th VPA Convention 2009, Houston, TX

July 2^nd - 4^th

We are very excited to inform you that the preparations for the upcoming 11th Vokkaligara Parishat of America (VPA) Convention to be held in Houston, Texas are well underway. We welcome you to Houston: a city with a tradition of being a place of firsts. It is the largest city in Texas. "Houston" was the first word spoken by Astronaut Neil Armstrong when he landed on the moon. It is home to the first major freeway and the first air-conditioned sports arena.The convention is to be held from July 2nd to July 4th of 2009. The host hotel for the convention is the Hilton Houston Post Oak located in the center of the Uptown Houston, Texas business district, also called the Galleria. Galleria is known for its indoor Mall with skating rink called "Polar Ice", numerous upscale shopping stores, restaurants and hotels. The venue also has access to Houston's night-life with various bars and pubs. Youth Members can be entertained at a closely located Dave & Buster's that has a Bowling Alley and a Video Arcade.

Like past conventions, the event will re-live the legacy of Vokkaligas and forge ahead to a bright future along with fun-filled and exciting activities. The convention committee is putting together a showcase of cultural and entertainment programs in addition to events focusing on business opportunities, entrepreneurship, Continuing medical education, and forums for youth and women alike. We will be inviting eminent members of our community from both the US and India to speak on a number of areas as mentioned above. From their words of wisdom, we hope we can learn from their experiences, as well be inspired to further develop ourselves and our community for the future. Artists who have demonstrated their abilities on stage and cinema will be our guests for the event entertaining us.

The convention's theme "Celebrating our Legacy, Forging our Future" will focus not only on the contributions of our fellow VPA members in the United States, but also the recent success stories from our community in Karnataka. We will celebrate the legacy built by prominent members of our community and continue the tradition of expanding our beliefs by forging to the future. Several forums have been set to discuss the success stories in each area and encourage the audience to forge forward:

• Business Forum: Entrepreneurship opportunities by talking to eminent business leaders
• Continuing Medical Education: Earn AMA Category I credits and network with fellow doctors.
• Women's Forum: Make new friends and network with your friends and families;
• Youth Forum: Network with friends and identify mentors with whom they can relate and share ideas.

This year's July 4th holiday falls on a Saturday. Keeping in mind that a lot of our members are taking time and expense to fly all the way to Houston, the convention committee is exploring the arrangements for tours in and around Houston for Sunday July 5th. Please let us know your interest in taking advantage of this arrangement that will be organized at a cost separate from the convention fees.

The registration fee for the convention has been kept the same from the past convention at $175 per adult members and $125 per child members. This could only be possible with the commitment of generous donations from various patrons, considering the tough economic times ahead. We expect to generate enough funds to offer the above rates for registration.

We are looking forward to an exciting Convention. The success of our convention depends on your continued support and willingness to participate and contribute. We urge each and every one of you to attend the event and spread the word to as many Vokkaligas as you can. Please keep visiting our website www.myvpa.org/ for more frequent updates as well as feel free to contact us with your suggestions and feedback.