Dear friends,

The historic silver jubilee Association of Nepalis in the Americas (ANA) convention is only a few months away and hotel rooms are now available for booking. On behalf of ANA and Friends of Nepal-LA (FON), we would like to take this opportunity to share some of the important details of this convention and welcome you to our great city of Los Angeles.

The 25th ANA-FON convention will be held in beautiful sunny Southern

California at the premier Westin hotel (a sprawling & luxurious four star property located just 8 minutes away from the Los Angeles International Airport-LAX, and a short drive to world famous beaches) from Fri June 29 to Sun July 1st, 2007.

We would like to offer participants, one of a kind, three exciting days (and more) of both business and pleasure. This convention also aims at raising awareness of the Nepalese issues to an audience that reaches beyond the typical ANA convention by bringing together the Nepalese Diaspora and Americans alike. The working committee has been discussing an invitation to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to inaugurate the convention, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other high

profile guests. Invitations have also been sent to various political figures of Nepal. There has already been enough buzz about this much-anticipated event that we are expecting in the vicinity of 5000 to 7000 visitors for the 3-day convention, making it the biggest Nepali convention ever to be held outside of Nepal.

In the last more than two decades of these conventions, no

city has captured the imagination of the conference and dominated the

conversation as the City of Angels in 2007.

Hotel reservations are now open to public. We have negotiated a fabulous rate of $69.00 per night. You must register for the room BEFORE April 15 to qualify for this rate. Due to the high demand, and the limited number of rooms at this price, you are encouraged to book your room early. The hotel has free pickup/drop-off shuttle service from LAX airport and to nearby beaches. Isn’t it cool that you don’t need to rent a car or drive on the highway to get to the hotel? A Continental breakfast is available for $10, and a Dinner buffet for $15 at a special rate for ANA convention attendees. These are just a few of the great deals for this convention.

Volunteers are hard at work preparing for an outstanding convention

program that will build on the success of the past 24 years and show us the way forward into the next 25 years. We have already been receiving many pledges of support by several sponsors (Thank You) and are looking forward to more support in celebrating this great milestone.

A brand new web-portal- http://www.ANA-Convention.org/ has been launched

that will contain all the information you need to know regarding this

convention. You could also visit http://www.FriendsofNepal-LosAngeles.org for some general info. We have established 12 different Planning Committees

to plan this convention. They are listed on the convention website. If you have any questions about any aspects of the convention, please feel free to contact the corresponding committee members.

Finally, as our convention theme says:

"One Love, One Heart: Moving Forward Joining Hands”

Celebration of life at the 25th ANA convention, Los Angeles 2007

Let us all come together to celebrate the strong sense of goodness and make something positive out of this. Also, please help us encourage your friends and relatives from other parts of the country to start planning to participate in what promises to be (with your help) a great time for all.

See you in Los Angeles.

Deven Pandey       Chair, 25th ANA-LA Convention

Abhijeet Shrestha  President- FON and Co-Chair, 25th ANA-LA Convention