FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: So, what is a JACL convention anyway?
A: It’s a great time to get together with your family and friends that you haven’t seen in a couple of years to eat, drink, and make merry and maybe get a little business done. Only now, we only have to wait a year to do it allover again.
Q: How many people usually attend?
A: Usually about 85% of the organization’s chapters send representatives or proxy’s to vote. Many chapters send between 2 to 4 people, or delegates, to represent them. Attendance has reached as high as 400 in the past.
Q: OK, but the hotel rooms are so expensive, why can’t we get rooms for $100 a night?
A: Hey, you must have heard about the early JACL days where we stayed in the cheapest accommodations we could find. But if you stay at another hotel, you’re going to miss out on some of the fun because we JACLers like to stay up really late and party and who wants to have to go find their hotel in the middle of the night (or morning). Plus this year’s Convention Hotel, Hyatt Regency Bellevue, has offered special rates just for convention attendees.
Q: I don’t know. I’m think I’m getting too old for these things.
A: Maybe, but don’t tell that to Shea Aoki, she was at this year’s convention and she’s 97 years old, and she was also at the very first JACL convention back in 1930. She was in the audience at our Civil Rights Workshop in LA and started telling us about the good old JACL days. In fact, Floyd Mori had a hard time getting her to stop so we could get on with the workshop.
Q: Should I bring my spouse along?
A: Only if you don’t plan on having any fun. Seriously though, to tell you the truth, it’s great when your significant other is there with you to share in the JACL experience and truly see what is happening to our community, which is changing and expanding (kind of like the universe). Have you heard that we now have a new South Coast Chapter composed primarily of Vietnamese Americans? That’s awesome.
Q: OK, you’ve convinced me. I’m coming to Seattle for the 2012 JACL Convention.
A: Did I mention it’s not quite exactly in Seattle but in Bellevue? But come on anyway, Elaine Akagi said that you can see Seattle from Bellevue. But you can join the booster activities that will take you around Seattle and Bellevue to visit sites like the International Settlement and the Panama Hotel that is the setting for the book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a wonderful novel by Jamie Ford. And many more.
Q: What if I wanted to extend my stay?
A: No worries, the JACL National Convention rates will extend 3 days prior and post the event. So if you want to see more of Seattle, now’s your chance to plan it.