PAST EVENTS
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2017
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MEANT BANQUET
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2016
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MEANT FEST
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MEANT PICNIC
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MEANT MUSIC NIGHT
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MEANT BANQUET
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2015
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MEANT MUSIC NIGHT
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MEANT FEST
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MEANT CAMPING
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MEANT KIDS EVENT
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MEANT MUSIC NIGHT
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MEANT PICNIC
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MEANT MUSIC NIGHT
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PAST EVENTS – 2014
PAST EVENTS – 2013
PAST EVENTS – 2012
PAST EVENTS – 2011
PAST EVENTS – 2010
PAST EVENTS – 2009
PAST EVENTS – 2008
Installation Night
The MEANT Board of Directors for 2008 was installed at the 10th annual banquet held at Wyndham Hotel, Irving on February 16, 2008.
The banquet was a great success, attended by over 200 members, their families, guests and sponsors. The outgoing Secretary, Sreenath Unnikrishnan, delivered the welcome speech. Ms. Anu was the MC of the evening. Naveena Mohan sang the US national anthem followed by Swetha Menon and Anjitha Nair singing the Indian national anthem. Sheeba Manthuruthil and Rashmi Vatsan lighted the lamp.
The outgoing president George Manthuruthil delivered the presidents remarks which had his innate sense of humor. The keynote speaker of the evening was Ms. LeAnne Priebe, President Central Region, ATT Mobility. In her speech, Ms.Priebe focused on the importance of work-life balance. She provided valuable insights into how we could successfully integrate the four domain’s of our lives - work, home, community and self. The honorable Senator Sam Johnson was introduced by Mr. Manoj Krishnan. Mr. Sam Johnson and Ms. Leann Priebe presented the Community Leadership award to Mr. A.K.Mago, Special recognition award to Dr.George Sudarsan, and Outstanding engineer award to Dr.Venu Menon. They were introduced to the audience by Dr. John Mathew, Mr. Mohan Kunnamkalath, and Mr. Ani Gopalakrishnan. The members of the 2007 Board of Directors were honored with a plaque. All the members were presented with a MEANT memorabilia bag and a souvenir. An Indian buffet style dinner was served followed by a group dance, performed by the students of the Aarti school of dance and live Indian music with orchestra. The incoming president Mr. Anoop Vishwanath introduced the 2008 Board Of Directors. Ms. Karthika Unnikrishnan delivered the vote of thanks.
The chairpersons of the following sub-committees were also announced.
Music Club Anjana Nair
Kids Club Sreelatha Vijay
Scholarship Committee Joseph Valiaveedu
Malayalam Program Drive for UT Austin
MEANT participated in the ‘Save Malayalam Program’ drive for the University of Texas at Austin. This effort focused on raising funds from the four major cities in Texas to cover a deficit of $20,000, to save the Malayalam program being dropped off the University of Texas curriculum. In March 2008, MEANT appealed to all its members to rally behind the initiative to meet our goal of $2000 towards the good cause and we raised $2100 by May 2008.
MEANT Music Night
The MEANT Music Club had their first music night on March 29th hosted by Anish and Anju. The club continued to keep up its momentum gained from 2007 and have proved to be the most popular social event in the MEANT calendar. Music Nights were held quarterly at various members’ residences. Mr. Prabhu Shankar, one of our lead singers was qualified to the top 20 of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa US Challenge hosted by Zee TV.
MEANT Picnic
The Meant Annual picnic was held on May 10th Saturday at Celebration Park, Allen. There were many games organized for adults and kids. Men got to play volleyball and cricket. The kids had a great time playing in the huge playground facility within the park. Lemon & spoon race and the sack race were the big hits among the kids. Pizza for kids and the Kerala food added fuel to the participants’ energies.
MEANT Fest
MEANT Fest was held at the St. Thomas-Garland parish hall on Saturday, October 18th 2008. The theme for the event was ‘Festive India’ aimed to bring the audience, a few dance forms from the South and North India. The pre-recorded program sequence included a few Indian dance forms like Bhangra, Dandiya, Bharathnatyam and Mohiniyattom which was enjoyed by all. The participants of the program included MEANT members, kids and the ‘Friends of MEANT’. A malayalam skit was also performed by the members, which was scripted/directed by the MEANT incoming president for 2009, Mr.Joseph Valiaveedu. The program concluded with the ‘Ganamela’ rendered by the MEANT music group.
MEANT Boat Carnival
MEANT organized a boating trip at the Lake Lavon, on September 20th.
MEANT Founder Member Recognition
Malayalee Engineers Association of North America (MEANA) chose Dr.Venu Menon as the Engineer of the Year. The award was given to Dr.Venu by the Chief Justice of Indian Supreme Court, Honorable Mr. K.G.Balakrishnan, during their annual meet at Chicago on October 25th.
MEANT Camping
MEANT annual camping event was held on Nov 1 at Grandpappy Point . The participants camped overnight at the cabins there. The Anthakshari by the camp fire was enjoyed by all. We had a turnout of around 40 adults and Kids.
Math Olympiad
Math Olympiad was conducted at UTD campus on Nov 15th, for students in the 6th-10th grade in the DFW Metroplex. It was part of our initiative to promote mathematics among the kids. Microsoft Corp was gracious enough to support the event by sponsoring the prizes for the event by giving away Zunes. We had a total of 66 students participate. The competition was to solve 60 problems in 60min based on the grade level. We had a 3rd grader participate in the 6th grade level and he came in 4th in that group and a 7th grader who came in 30min late and completed the entire contest in 30minutes as the winner. The winners will be given awards at the 2009 Annual banquet.
MEANT Outstanding Engineer Award
MEANT has invited nominations for the Outstanding Engineer Award for the year 2008. This award will be given to this year’s winner during the MEANT annual banquet. Outstanding Engineer Award for 2008 will be awarded to George Brody, Founder, Chief Executive Officer & President of GlobeRanger Corporation.
This award is given to an Engineering professional, who has made outstanding contribution to this field. The criteria for selecting the winner are:
• Patents Received
• Awards received
• Technical publications including books
• Innovation in the field of Engineering
• Business Owner
• Excellence in professional career
At the end of the year MEANT membership stood at 136 including Life Members. MEANT continues to attract a majority of Malayalee Engineering community in the North Texas area.
MEANT EVENTS - 2006
• MEANT music Nite Nov 11
• Kid's club, meet at Planet Pizza, Oct 28th
• MEANT FEST 2006, Oct 21, St. Paul Marthoma Church Auditorium
, Mesquite 75150
• MEANT camping at Dinosaur Valley Park, Glen Rose, TX. Sept 30 - Oct 1
• MEANT ladies club meeting at Maggiano's Little Italy, Sept 22
• MEANT music Nite, Aug 30th
• MEANT wine tasting event on 07/29/06 (Saturday)
• MEANT Ladies Night Out at Maggiano's Little Italy, July 14th
• Farewell party for Suresh & Archana, July 9th
• Meant Music Night, June 17th
• Kids Club event at Chuck E Cheese, May 21st
• MEANT Ladies Night Out at La Madeleine Restaurant, May 12th
• MEANT 2006 Picnic at Breckinridge Park, May 6th
• MEANT Music Club Meet, March 25th.
• MEANT Ladies Night Out (Grapevine Mills AMC Theatre) - Friday, March 17th
• MEANT Networking club at Shelocks Pub in Adisson - March-9th
MEANT fest, Oct 2006 provided MEANT members and people from the community to have a great social get together. The program started with a small session, geared towards to external community, on consumer electronics, IT and network security. This was followed by the cultural programs, fashion show, photo session, a grand dinner and Music from MEANT music club. About 130 people attended the event and approximately $2000 was pledged for MEANT scholarhips.
MEANT's 9th Annual banquet was held on Jan 27th 2007, at Crowne Plaza hotel,. 7050 Stemmons Fwy, Dallas. The event was attended by over 150 people. The speakers at the event included. Keynote Speaker: Mr Jaya Kumar (Chief Marketing Officer, Frito Lay Inc). Chief guest Mr Bruce Church (VP IBM inc)
The event had cultural programme and live music by HighOctavez.com (which included members from MEANT music club).
Scholarship committee (chair) : Mr. Rajan Chirayil
Music club (chair) : Mr. Manoj Krishnan
Networking Club (chair) : Mr Anoop Viswanath
Ladies Club (chair) : Ms Neena Kurien
Camping/outdoors club (chair): Mr. John Joseph
Children's Club (chair) : Ms Sapna Chacko
MEANT EVENTS - 2005
• MEANT Annual Banquet on February 4, 2006.
• MEANT Music Club Meet, December 3rd, 2005.
• MEANT Music Club Meet, October, 2005.
• Ladies Night Out, September 9th, 2005 at California Pizza Kitchen.
• MEANT FEST on Saturday, August 20th at McKinney Community Center.
• MEANT Ladies Night Out in June at Pei Wei Asian Diner.
• MEANT Camping Event on May 21-22 at Possum Kingdom State Park.
• Ladies Night Out at Fadi's Mediterranean Grill, Frisco on May 13th.
• Happy Hour at Dave and Busters, May 10th.
• Kid's Club Event at Chuck-E-Cheese on April 30th.
• Happy Hour on April 12th at Two Rows Brewery.
• Ladies Night Out on April 8th at Elephant Bar.
• Music/Karoake Get-Together on April 2nd at Ajith/Priya Varghese's House.
• Ladies Night Out on March 11th.
• Movie Club Event on March 11th at Everest Theatre.
• Happy Hour on March 8th.
• Ladies Night Out on February 11th.
• Happy Hour on February 8th.
56 Card Game: George Manthuruthil
Camping/Hiking: Kesavan Nair
Happy Hour: Avinash Atholi
Karaoke/Music: Ajith and Priya Varghese
Kids: Sreelatha Pillai
Ladies Night Out: Sreelatha Pillai
Movie: Sonia Alex
Tennis: Rajan Chirayil
MEANT EVENTS - 2004
• MEANT Installation Nite (March 2004)
• MEANT event for kids (24 April 2004 )
• Professional Event (June 2004 )
• ONAM 2004 (05 September 2004 )
• MEANT Tennis Tournament (August/September 2004 )
• MEANT Camping 2004 (02 October 2004 )
• MEANT Picnic (October 2004)
• MEANT Installation Night (January 2005)
MEANT Installation Nite (28 Feb 2004)
Thank you for making Meant Installation nite 2004 a big success. Please take a look at the event details and photos
MEANT event for kids (24 Apr 2004)
Visit to Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Dinosaur dig for kids and IMAX movie. Co-ordinated by Archana Nambiar.
MEANT Hiking club starts its first event (13 June 2004)
MEANT HIKING club organized their first event of the year with a hike at Eisenhower State Park, Lake Texoma. Members had a wonderful time. Take a look those pictures.
MEANT Technology session (23 June 2004)
Arjun Rajagopal did the wonderful session on the latest technologies and gadgets in HDTV, Digital Camera's. This informative session gave out lots information like where to get the best electronic deals and how to make best use of your DVD players and more.
MEANT Professional Event: Doctor! Doctor! (7th August 2004)
Dr. Thomas Alexander and his wife Bela Thomas enlightened us on a few health issues.
The topics were:
1) "Treatment of Metabolic Syndrome and diabetes" by Dr Thomas Alexander MD
2) "FAD diets" by Mrs Bela Thomas
ATKINS !! SOUTH BEACH !!! Well so much to choose from. Here are the pros and cons.
ON : August 7, 2004
AT: Josey Ranch Library, 1700 Keller Spring Road, Carrollton TX-75006
MEANT Events 2000
MEANT Installation Night 2000
Tax Seminar 2000
We had our first professional event for the calender year on Mar 15, 2000. Mr Monai Jacob gave a very insightful talk about accounting and taxes. Mr Jacob has many degrees under his belt. He has a degree in M.Com. a gold medal holder in LLB from Ernakulam law college in 1990, ICWA-Inter from Calcutta and completed his CPA here in the US in 1993. He worked for two years before starting his own firm - Monai Jacob CPA in down town Dallas in 1995. Initially people mingled with the speaker along with pizza and soft drinks, that was provided by MEANT. The talk focused on capital gains/losses and offered some tips on how best to handle tax situations for different scenarios like married, with kids, child care etc. Mr. Jacob made the talk very interesting by adding a tinge of humor and sharing his own personal experiences. The talk was followed by a very informative Q&A session. The whole seminar was very well organized by the professional committee.
Family Picnic 2000
The MEANT picnic on June 10th at the Breckenridge park was filled with fun and games for the whole family. The park spreads over a very large area with ample space for all sorts of games and activities. Although the severe weather over DFW marred attendance the weather over Breckenridge Park was serene, almost as if the rains stopped for MEANTers to enjoy their picnic.
Networking and exchanging views on the latest events in the worlds of engineering and business served as a prelude to the events that were to follow. The Keralite delicacies along with texan hot dogs were lined up on the Pavilion Benches. Lunch assured, the MEANTers were now ready to burn a few calories for it. The lemon & spoon race for children started off a series of sporting events that were lined up by the social committee. The lemon race for women and men followed. Lemon race for men went in for a replay as many of the contestants ended with spoons sans lemons ! Alias, didn't even have the spoon...! The children were soon lined up for the running race and eventually women and men followed. The intense competition along with contestants leaping/flying towards finishing lines certainly added excitement to the sports.
The mens soccer was long awaited albeit a real soccer ball was unavailable. Anil made arrangements for the make shift goal posts and a Disney play ball sufficed to initiate kick off. We had a few children playing along, who gave the adults a run forthe ball. Rohan's attack and quick tackle with the ball helped set up a few goal
scoring opportunities. Leyo was bent on scoring a goal and he did, giving his team the lead !
With well built appetite and delicious food beckoning the members got down to the task of enjoying the home made food ranging from Kappa, fish curry, idlis, vadas to beef fry & hotdogs. Satiated with food it was time to relax and play games around the table.
Bingo with a Lotto twist organized by Neena allowed members to fill in their choice of numbers into the tickets. The pens were ready to cross out numbers aiming towards top line, bottom line and lastly full house. Seems like women chose their numbers better since all the Bingo prizes went to the women. Shiji picked numbers to win the bottom line & full house ! Newcomers luck !!
The last game for the day was candy picking. Both children and adults had an opportunity to pick candy strewn over the grass. Evidently adults loved the game as much as the children did but the kids got to take the candy home.
Prizes were the distributed to the winners of the sports. Soon it was time to leave and everyone worked on cleaning up the place to leave it spotless. It was an enjoyable day of family fun and sports outdoors. The social committee did a great job by selecting the park and organizing the games and great food we had. Thanks to our communication director who helped set up the web page for online registration and constant reminders for the picnic.Wished the weather was better so that more of our members could participate.
Technofest 2000
We all stand proud to the fact our organization made a mark on the engineering community in DFW with TechnoFest 2000 on October 28th, 2000 at the Crowne Plaza in Addison which was organized by the MEANT Board of Directors.
Career Seminar 2000
Organized by the Professional Development Committee at MTS Inc. Conference room.
Conducted on Nov 16, 2000. Between 6.30p - 8.30p
About the seminar:
1) Goal setting - identify your strengths and work on your weakness. Show case your strengths, set your goals and how to go get it.
2) Working with a recruiter - many a times you submit your resume and thats the last of it. How to keep track as to what happens? How to follow up?
3) Interviewing skills - how do you conduct yourself once you are called for an interview. How to answer those typical questions they shoot at you.
4) Resume critiquing - and for those who have a resume at hand would like to get it critiqued by a professional, this is your chance.
Presenter: Elizabeth Klein
Elizabeth Klein is a technical recruiter/account manager for MetroTech Search, Inc (MTS), a Dallas-focused technical placement firm. She teaches resume writing classes for technical professionals with the City of Plano PARD adult education program.
MEANT Events 1999
The Year 2000 Installation Nite was held in Double Tree Hotel. This year's program was attended by almost 80 families. Mr. Mohan Kunnamkalath introduced the MC of the evening, Dr. Sankaran Menon. The program began with invocation and lamp lighting ceremony by the Keynote speaker of the evening, Professor E. C. G. Sudarshan. This was followed by a Thiruvathira dance organized by Ms. Manju Menon and performed by various active spouses of MEANT members. President's remarks were delivered by Mr. A. V. Thomas, where the various highlights of this year's activities were presented. Next, Dr. Sankaran Menon presented the secretary's report, in which details of all the activities that were conducted during the year was presented. Dr. John Mathew presented a very colorful detailed treasurer's report with powerful computer graphics. Accounts for the Bharathanjali dance program was also presented. Dr. Mathew mentioned that a CD has been opened for the money collected from the 11 Life Members (11 * 250 = $2750). Secretary's report was proposed by Dr. Venu Menon and seconded by Mr. Bhasy Nair. Treasurer's report was proposed by Dr. Suku Nair and seconded by Mr. Joseph Valiaveedu. President's report was proposed by Dr. Suresh Damodaran Kamal and seconded by Mr. Venu Gopal. All the above reports were submitted, proposed and passed at the Installation 2000 meeting.Dr. John Mathew introduced the Keynote Speaker, Professor E. C. G. Sudarshan. Professor Sudarshan is an eminent Professor as well as a Scientist and has made significant contributions to particle physics, quantum optics, relativistic dynamics, group representations for noncompact groups, classical dynamics and general quantum theory. Professor Sudarshan was bestowed with Padma Bhushan (order of the Lotus) - Decoration presented by the President of India in 1976.Installation Nite 2000 Report
The outgoing President, Mr. A. V. Thomas introduced Ms. Laura Mani, the incoming President, who introduced all the remaining BOD members for the year 2000. The names of the new BOD members are as follows:
President : Ms. Laura Mani
Secretary : Mr. Siby Mathew
Treasurer : Dr. Sreenath Unnikrishnan
Communications Director : Mr. Jiju Pramod
Director : Mr. Anil Madhusoodhanan
Director : Ms. Manju Menon
President Elect : Mr. Alias Pathrose
Dr. Suresh Damodaran-Kamal distributed survey forms to all the participants. The survey was conducted to find out what MEANT can do to better serve the MEANT members. The feedback from the survey will be posted soon on the MEANT web-site after compilation of the feedback results by Dr. Suresh Damodaran-Kamal. This was followed by awards ceremony, where Professor Sudarshan was honored for the keynote speech and Mr. Bhasy Nair was presented with a plaque for significant contribution to MEANT. Installation of the new BOD (Year 2000 BOD) was conducted by the outgoing BOD (1999 BOD). The names of the outgoing BOD and the incoming BOD is given below. Mr. Sreejith presented the Vote of Thanks. A program handout was prepared for distribution at the Installation Nite-2000, and an electronic version of the same is attached along with this report.
Other Event Highlights
Professional Development Program - (Tax Seminar, Estate planning and Will preparation)
Family Picnic
Mentor Nite
Fall Festival
MEANT Events 1998
MEANT Inaugural Night '98
The MEANT Inaugural Night which was held at Akbar Restaurant in Plano on Jan. 31 '98 was a grand success. It was an evening of family fun and networking among members. We had good food, games and entertainment for the members. We wish to thank everyone of you who attended the function and made it a huge success.
Professional Development Program -STARTech The first Professional Development Program -STARTech was held at Richardson Clarion Hotel on March 26 '98 . Mr. Mathew Blanton, President of Startech gave a seminar on starting up a business in the Richardson Telecom Corridor.
Family Picnic on May 16 '98 MEANT had a wonderful picnic on saturday, May 16 '98 at Hickory Creek. There were more than 35 people (and some kids). The weather was good, though a bit hot in the afternoon. The food was excellent. Thanks to those wonderful cooks! The games included Tug-o'-war, races for kids, lemon race for adults, and pass the parcel. We also had a Logo contest (conducted by Dr. Venu Menon, and Mr. Arun Kumar). Out of 18 entries, the people voted to the first position the logo submitted by Arun Kumar. Mr. Subhash Parameswaran and the social committee did a wonderful job of co-ordinating the picnic food and location. Ms. Archana Nambiar did a great job organizing the games at short notice. Our thanks to many of you who contributed in kind in various ways.
Mentor Nite '98 on August 18 '98 The mentoring committee of MEANT conducted its first program -Mentor Nite at 7pm on Tuesday, August 18, 1998 at Pasand India Cuisine, Richardson. The evening consisted of a panel discussion on career trends, an opportunity to meet other engineers, and a chance to meet other professionals who have volunteered to serve as mentors. After welcome speech by Arun Kumar and Introduction of Panel Members by Joseph Valiaveedu, Mentoring Commitee chair, the discussions started.
The panel members were -Mr. George Brody (Chair), Vice President, Northern Telecom, Mr. Ashwin Shah, Vice President, Texas Instruments, Mr. Bhasy Nair, Systems Engineer - Marketing Group, Lucent Technologies, Ms. Manju Menon, ESH & Quality Manager - Worldwide Facilities, Texas Instruments and Dr. Neelakantan Kartha, Member-Technical Staff, i2 Technologies.
The topics were: How the industry as well as Opportunities have changed in their respective Fields, Career choices available in their fields/industries, The future in 5-10 years. - Challenges today, tomorrow and Advice to fresh graduates and students. Questions and Answers session followed.
We ended the sessions by 9pm & the mentor nite ended with vote of thanks by Laura Mani. About 45 people attended the program. The events were followed by dinner.
Fall Festival on Oct. 10 '98
Fall Festival'98 was held at Farmers Branch Library on Webb Chapel Road on October 10 '98. We had about 80+people, and the programs startedat 11:15AM and lasted a little beyond 4PM. Ms. Rosalyn Kumar (Ms. Laura Mani's daughter)did a wonderful job as the Master of ceremony. Dr. Suresh Damodaran spoke in Malayalam onwhy we have Fall Fest. He also spoke about MEANTand introduced other BOD members. Dr. Venu Menon introduced the chief guest Mr. Nalinan Pillai, who runs a business in Houston. Then the chief guestspoke on the importance of taking risk among otherthings. Subsequently, Ms. Tracy Thomas (Mr. AV Thomas's daughter) gave a spirited bharathanatyam performance. A skit followed, based on the the first day experiences of engineering students in a Kerala engineering college. Ms Maria Mathew and friends made the skit very entertaining. Lunch lasted for about an hour and half.
There was plenty of food, and we all had a good feast. Ganamela by Mr. George Brody andteam followed (Audio Entertainment Committee).There was live orchestra. After about an hourof Ganamela, another skit was presented"Jalian Vala Bagilekku Oru Thirinju Nottam,"by Mr. Sreejith and friends.Malayalathil Oru Nimisham follwed. This program was conducted by Dr. Hariharan P.,Mr. George Jose, and Mr. Gigi Varkey. There were 9 participants, and the audiencethouroughly enjoyed the program. Mr. Joseph (Moncy) Valiaveedu, Mr. Mohan Kunnamkulath, and Mr. Arun Kumar were the first, second, and third positioners. Congratulations! Mr. Alias Pathrose distributed the prizes, and also gave a vote of thanks. Another session of Ganamela followed. The event concluded a little after 4PM. The cleaning up lasted till 5:30PM,when the last MEANTer left the premises.
Investing in turbulent times..Dec 5 '98
The investment panel discussion (actually, it was more of a class taught by two practitioners) was fantastic. It was conducted at the Farmers Branch Library on Dec 5 '98. The program started about 2pm with socialization,(Indian snacks and coke etc.) and the talks started at 2:30PM.
Ms Maria Mathew talked about Kerala and MEANT. The meeting was attended by about 20 people. Dr. Venu Menon introduced the guests. Mr Bobby Fogle (Morgan Stanley) gave a fantastic presentation on the foundations of investment. He explained that there were two types of investment: loan (CD, bonds, etc.) and own(stock, etc.). He went on to explain the stock part. Among other things, he discussed the P/E ratio andcautioned the listeners to pay attention to the ratioof P/E ratio and growth. He also gave handouts. Mr. Paul Peebles (Merrill-Lynch) did a clear presentation of bonds, efficiency barrier, why bonds are good at whattimes, etc. He also gave handouts. Of particularinterest was his statement that we cannot buy localbond funds, such as what City of Plano might issue, at anywhere but an agent such as him. After a brief break, there was a 45 mts Q&A session in which lots of questions were answered, and the current financial situation of the market was discussed.
Dr. Suresh Damodaran presented the guests with books on India. The program ended about 4:45pm.The contact info for Bob Fogle: 972-774-6666 (1-800-366-9194) Paul Peebles: 972-386-1346 (1-800-999-6692). We would like to thank all of those who attended, and also helped in various ways to make this program a success.
The MEANT Board of Directors for 2008 was installed at the 10th annual banquet held at Wyndham Hotel, Irving on February 16, 2008.
The banquet was a great success, attended by over 200 members, their families, guests and sponsors. The outgoing Secretary, Sreenath Unnikrishnan, delivered the welcome speech. Ms. Anu was the MC of the evening. Naveena Mohan sang the US national anthem followed by Swetha Menon and Anjitha Nair singing the Indian national anthem. Sheeba Manthuruthil and Rashmi Vatsan lighted the lamp.
The outgoing president George Manthuruthil delivered the presidents remarks which had his innate sense of humor. The keynote speaker of the evening was Ms. LeAnne Priebe, President Central Region, ATT Mobility. In her speech, Ms.Priebe focused on the importance of work-life balance. She provided valuable insights into how we could successfully integrate the four domain’s of our lives - work, home, community and self. The honorable Senator Sam Johnson was introduced by Mr. Manoj Krishnan. Mr. Sam Johnson and Ms. Leann Priebe presented the Community Leadership award to Mr. A.K.Mago, Special recognition award to Dr.George Sudarsan, and Outstanding engineer award to Dr.Venu Menon. They were introduced to the audience by Dr. John Mathew, Mr. Mohan Kunnamkalath, and Mr. Ani Gopalakrishnan. The members of the 2007 Board of Directors were honored with a plaque. All the members were presented with a MEANT memorabilia bag and a souvenir. An Indian buffet style dinner was served followed by a group dance, performed by the students of the Aarti school of dance and live Indian music with orchestra. The incoming president Mr. Anoop Vishwanath introduced the 2008 Board Of Directors. Ms. Karthika Unnikrishnan delivered the vote of thanks.
The chairpersons of the following sub-committees were also announced.
Music Club Anjana Nair
Kids Club Sreelatha Vijay
Scholarship Committee Joseph Valiaveedu
Malayalam Program Drive for UT Austin
MEANT participated in the ‘Save Malayalam Program’ drive for the University of Texas at Austin. This effort focused on raising funds from the four major cities in Texas to cover a deficit of $20,000, to save the Malayalam program being dropped off the University of Texas curriculum. In March 2008, MEANT appealed to all its members to rally behind the initiative to meet our goal of $2000 towards the good cause and we raised $2100 by May 2008.
MEANT Music Night
The MEANT Music Club had their first music night on March 29th hosted by Anish and Anju. The club continued to keep up its momentum gained from 2007 and have proved to be the most popular social event in the MEANT calendar. Music Nights were held quarterly at various members’ residences. Mr. Prabhu Shankar, one of our lead singers was qualified to the top 20 of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa US Challenge hosted by Zee TV.
MEANT Picnic
The Meant Annual picnic was held on May 10th Saturday at Celebration Park, Allen. There were many games organized for adults and kids. Men got to play volleyball and cricket. The kids had a great time playing in the huge playground facility within the park. Lemon & spoon race and the sack race were the big hits among the kids. Pizza for kids and the Kerala food added fuel to the participants’ energies.
MEANT Fest
MEANT Fest was held at the St. Thomas-Garland parish hall on Saturday, October 18th 2008. The theme for the event was ‘Festive India’ aimed to bring the audience, a few dance forms from the South and North India. The pre-recorded program sequence included a few Indian dance forms like Bhangra, Dandiya, Bharathnatyam and Mohiniyattom which was enjoyed by all. The participants of the program included MEANT members, kids and the ‘Friends of MEANT’. A malayalam skit was also performed by the members, which was scripted/directed by the MEANT incoming president for 2009, Mr.Joseph Valiaveedu. The program concluded with the ‘Ganamela’ rendered by the MEANT music group.
MEANT Boat Carnival
MEANT organized a boating trip at the Lake Lavon, on September 20th.
MEANT Founder Member Recognition
Malayalee Engineers Association of North America (MEANA) chose Dr.Venu Menon as the Engineer of the Year. The award was given to Dr.Venu by the Chief Justice of Indian Supreme Court, Honorable Mr. K.G.Balakrishnan, during their annual meet at Chicago on October 25th.
MEANT Camping
MEANT annual camping event was held on Nov 1 at Grandpappy Point . The participants camped overnight at the cabins there. The Anthakshari by the camp fire was enjoyed by all. We had a turnout of around 40 adults and Kids.
Math Olympiad
Math Olympiad was conducted at UTD campus on Nov 15th, for students in the 6th-10th grade in the DFW Metroplex. It was part of our initiative to promote mathematics among the kids. Microsoft Corp was gracious enough to support the event by sponsoring the prizes for the event by giving away Zunes. We had a total of 66 students participate. The competition was to solve 60 problems in 60min based on the grade level. We had a 3rd grader participate in the 6th grade level and he came in 4th in that group and a 7th grader who came in 30min late and completed the entire contest in 30minutes as the winner. The winners will be given awards at the 2009 Annual banquet.
MEANT Outstanding Engineer Award
MEANT has invited nominations for the Outstanding Engineer Award for the year 2008. This award will be given to this year’s winner during the MEANT annual banquet. Outstanding Engineer Award for 2008 will be awarded to George Brody, Founder, Chief Executive Officer & President of GlobeRanger Corporation.
This award is given to an Engineering professional, who has made outstanding contribution to this field. The criteria for selecting the winner are:
• Patents Received
• Awards received
• Technical publications including books
• Innovation in the field of Engineering
• Business Owner
• Excellence in professional career
At the end of the year MEANT membership stood at 136 including Life Members. MEANT continues to attract a majority of Malayalee Engineering community in the North Texas area.
MEANT EVENTS - 2006
• MEANT music Nite Nov 11
• Kid's club, meet at Planet Pizza, Oct 28th
• MEANT FEST 2006, Oct 21, St. Paul Marthoma Church Auditorium
, Mesquite 75150
• MEANT camping at Dinosaur Valley Park, Glen Rose, TX. Sept 30 - Oct 1
• MEANT ladies club meeting at Maggiano's Little Italy, Sept 22
• MEANT music Nite, Aug 30th
• MEANT wine tasting event on 07/29/06 (Saturday)
• MEANT Ladies Night Out at Maggiano's Little Italy, July 14th
• Farewell party for Suresh & Archana, July 9th
• Meant Music Night, June 17th
• Kids Club event at Chuck E Cheese, May 21st
• MEANT Ladies Night Out at La Madeleine Restaurant, May 12th
• MEANT 2006 Picnic at Breckinridge Park, May 6th
• MEANT Music Club Meet, March 25th.
• MEANT Ladies Night Out (Grapevine Mills AMC Theatre) - Friday, March 17th
• MEANT Networking club at Shelocks Pub in Adisson - March-9th
MEANT fest, Oct 2006 provided MEANT members and people from the community to have a great social get together. The program started with a small session, geared towards to external community, on consumer electronics, IT and network security. This was followed by the cultural programs, fashion show, photo session, a grand dinner and Music from MEANT music club. About 130 people attended the event and approximately $2000 was pledged for MEANT scholarhips.
MEANT's 9th Annual banquet was held on Jan 27th 2007, at Crowne Plaza hotel,. 7050 Stemmons Fwy, Dallas. The event was attended by over 150 people. The speakers at the event included. Keynote Speaker: Mr Jaya Kumar (Chief Marketing Officer, Frito Lay Inc). Chief guest Mr Bruce Church (VP IBM inc)
The event had cultural programme and live music by HighOctavez.com (which included members from MEANT music club).
Scholarship committee (chair) : Mr. Rajan Chirayil
Music club (chair) : Mr. Manoj Krishnan
Networking Club (chair) : Mr Anoop Viswanath
Ladies Club (chair) : Ms Neena Kurien
Camping/outdoors club (chair): Mr. John Joseph
Children's Club (chair) : Ms Sapna Chacko
MEANT EVENTS - 2005
• MEANT Annual Banquet on February 4, 2006.
• MEANT Music Club Meet, December 3rd, 2005.
• MEANT Music Club Meet, October, 2005.
• Ladies Night Out, September 9th, 2005 at California Pizza Kitchen.
• MEANT FEST on Saturday, August 20th at McKinney Community Center.
• MEANT Ladies Night Out in June at Pei Wei Asian Diner.
• MEANT Camping Event on May 21-22 at Possum Kingdom State Park.
• Ladies Night Out at Fadi's Mediterranean Grill, Frisco on May 13th.
• Happy Hour at Dave and Busters, May 10th.
• Kid's Club Event at Chuck-E-Cheese on April 30th.
• Happy Hour on April 12th at Two Rows Brewery.
• Ladies Night Out on April 8th at Elephant Bar.
• Music/Karoake Get-Together on April 2nd at Ajith/Priya Varghese's House.
• Ladies Night Out on March 11th.
• Movie Club Event on March 11th at Everest Theatre.
• Happy Hour on March 8th.
• Ladies Night Out on February 11th.
• Happy Hour on February 8th.
56 Card Game: George Manthuruthil
Camping/Hiking: Kesavan Nair
Happy Hour: Avinash Atholi
Karaoke/Music: Ajith and Priya Varghese
Kids: Sreelatha Pillai
Ladies Night Out: Sreelatha Pillai
Movie: Sonia Alex
Tennis: Rajan Chirayil
MEANT EVENTS - 2004
• MEANT Installation Nite (March 2004)
• MEANT event for kids (24 April 2004 )
• Professional Event (June 2004 )
• ONAM 2004 (05 September 2004 )
• MEANT Tennis Tournament (August/September 2004 )
• MEANT Camping 2004 (02 October 2004 )
• MEANT Picnic (October 2004)
• MEANT Installation Night (January 2005)
MEANT Installation Nite (28 Feb 2004)
Thank you for making Meant Installation nite 2004 a big success. Please take a look at the event details and photos
MEANT event for kids (24 Apr 2004)
Visit to Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Dinosaur dig for kids and IMAX movie. Co-ordinated by Archana Nambiar.
MEANT Hiking club starts its first event (13 June 2004)
MEANT HIKING club organized their first event of the year with a hike at Eisenhower State Park, Lake Texoma. Members had a wonderful time. Take a look those pictures.
MEANT Technology session (23 June 2004)
Arjun Rajagopal did the wonderful session on the latest technologies and gadgets in HDTV, Digital Camera's. This informative session gave out lots information like where to get the best electronic deals and how to make best use of your DVD players and more.
MEANT Professional Event: Doctor! Doctor! (7th August 2004)
Dr. Thomas Alexander and his wife Bela Thomas enlightened us on a few health issues.
The topics were:
1) "Treatment of Metabolic Syndrome and diabetes" by Dr Thomas Alexander MD
2) "FAD diets" by Mrs Bela Thomas
ATKINS !! SOUTH BEACH !!! Well so much to choose from. Here are the pros and cons.
ON : August 7, 2004
AT: Josey Ranch Library, 1700 Keller Spring Road, Carrollton TX-75006
MEANT Events 2000
MEANT Installation Night 2000
Tax Seminar 2000
We had our first professional event for the calender year on Mar 15, 2000. Mr Monai Jacob gave a very insightful talk about accounting and taxes. Mr Jacob has many degrees under his belt. He has a degree in M.Com. a gold medal holder in LLB from Ernakulam law college in 1990, ICWA-Inter from Calcutta and completed his CPA here in the US in 1993. He worked for two years before starting his own firm - Monai Jacob CPA in down town Dallas in 1995. Initially people mingled with the speaker along with pizza and soft drinks, that was provided by MEANT. The talk focused on capital gains/losses and offered some tips on how best to handle tax situations for different scenarios like married, with kids, child care etc. Mr. Jacob made the talk very interesting by adding a tinge of humor and sharing his own personal experiences. The talk was followed by a very informative Q&A session. The whole seminar was very well organized by the professional committee.
Family Picnic 2000
The MEANT picnic on June 10th at the Breckenridge park was filled with fun and games for the whole family. The park spreads over a very large area with ample space for all sorts of games and activities. Although the severe weather over DFW marred attendance the weather over Breckenridge Park was serene, almost as if the rains stopped for MEANTers to enjoy their picnic.
Networking and exchanging views on the latest events in the worlds of engineering and business served as a prelude to the events that were to follow. The Keralite delicacies along with texan hot dogs were lined up on the Pavilion Benches. Lunch assured, the MEANTers were now ready to burn a few calories for it. The lemon & spoon race for children started off a series of sporting events that were lined up by the social committee. The lemon race for women and men followed. Lemon race for men went in for a replay as many of the contestants ended with spoons sans lemons ! Alias, didn't even have the spoon...! The children were soon lined up for the running race and eventually women and men followed. The intense competition along with contestants leaping/flying towards finishing lines certainly added excitement to the sports.
The mens soccer was long awaited albeit a real soccer ball was unavailable. Anil made arrangements for the make shift goal posts and a Disney play ball sufficed to initiate kick off. We had a few children playing along, who gave the adults a run forthe ball. Rohan's attack and quick tackle with the ball helped set up a few goal
scoring opportunities. Leyo was bent on scoring a goal and he did, giving his team the lead !
With well built appetite and delicious food beckoning the members got down to the task of enjoying the home made food ranging from Kappa, fish curry, idlis, vadas to beef fry & hotdogs. Satiated with food it was time to relax and play games around the table.
Bingo with a Lotto twist organized by Neena allowed members to fill in their choice of numbers into the tickets. The pens were ready to cross out numbers aiming towards top line, bottom line and lastly full house. Seems like women chose their numbers better since all the Bingo prizes went to the women. Shiji picked numbers to win the bottom line & full house ! Newcomers luck !!
The last game for the day was candy picking. Both children and adults had an opportunity to pick candy strewn over the grass. Evidently adults loved the game as much as the children did but the kids got to take the candy home.
Prizes were the distributed to the winners of the sports. Soon it was time to leave and everyone worked on cleaning up the place to leave it spotless. It was an enjoyable day of family fun and sports outdoors. The social committee did a great job by selecting the park and organizing the games and great food we had. Thanks to our communication director who helped set up the web page for online registration and constant reminders for the picnic.Wished the weather was better so that more of our members could participate.
Technofest 2000
We all stand proud to the fact our organization made a mark on the engineering community in DFW with TechnoFest 2000 on October 28th, 2000 at the Crowne Plaza in Addison which was organized by the MEANT Board of Directors.
Career Seminar 2000
Organized by the Professional Development Committee at MTS Inc. Conference room.
Conducted on Nov 16, 2000. Between 6.30p - 8.30p
About the seminar:
1) Goal setting - identify your strengths and work on your weakness. Show case your strengths, set your goals and how to go get it.
2) Working with a recruiter - many a times you submit your resume and thats the last of it. How to keep track as to what happens? How to follow up?
3) Interviewing skills - how do you conduct yourself once you are called for an interview. How to answer those typical questions they shoot at you.
4) Resume critiquing - and for those who have a resume at hand would like to get it critiqued by a professional, this is your chance.
Presenter: Elizabeth Klein
Elizabeth Klein is a technical recruiter/account manager for MetroTech Search, Inc (MTS), a Dallas-focused technical placement firm. She teaches resume writing classes for technical professionals with the City of Plano PARD adult education program.
MEANT Events 1999
The Year 2000 Installation Nite was held in Double Tree Hotel. This year's program was attended by almost 80 families. Mr. Mohan Kunnamkalath introduced the MC of the evening, Dr. Sankaran Menon. The program began with invocation and lamp lighting ceremony by the Keynote speaker of the evening, Professor E. C. G. Sudarshan. This was followed by a Thiruvathira dance organized by Ms. Manju Menon and performed by various active spouses of MEANT members. President's remarks were delivered by Mr. A. V. Thomas, where the various highlights of this year's activities were presented. Next, Dr. Sankaran Menon presented the secretary's report, in which details of all the activities that were conducted during the year was presented. Dr. John Mathew presented a very colorful detailed treasurer's report with powerful computer graphics. Accounts for the Bharathanjali dance program was also presented. Dr. Mathew mentioned that a CD has been opened for the money collected from the 11 Life Members (11 * 250 = $2750). Secretary's report was proposed by Dr. Venu Menon and seconded by Mr. Bhasy Nair. Treasurer's report was proposed by Dr. Suku Nair and seconded by Mr. Joseph Valiaveedu. President's report was proposed by Dr. Suresh Damodaran Kamal and seconded by Mr. Venu Gopal. All the above reports were submitted, proposed and passed at the Installation 2000 meeting.Dr. John Mathew introduced the Keynote Speaker, Professor E. C. G. Sudarshan. Professor Sudarshan is an eminent Professor as well as a Scientist and has made significant contributions to particle physics, quantum optics, relativistic dynamics, group representations for noncompact groups, classical dynamics and general quantum theory. Professor Sudarshan was bestowed with Padma Bhushan (order of the Lotus) - Decoration presented by the President of India in 1976.Installation Nite 2000 Report
The outgoing President, Mr. A. V. Thomas introduced Ms. Laura Mani, the incoming President, who introduced all the remaining BOD members for the year 2000. The names of the new BOD members are as follows:
President : Ms. Laura Mani
Secretary : Mr. Siby Mathew
Treasurer : Dr. Sreenath Unnikrishnan
Communications Director : Mr. Jiju Pramod
Director : Mr. Anil Madhusoodhanan
Director : Ms. Manju Menon
President Elect : Mr. Alias Pathrose
Dr. Suresh Damodaran-Kamal distributed survey forms to all the participants. The survey was conducted to find out what MEANT can do to better serve the MEANT members. The feedback from the survey will be posted soon on the MEANT web-site after compilation of the feedback results by Dr. Suresh Damodaran-Kamal. This was followed by awards ceremony, where Professor Sudarshan was honored for the keynote speech and Mr. Bhasy Nair was presented with a plaque for significant contribution to MEANT. Installation of the new BOD (Year 2000 BOD) was conducted by the outgoing BOD (1999 BOD). The names of the outgoing BOD and the incoming BOD is given below. Mr. Sreejith presented the Vote of Thanks. A program handout was prepared for distribution at the Installation Nite-2000, and an electronic version of the same is attached along with this report.
Other Event Highlights
Professional Development Program - (Tax Seminar, Estate planning and Will preparation)
Family Picnic
Mentor Nite
Fall Festival
MEANT Events 1998
MEANT Inaugural Night '98
The MEANT Inaugural Night which was held at Akbar Restaurant in Plano on Jan. 31 '98 was a grand success. It was an evening of family fun and networking among members. We had good food, games and entertainment for the members. We wish to thank everyone of you who attended the function and made it a huge success.
Professional Development Program -STARTech The first Professional Development Program -STARTech was held at Richardson Clarion Hotel on March 26 '98 . Mr. Mathew Blanton, President of Startech gave a seminar on starting up a business in the Richardson Telecom Corridor.
Family Picnic on May 16 '98 MEANT had a wonderful picnic on saturday, May 16 '98 at Hickory Creek. There were more than 35 people (and some kids). The weather was good, though a bit hot in the afternoon. The food was excellent. Thanks to those wonderful cooks! The games included Tug-o'-war, races for kids, lemon race for adults, and pass the parcel. We also had a Logo contest (conducted by Dr. Venu Menon, and Mr. Arun Kumar). Out of 18 entries, the people voted to the first position the logo submitted by Arun Kumar. Mr. Subhash Parameswaran and the social committee did a wonderful job of co-ordinating the picnic food and location. Ms. Archana Nambiar did a great job organizing the games at short notice. Our thanks to many of you who contributed in kind in various ways.
Mentor Nite '98 on August 18 '98 The mentoring committee of MEANT conducted its first program -Mentor Nite at 7pm on Tuesday, August 18, 1998 at Pasand India Cuisine, Richardson. The evening consisted of a panel discussion on career trends, an opportunity to meet other engineers, and a chance to meet other professionals who have volunteered to serve as mentors. After welcome speech by Arun Kumar and Introduction of Panel Members by Joseph Valiaveedu, Mentoring Commitee chair, the discussions started.
The panel members were -Mr. George Brody (Chair), Vice President, Northern Telecom, Mr. Ashwin Shah, Vice President, Texas Instruments, Mr. Bhasy Nair, Systems Engineer - Marketing Group, Lucent Technologies, Ms. Manju Menon, ESH & Quality Manager - Worldwide Facilities, Texas Instruments and Dr. Neelakantan Kartha, Member-Technical Staff, i2 Technologies.
The topics were: How the industry as well as Opportunities have changed in their respective Fields, Career choices available in their fields/industries, The future in 5-10 years. - Challenges today, tomorrow and Advice to fresh graduates and students. Questions and Answers session followed.
We ended the sessions by 9pm & the mentor nite ended with vote of thanks by Laura Mani. About 45 people attended the program. The events were followed by dinner.
Fall Festival on Oct. 10 '98
Fall Festival'98 was held at Farmers Branch Library on Webb Chapel Road on October 10 '98. We had about 80+people, and the programs startedat 11:15AM and lasted a little beyond 4PM. Ms. Rosalyn Kumar (Ms. Laura Mani's daughter)did a wonderful job as the Master of ceremony. Dr. Suresh Damodaran spoke in Malayalam onwhy we have Fall Fest. He also spoke about MEANTand introduced other BOD members. Dr. Venu Menon introduced the chief guest Mr. Nalinan Pillai, who runs a business in Houston. Then the chief guestspoke on the importance of taking risk among otherthings. Subsequently, Ms. Tracy Thomas (Mr. AV Thomas's daughter) gave a spirited bharathanatyam performance. A skit followed, based on the the first day experiences of engineering students in a Kerala engineering college. Ms Maria Mathew and friends made the skit very entertaining. Lunch lasted for about an hour and half.
There was plenty of food, and we all had a good feast. Ganamela by Mr. George Brody andteam followed (Audio Entertainment Committee).There was live orchestra. After about an hourof Ganamela, another skit was presented"Jalian Vala Bagilekku Oru Thirinju Nottam,"by Mr. Sreejith and friends.Malayalathil Oru Nimisham follwed. This program was conducted by Dr. Hariharan P.,Mr. George Jose, and Mr. Gigi Varkey. There were 9 participants, and the audiencethouroughly enjoyed the program. Mr. Joseph (Moncy) Valiaveedu, Mr. Mohan Kunnamkulath, and Mr. Arun Kumar were the first, second, and third positioners. Congratulations! Mr. Alias Pathrose distributed the prizes, and also gave a vote of thanks. Another session of Ganamela followed. The event concluded a little after 4PM. The cleaning up lasted till 5:30PM,when the last MEANTer left the premises.
Investing in turbulent times..Dec 5 '98
The investment panel discussion (actually, it was more of a class taught by two practitioners) was fantastic. It was conducted at the Farmers Branch Library on Dec 5 '98. The program started about 2pm with socialization,(Indian snacks and coke etc.) and the talks started at 2:30PM.
Ms Maria Mathew talked about Kerala and MEANT. The meeting was attended by about 20 people. Dr. Venu Menon introduced the guests. Mr Bobby Fogle (Morgan Stanley) gave a fantastic presentation on the foundations of investment. He explained that there were two types of investment: loan (CD, bonds, etc.) and own(stock, etc.). He went on to explain the stock part. Among other things, he discussed the P/E ratio andcautioned the listeners to pay attention to the ratioof P/E ratio and growth. He also gave handouts. Mr. Paul Peebles (Merrill-Lynch) did a clear presentation of bonds, efficiency barrier, why bonds are good at whattimes, etc. He also gave handouts. Of particularinterest was his statement that we cannot buy localbond funds, such as what City of Plano might issue, at anywhere but an agent such as him. After a brief break, there was a 45 mts Q&A session in which lots of questions were answered, and the current financial situation of the market was discussed.
Dr. Suresh Damodaran presented the guests with books on India. The program ended about 4:45pm.The contact info for Bob Fogle: 972-774-6666 (1-800-366-9194) Paul Peebles: 972-386-1346 (1-800-999-6692). We would like to thank all of those who attended, and also helped in various ways to make this program a success.