Heads up... some interesting conferences coming up all over the place in the next few weeks/months. Next weekend, APALSA presents the 13th Annual Asian Pacific American Conference on Law and Public Policy: "The New Yellow Peril?" March 2-3 at Harvard Law School. There will be a strategic focus on the significance and impact of Asian Americans—for better or for worse—becoming increasingly influential economically, politically and culturally in the United States. Speakers include Congressman Mike Honda and Professor Vikram Amar, with entertainment from the comedic stylings of Dat Phan. I will actually be participating in the conference as panelist during the "Blogging and APA Political Awareness" session. If you're planning on attending, please come say hello. For more information about the conference, go here.

Next month, VASCON3, the Vietnamese American Student Conference, goes down March 30 through April 1 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. All the usual conference craziness, with speakers and workshops and entertainment and networking. Looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. The conference organizers stress that you do not have to be Vietnamese to attend—it's open to everyone and anyone who wants to learn and engage in Vietnamese American community issues. To learn more, go here. Also see VASCON's MySpace.

Also next month, SAALT (South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow) presents the South Asian Summit 2007, March 16-18 in Washington, DC. It's an opportunity for South Asian American organizational leaders and community members to engage with policymakers, governmental agencies, South Asian advocates, and funders. Looks like going to be a really solid event. The website indicates that registration is closed, so if you weren't already planning on going, you may be out of luck. But it wouldn't hurt to try. For more information, go here.

Looking further ahead, for educators... the Asian Educators Alliance 2007 National Conference, April 20-21. After being hosted in San Francisco for the past two years, the conference is coming to New York, and will be held at Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin High School in Greenwich Village. Speakers will include artist Maya Lin and filmmaker Kavery Kaul. To learn more, go here.

And looking way, way ahead for APA Heritage Month, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center presents the very first Asian Pacific American Book Festival, focusing on the literary contributions of APA writers. Saturday, May 12th at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo. Save the date! There will be panel discussions, readings and book signings exploring the festival's inaugural theme of "Family." I will be participating on one of the panels. More details forthcoming on that. For more information, download this PDF over at the APALC website.