Chicago: The 17th biennial convention of Telugu Association of North America (TANA) will be held in Chicago during July 2 – 4, 2009. A steering committee meeting was held at the Hyatt hotel, in Rosemont, on Feb 8, 2009. At the meeting, the committee members evaluated their preparation for holding the convention in Chicago and are fully committed to have a successful convention led by Yugandhar Yadlapati. The steering committee based in Chicago has also included many Telugu volunteers from other parts of the country as well. Some of the committee members that attended the meeting are from various states such as Missouri, Florida etc. The members expressed a strong commitment to make the convention a pleasant experience for the Telugu community across the globe.

In welcoming the members of the steering committee to the meeting, Yugandhar Yadlapati, Coordinator of 17th TANA convention in Chicago, expressed tremendous happiness towards the Chicago steering committee for their enthusiasm and readiness to make the convention a success. Yugandhar, said: “With the support and commitment of all volunteers, we shall make the 17th biennial convention of TANA a grand success. We have gained a lot of experience from the 1995 convention in Chicago, which was one of the best conventions in TANA history. Team work combined with common sense will keep us focused and achieve the result of an enjoyable convention for the 10000-plus expected attendees. We all have the strength and confidence. We shall prove that we are all talented and we can put on a great show. Let us make it a great celebration.

”He also said that: “We have a great team put together to create a wonderful cultural show. We will have a great literary meeting under experienced leaders. We will have agreat business conference led by talented business leaders, where we will showcase our successful entrepreneurs to share their experiences with others. And we are thinking of the options for having a lunch based on convenience and have our authentic food for dinner.”

Committee chairpersons representing Arts & crafts, Audio Visual, Banquet, Cultural, CME, Exhibits, Finance, Hospitality, Literature, Marketing, Panel Discussions/ Alumni, Program, Public Relations, Registration, Souvenir, Stage, Venue, Volunteers and Youth Committees were all among the attendees. Members took turns expressing and evaluating various plans, while expressing their full cooperation and involvement in the effort to make the convention a grand success. The proposed budget, the ideas to fund the event, logo for the conference, art exhibition, literary activities, and cultural programs from local talent and from India were among the items discussed in that meeting.

To celebrate our culture, members suggested the team to use state of the art technology and intelligence to make this event a feast for the eyes. Thus, the team came up with a theme for this convention as “Technology Innovation–Cultural Celebration”.

Volunteers are actively working on developing the systems for the registration by mail and online through the TANA website. Participants can visit www.TANA.org to register for the 17th TANA conference in Chicago by the end of Feb. All the necessary contacts, forms for Exhibits, Registration, Sponsorships, and other pertinent information will be available soon. The cultural committee is soliciting the Telugu community across the globe to participate in the 17th TANA convention during July 2-4, 2009 at the Rosemont Convention center in Chicago, Illinois. The cultural committee will soon release the list of items for the events and the detailed guide lines