Dear Math Circler,

You are invited to a special demonstration Math Circle meeting on Sunday, August 5, 9:00-11:00 am in the Fairmont Hotel, San Jose.

Why is it held in a hotel? It's because at the time, August 3-5, the Fairmont will be the headquarters of MathFest 2007, an annual meeting of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). MAA, with about 30,000 members, is one of the two major US professional organizations of mathematicians (the other one being the American Mathematical Society). MathFest will draw thousands of mathematicians for three days of lectures, talks, workshops, math movies and exhibit hall full of math books. We think that it is a tremendous opportunity for us to tell mathematicians around the country about math circles in the hope that they would start circles of their own for students in their hometowns. Here we need your help.

On Saturday, August 4, 3:40-5:00 pm, there will be a Panel Discussion entitled "San Francisco Bay Area Math Circles a Decade Later." This panel is organized by Hugo Rossi. Many people whom you know (such as Zvezdelina Stankova and Tatiana Shubin) will try to explain what a math circle is, but surely there is nothing like seeing a real circle meeting for people to be convinced of math circles' value. This is why we want you to come to this special circle on Sunday morning. It'll be a real one, led by Tom Davis, Josh Zucker and Zvezda Stankova; the only difference will be that there might be (we hope!) not only parents but also mathematicians observing the meeting. (Don't worry, our usual rule that adults should keep quiet will still apply.)

To participate in this circle you do not need to register for MathFest; all you need to do is to email your name, grade, school, and your contact information to Tatiana Shubin, and then come at 9:00 am on August 5. We'll let you know the exact room soon. The first 25 students to show up for the session will be given a free lunch and a pass to the Tech Museum which is right across the plaza from the Fairmont.

If you are interested in participating in other MathFest activities, attend lectures or peruse math books which can be bought at a special meeting discount click here to register. Registration fee for a pre-college student is $10. MAA has agreed to provide free passes to students and their parents who want to participate in the aforementioned panel. We will need to send the list of these participants to the MAA prior to the MathFest, so please let us know ahead of time if you are planning to come.

Please, contact Tatiana Shubin at the above address if you have any questions.

We hope to see you at the math circle on Sunday, August 5, 9:00-11:00 am.