Jain Digest 1997 11

SR No.: 527069
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 36
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, USA_Jain Digest, & USA
File Size: 8 MB

Page 18

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea. No weapon can destroy it, no power can conquer it, except the power of another idea." YOUNG MINDS (continued)
Houston Convention Committee Begins Planning
The Houston YJA Convention Committee (or HYJACC for short) has been busy with early preparations for next year's event. HYJACC consists of Houston Jain youth who will work throughout the upcoming year with YJA in organizing every aspect of the convention. The committee consists of a Chairperson, 9 committee chairs, and about 30 sub-committee members. Sure 40 people sounds like a lot, but every single one has either already began their jobs or have planned a full slate of responsibilities for the coming months. Following is a quick list of the major committees and each one's main tasks.
➤ The Activities committee is planning the detailed programming schedule of events for the 3 days of the convention, including the convention theme. They will coordinate the attendance of our distinguished guest speakers.
The Registration committee is developing a registration form to be mailed out to all Jain household addresses on file with JAINA. They will receive completed forms and send out confirmation packets to all registrants.
The Souvenir committee will publish a souvenir guide to be given to all participants. This will include a schedule for the convention, essays and notes covering the convention sessions and other related topics. The guide will contain ads and notices from supporting individuals and businesses.
>The Fundraising committee is actively raising donations to help subsidize the cost of the convention. They are targeting Jain houselholds and 'Jaincompatible' corporate donors. The committee welcomes all donations from Jain families nationwide. Also, they welcome contacts from generous corporations that may wish to sponser this event. Please contact YJA or HYJACC if you would like to support this youth undertaking.
"Whats new with the website?" is a typical question you might ask a board member. A lot of changes have been made but they won't be visible to the end user for some time. These changes differ from the way the web page started out.
At first the website was handled entirely by one or two people. The first few webmasters took on this enormous task and created a solid foundation for future enhancements. Their early organization of information on the webpage was crucial to the future enhancements that are planned.
Before the end of the school year YJA plans to obtain our own website without any space restriction. This will enable us to place more information about YJA, our local chapters and affiliates, and information about Jainism in this country.
Last issue we mentioned some of these enhancements: chat rooms, newsgroups etc. Other planned improvements: placement of all Jain newsletters (i.e. newsletters from YJA, JAINA, and local centers), an online Jain dictionary (which will hopefully provide an easily accessible standard of translated Jain words into English), an online education center (hopefully providing a de facto standard for education).
16/JAIN DIGEST. WINTER 1997
➤ The Finance committee will handle all money transactions, making sure we stay on budget.
The Records committee will document the entire planning process and convention activities for recordkeeping. They have already archived the bidding process used by Houston to win the convention to help other cities plan future conventions.
The Transportation committee will get all the youth from our airports to the convention site...free of charge. They are also working with major airlines to get a convention discount for participants.
➤ The Site committee has negotiated the rates with the hotel and conference center. They will make sure the site is ready and organized to facilitate our convention meeting needs.
The Public Relations committee will help keep everyone up to date with planning updates and registration information by using national magazines, mailouts, and even a website. They will try to stir up news coverage of the actual convention in local and national media.
Website Update-www.yale.edu/yja/
The web team currently consists of: Bimal Shah, Durham, NC; Anshu Bhandari, Miami, FL; Roshni Diamani, Montreal, ONT; Rahul Jain, Bridgewater, NJ; Dharmesh M. Mehta, Cambridge, MA; Manish Patel, Oakdale, IL; Parag Salvi, Houston, TX; Alpesh Shah, Detroit, MI; Binisa Shah, Farmington, MI; Manish Shah, Kearny, NJ; Veeral Shah, Boston, MA; Hetalkumar Vora, North Wollongong, Australia; Darko Zganjer, Daytona Beach, FL. Our Advisors are Prem Jain, San Francisco, CA and Pravin Shah, Raleigh,
NC.
Though this team consists of a dozen youth there is room for anyone interested. To be involved, the time commitment is as much as you wish to put it, and the skill level can range from newly interested to professional designer. We are looking for any part of help from the webpage-graphics, typesetting (converting newsletters to HTML), scanning of pictures from past conventions, etc. We are also looking to have a partnership with each Jain Center to provide as much information as possible about each center online and accessible to those connected tothe net.
If you are interested please contact Raju Shah at shah@zoo.cs.yale.edu or 203/777-4313.