#ManilaMinds in San Francisco 9/10/11

If you’re in the San Francisco area this weekend and have an interest in the Philippines, check out this event being hosted by Ruby Veridiano.

The event is called Meeting of the Minds, San Francisco or #ManilaMinds on Twitter, and is co-sponsored by the Pilipino American Law Society (PALS) of UC Hastings & USF and Golden Gate University.

Details below:

What: Meeting of the Minds, San Francisco

When: Saturday, September 10, 2011 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Where: UC Hastings, Room A, 198 McAllister Street San Francisco, CA 94012

After two successful events in Manila and NYC, Meeting of the Minds comes to San Francisco!

Meeting of the Minds Manila is a dot-connecting movement to galvanize the Global Filipino community together to heal our home country. Aiming to unite our community’s brightest minds, it is a forum that seeks to connect the most influential movers and shakers in order to build progress around focused causes that directly benefit the Philippines. Meeting of the Minds  builds a bridge between global Filipinos and local Filipinos, building conversations and action to impact positive social change in the Philippines.

After connecting with Ruby over the phone last night having gone back and forth on Twitter the other day, it looks like I’ll be joining the panel of other international guests on Saturday afternoon via Skype, who themselves are also located around the world in New York, London, Switzerland and Manila.

I will be sharing my experience as a ‘Filipino’ having grown up in the UAE and then spending a number of years living, studying and working in Canada and Hungary; hoping to spark a discussion around the notions of self-identity and global citizenship. However, as I have noted in previous blog posts, the question of where Im from as well my own notion of self-identity is not as simple and straightforward as being a ‘Filipino’ growing up and living in different parts of the world.

For those of you that have known me for a while or have been a long-time reader of this blog, you will note that I also often talk about the Philippines and the vision of Filipinos, both in the Philippines and around the world, coming together to lift the country out of poverty in order to create a decent standard of living for fellow kababayans.

Because if we don’t, then who will?

It seems that this movement has already begun. However, it is certainly not too late to sign up and join as the party is just getting started.

You can sign up to attend Meeting of the Minds, San Francisco here.