Minutes for the meeting of 9th June:

Attendees           : Vidhi, Vinod, Ganti, Ratan, Sastry, Rachel
Minutes prepared by : Sastry

1. Asha hour on 14th Aug :
    It was decided to stick with 14th August because of the appeal of
    Independence Day.  As part of this event, people could :
    (a) Donate an hour's pay to Asha
         - How do we publicize this event?
         - How do we get people to donate this money?
     (b) Spend an hour working with Asha
        - Call up friends and get them to enroll in the Asha-AT&T promotion.
           Might have to prepare a writeup about Asha and the promotion to
           aid volunteers.  Need *VOLUNTEERS* to work this out.
        - Do some voluntary social work at children's hospitals and other
           volunteer organizations (Rachel will give us a list of some of
           these organizations).  Working with schools was suggested but,
           it appears that most schools will be closed during this time.
        - Other publicity work for Asha ???

2. Publicity for Asha hour:
    - The usual ways: email lists, posters and personal interactions.
    - Three sets of people to target:
       (a) students (b) working professionals (c) well-settled families
    - Advertising in the AIA Newsletter would be a good way to target (c)
       and, to some extent (b).  It was suggested that we contact some of
       the AIA persons (specifically, Vidhi suggested Neeta Saluja) and
       tell them in advance and get them to use their network to publicize
       this event.  Sastry will contact Rajan Seth too about this.
    - Apparently, most companies have India mailing lists.  We could use
       these lists to publicize the event.  But, how do we gain access to
       these email lists?
    - To attract people, Vidhi suggested that we couple it with some event.
       In the previous meeting, the food fest idea had come up.  But, it was
       decided to decouple it with the Asha hour event and make it a separate
       fundraising (and publicity) event in September when there are lots
       more students around.  As far as Asha hour goes, one idea thrown up
       was to screen a free movie and use the opportunity to get people to
       write checks.  Still a bit hazy how we will go about it though.
    - Have to edit the poster to suit our needs.  Though the poster mentions
       that this event will be between 9-10 am on 14th of August, need to
       make it clear that people can mail in checks before/after the event too!
       Need *VOLUNTEERS* to work on this.
    - Aggressive outreach: Use personal contacts to publicize the event and
       get people involved.  (Maybe, we could get non-Asha people to spend
       their 1 hour this way)

3. Food Fest in September:
    - After a good deal of discussion, it was decided to delink this event
       with the Asha-hour event and make it a separate fundraising event
       in September (2nd week of classes?) when there are students around.
       One issue is the potential conflict with India Day organized
       by ISA around this time.
    - Licensing: Rachel mentioned that if the event is held indoors, licensing
       may not be an issue.  She told us about the "Free Tibet" fundraising
       dinners held for the past 7 years at the Eagle Heights Community Center
       without worrying about licenses.  But, Vidhi was of the opinion that,
       maybe, licensing was overlooked.  In any case, Sastry will contact
       Rajan Seth from AIA and find out more about this.
    - Venue: Eagle Heights Community Center, Library Mall, some other park.
       It was decided to keep it on Campus.  Library Mall appeared to be a
       good choice, given that it is one of the most frequently haunted places
       on campus.  Open to discussion.  Advantage of Eagle Heights Community
       Center is that food need not be transported plus things like utensils
       would be available there.  But, slightly remote..

4. Others (related to widening the reach of Asha on campus):
    - There is a film series at the Center for South Asia which Rachel is
       organizing this summer.  Rachel suggested that we could use this
       opportunity, if interested, (before each screening) to give a spiel
       on Asha.  Any *VOLUNTEERS*?
    - Rachel suggested that we might want to put up posters and flyers about
       Asha in the Center for South Asia around the time that new students
       come in (those who are interested in India and work on related topics).
    - Follow up on Arvind's suggestion about getting involved with schools
       here like: (a) making presentations about India (b) tutoring kids.
       Rachel said she has made presentations at schools (about India) in
       the past and felt that it is a good idea.  She found children very
       enthusiastic and interested in learning about India.

Things are still hazy about publicity for the Asha-hour event
and the logistics for the same.  Ideas/suggestions solicited.