Dec 1, 2005
NIPOC BOARD ELECTION

On Thursday December 1, 2005, NIPOC members elected 5 new board members for 2006. The new volunteer board members are: Anahita Ghalandar, Nader Razavi, Asita Aminian, Tara Hosseini, and Marjan Mansour.

Four of the 2005 board members will serve another term. They are: Nader Tajbakhsh, Afshin Nejad, Bahar Khatibloo, and Hamid Falah. Congratulations to all volunteers.

2006 NIPOC BOARD MEMBERS

Anahita Ghalandar Nader Razavi Marjan Mansour   Asita Aminian Afshin Nejad Tara Hosseini   Nader Tajbakhsh Bahar Khatibloo Hamid Falah Nov 3, 2005 "BAM 6.6" - The Story Behind The Film An informative lecture on "BAM 6.6" Film. Director, Jahangir Golestan, has created a wonderful documentary based on the true story of an American couple caught by the earthquake while vacationing in Bam, Iran. "BAM 6.6" tells the story of the couple after the earthquake including positive and interesting interactions with the Iranian people. A trailer video (preview) on the film was also shown. Author, Maggie Soleimani, was also present at November meeting and talked about her book, "Mina", followed by book signing October 1-2, 2005 10th Annual MEHREGAN- Persian Harvest Festival Celebration of Traditions Mehregan, the Persian Harvest Festival, was celebrated on Saturday October 1 and Sunday October 2, at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center in Costa Mesa, California The 10th annual event celebrated Persian culture with music, dance, artwork, crafts, traditional Persian cuisine, traditional tea house, and costumes. The front gate at the festival, designed to evoke Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire greeted the estimated 16,000 visitors. Food, Fun, Entertainment - Persian Style! At Mehregan, there were plenty of activities for young and old. Two large stages were setup for various modern and traditional Persian Music featuring the hottest stars. The one area which is always the crowd's favorite is the Tea House. This area which is decorated by several tables covered by Persian rugs reminds people of the old tea houses in Iran. Activities include live performances, dancing, Poetry reciting, and of course Persian Music performed by well-known traditional artists. The entertainers on the Main Stage were Leila Forouhar, Saeed Mohammadi & Visage Guitarists, Farshid Amin, Shahram Shabpareh, Pyruz, Forozandeh, Layla & Lotus Dancers, Arman, Farzaneh and Essi, On the teahouse stage such names as Behzad, Ardavan Mofid, , Pouyan, Mashia, Karimi, Jamshid Majd, Ali Sadeghi, Majidian & Sheida, Niloufar, Shayeste Zeli, Golsanam Dance Group performed Poetry Event at Mehregan On the 10th anniversary of Mehregan Festival, there was a poetry reading event called "Poetry That is Life". More than 20 poets presented their poems in English and Farsi in the two days of festival between 2 and 5 p.m. Visitors had a chance to meet Iranian, Afghan poets and Members of the Orange County Poetry Hosts who participated in the event. This year's event was dedicated to Farsi speaking poets in Southern California and American poets from Orange County. This was a well organized, well received section of the festival. Children Programs: Kids enjoyed such programs as: Theatre, Puppet show, Live music, Dance, Magic show, Story telling, Face painting, Hand craft, Painting, and Games. There were also a lot of gifts and prizes given to young ones during the festival. Mehregan Cultural/Historical Stage Performance This year's cultural/ historical stage performance was titled "The First Mehregan, as Depicted in Shahnameh". Performance was performed both days. In this performance, one the most meaningful and best known epics of Shahnameh was brought to life on the main stage of Mehregan celebration. In this epic story, once again Ferdowsi in his ingenious poetic form portrays the ultimate victory of good over evil. SEP 15, 2005 MIX AT SIX The popular NIPOC Mixer called MIX @ Six was held at Caspian Restaurant in Irvine, CA on Thursday September 15, 2005. Over 150 people showed up for networking, appetizers and drinks. Prizes were given out for business card raffles. These events organized by NIPOC helps people develop personal and professional relationships with Iranians & Americans from a variety of industries. Judging from the reaction of the crowd, it was a great event and everyone enjoyed the evening August 11, 2005: Lecture: Orange County Great Park NIPOC's August General meeting was held at the Irvine City Hall where former Irvine Mayor and Current Councilman Larry Agran outlined the status of Orange County Great Park. The Great Park will be built with input from residents throughout Orange County on the facilities they would like to see in the Great Park. Iranian Americans heared first-hand the plans and future of the Great Park. This event was open to public. A geart question and answer session was held afterwards. August 2005: Annual Summer PICNIC at the Park More than 250 members and guests had a relaxing day on Sunday August 7, 2005, at the park with their families to celebrate summer. This was a potluck style event with food and family fun. Program included: music, volleyball tournaments, chess games, and many more fun activities. We will The event was held at Shelter Number 1 at Mason Park in Irvine, CA. July 2005: Youth Appreciatioin Program July 13, 2005 was youth appreciation at NIPOC. We celebrated the achievements and accomplishments of our community's youth. Thirty young people from high school to college, who have done community and volunteer work to help others were recognized for their efforts and acheivements. Each candidate was presented with a $50 gift award as well as a certificate of achievement from NIPOC. There were also plenty of food ,music, and dancing to keep these young people and their families happy. Our special guest and MC, Suzan Khatami host of KIRN 670AM Javanan & Live from Hollywood Program, made it a night to remember for all the people who attended. SEMINAR: BUSINESS AND MARKETING A well attended seminar was held on June 11, 2005. This seminar was lead by Jenifer Cordova, Dr. Hossein Hosseini, Joyce Huang, all business professionals with broad range of knowledge and experience in product and online marketing as well as marketing and consumer communications. Topics covered included: How to build a road-map for success, How to acquire new customers and keep them., Tips and techniques for promoting your business using flyers, e-mail, Web sites and more How to measure the effectiveness of your business-building efforts The benefits of knowing your customers better Overview of Business Strategy (Objectives/Vision, Strategy, Tactics) 4 P's of Marketing Product/Service (Competition, Differentiation, Features and Benefits ,Value Proposition) Price (Competitive Pricing Customer research - what are they willing to pay? Profit margin) Promotion - Online (Web Site, eMail Campaigns, Search Engine, Banner Ad, Coupon) Offline (Direct Mail, Literature best practices, Advertising Coupon) Measurement/ROI/Database Marketing Consumer Relationship Management - CRM (Perception vs. Reality) Customer Acquisition and Retention MAY 8, 2005 EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AWARDS UCLA A donation of $2,000 from Mehregan fund was made to the Association of Professors and Scholars of Iranian Heritage (APSIH), a 501 c(3) educational organization. The donation was used in an award ceremony on Sunday May 8, 2005 titled: Excellence in Education Awards for the Graduating Class of 2005 of Iranian Heritage at UCLA. This award was given to four outstanding students chosen by APSIH. Two awards titled 'Mehregan Community Services Award' and 'NIPOC Persian Power Award'were given. Dr. Hossein Hosseini, NIPOC's President as well as Shandiz Zolfaghari, Arezou Bakhtjou, and Afshin Nejad, Board members of NIPOC presented the winners with their awards. We are proud to support our outstanding professors and students. MAY 5, 2005 MIX AT SIX AT CASPIAN RESTAURANT The popular NIPOC Mixer called MIX @ Six was held at Caspian Restaurant in Irvine, CA on Thursday May 5, 2005. Over 200 people showed up for networking, appetizers and drinks. Prizes were given out for business card raffles. These events organized by NIPOC helps people develop personal and professional relationships with Iranians & Americans from a variety of industries. Judging from the reaction of the crowd, it was a great event and everyone enjoyed the evening Apr 9, 2005 - LECTURE: WHERE IS IRAN HEADED? NIPOC's guest speaker in April, 2005, Mr. Ghafour Mirazai, writer, researcher had a presentation titled 'Where is Iran Headed?'. Mr. Mirzai reviewed the relationship between Iran and the United States through a historical context. He contends that the recent discussion around Iran's nuclear power programs goes back to the time when Henry Kissinger (Secretary of State under President Ford) and the troika of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz in 1975/76 supported the sale of six nuclear power plants to Iran, thus lending credence to the Shah's contention that Iran's finite oil and gas reserves made nuclear power a necessity. Yet, today, that argument is no longer considered valid by the U.S.! Also, at that time, this same troika had supported Iran's purchase of uranium enrichment technology from Westinghouse and General Electric for nuclear fuel production. Mr. Mirzai concluded, it would be more prudent for the U.S. to flex its economic rather than its military muscle. For starters, settling the financial dispute between the two countries, namely, releasing Iran's long frozen assets, would be infinitely more cost effective than the approach used against Saddam Hussein. The U.S.-led Iraq war has so far cost over 300 billion dollars and close to 2,000 American lives. The solution to the Iran question need not be so costly - lives or otherwise. The session was followed by a lively Q and A session. See a summary. April 3, 2005 13-BEDAR (PERSIAN NEW YEAR PICNIC) MASON PARK On Sunday, April 3, 2005, members of the Iranian American community and their guests gathered at William R. Mason Regional Park in the city of Irvine to celebrate Seezdeh Bedar. This event historically attracts thousands of people to Irvine and times results in periods of severe traffic congestion surrounding Mason Park. This year's event with an estimated attendance of over 15,000 people was very festive and peaceful as usual. Throughout the years, NIPOC has been working with the Orange County Parks, Orange County Sheriff Department as well as members of the Irvine Police Department to coordinate all efforts around this event. This coordination has resulted in great improvement in parking, traffic and security. March 27, 2005 PERSIAN NEW YEAR (NOROOZ) FESTIVAL The first annual Eid Didani (Persian New Year Festival) was held on Sunday March 27, 2005 at the Heritage Square Shopping Center in front of Super Irvine and Caspian Restaurant. An estimated 2000 members of the community attended the festivities. This event was sponsored by Persian Owned Businesses of Heritage Square as well as NIPOC, ICCOC, and Khayam Educational Foundation. The event was Free to public and was a great success with programs such as Haji Firooz, children's dance, and music. Special guests included City of Irvine Mayor Beth Krom, former mayor Larry Agran, and city council member Dr. Sukhee Kang. Special thanks to all Iranian owned businesses for sponsoring this event, especially Mr. Mehrdad Ariarad (Super Irvine), and Shahram Tehrani (Caspian). more photos at Iranian.com March 25, 2005 NIPOC PERSIAN NEW YEAR (NOROOZ) CELEBRATION NIPOC celebrated Norooz (Persian New Year) by hosting an elegant event at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine on Friday March 25, 2005. Over 550 people attended the sold out Norooz celebration. Program included dinner, the Turkish dance group, live music featuring Ms. Shayesteh Zelli, DJ music, Dancing, Traditional Haft-Seen Table, Pastries, Fruits, and Desserts. Sponsored by Mercedes Benz of Laguna Niguel, the event lasted past midnight and all had the opportunity to visit with friends and family members in a fun, and festive atmosphere. CHILDREN NOROOZ PROGRAM IN LA & ORANGE COUNTY NIPOC was proud sponsor of two special Norooz program for children. The Orange County program was organized by Khayam Persian School Foundation, Mrs. Hoori Ghahramani, and the LA program was organized by Nadereh Salarpour. Designed for children to learn about Norooz (Persian New Year) celebration through activities which included Hajee Firooz, Amoo Norooz, sweets, haft seen, and many fun kids programs. Both programs were successful as over 250 kids and their families attended each event. The Orange County program was held on Saturday March 12, 2005 at the Heritage Park Community Center while the LA Program was held on Sunday March 13, 2005 at Inglewood Adult Center. NIPOC February 2005 MIX AT SIX AT CASPIAN RESTAURANT! The second annual NIPOC Mix at Six was held at Caspian Restaurant in Irvine, CA on Thursday February 3, 2005. Over 200 people showed up for networking, appetizers and drinks. Prizes were given out for business card raffles. These events organized by NIPOC & IanianPersonals.com are terrific opportunity to begin developing personal and professional relationships with Iranians & Americans from a variety of industries. Judging from the reaction of the crowd, it was a great event and everyone enjoyed the evening NIPOC January 15, 2005 APPRECIATION : BIJAN SAMANDAR AT UCLA   BIJAN SAMANDAR NIPOC in cooperation with the Association of Professors and Scholars of Iranian Heritage (APSIH), organized a cultural event at UCLA for appreciation of the famed Iranian Poet, Song Writer, and musical artist Mr. Bijan Samandar. This event was held at the Macgowan Hall Freud Playhouse at UCLA. The famous Iranian-American TV host Mr. Parviz Gharibafshar was the main coordinator. Over 700 people attended this great event. Several well known Iranian poets, song writers, singers and other artists also performed. Among them, Homa Sarshar (Program MC), Dr. Jamal Abedi (APSIH), Dr. Abbas Tofigh, Dr. Korosh Amir Jahed, and Mr. Kaykhosrou Behroozi. Muscial performers included: Layla Forouhar, Mahasti, and the lovely Shirazi singer, Ms. Gloria Rohani. While ill, Bijan Samandar attended part of the event. Overall an emtional evening for one of the famed Iranian Artists. Special thanks to Mr. Parviz Gharibafhar. NIPOC January 2005 2005 CALIFORNIA & U.S. CHAPMAN ECONOMIC FORECAST! Dr. Esmael Adibi Chapman University In January, the renowned economic expert Dr. Esmael Adibi, Director of the Anderson Center - Chapman University was keynote speaker at NIPOC. His presentation was on the state of the local and U.S. economy. This jam pact event attracted over 300 members and visitors. At this special NIPOC meeting, Dr. Adibi presented the Chapman Economic Forecast, specifically focusing on Southern California. Highlights On an annual basis, real GDP growth of 3.5% is forecasted for 2005, a drop from 4.4% in 2004 Inflation, as measured by CPI, is forecasted at 2.9% in 2005. Long term rates (i.e. 10-year treasury bonds) are forecasted to increase by about 130 basis points through year-end 2005. California home prices will marginally decline through 2005 at an average rate of 6.1%. In Orange County, increasing mortgage rates and weakening job growth are expected to reduce pressure on housing prices. The forecast is for a deciline in housing appreciation of 7.4% in 2005. See Chapman Summary Report NIPOC ELECTION DECEMBER 9, 2004 AT TEE HOUSE

NIPOC MEMBERS elected 9 Board Members and approved the
New Bylaws on December 9, 2004. There was also a musical perfomance by Favorite Persian Singer NILOUFAR and her group afterwards.

The 9 Elected 2005 BOARD MEMBERS are:

• Ms. Seema Allameh
  
• Mr. Mansour Djadali
  
• Mr. Fereydoon Esmaeili
  
• Mr. Hamid (Brent) Falah
• Dr. Hossein Hosseini
  
• Mrs. Bahar Khatibloo
  
• Mr. Afhsin Nejad
  
• Mr. Nader Tajbakhsh
  
• Miss. Shandiz Zolfaghari
  

NOV. 4, 2004:

LECTURE: CAREER DECISION MAKING

Role of Cultural and Family Values This month's NIPOC lecture series was related to Career Decision Making. Our keynote speaker, Miss Yas Djadali career counselor at UC Irvine Career Center explored the role of cultural and family values in choosing a career among the college students. Through two role plays she was able to demonstrate how our cultural & family values influence the career aspirations and decisions of young people. Her message to parents, especially Iranian parents who typically value such careers as medicine, law, and engineering to be understanding of their children's' true interests and talents. She encouraged us to work with young people in a cooperative environment and help guide them in choosing an appropriate field of study which is compatible with their aspirations and interests. Yas was the youngest NIPOC keynote speaker. Her program was well received by the participants at the Tee House Restaurant in Newport Beach, CA.

November 2, 2004:
VOTER REGISTRATION PROJECT

NIPOC in association with other Southern California based Iranian-American Organizations and Radio Iran KIRN 670AM conducted a number of voter registration drives in Orange County. This project started in mid August and lasted through October 18, 2004 (deadline for Voter Registration in California). NIPOC volunteers worked at major events as well as local Iranian owned businesses (i.e. Super Irvine, WholesomeChoice markets in Irvine) each weekend from 3-6 p.m. to help people register to vote. The largest drive was during the two day Mehregan - Persian Harvest Festival on October 2-3, 2004. The result: we registered or distributed over 2500 registration forms. Special thanks to LA based Academy of Persian Physicians and the Society of Iranian American Engineers and Architects for their generous support of this civic project. Voter registration will be a permanent feature of all NIPOC meetings and events.

October 24, 2004:
PICNIC at the Park

Many members and guests had a relaxing day on Sunday October 24, 2004, at the park with their families to celebrate Fall. This was a potluck style event with food and family fun. Program included: music, volleyball, many kids games, and many more fun activities. The event was held at Shelter Number 1 at Mason Park in Irvine, CA.

October 7, 2004
AN AMERICAN IN IRAN: RHETORIC vs. REALITY

On Thursday October 7, 2004, we had a great event with two Americans who had visited Iran in summer of 2004. They shared with the audience the uplifting experience they had. Liam Kennedy, an independent videographer, joined a tour in June 2004. Liam's story was captured on video for all to see. Through video and traditional Iranian music, Liam shared the surprising and uplifting story of how the Iranian people reacted to the visiting astronomers from America. This was an emotional presentation where the audience was moved by the value of people to people interaction that had emerged as the result of this trip. Both Mike and Liam promised to share their story in other media outlets to better educate the public about the culture and lives of Iranian people.
Dr. Mike Simmons first traveled to Iran for a total solar eclipse in 1999 and has had a close relationship with Iran's very enthusiastic amateur astronomers and science educators ever since. Mike led a group of Americans and Europeans to Iran in May and June 2004 to observe the rare transit of Venus and interact with Iranian amateur astronomers.


Please visit AstronomyWithoutBorders, for info about the trip.