Old Armenians Die, Young Armenians Fade Away…

Viken Attarian’s powerful presentation entitled Towards Positive Action in Toronto back in Nov 2009 generated great enthusiasm amongst the audience.

He will be back for another cultural event spanning the weekend of Fri-Sat, Oct 1-2, 2010. This promises to be an even more dynamic experience, with ample time on Saturday for the audience to participate in the exchange of ideas exploring the imperatives for youth involvement in the Diaspora. (See attached flyer.)

The full video presentation of Viken’s previous lecture in Toronto entitled Towards Positive Action can be viewed at
http://www.keghart.com/Attarian_Action

Viken L. Attarian, MSc, MBA, is a renowned and exemplary Canadian-Armenian. His interests and expertise span a wide and diverse range of topic: from philosophy to physics, from ancient history to human rights, from Information Technology to politics.

Mr. Attarian, a Canadian by choice, personifies the ideal Diasporan Armenian, contributing his talents and expertise, not only to the Armenian community but to the greater Canadian society.

Mr. Attarian has been an active member of the Federal Liberal Party of Canada for close to two decades, and since 2006, is a member of the Policy Commission of the Federal Party, which sets the agenda for strategic policy and electoral platform initiatives. His policy paper on Human Rights and Democracy, which recommended significantly strengthening and enhancing the mandate of the Canadian Human Rights’ Commission was accepted with enthusiasm by the Liberal Party Convention in 2009. The recommendations were adopted and currently form the fundamental basis for the Liberal Party’s position on human rights.

Mr. Attarian is a regular panelist on the popular current affairs radio program "The Link" of Radio Canada International (RCI), the international broadcasting arm of the CBC.

His other volunteer activities involve youth mentoring and development, and scouting, for which he was decorated by the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Quebec.

For his contributions to society and volunteerism Mr. Attarian has been recognized twice by the Federal Parliament of Canada.

As a professional electronics engineer Mr. Attarian has held senior IT and management positions in North America’s top aerospace and high-tech industries including Pratt & Whitney, Nortel Networks, Bell Helicopter-Textron, Bombardier Transportation and Telecom Canada.

As part of the regulatory intervention team of business telecommunication users Mr. Attarian was successful in implementing Canada’s first high speed multimedia transcontinental business network which brought competition to the telecommunications services to Canadian citizens and businesses. His successes in this area were officially recognized by the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

He is the founder and president of MIDC Corporation in Montreal which specializes in strategic business consulting and IT management services for small and mid-size businesses.

The only Armenian organization that Mr. Attarian has ever been a member of is the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU). Mr. Attarian was first elected to the AGBU – Montreal Executive Board in 2000. He served as Vice-Chair from 2000 – 2004 and Chair from 2004 – 2006.

He has lectured extensively on various Armenological topics in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Dallas, and at Columbia University in New York.

Mr. Attarian is a published author and has written numerous articles which have appeared in many Armenian Diasporan publications and cyber postings. His material can be accessed on his personal blog at http://connectingideas.blogspot.com .

Mr. Attarian is a member of the Canadian branch of the Mensa Society, and was a pre-doctoral researcher at the Informatics and Applied Mathematics Center of the Polytechnic of Grenoble, France. He is fluent in Armenian, English, French, Arabic, Czech, Slovak, and speaks Spanish, and Russian.