[Tlc] L-Hmong conference

[justinm at ucr.edu]

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justin

2007-1121 - Appleton Post-Crescent - Appleton to host national
Hmong conference in 2009

http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071121/APC0101/71121124

Appleton Post-Crescent

Appleton to host national Hmong conference in 2009

By Kate McGinty
Post-Crescent staff writer November 21, 2007

APPLETON — The Fox Cities will play host to a national Hmong
conference for the first time in 2009.

The Hmong National Conference, hosted by a Washington
D.C.-based nonprofit, unites professionals, politicians,
businesses and students to network and delve into national and
regional issues.

This year’s conference was based in Detroit. The conference
will head to Denver next April before hitting downtown
Appleton in 2009.

“Then to be in Appleton, that’s quite an honor to be among the
larger cities that are vying to host the conference,” said
Nicole Lemke, international relations coordinator for the city.

Earlier this year, Lemke led a team that submitted a bid to
Hmong National Development, the sponsor of the conference, to
win the hosting gig.

The three-day conference includes educational sessions,
roundtable discussions and a banquet that celebrates those who
have helped advance the Hmong community.

About 47,000 Hmong live in Wisconsin, and thousands of Hmong
have settled in the Fox Valley. Many Hmong fought on the side
of the U.S. during the Vietnam War, and many were driven from
their homes in Laos during the Secret War that continued after
the U.S. withdrew its forces from Southeast Asia.

“It will be an excellent way to educate the population at
large about the Hmong community. It’s particularly important
to some people in the school district that students be able to
go, Hmong or non-Hmong,” Lemke said.

Lo Lee, executive director of the Appleton-based
Hmong-American Partnership, has attended previous conferences.
He said the Fox Cities will profit not only economically, but
also culturally from the conference.

“I want the Hmong people across the nation to know the city of
Appleton and the Fox Cities in particular, and on the other
hand for our friends in the Fox Cities here to be exposed to
the Hmong,” he said.

Nou Vang, the chief executive officer of Hmong National
Development and Appleton native, will visit the Fox Cities in
late December to begin planning for the conference.

“Each year, they tend to pick different focuses, and they like
to involve the local Hmong community in the planning process,”
Lemke said. “I think that (topics and themes of the
conference) will depend on what the Hmong in this area would
like to see.”

The 14th annual conference will be April 3-5, 2009 at the
Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton.

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu