Aykayati! Aykayati! (Hear ye! Hear ye!) This is Hoon, Hoon Khabbar!

The heat is on in Atlanta, Georgia. The city that took pride in holding the Centennial Olympics in 1996 will be hosting the first quadrennial event. We are proud to announce that The Konkani Association of Georgia (KAOG) is gearing up with its southern charm and hospitality, to host the Konkani Sammelan 2016. The two and a half day fun filled event will be held at the spectacular Georgia International Convention Center, in College Park, GA from July 1 – July 3 (Fri – Sun).  Atlanta, is a metropolitan city, rich in history, music, culture, is home to Coca Cola, CNN and the world’s largest aquarium. We have chosen the venue with careful thought, such that your short commute to the hotel from the world’s busiest airport is not just convenient but, also very comfortable and delightful.

A zealous and committed team of KAOG members has been planning and working on the minute details and logistics necessary to prepare for the event. Our team envisions in making your Sammelan experience and visit to Atlanta, a very special, heartwarming, unique, fun filled weekend that will last for a lifetime. In a short span of time while in its preliminary planning phase, the organizing committee has accomplished a lot and each one would like to share some updates.

Project Management Committee- Various committees have been busy with the planning and execution. KAOG Sammelan committee and NAKA board have been meeting at least once a month, making great progress with timely decisions and financing the event. Our current plan is to open the early registration for the Sammelan in the later part of 2015.

Venue Committee – The contract with Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) is currently under final review. Final deposit will be made while this article goes in print. The spectacular GICC, is close to Atlanta Airport and is just 10 minutes from downtown Atlanta.

Finance/Treasury Committee – Atlanta team has prepared a preliminary budget and discussed with NAKA President and team. Venue and Food, being 75% of the total budget expenses, were our first priorities to dive deep into detailed line items and lock the deals. Next in the list of expenses are Audio Visual, Registration Infrastructure and Publicity. On the income side, scenarios for registration fees are being worked out to finalize the fees soon. Our goal is to finalize these set of activities by mid-April of this year and send it to NAKA.

Entertainment Committee- Celebrating Konkani Heritage – Song & Toi on My Mind!’ will be the theme of the Konkani Sammelan 2016. The entertainment committee is all geared up to present a multi layered program to appeal to every age group! We have drafted a formal process to solicit and select the best of Konkani talent from all over North America to perform at the Sammelan.

Food Committee – The Konkani Sammelan 2016 food committee, aptly named as Sri Annapoorneswari Food Committee, has made great progress working with caterers to obtain quotes and in finalizing the menu. We are very excited to make this a truly fun event and are planning to include the choicest Konkani delicacies.

Accommodation Committee – Your comfort away from home is of prime importance to us. We have negotiated a discounted rate with Marriott, which is conveniently located next to GICC.

Registration Committee – Initial discussions are in progress with the website developers for setting up the online sign up page and the online/ manual payment process. Fee structure is also being discussed internally, and with NAKA.

Publicity Committee – Publicity team is actively working on getting the Logo finalized. Initial discussions are ongoing to get the website up and running. Please bookmark and check our website regularly for Sammelan updates. Watch out for more updates at Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Radio Idli. More exciting updates will follow soon!

Please mark your calendar and save the date. Toy with your own song, “Konkani Sammelan in Atlanta on my mind.”