The convention's theme is “Before the Storm.” It will focus on the conditions and life of the colonies from 1763 to 1916 in the Volga, Black Sea, and Ukraine areas of the Russian Empire prior to the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Welcome Night will be hosted by the AHSGR California Chapters on July 13. The opening general session will be on July 14, and the closing evening banquet is scheduled for July 16. AHSGR Board of Directors and Trustee meetings will be conducted July 11 through July 13. 

The convention also will feature the winning entries of the 2016 AHSGR Storytelling Contest, a youth program, and a research room with access to the Internet, books and and other archival materials. The AHSGR bookstore, research room, registration area, and Heritage Hall will be open July 11 through July 16.

A Wine Country Tour is scheduled for Tuesday July 12, and a San Francisco City Tour is scheduled for Wednesday July 13. You will have the opportunity to have a picnic lunch in one of the beautiful wine country vineyards or see the sights of San Francisco.

The Concord Hilton Hotel is conveniently located in the San Francisco Bay Area’s East Bay and is adjacent to Interstate 680. It is accessible via the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) from the Oakland and San Francisco International airports. The hotel offers complimentary round-trip shuttle service to and from the Concord BART station, thus making it easily accessible to the entire Bay Area, including San Francisco.

Directly across the street from the hotel is a shopping center. A second, larger one is within a mile. The world-famous Napa and Sonoma wine country is a 30-minute drive from the Hilton. 

Hotel parking is $7.50 per day with in-and-out privileges. Free handicapped parking will be available.

The hotel address is: 

Hilton Concord Hotel
1970 Diamond Blvd.
Concord, CA 94520

When Purchasing Tickets for the Conference:

You must purchase one (and only one) of the following from the "Required" tickets list: General Admission (All Conference Sessions Plus the Saturday banquet), Wednesday Sessions, Thursday Sessions, Friday Sessions, Saturday Sessions and Banquet. Once you have selected one of these, you can purchase optional tickets. All of the single-day tickets are also available as optional tickets. So, if you want to attend on Thursday and Saturday only, you could purchase the Thursday ticket as your required ticket and then the Saturday as an optional ticket.

If you wish to attend sessions every day, you should simply purchase the General ticket. 

The tours and luncheons are all optional tickets and treated as separate sessions from the general conference sessions.