Department of Peace Conference Feb 3-5 2007 Washington DC

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Join us for

The Peace Alliance
Annual Conference!

Feb 2-5, 2007 Washington, D.C

http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/252/174/

Now more than ever, we must

* Connect with hundreds of citizens from across the country who have come to Washington to lobby for a US Department of Peace
* Expand your understanding of the US Department of Peace legislationg, being re-introduced in the U.S. House and Senate
* After two days of educationg and training, you will walk the Halls of Congress, visiting your members of the House and Senate to lobby for the bill

Wage Peace
with

Marianne Williamson

Deepak Chopra

Congressman Dennis Kucinich

Michael Bernard Beckwith

Plus leading experts in:

Conflict Resolution & Prevention

Peacebuilding & Global Security

Human Security: Keeping America Safe

and more...


A Department of Peace will augment our nation's current problem-solving options, providing practical, nonviolent solutions to the problems of domestic and internation conflict. This legislationg will be re-introduced into the new 110th Congress at the end of our conference. This is an important time for us to be in Washington working with out members of Congress. Join us!
More Conference Details...

HOTEL
The conference will be held at the beautiful Westin Arlington Gateway in the Ballston sections of Arlington, VA, near the Ballston Metro station, which is just minutes from downtown D.C. This is a brand new "green" hotel. You can reserves your hotel room online now, or call 888-627-7076 and ask for the Peace Alliance Conference for our group discount rate. If you have challenges with the online system not allowing you certain room nights, we encourage you to call the reservation number and a person can help you arrange for you needs. Our special group rate is only good for a limitied amount of rooms and our count is almost full, so reserve right away!
CONFERENCE AGENDA
Below is a brief outline of the conference to use for planning. We will post a more detailed agenda soon, along with additional spealer names and bios. Please note that Monday and Tuesday are primarily earmarked for visits to Members of Congress ont eh hill. Plan to stay through Tuesday to have a better change at meeting with actual Members of Congress, as many as central and west coast districts don't arrive into D.C. until late afternoon on Monday (meetings with staffers on Monday is still very important).

On Friday, February 2, the Student Peace Alliance will host an optional student/youth day where students will come together to learn about the Department of Peace bill, engage with peace-building experts, and share student and youth organizing skills. On Saturday and Sunday we will host breakout sessions throughout the conferece, which will include a planning session to shape the next steps of the student movement for a Department of Peace. More information, contact [e-mail] email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Friday
7:30 to 9:30 Pre-registration and optional 'Meet and Greet' reception for anyone arriving early. There will also be a short performance of the Department of Peace inspired play "Gift of Peace."

Saturday
Program officially starts

8:30 to 10:00 Registration. Program starts at 10:00 a.m. ending at 9:30 p.m. with lunch and dinner breaks.

Saturday will include Marianne Williamson, coaching and education on specking the bill to our Members of COngress, break-out time to connect in regions for planning your meetings with Members of COngress and for skill building in key areas of the campaign.
Evening will feature Deepak Chopra joined in Q&A by Marianne Williamson.

Sunday
Starts at 10:00 a.m. ending around 9:00 p.m.

Sunday will start off with a Spiritual Celebration of Peace with Marianne Williamson and Rev. Michael Bernard Bech along with some great music.
The day evening will include additional speckers, along with an information panel discussion with leading peacebuilding experts. There will also be more time to practice in our groups for our congressional meetings.

Monday
9:30 to 10:00 a.m. Off to the Hill "Pep Rally." Monday will be a day to meet with Members of Congress and/or staffers on Capital Hill. *Upon registration, we will give you coaching about setting up meetings and connect you with outhers who might also be in your district and state.

10:00 to 12:00 Staff will be available for last minute 'Congressional Meeting' coaching (unless you have morning meeting).

Afternoon optional meetings for further skill building and Hill visit debrief (Congressional meetings should take priority!)

7:30 to 9:30 Finale: Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Marianne Williamson and other Members of Congress TBA

9:30 to 10:45 p.m. Dessert Reception
Tuesday
Lobbying on the Hill

TRAVEL
You can fly into any of the nearby airports, including Reagan National, Dulles or Baltimore. Reagan is the closest, but Dulles is very near as well. If you can get a much better deal into Baltimore, it is only about a 30 minute train ride in. One airline suggestions: Jet Blue Airlines (www.jetblue.com) and Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com) offer some great specials from many parts of the country. They are not listed on popular discount services like expedia.com or orbitz.com, rather you need to go directly to their websites. To assure affordable flights, get our tickets early!
CONFERENCE FEE

Conference fee is sliding scale of $250 to $350, the Student rate is $95. Those who are able to pay at the higher end of the scale will help make it possible for those who need to pay at the lower end.