We’ve all got some friends, they possibly are someone you spent most of your childhood with, the colleagues who devotedly assist you with difficult tasks at work, or probably great classmates willing to hear all your thoughts and feelings.  Perhaps, some of them are gonna be your best buddy, your soulmate, your wife/husband in the future. Whoever they are, friends are an indispensable part of your life, they create meaningful memories and some are always there for you whenever you’re in a tight corner.  Let’s join our next event, share your thoughts on friends, and socialize with various new souls, who are way incredibly gorgeous and bright.  Maybe your best buddy is hiding somewhere in the group? Come and figure it out.

Debate Club

American Center Interns
The goal of the American Center’s Debate Club is to create friendly environment where anyone can express and freely debate their ideas on interesting current topics. So if you like to analyze facts, communicates openly, or just interested in debate please make your way to the AC to join our club.

Fast Food in the United States

Have you ever wondered what ‘traditional’ North American food really is? What is it that people in the U.S. traditionally eat? Does the U.S. even have traditional foods? These questions are answered in a presentation about (Fast) Food in the United States. Participants will get to take a fun quiz, talk about traditional foods in Vietnam, play a calorie guessing game, and discuss other fun food-related topics.

Jazz Workshop

Veronica Moermond
Friday, May 31
16:30 – 18:00
American Center

While a lot of people may be familiar with the current U.S. music scene, not a lot of people know where it all began. There is one genre of music that got its start in the U.S.: jazz. In this presentation, participants will not only be introduced to jazz, but they will also get to learn how to scat and moonwalk as well as listen to a lot of great jazz music and the subsequent genres that it influenced.

Gender Discrimination at the Workplace through Documentary Film Screening: “Balancing the Scales”

Attorney/Filmmaker Sharon Rowen
Friday, May 10
14:30 – 16:30
American Center

Please join us in a rare opportunity to meet and discuss with attorney/award-wining filmmaker Sharon Rowen on the topic of gender discrimination at the workplace. Sharon will share her insights on: the issues facing working women in the U.S. and other countries, particularly women who aspire to leadership; what is necessary to change the cultural stereotypes which allow gender discrimination to continue to thrive; and how she came to making “Balancing the Scales.” Her film, “Balancing the Scales,” is a culmination of 20 years of interviewing women lawyers in the quest to expose the challenges facing women in the field of law. Sharon’s program to Vietnam is funded by the Dept. of State’s American Film Showcase program, in partnership with the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

Consecutive English to Vietnamese interpretation will be provided. Open to local media attendance.

Director Sharon Rowen’s Statement:

Creating Balancing the Scales combined 35 years of experience as a trial lawyer and 20 years of interviewing women lawyers from all walks of life. Interviewees include a US Supreme Court justice, civil rights activists, the first women who made it to the top, and young associates who do not yet understand that making partner has odds not much better than winning the lottery. My belief in the law as a tool for social change began when I passed the bar in 1979, and my passion for gender equality started shortly thereafter when a judge ruled against me solely because he didn’t believe that women should practice law. I have committed my legal career to social justice and to the belief that we all should use our time to further human rights in whatever ways we can. I hope this film will ignite a national conversation about topics like breaking the glass ceiling, why our society does not think of women as leaders, and the impossible choices men and women are forced to make between their career and their caregiving responsibilities.

Documentary film “Balancing the Scales” trailer: www.balancingthescalesmovie.com

Documentary film’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/balancingthescalesmovie

Global LGBTI Equality: Progress Made and Challenges Ahead

May 15, 15:00 – 17:00

Description: Jay Gilliam, Director of Global Leadership at the Human Rights Campaign, will discuss the progress made and challenges still ahead for LGBTI equality in the U.S. and in many places around the world. Jay will share about recent successes like decriminalization efforts in India and problems LGBTI are facing in places like Chechnya and Brunei. Jay will also share updates about the U.S LGBTI movement and Americans’ ongoing fight for equality.

Short introduction about Jay:

Jay Gilliam is the Senior Global Programs Officer at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) advocacy organization. He previously served in the Obama administration at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and worked at the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A.

Jay grew up in Arlington, Texas before leaving the Lone Star state for Amherst College in Massachusetts to get his BA in political science. He did his graduate studies on a Rotary Fellowship, earning an MA in peace studies at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan.

Nationwide Logo Design Contest for 25th Anniversary of U.S.-Vietnam Relations – Official Rules

Contest Sponsors ^[1]
The Logo Design Contest for 25^th Anniversary of U.S.-Vietnam Relations is organized by the U.S. Mission Vietnam.

Description of Contest Objectives
In celebration of the 25^th Anniversary of U.S.-Vietnam Relation, U.S. Mission Vietnam is organizing a Logo Design Contest to encourage all Vietnamese, ages 18 and above, to submit a logo design. The logo design should use the number 25 (not the word “twenty-five”) and should depict in some way the U.S.-Vietnam relationship. The logo should be modern, simple, recognizable, easily reproducible, and must not contain any copyrighted material. The logo will become property of the U.S. Government.

Platform(s)
Events from this contest may be announced and promoted on various Social Media platforms including U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and U.S. Consulate General Ho Chi Minh Facebook pages and website, but the contest entry and administration will take place through Zoho.  Contest winners may be announced on the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the U.S. Consulate General Ho Chi Minh Facebook pages; however, this platform is not partner or sponsor of the contest.  Contestants are reminded that by participating in the contest and uploading content to the Zoho form, they are bound by Zoho’s Terms of Service and any agreement with Zoho contained therein.

How to enter

• Interested participants can submit only one (1) logo design in this page: http://bit.ly/2CPg0iy
• Once the logo design is submitted, it is considered a final submission and may not be modified, edited, or replaced.
• By entering this contest, you agree that the images you submit may be used on the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and U.S. Consulate General Ho Chi Minh websites, social media sites, promotional materials, signs, U.S. Department of State events, and publications, for non-commercial purposes.
• Participation in this contest is deemed as acceptance of these Official Contest Rules.
• A submission must be original content created and owned by the contestant. Artwork must be submitted digitally.
• Entries may be submitted between April 9, 2019, and May 10, 2019. Judging for the Judges Choice winner begins on May 16, 2019, and winners will be announced no later than May 30, 2019.
• The top 8 qualified entries will be uploaded as one Facebook album. Voting for the People’s Choice winner will begin on May 16, 2019, 12:00 a.m. until May 20, 2019, 12:00 a.m. (Vietnam Time)
• The announcement of the winners will be posted on the U.S. Embassy Hanoi and U.S. Consulate General Ho Chi Minh’s Facebook pages no later than May 30, 2019.

Content Requirements:

1. Submissions must not contain obscenity, explicit sexual material, nudity, profanity, graphic violence, calls or incitement to violence, commercial solicitation or commercial promotion. Submissions must conform to local law and must not contain content or images that could be considered abusive, inflammatory, denigrating, or disrespectful to the U.S. Mission Vietnam, the U.S. Department of State, or to any groups, individuals or institutions. Submissions must adhere both in appearance and in fact to the norms of civil discourse. In other words, the content of all submissions must be suitable for a global, public audience.
2. Submissions must be original content created by the contestant and must not contain any elements that are protected by someone else’s copyright or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property or proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights (except as expressly permitted below in (d)). The U.S. Mission Vietnam recognizes no allowance for “fair use” of copyrighted material, nor does it recognize allowance for use of licensed materials created or owned by a third party.
3. The U.S. Mission Vietnam reserves the right to disqualify, at their sole and absolute discretion, any submission that does not adhere to these criteria and to the intent and substance of these official contest rules.
4. In the event of any question or difference of views regarding compliance with, interpretation, or application of these content requirements or other provisions of these Official Contest Rules, the U.S. Mission Vietnam reserve the exclusive right to resolve such questions or differences of views in their sole discretion.
5. By submitting a logo design to the contest, the contestant affirms that he or she has obtained written consent from all individuals whose image or likeness appears in the artwork (or from the individuals’ parent/legal guardian if any such individuals are considered a minor in their country of residence), and that he or she has obtained the necessary rights, licenses, consents, and permissions to use all material such as music, images, text and other content in the submission. The contestant further affirms that he or she is prepared to provide reliable documentation of any and all such consents, licenses, etc., upon request. Failure to obtain such rights, license consents, and permissions may result in the disqualification of the photo submission at the U.S. Mission Vietnam’s sole and absolute discretion.

Technical Format Requirements
Artwork submissions must be adaptable to different scales and different use (e.g. webpages, e-mails, hard copy, projected images, large banners, and signs). Submit one single image file in either .jpeg or .png format, high resolution (no smaller than 2084 pixels). If you are chosen as a winner, you MUST be able to provide a high resolution vector file (e.g., in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign).

Submissions should not have any visible watermarks, signatures, or personally identifiable information.

Eligibility

1. Contestants must be at least 18 years old on the date of entry into the contest. Contestants must be residents of Vietnam and may not be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
2. The individual submitting the entry will be considered the contestant and will be the only individual eligible to compete for the prize. Organizations are not eligible to compete for the prize, either as an entity, or through representation by an individual. In order to be eligible for the prize, the contestant must provide complete and accurate information.
3. The following individuals are not eligible to participate in the contest: Employees, interns, directors, and officers of the U.S. Mission Vietnam or the U.S. Government, and of Facebook; or any employees, interns, directors, or officers of any agencies, companies or entities involved in the administration, advertising, judging, creation, development, execution, and/or fulfillment of this contest, and the immediate family members (defined as spouse, recognized partner, parent, child, sibling, and spouse or “step” of each) and those living in the same household of each such individual.
4. Once a submission has been accepted for entry into the contest, the contestant’s name (or User ID, if the contestant wishes to remain anonymous) and country may be publicly identified at the sole discretion of the contestant.

Selection of winners

1. All submissions are subject to pre-screening by U.S. Mission Vietnam to ensure high-quality and compliance with these Official Contest Rules. Any logo design out of compliance will not be posted. Only the top 8 logos will be posted to Facebook for public voting. U.S. Mission Vietnam reserves the right in their sole and absolute discretion to verify in the final analysis whether a potential finalist or potential winning poster submission has fully complied with these Official Contest Rules before posting to the contest site, awarding prize, recognizing a winner, etc.
2. Judges: The judges are the U.S. Mission Vietnam Officers and staff.
3. Judging Criteria:
   Composition of the artwork 60%
   Relevance to the theme 40%
4. Winners: There will be two (2) winners for this challenge. The Grand Prize winner will be determined by the judges using the criteria. The People’s Choice winner will be determined through public voting following a pre-screening of the top 8 logo design complying with the Official Contest Rules. Winners and finalists may choose to use an alias instead of their real name and may request other identifying information be kept private.
5. Winner(s) will be contacted via email. The inability of the U.S. Mission Vietnam to contact a potential winner may result in disqualification and/or selection of an alternate winner from among all remaining eligible submissions.
6. The announcement of the winners will be posted on the U.S. Embassy’s Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/usembassyhanoi/) and U.S. Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City‘s Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/achochiminh.usconsulate/) any time between May 20-30, 2019.

Prize(s)

1. Grand Prize – Kindle, Swag bag, plus photo with Ambassador (for Hanoi-based winner) or Consul General (for HCMC-based winner).
   ***Winning design will be used for official U.S. Government promotional items and events in Vietnam***
   People’s Choice – Swag bag
2. The winning artwork will be posted on the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and U.S. Consulate General’s Facebook pages and used for official U.S. Government promotion items and events.
3. Winners have to confirm the acceptance of the prize through email within three calendar days. If the acceptance is not confirmed by the required date, the U.S. Mission Vietnam reserves the right to select an alternate winner. Each winner must provide a valid physical mailing address where a prize, if any, is to be shipped. The U.S. Mission Vietnam is not responsible for any problems related to the shipping of any prize, including, but not limited to, theft, delay, damage, or destruction/accidental loss by the shipping carrier.
4. Any unused portion of the prize is not transferable, convertible, or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash. All taxes on or in connection with any prize, and the reporting consequences thereof, are the sole and exclusive responsibility of the winner.

Liability and rights

1. The U.S. Mission Vietnam does not endorse any submissions or messages expressed therein, and the U.S. Mission Vietnam expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with the submitted poster including disputes between collaborators related to a submission.
2. The contest and the U.S. Mission Vietnam do not permit copyright infringing activities or infringement of any other intellectual property rights, and the U.S. Mission Vietnam reserve the right to remove and disqualify any submission they deem to be in violation of another party’s copyright or other intellectual property rights.
3. The U.S. Government will retain sole ownership of the original work. Contestant specifically agrees to give the U.S. Mission Vietnam permission to use all content submitted for purposes of judging the contest. Finalists and/or winners will be required to grant the U.S. Mission Vietnam, with proper attribution through whatever means they deem appropriate, a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, and/or display the submission in any media formats and through any media channels in perpetuity in connection with the activities and operations of the contest.
4. Contestant assumes sole responsibility for the contest submission and the material contained in it, and for any consequences of submitting or posting it.
5. The U.S. Mission Vietnam reserves the right at any time to verify the validity of entries and of contestants and to disqualify any contestant or entry deemed not in compliance with these Official Contest Rules. The U.S. Mission Vietnam also reserves the right to request further documentation, at their sole and absolute discretion, to verify eligibility and compliance with these Official Contest Rules.
6. If a prize or any portion thereof is unavailable, the U.S. Mission Vietnam, in their sole discretion, reserves the right to substitute the prize with another prize of equal or greater value and/or specification.
7. The U.S. Mission Vietnam reserves the right, at any time and in their sole discretion, to disqualify and/or deem ineligible any individual who they reasonably believe (i) has violated the Official Contest Rules; (ii) has violated the terms of use of platform, or (iii) is acting in a bad faith, or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.
8. The U.S. Mission Vietnam reserves the right to modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the contest at their discretion for any reason.
9. Contestant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the U.S. Mission Vietnam, their parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, officers, directors, employees, interns, and agents, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debts, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from (i) violation of these Official Contest Rules; (ii) violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, trademark, intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other proprietary right in connection with the contest; or (iii) any claim that a contest submission caused any harm, including financial, to any third party. These indemnification and hold harmless obligations will survive indefinitely beyond the conclusion of the contest.
10. The conduct, judging, and awarding of prizes will be carried out in full compliance with applicable U.S. law and host country law. In the event of a conflict between U.S. law and host country law, U.S. law shall apply.
11. The U.S. Mission Vietnam and the U.S. Government will take reasonable measures to protect privacy data, personally identifiable information, and other sensitive data of contestants. Contact information provided by contestants may be stored by the U.S. Mission Vietnam and may be used to contact contestants for other purposes in the future. This information may be shared with the co-sponsor of the contest and/or made available to third parties to the extent permitted by law.
12. The U.S. Mission Vietnam assumes no liability or responsibility for any loss or harm resulting from any user’s participation in or attempt to participate in the contest or ability or inability to upload, download, or otherwise access any information in connection with participating in the contest. The U.S. Mission Vietnam assumes no responsibility or liability for technical problems, or technical malfunctions arising in connection with the operation of the contest, including: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity, or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any email transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted email transmissions; inaccessibility of the contest site in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the contest site; unauthorized human or non-human intervention in the operation of the contest, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the contest, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the contest.
13. Use of contest site is at user’s own risk. The U.S. Mission Vietnam is not responsible for any personal injury, property damage, or losses of any kind which may be sustained to computer equipment resulting from participation in the contest, use of the contest site or the downloading of information from the contest site. By participating in the contest, the contestant releases the U.S. Mission Vietnam from any and all claims arising from or relating to such contestant’s participation in the contest, whether directly or indirectly.
14. The U.S. Mission Vietnam is not liable in the event that any portion of the contest is cancelled or delayed due to weather, fire, strike, acts of war or terrorism, or any other reason.

^[1] Throughout the contest rules, the term “sponsors” is used to represent either single or multiple sponsors, where applicable.