International Convention
Following is the information you need to be a part of the SWUSY delegation to IC 2012. Thursday evening through Sunday will be our pre-convention with USYers from the Hanegev and EMTZA regions. Then we’ll all travel together to join hundreds of teens from around North America to participate in a fun filled 5 days of friends, ruach, and summer reunions!
Just click on the postcard below to start your application!
I hope you will join us for this amazing convention. If you have any questions, please be in touch!
COST
The cost of International Convention (including pre-convention) is $999 per person.
Package includes the following:
- Pre-convention: accommodation, food, and programming. Lots of sight-seeing, a mega-dance with all regions holding pre-conventions, and more.
- Accommodations and programming at the Boston Marriott
- Kosher meals
- All programming and sightseeing charges
- SWUSY IC t-shirt
- Charter bus transportation from the Boston Logan Airport to pre-convention, from pre-convention to IC, and from IC back
CANCELLATION POLICY
Cancellation prior to November 1, 2012 – No Fee
From November 1 to November 14, 2012 – $50 Fee Retained
From November 15 to December 5, 2012 – $350 Fee Retained
From December 6 to December 27, 2012 – No Refund.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Arrival into Boston Logan Airport
Thursday Dec. 20th between 2:45pm and 5:30pm.
Departure from Boston Logan Airport
Thursday Dec. 27th no earlier than 4:00 PM
If there are issues finding flights in these time ranges, please contact me before making any flight reservations.
The convention fee does not include travel costs.
Airline transportation equalization: You may qualify for reimbursement of 2/3 of your travel costs over $400. To be eligible for equalization the conditions below must be in place.
Tickets must be booked by no later than October 30, 2012.
Equalization is based on the least expensive flight at the time of booking.
Tickets which include “non-convention stops” or delays (i.e. family vacations) that increase the cost of the ticket will be equalized according to the least expensive flight to and from Boston.
If you believe you are eligible for equalization, attach a copy of your airline receipt)
IC ONLY PACKAGE: If you are able to only attend IC (and miss the fun and sightseeing of pre-convention), please contact me directly for more information. The cost will be $870.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: In order to attend IC, your 2012-13 USY dues MUST be paid to your chapter.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE call Maury: 214-450-6666 or email him at jacobs@uscj.org.
Past International Conventions:
This year’s 61st annual International Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from December 25th to December 29th. From Southwest USY we had 14 representatives including 4 of the Regional Executive Board. As a whole the convention had just under 1000 USYers. The entire week was planned well and nearly all of the programs and events were terrific. The themes of the convention were Light up your Life to commemorate Chanukah and Derech Eretz, Jewish Ethics. The two themes flowed with the programming and I’m sure everyone had a lot of fun participating.
The convention had many programs and events that were simply stupendous. On the second night, all of the regions were split into regions and taught a song that they would sing to the rest of the convention. SWUSY was grouped with EMTZA and HAGALIL for their song. After a few of the regions sang their songs, Six13’s song Chanukah Rights started playing on the screen in the front of the room. And right in the middle of the song Six13 jumped from behind the screen and started singing live! It was truly spectacular. The live performance was amazing especially since one of the members was a USY Alumni.
Another amazing moment at the convention was something you wouldn’t expect. We were called into the Grand Ballroom to have a general session. As you would expect 1,000 Jewish teenagers can be quite much sometimes and most of the time it was a hassle trying to quiet everyone down. While everyone was being noisy the co-chairs were telling us what was next and it included a short poem by a former USYer Joseph Robbins. He was a tall, lanky young man. No older than 25. He jumped on the stage and just stared at us for a second. He began reciting this chilling poem about the holocaust and how we as Jews have been targeted all of our existence. He continued on and told all of us that through it all we have survived and that is what makes us unique. It was so inspiring and it was the first time all convention everyone was dead silent. If you want to experience the same chilling poem click here.
Right after the amazing poem, a speaker by the name of Marc Elliot got up to talk to us about tolerance. Marc was born with torrets and a rare disease that left him with only 4 feet of small intestines. He talked to the convention about how he learned to control his torrets and why being different isn’t a bad thing. We should all “live and let live”. We never know what is going on in other people’s lives and therefore we cannot judge them. He preached how everyone should be tolerant of other people’s differences. It was certainly inspiring to say the least.
Those are just a few of the amazing programs that IC provided. IC was overall a wonderful experience. If any USYer is looking to create lifelong friendships and wonderful memories, IC is the place to be. USY is simply the best. Hope to see you at IC:Boston 2012!