Brewing Global Connections

Nov. 9-11, 2003
at The Pfister, Milwaukee, WI

It's Time to Join the True Blue Brew Crew!

Summer greetings! I want to invite all of you to participate in the 2003 Region V NAFSA conference in Milwaukee on November 9-11. We will be meeting at the Grand Old Hotel on Wisconsin Avenue, The Pfister, to brew up some global connections and try to get a handle on what is new and what isn't in the international education profession.

We are very excited with the conference program and we're sure that you will find many sessions to attend. In fact you may find it difficult to choose as we are offering eight sessions per time slot and doubling up on CAFSS, SECUSSA and ADSEC sessions. We are loaded with SEVIS sessions as well with both CAFSS and CIPP contributing in this regard. We also have a nice variety of workshops on both ends of the conference.

We will be opening the conference on Sunday, November 9th, with a series of events following the day's workshops. At 5pm we will kick things off with our Newcomers Session followed by our Mentor/Mentee meeting. If you want to sign up as either a mentor or mentee please make sure to complete the form at the back of the registration materials. At 6:15pm Dr. Nagesh Rao will deliver our plenary address. Then, at 7:15pm we will all gather for our opening reception. This year we are holding the reception in the exhibition hall with lots of great food and, at 8:15pm or so, some music and dancing.

Our sessions will begin on Monday, November 10th, and run throughout the day. The annual business luncheon will be held on noon that day. That evening we have another new event planned. At 4:45pm we will all return to the exhibition hall for a super raffle. We are going to skip holding raffles during the morning and afternoon breaks to enable everyone to mingle and conduct business in the exhibition hall rather than straining to talk or to hear while raffle winners are announced. Instead we will hold one gigantic, super-duper raffle at the end of the day with fabulous prizes and souvenirs. After everyone's materialistic desires are satisfied we will close out the day with the government Q&A, SIG meetings and restaurant hops.

The Local Arrangement Committee has been working very hard on putting together special events and has a nice lineup of tours, hops and events at the hotel. And for those of you who like to explore on your own The Pfister is located on Milwaukee's main drag just 5 blocks from the lake and the wonderful Milwaukee Art Museum.

So, please plan to join us in the land of Harleys, Beer and Brats to brew some global connections!

Jonathan GoldbergBelle
Region V Chair-elect and 2003 Regional Conference Chair