Rebuilding Iraq Conference to include a Cultural Agenda New Fields Exhibitions (www.New-Fields.com), a leading organizer of conferences on reconstruction in Iraq, is taking the unprecedented step of featuring a "cultural agenda" at its upcoming Rebuilding Iraq Conference, December 3-4, 2003, in Washington, D.C. With hundreds of companies expected to attend the two-day event, the cultural agenda will cover a range of topics related to cross-cultural collaboration and achieving long-term business relationships with the Iraqi people. New Fields President, Samir M. Farajallah, hopes this will give greater context to the other parts of the conference program which will focus on security issues, contracting and subcontracting opportunities, funding, project management, and international cooperation. "This will multiply the benefits of networking with the global leaders we bring together from politics and business," says Farajallah, whose company has offices in Dubai and Washington, DC. The special cultural sessions are being organized in association with the Baghdad Museum Project (www.BaghdadMuseum.org), and will start with a presentation by Col. Matthew Bogdanos, who headed the investigation into the looting of the Iraq National Museum in April, 2003. A tough U.S. Marine with two degrees in classical studies and another in law from Columbia University, Bogdanos relied on specific cultural cues to win the cooperation of museum staff, local mosques and the people of Baghdad in a multilateral campaign to recover the lost treasures of Iraq. His report sheds new light on how people around the world have become stakeholders in the culture of Iraq. Next on the agenda is an overview of how Iraq's cultural heritage must now struggle to stay one step ahead of reconstruction, which some fear may destroy many of Iraq's tens of thousands of unexcavated archaeological sites. John Simmons, Chairman of the Baghdad Museum Project, and Donald Sanders, President of the Institute for the Visualization of History (www.vizin.org), will show new technologies that demonstrate economic benefits and poverty reduction through cultural heritage preservation during reconstruction. In complying with USAID requirements for local impact studies, construction projects may face delays if "salvage digs" are necessary to rescue cultural property. This calls for technology solutions to reduce the delays and exchange relevant information among projects. Lobna "Luby" Ismail, Executive Director of Connecting Cultures, Inc. (www.connecting-cultures.net), will then conduct a session on cultural diversity as a business imperative in Iraq. She discusses how to manage a diverse workforce, serve a diverse customer base and compete and partner with others in a global marketplace. Well-known for her cultural training at major corporations and agencies, Ms. Ismail helps managers, employees, teams and organizations to increase their ability to communicate, work with and serve a vast cross-section of people and to be profitable domestically and internationally. She emphasizes the need for senior management leadership in implementing a successful cultural strategy in Iraq. This will be followed by a presentation on the future of education in Iraq and its contribution to democracy, equality, stability, economic growth and improved well-being of Iraqi children and families. Rend Rahim Francke, Executive Director of the Iraq Foundation* (www.iraqfoundation.org), will explain the Foundation's work in education, the environment, documentation and community organizing in Iraq. She will also showcase demonstration programs for selected schools in both urban and rural areas. These programs include life skills modules covering topics such as tolerance, conflict reduction and resolution, trauma reduction, nutrition and basic health skills. Other demonstration programs include child-centered education, active learning, training teachers on using participatory techniques and peer learning. A brief summary of a wide range of strategies to promote long-term business relationships with the people of Iraq will be provided by Lowell Christy, Chairman of the Cultural Strategies Institute, (www.CulturalStrategies.org). The cultural agenda will culminate in a breakout session that will bring corporations and cultural institutions face-to-face to identify best practices and the most urgent issues in culture and development. A special report summarizing comments from the global community will be presented to all attendees, and workgroups will be formed to further explore selected topics for the following conference. In addition to the special sessions, cultural heritage will be highlighted in the conference exhibition hall, and the Baghdad Museum Project will present video interviews with Iraqis discussing their heritage and their future. Producer-director Adam Shapiro (www.AboutBaghdad.com) will be on hand to discuss how cultural and ephemeral expression in the streets of Baghdad is a lead indicator of life in Iraq. The Baghdad Museum Project is a cultural education program of the Cultural Strategies Institute in Seneca, Maryland, bringing Virtual Heritage and other technology resources to build a "virtual Baghdad Museum" accessible to people everywhere and to promote community cultural development in Iraq. Both the Institute and New Fields are currently working with the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University to develop an executive course for Spring 2004 entitled, "A Cultural Strategy for Rebuilding Iraq." *Note: On November 23, 2003, Rend Rahim Francke was appointed Iraq's Ambassador to the United States. She will give the opening keynote address at the Rebuilding Iraq Conference. Taking her place on the panel will be Raya Barazanji, Chief Operating Officer of the Iraq Foundation to discuss the current prospects for the future of education in Iraq. Baghdad Museum Project Conference Team: John Simmons Rula Asad Hazem Alghabra Mark Frautschi Adam Shapiro Raya Barazanji Luby Ismail Roberto Pineiro Matthew Bogdanos Donald Sanders Arun Sood Lowell Christy The Baghdad Museum Project Tel: (703) 899-7771 Email: RebuildingIraq@BaghdadMuseum.org