Welcome to www.aids2010community.org, a Guide to Community Involvement to AIDS 2010. This Guide was created by the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) to help you better understand and participate in the international AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria, next year, from July 18-23.

As Executive Director of ICASO, and having been to many conferences, I know that international conferences can be overwhelming, as much as they can be educational and inspiring, allowing you to network with others doing similar work. I recognize that thinking about how and why you might get involved in AIDS2010, it is often difficult to put all the pieces together.  This guide will help you navigate the next international AIDS conference and provide you with what you need to know to make decisions on what resources you or your organization should commit and the best way to get the most out of it.

You will find:

• A section discussing issues specific to People Living with HIV.
• A section on Engaging in AIDS 2010 which details scholarships, how to get involved and how to make best use of your time, even if you choose not to attend.
• A section titled Our Community which describes the community co-organizers of the conference, a history of community involvement, and how to do advocacy, activism and networking at the conference.
• A section on AIDS 2010 Governance, which lists committees and people planning the conference.
• A section describing different parts of the Conference Programme.

All of the pages can be printed, so feel free to share copies with colleagues, friends and community members, who do not have regular access to computers. As much as possible, we have included conference contact people, should you require further information. We have also hooked up with social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and Digg to help you stay connected.

Although some of the information in this Guide is also found on the main conference website, here it is written by and for people from the community.  But conference information can change rapidly – and although we try to be as accurate as possible, if there are differences in key facts or deadlines between the official conference website and this Guide, you should consider what is listed on www.aids2010.org as correct.

Here at ICASO, we hope that you find this Guide helpful and your conference experience provides you with the additional information, tools, contacts and capacity that enable you to build a more effective response to HIV and AIDS in the communities you live and work.

Best,

Kieran Daly