Our Theme
Our theme “Branch and Bound” stems from the titular computer science algorithm, which solves problems using branches of a “tree” that represent all candidate solutions. To arrive at the best outcome, the algorithm constantly pivots through the bounds of each branch and investigates all possible courses of action.
We endeavor to take this algorithm and translate its essence into our conference through programming, community, and application. As we explore our options and branch out, we also arrive at the bounds of our skills, resources, and interests. But as long as we are bound to our community, which encourages and uplifts us as we learn and grow, we can adapt, redirect, and actualize our passions and dreams.
We are confident this analogy will leave attendees with a better grasp of the possibilities available to them and the resources they have to achieve their goals successfully. “Branch & Bound” is meant to last a lifetime — our hope is that beyond this three-day conference, attendees will be imbued with a greater sense of purpose, identity, and community that lasts in the years to come.
Our Vision
How do we interact with, discuss, and embrace our Taiwanese identity after we graduate college? When we enter the professional world, where do we go to find community? How can we hold conversations that encompass our relationship to Taiwanese heritage and the cultural nuance of being Taiwanese American in the Midwest?
We seek to mitigate the lack of representation, connections, or exposure that often deter Taiwanese Americans from certain career choices by inviting speakers ranging from new graduates to community action advocates to industry professionals who can address the role of Taiwanese American identity in their careers and interests. Their stories will serve as a launching pad for our attendees to evaluate their individual branches and bounds, and attendees will have the chance to listen, share, and reflect with the support of their peers in intimate, small group discussions.
In combining programming with a sense of greater community at the 2021 Midwest Conference, we aim to facilitate an environment that encourages and inspires each attendee to explore their options and pursue new opportunities, and ultimately equips them with the resources and support necessary to lead, interact, and give back to their communities, even after the conference has ended.
Location
The city & campus
The University of Michigan was established in the city of Ann Arbor in 1837, and since then hundreds of thousands of students and faculty have been proud to call Ann Arbor home. The city is ranked one of the best small college towns to live in, one of the most educated cities, and one of the happiest inthe nation. Offering a wide and diverse array of restaurants, shops, and entertainment, Ann Arbor is the perfect place to explore, learn, and experience a variety of cultures. In addition to its positive ratings and diverse population, Ann Arbor is a green city that prides itself in its natural beauty and environmentally sound transportation. With an abundance of things to do, proximity to campus, and unique community, Ann Arbor is certainly captivating and a city worth visiting.
Venues
Rogel Ballroom
The opening ceremony and keynote speaker event
on Friday will take place in the Rogel Ballroom at
the Michigan Union. As one of the largest event
and conference venues at the university, the
Rogel Ballroom holds up to 600 people and is
well-equipped with a sound system, projector,
projector screen, adjustable lighting, and more
Michigan League
Workshops will be held in several rooms in the
Michigan League, the beautiful and spacious
student union located on the north end of Central
Campus. The rooms range in size and capacity,
with some accommodating up to 100 people.
Having all workshops held in one building ensures
close proximity and easy navigation for workshop
leaders and attendees; the Saturday morning
keynote session will also be held in one of these
rooms. The Concourse area in the League will
serve as home base for the conference, with
registration and additional programming taking
place here.
Food & Lodging
RESIDENCE INN ANN ARBOR
DOWNTOWN - MARRIOTT HOTELS
Located in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor, the Residence
Inn Marriott Hotel is not only in close proximity to the
University of Michigan campus, but also one block away from
Main Street, where popular downtown shops, over sixty
restaurants, and exciting entertainment venues can all be
found. The Residence Inn is also within walking distance from
the university, making it very convenient to get to and from
different campus buildings. The hotel is reasonably priced and
offers great amenities, such as free high-speed internet and
hot breakfast.
FOOD
Belly Deli (Asian Fusion) $
Blank Slate Creamery (Ice Cream) $
Hola Seoul (Korean Fusion) $
Joe’s Pizza NYC $
Kang’s Korean $
Sadako (Japanese) $
Zingerman’s Deli $$
TK Wu (Chinese/Taiwanese) $$
Asian Legend (Taiwanese) $$
BUBBLE TEA
Bubble Island $
ChaTime $
CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice $
Ding Tea $
Tea Ninja $
Sweeting $$
keynote speakers
Chase Tang
Chase Tang is a Taiwanese Canadian actor who was originally a successful corporate executive before switching careers to pursue his passion in the film industry. Having previously starred in multiple TV series, Tang was recently cast in the upcoming 2020 Netflix series Jupiter’s Legacy. With the show serving as his break into Hollywood, Tang has since utilized his platform to raise awareness for issues such as climate change and mental health.
Vicky Tsai
Vicky Tsai is a Taiwanese American entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 2009, she quit her corporate job on Wall Street and founded Tatcha Beauty, a natural ingredient and clean beauty skincare brand widely revered by celebrities and makeup artists alike. She recently partnered with the nonprofit organization Room To Read to support girls’ education in underdeveloped Asian and African countries.
Tim Wu
Tim Wu, more commonly known by his stage name Elephante, is a Taiwanese American EDM DJ and producer known for his progressive big room house anthems and remixes. After graduating from Harvard in 2011, Wu decided to quit his corporate job and pursue music full time. Since releasing his first EP in 2013 and second EP in 2018, Wu has received millions of online streams and appeared in major music festivals, distinguishing himself as one of the most innovative EDM producers around today.
Steve Chen
Steve Chen is a Taiwanese American entrepreneur known for co-founding and serving as the previous CTO of YouTube. In addition to his time at Youtube, he also co-founded AVOS Systems, Inc. and built the video-sharing app MixBit. Chen is Taiwan’s first-ever approved “Employment Gold Card” holder, and in 2019 moved back to Taiwan to educate local entrepreneurs and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Taiwan.
workshops
Industry
With speakers hailing from a variety of backgrounds, careers, and experience levels, this workshop section aims to provide insight on a wide array of professional opportunities and the setbacks, challenges, and triumphs of our speakers. We hope that attendees will apply what they have learned to their personal journeys and leave the conference with the resources, knowledge, and passion necessary to pursue a meaningful career while celebrating their Taiwanese identity.
Tiffany Su
A Detroit native, Tiffany is the manager of music supervision at Entertainment One and currently works to create soundtracks for a diverse range of film and television productions. In 2016, Tiffany joined the film and TV licensing team at BMG Rights Management, where she negotiated a myriad of sync placements on behalf of clients such as Nirvana, David Bowie, Johnny Cash, John Legend, and Bruno Mars. She also worked as the music coordinator on the network series Supergirl, The Flash, and Prodigal Son.
Chien-An Yuan
Chien-An Yuan is a Michigan-based, multi-disciplinary artist who has directed multiple projects across the fields of graphic design, photography, filmography, and experimental electronic music. He owns the record label “1473” and has had multiple pieces featured in prominent digital media platforms such as The New Yorker, Salon, and ArtSlant.
Kevin Lin
Kevin Lin is the co-founder of Twitch and previously served as COO for ten years before recently co-founding Gold House, a nonprofit collective comprised of diverse leaders dedicated to forging stronger relationships that empower Asians. He was also involved with ITASA’s board of directors and served as treasurer for five years. As a Taiwanese American and New Orleans native, Kevin is consistently involved in supporting businesses, founders, and creatives from both New Orleans and Taipei.
Community
The goal of this workshop section is to show attendees different ways they can get involved with the larger Taiwanese American community and concomitant community projects, and how they can embrace and share their Taiwanese identity in the context of post-graduate life. Speakers will share their experiences working with local communities as well as their involvement in movements that promote Taiwanese American or Asian American identity and values.
HoChie Tsai
HoChie Tsai is a pediatrician at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. He was actively involved in ethnic organizations throughout the Midwest in both collegiate and professional contexts, and eventually helped found ITASA in 1998. HoChie is also the founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, a website that highlights Taiwanese American community, events, and influential figures. He currently serves as the president of the Taiwanese American Foundation and continues to influence the younger generation through leadership training and youth development.
Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a journalist, speaker, educator, and poet whose work is focused primarily on issues of race, justice, culture, and art. Her writing has appeared on NBC News Asian America and in several anthologies, journals, and art exhibitions. She is a lecturer on Asian/Pacific Islander American media and civil rights at the University of Michigan and has spoken nationally at universities, conferences, and organizations about Asian American identity, media, and civil rights issues.
Theresa Yang
Theresa Yang is the president of the Michigan Taiwanese American Organization (MITAI), a non-profit organization founded in 2002 dedicated to promoting Taiwanese culture exchange with Michigan residents through a variety of community events. In the past years, MITAI has hosted events including the Taiwan Cultural Festival, the Taiwan Culinary Series, and multiple concerts and performances featuring traditional Taiwanese performance groups.
New Grads
The focus of the new grads workshop will be on their experiences transitioning from college to work life. We invited alumni who graduated within the past five years to share the challenges and changes in their lives, and how they continue to explore and celebrate their Taiwanese identity. Our hope is that attendees will walk away with new methods and insights to prepare for life after graduation, especially in the realm of Taiwanese identity and community.
Angela Shiue
Angela Shiue graduated from the University of Michigan in 2018 with a degree in political science. Throughout college, she worked with multiple on-campus organizations and served as a former TASA president. After graduating, she worked with Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign and is currently an associate at Alper Strategies and Media.
Erica Yu
Erica Yu graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018 with a degree in architecture. She is currently a project associate at Chipman Design Architecture. Throughout college, she was involved with UIUC’s TASC and even helped plan the 2017 ITASA MWC. Erica has held a leadership role at the Taiwanese American Foundation’s summer conference since high school and currently serves as one of the Program Directors for the Juniors Program.
Julianne Tsai:
Julianne Tsai graduated from the University of Michigan in 2015 with a degree in mechanical engineering. She currently works at Toyota as a vehicle environment evaluation engineer. Julianne has been involved with the Taiwanese American Foundation for many years and served as one of the Program Directors for the Junior High Program in 2019.
Brian Lin
Co-Director
'21 Computer Engineering
Life Motto: Give up to go up
Michelle Shen
Chief Editor
'21 East Asian Languages and Cultures, Korean focus & English
Life Motto: Don't take things personally
Audrey Braun
Logistics
'23 Communication and Media
Life Motto: Play a fool’s game, win a fool’s prize
Lucia Tsai
Finance
'23 Business Administration
Life Motto: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift. That's why we call it the present.
Derek Shao
Promotion
'22 Cognitive Science
Life Motto: Send it.
Serena Yee
Co-Director
'21 Organizational Studies
Life Motto: Ask for forgiveness, not permission
Veronica Zhao
Logistics
'21 Statistics
Life Motto: You are your best thing
Eddie Wang
Social Logistics
'21 Computer Science
Life Motto: The best motivation is last minute panic!
Eugene Tsai
Programming
'21 Computer Science
Life Motto: Just enjoy where you are now.
Elena Fang
Technology
'21 Information Science
Life Motto: A day is not a day without a cup of coffee.
