1. Center Convener

a) Registration of Participants
• Broadly publicize the program to encourage maximum participation in symposium in each age group.
• Update the registration form showing the date, time and place for the Center level symposium.
• Facilitate registration and issue books/reading materials and questions/guidelines to the registered participants.
• Arrange for volunteers or paid professionals to assist participants prepare written speech and oral presentation.

b) Symposium
• Request for judges should be made publicly. Requirements for a judge should be spelled out.
• Appoint three impartial intellectuals as judges, in consultation with zonal convener, for evaluating each presentation.
• Once the most qualified judges have been appointed, the names should be announced a minimum of one week before the competition.
• Send them books/reading materials and guidelines well in advance of the date to ensure that each judge reads the books/reading material and is fully conversant with the guidelines and procedures.
• The date for the competition should be fixed preferably a month in advance and shall be publicly announced.
• Conduct symposium by the deadline, on the basis of guidelines issued by SHF.
• Award prizes/certificates to winners and to remaining participants.
• Recognize children presenting their speech in Punjabi, with a special award, specified in guidelines, in addition to the regular prize.

c) Documentation
• Forward names, address and phone/fax of the winners of each age group to the zonal convener within one week of the event with a copy to SHF.
• Transmit zonal and SHF share of the registration fee to the Zonal Convener.

2. Zonal Convener

a) Coordination with Centers
• Set up at-least 3 centers to enlist minimum 100 participants; with a zealous and responsible gursikh as convener for each center.
• Help centers in holding the symposium, selecting the qualified judges, approving date and place of the competition.
• Determine number of books for all centers for each group keeping in mind the performance and participation in each age group in previous years.
• Permit a young child to participate in higher age group. SHF shall be informed of such decisions.
• Zonal Convener shall be present at the Center level competition.

b) Zonal Symposium
• Establish the date, time and place for the zonal competition in consultation with Center Conveners and announce it a minimum of one month before the competition.
• Set up a panel of three impartial judges for the zonal competition in consultation with Center Conveners.
• Once the most qualified judges have been appointed, the names should be announced a minimum of one week before the competition.
• Conduct symposium at zonal level, by the dead line, amongst the center winners.
• Award prizes/certificates to winners and remaining participants.
• Recognize children presenting their speech in Punjabi, with a special award, in addition to the regular prize.
• Send name and photograph (in jpeg format) of international participants to host Zonal Convener by the date specified in the announcement.

c) Coordination with SHF
• Serve as focal point for all communication between center and SHF.
• Forward names, address and phone/fax of the first winners of each age group to the SHF within one week of the event.
• Forward names, phone# and address of center conveners to SHF.
• Requisition appropriate number of books for all centers for each group keeping in mind the performance and participation in each age group in previous years.
• Remit SHF’s share of registration fee to SHF.
• Volunteer to draft questions for at-least one age-group.

3. Host Zonal Convener, International Symposium (IS) (additional responsibilities)

a) Coordination with SHF
• Arrange and provide facilities to SHF for conducting international symposium.
• Propose and forward to SHF a list of guest speaker, qualified international judges at least four months before IS date.
• Propose a detailed program to SHF at least three months before IS date.
• Chair the Conveners’ conference a year before hosting the International Symposium.

b) International Symposium Arrangements
• Arrange suitable venue for IS.
• Arrange suitable facilities to conduct conveners’ conference, judge/ parents/participants and combined annual meetings.
• Finalize, print and distribute program.
• Finalize, print and distribute brochure.

c) Arrangement Committees
• Set up appropriate committees to conduct the IS in an efficient, organized and orderly manner. Suggested committees are listed below:

• STEERING COMMITTEE for overall management of the entire program.
• TRANSPORTATION/HOST COMMITTEE to enlist the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the prospective host families, allocate the visiting families to the hosts, reception of the guests at the airport, rail, and bus stations staying arrangements of guests, transporting the guests to and from their place of stay to the place(s) of the activities of symposium, to see the guests off at the airport/bus stations for return journey to their respective destinations. To arrange transport for sight seeing trips of the visiting participants and guests.
• PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE for promoting the event in the local media, to the Sikh Sangat and special invitees, for local distribution; for preparing an audio and video recoding of all the events and for making available recorded material at reasonable price. The host convener can make arrangement for a photographer to take pictures of all the events including Keertan Darbaar. It will allow SHF to post good quality pictures on the website that people can share and relive the moment.
• FUND RAISING/BUDGET COMMITTEE – Budget for the event should be prepared early on and efforts to raise funds should be coordinated with the steering committee.
• CATERING COMMITTEE To arrange food at various events.

4. Sri Hemkunt Foundation (SHF)
a) Books:
• Select book/topics for each age group, each year. Selection is based on availability, language and content suitability.
• Literary-Unit of SHF reviews numerous books every year and considers suggestions of Zonal Conveners. It recommends books for each age group. Literary Unit ensures continuity of topics year-to-year for each age group.
• Procure sufficient number of books, based on the forecast by Zonal Conveners.
• Prepare and distribute to zonal conveners, guidelines for participants for each age group, i.e. list of questions for each selected book/topic.

b) International Symposium
• Establish order of presentation of international participants, for each age group, based on draw of lots.
• Select the guest speaker and finalize the list of judges.
• Select siropaos for judges/chief guest.
• Procure prizes for winners at IS and prizes for remaining participants.

c) Annual Meetings/Conference
• Prepare agenda, nominate coordinators and conduct annual meeting of IS judges, parents, participants and conveners conference. The coordinator of each group records recommendations of each group. SHF board reviews the recommendations and adopts those which are feasible. The details of the groups are as follows:
• PARENTS GROUP: Parents of participating youngsters and other interested parents constitute this group. They share their experience, problems and benefits and suggestions to make the program more effective.
• PARTICIPANTS GROUP: The winners from all the zones and other interested youngsters get together to share their experience. Each zone is likely to have its own special characteristics. The participants receive moral support from their peers. Getting together from different countries, in itself, is a unique educational experience. They delineate the difficulties and positive experiences after having gone through the process first hand. Their recommendations are vital to the future participants and extremely useful to the planners and organizers of this project at all levels.
• JUDGES GROUP: Their charge is to review, revise and recommend changes in the guidelines for the evaluation process. This is the most difficult of all the tasks in this venture. Past years’ experience has enabled the organizers to streamline the process.
• CONVENORS CONFERENCE: The host zonal convener for the following Int’l meet presides over this meeting. This group makes recommendation on several important issues:
i. Zonal Conveners volunteer as hosts for the future years.
ii. Propose dates for the upcoming International symposium, keeping in mind the convenience of all the zones.
iii. Review issues relevant to the competition including books/subjects for future,
the duration of each presentation, grace period and awards etc.