The "KonCani Sammelan 2006" hosts, take pride in announcing that the Sammelan will be held in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, a drive of just over an hour from Ontario's financial hub Toronto, at Hamilton Convention Centre (HCC), an acoustical and architectural crown of Hamilton city which offers the ultimate in performance standards to audiences and performers alike.

The HCC is a sophisticated, state of the art, multi-purpose Exhibit and Convention facility, with a service culture dedicated to making every moment count. With 19 meeting rooms, over three floors with a total exhibition space of 40,000 sq. feet, a total area of over 52,000 sq. ft, allowing flexibility for trade shows and events upto 2000 guests, this is the place to be, located as it is, in the heart of downtown Hamilton.

Appointed with luxurious tile and broadloom, enhancing a cedar décor throughout, the HCC provides elegance and every function is enhanced with a personal touch by a very professional team.

The Hamilton Convention Centre is located in the heart of Hamilton's business and entertainment district. The Convention Centre is adjacent to the theatre and an overhead walkway connects it with one of three major hotels within walking distance, the Coliseum, a shopping Centre, dining, cinemas and corporate office complexes

GREAT HALL - (THE AUDITORIUM)

The mainstay of HCC is the Great Hall, a jewel in its crown --- one of North America's most expensive, acoustically superior halls. It is unique in that it functions as proscenium theatre and a concert hall and is specially designed to deliver optimal acoustical results for each of the performing arts, providing clarity and brilliance for both the spoken word and musical presentations.

The most differentiating feature of the Great Hall, the main venue for the Sammelan’s entertainment programs, is a retracting 6,500 sq.ft. stage which can be mechanically adjusted to provide two stage formats: one is forward and allows concerts to be played within the hall itself; the other allows drama to be performed behind a proscenium. Well handled by the experienced technical team of HCC and our own in-house team, the quality lighting and sound equipment will be maintained with a professional touch.

The Great Hall seats 2,181 (1193 on the orchestra level, 560 in the first balcony and 428 in the second balcony), a more intimate group can easily gather close to the stage area and enjoy the dramatic beauty the hall has to offer. It is equally supported by "Studio theatre" & "Chedoke room" used for a variety of small theatrical productions, lectures, presentations, reviews, rehearsals and other events.

WENTWORTH ROOM:- (OUR DINING HALL)

The "Wentworth room" offers as much as 20,000 sq.ft. of reinforced floor space making it the ideal choice for exhibits, dinners, receptions and at any one time can hold 900 diners.

Our massive Dining Hall will be adorned with exquisite centre pieces conceived by our talented volunteers

ALBION ROOMS:- (OUR SEMINAR ROOMS)

The Albion rooms have movable walls and can accommodate either full group sessions or three concurrent break out meetings, each with its own entrance, projection screen, sound and lighting system and marker broad centre making it ideal for holding seminars.

INTERNET FACILITIES:

Pathcom, a major ISP in Ontario has kindly agreed to provide five PC’s with internet connections in the lounge area of the convention center for the use of our delegates. These PCs will be available during the convention free of charge for delegates to check email and to surf the net. Facilities may also be provided to plug in laptops to a broad band RJ45 socket for at the same location to enable delegates to connect their laptops to the internet.

HOTELS:-

To make your stay during the Sammelan memorable, pleasant and convenient, rooms at special rates will be made available in Sheraton Hamilton Hotel, Ramada Plaza Hotel and Staybridge suites (Holiday Inn) which are in very close vicinity of the HCC. Arrangements will be made with the hotels to provide shuttle services to and from HCC.

TRANSPORTATION:-

Negotiations are going on with various transit companies to provide you with easily available, frequent Limo & shuttle services at reasonable rates to and from Toronto and Hamilton airports.

All out of Province visitors to the Sammelan are reminded of the need to ensure that they have appropriate medical insurance coverage during their visit. Some medical insurance policies in the USA do not cover visits outside the USA including to Canada and advance confirmation from your insurance providers would be prudent. First aid facilities will be available at the Sammelan venue

FACILITIES TEAMS:-

Our Facilities teams have been keeping an eye out for every detail, to make your visit to the Sammelan, as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. Of utmost priority, will be those who will need special assistance i.e senior citizens, those with special dietary restrictions, anyone in need of special medical attention, childcare etc.

A provision has been made on the Registration form to indicate any Special Needs. To go to the registration form, please click here.

To assist our Special Needs team, please call Niranjan/ Gitanjali Kamath at 905-209-0819 or email kamath_niranjan@hotmail.com

Our in-house Security Team will be working alongside the Hamilton Convention Centre uniformed and plainclothes security personnel to ensure safety and security of all patrons.

Our Arts & Decoration Team will proudly showcase our local Konkani talent in the “Art Gallery” and will also display works of art, sculpture, murals, tapestry etc. at strategic locations at the venue.

To join the Arts and Decoration Team, please call Sadanand / Mukta Benegal at 416 438-6479 or email Shivdas / Sheetal Pai at feedback@konkani2006.com.

While the HCC has its team of technical professionals, our in-house Mechanical & Technical support team will strive to bring you the uninterrupted flow of programs & entertainment with a constant eye on the mechanical & technical needs.

Besides being in line with the décor of Hamilton Convention Centre, designated rooms will be set aside for daycare, senior citizens, internet facilities, workshop areas etc.

See you in Canada at the Konkani Sammelan 2006!