Most Improved Chapter

NetIP Dallas has truly had a stellar year.  It has become a thriving chapter with an amazing 11 member board and over 130 members!
With events every week surrounding the four foundation pillars of NetIP, the Dallas chapter has been performing at a level far beyond its expectations. Some notable events included the chapter’s support of Baal Dan charity via its scotch tasting event.

This summer the chapter held a cruise with the other Texas NetIP chapters which turned out to be both a collaborative effort and a huge success. With a dedicated board at the helm, they have every hope that much progress will be seen through the end of the year and beyond.

Best President, Large Chapter: Latha Nehru, Dallas
 
As President of NetIP Dallas, Latha Nehru has been revered as a strong leader with drive and passion.  With a renewed focus on membership and sponsorship, Latha was able to turn a small chapter into a large, thriving chapter. The following is only a glimpse of the initiatives Latha set out for her team to accomplish: 10 Events in 10 Weeks Campaign, Second Saturdays of Service, Book Club, partnership with the local Chamber of Commerce to hold a workshop on minority certification for businesses, establishing a Sports Chair, leading to successful participation in the Dallas Kickball league, Chai Chat (a political discussion forum), and Third Thursdays networking event, from which proceeds are given to a selected charity.

We congratulate Latha and wish her continued success as the 2010 elected VP of External Affairs on the NetIP North America Board!

This year, NetIP St. Louis decided to become a part of something revolutionary. A nascent theater group called “The South Asian Theater Company” decided to take its first production, “Birds, Bees, and Biodata,” to the stage in St Louis. Such an enormous task entailed a large amount of risk and the promise of countless hours of work.

“Birds, Bees, and Biodata,” is a comedy originally written and performed by “Princeton South Asian Theatrics” in 1999 (primary authors Sachin Shah and Karthick Ramakrishnan, modification in 2008 by Sanjiv Bajaj). The final product is a 2 ½ hour comedy about relationships and conflicts in South Asian families in America and about arranged marriages. The play touches on serious themes such as dating vs arranged marriage vs arranged introductions, premarital sex, child autonomy, and changing notions of family roles.  It does so against a comedic backdrop, encouraging the audience to enjoy the play as they deal with these difficult issues.

NetIP St. Louis initially helped in recruiting many members of the cast. It then helped in publicity (using several media) and funding for the endeavor and finally lent manpower for the production crew. In the end, NetIP St. Louis’s involvement was critical to the great success of the production.  The Black Cat Theater in St Louis has seating for 145 people and the first show seated 195 (with extra seats brought in) and had extra guests standing in the back!

Most of all, the production brought a new consciousness to the St Louis community that the arts could provide a valid vehicle for showcasing important issues in South Asian culture. It stood out against a landscape populated by many Diwali shows and talent shows. The South Asian Theater Group is currently writing its next production and will be putting it on in the coming year in collaboration with the St Louis chapter of NetIP, highlighting a unique collaboration that adds cultural depth to the South Asian cultural scene and the broader theatrical milieu in the city of St Louis.

Behind the Scenes with NetIP North America’s External Affairs Team

The External Affairs (EA) Team of NetIP North America is responsible for creating a buzz around the organization, consistent branding, increasing visibility, securing and maintaining relationships with partners and sponsors, various strategic marketing initiatives, and much more!  The EA Team (from left to right) is proudly overseen by Sundip Arora, V.P. of External Affairs and consists of three Chairs: Anita Ramakrishna, Marketing Communications Chair, Deb Das, Sponsorship & Corporate Relations Chair and Pooja Dhawan, Brand Strategy Chair.

Behind the scenes, Sundip spends his NetIP life managing activities related to executing on EA’s lofty vision for 2009 with the help of a tireless team. Anita is the creative mind behind the monthly ‘bUZZ’ newsletter which is a new edition to NetIP in 2009. Additionally, Anita and team work with the 24 chapters, the Internal Affairs team and the NetIP Executive Board to gather, tabulate and refine stories for the NetIP Blog. As Sponsorship Chair for NetIP, Deb is involved with driving revenue from various corporate sponsors. His driven attitude and unique perspective with potential sponsors has resulted in numerous new sponsors in 2009! The radio show, Prime Time with NetIP is the brain-child of Brand Strategy Chair, Pooja Dhawan. Along with the intensive management of the show, Pooja is NetIP’s unofficial spokesperson, manages publication of all NetIP Press Releases and gently enforces NetIP’s marketing strategy through its chapters.

To learn more about Who’s Who in NetIP NA, please click here.

NetIP Twin Cities

Winner of Best Officer Board Boscar at the 18th Annual NetIP Conference

The NetIP Twin Cities Board may be small (at one point it had just 3 Officers) but you wouldn’t know it by looking at their achievements. The current NetIP TC Board has earned the right to throw around figures such as a 300% increase in donations to South Asian and local charities. NetIP TC not only increased its events (up 33%) to target a larger market, they have built a reputation for quality events by forging first time partnerships with MN staples like Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Children’s Theatre, and the MN Timberwolves.

On the North American level, NetIP TC has aligned with NetIP NA by executing monthly conference calls, and the NA standard website re-branding was undertaken with enthusiasm. Having the highest percentage Board presence at the Officer Leadership Conference in Phoenix and the 18th Annual NA Conference in Toronto is also a reason to be proud for this chapter. Internally, NetIP TC is lean. Through its new online reporting and standardization process, NetIP TC has reduced its Board meetings by 50% and slashed its operating cost by an impressive 60% over the last two years. This means better value for its members and less administrative time for its volunteers.

“A limited Board has forced us to get back down to basics. Internally we cut cost and streamlined our planning process. For our members, we strive for quality events that align with the 4 pillars of NetIP by seeking key partnerships in Minneapolis. These efforts will provide a dividend for NetIP TC members for years to come. We thank NetIP NA for this honorable recognition and award.” -Milan Shroff President NetIP TC 2008-09.

NetIP New York

Winner of three Boscars at the 2009 Annual Conference

Best Large Chapter: NetIP-NY

Through July 31st, the executive board of NetIP-NY worked diligently and relentlessly to organize over 47 events, 39 of which were core pillar events. Their efforts paid off with approximately 260 members and 6600 people on their email distribution list, resulting in an increase in their operating budget by 7%.  NetIP-NY 2009 events have raised substantial amounts for various charities and were featured 12 times in national and local media outlets (Sahara One, TV Asia, India Express, South Asian Times, DesiClub, News India Times, and RZB TV).

“NetIP-NY is grateful for being recognized as the Best Large Chapter 2009.  This certainly would not have been possible without the executive board’s passion and leadership, NetIP-National’s support, and most of all, our constituency’s enthusiasm and energy. 

Our goal this year has been to focus on unique and quality events, strategic marketing and corporate sponsorship partnerships, and a positive board culture.  Through these efforts, NetIP-NY has become a recognized and coveted brand within the tri-state area and the larger NetIP community.” -Rita Bagai, President

“Over the last several years, NetIP has transformed into more than a social organization. The New York chapter has lead this effort by organizing a consistent stream of unique, value-added events that focus on culture, community service, politics and professional development.” -Nevin Shetty, National Liaison

Best Officer: Bhavini Doshi

Bhavini Doshi, VP Political Awareness, has brought an unprecedented degree of innovation to NetIP-NY’s Political Awareness pillar.  Her event ideas have increased NetIP-NY brand recognition and value within the community and have garnered positive acclaim from other NGOs operating in the tri-state area.
  
As part of the NetIP-NY Kickoff Week, Bhavini launched NetIP-NY’s successful chai chat series with a political awareness panel: Foreign Policy under the Obama Administration: with two renowned professors from Columbia and NYU. Set within the elegant Saks 5th Ave, registrants listened to the impact that potential foreign policy initiatives may have on domestic financial markets and national security.
   
Bhavini also hosted another panel: General Elections in India, A New Era featuring renowned professors and experts in the tri-state area and representatives from the key political parties in India.  Held at Fordham University, the event appealed to a relatively older group and in turn, expanded NetIP-NY constituency.  Furthermore, this event was featured in full on TVAsia, increasing the organization’s marketing reach and brand recognition.
  
However, Bhavini’s crowning achievement was the creation and execution of the 1st annual NGO Roundtable Fair.  This novel and groundbreaking event brought together thirteen leading NGO’s focusing on development in India under one roof.  The event consisted of breakfast, lunch and three different panels focusing on different areas of development in India.
 
“The hard work of our PA team, including Deepika Batra and Niki Shah, has been to provide a forum for experts on foreign policy, economy, social development, health, etc., an opportunity for our members to engage in dialogue with them, and ultimately the empowerment of our community through the spread of knowledge and awareness. Thank you to NetIP-NY, Rita Bagai, and the members of our chapter for all their hard work and support.” -Bhavini Doshi, VP-Political Awareness

Best Political Awareness Event: NGO Roundtable/Fair
 
As a theme for 2009, NetIP-NY organized high quality events that were relevant and added value to the NetIP-NY brand. No event exemplifies that more than the NGO Roundtable/Fair. The current economic environment has made many individuals re-evaluate their careers.  As a result, many individuals are pursuing new opportunities on different career paths.  This shift is ultimately rooted in an individual’s desire to add social value through private or public enterprise work.  At the forefront are non-governmental organizations, whose purpose generally involves designing and implementing development-related projects.
 
There are very few places requiring as much development-related projects as India. In an effort to serve this constituency need, NetIP-NY hosted a NGO Roundtable /Fair with thirteen NGOs that focus in India. The Political Awareness team started planning the event months in advance by reaching out to various NGOs that focuses on the various aspects of development in South Asia – the versatile areas of focus included education, child rights, and development.
 
The all-day conference/event involved breakfast, lunch, two keynote addresses, three panel discussions and a community fair featuring all of the NGOs.

“Everyone I spoke to was very impressed and kudos to NetIP to pull this off. Both our volunteers, who are not Indians, really learned a lot about India and the Indian non profit scene - which they are going to find very useful to work with us in future.” -NGO Fair Attendee

NetSAP Boston

Winner of Two Boscars at the 18th Annual Conference in Toronto

Best Professional Development Event: MBA Panel

NetSAP Boston held their 4th Annual MBA Panel event for Prospective Business School over the summer. The goal of the event was to help attendees create the most competitive business school application possible in this tough economic climate, to provide them with tips to apply immediately for B-school no matter where they were in the process, and to also bolster their chances of getting into top schools.

The panel had six distinguished guests; Deirdre Kane, Assistant Director of MBA Admissions at the Sloan School of Management, MIT; Christina Kyprianou, Associate Director, Graduate Admissions at Babson College, School of Business; Lara Zelman, Marketing and Admissions Manager for the BU Executive MBA Program; Aman Khaira, consultant at Bain, recent HBS alumnus; Parag Patel, consultant at McKinsey, recent MIT -Sloan alumnus and Kishore Deverakonda, management consultant at L.E.K., U of Chicago. There was also a representative from Manhattan GMAT, one of the leading GMAT test service agencies in the country at this time who was also a Wharton alum. 
 
NetSAP Boston brought together Admissions Officers, Alums and a GMAT testing agency, making it an extremely helpful professional development program for prospective Business School students. Additionally, this event gave out member base access to admissions officers from some of these top schools. The unique blend of professionals, alumni and admission officers provided just the forum that potential B-School applicants were looking for, creating a highly successful event for NetSAP Boston.

Best Officer: Rashi Mittal, NetSAP Boston

Rashi Mittal has served as the Professional Development Chair for NetSAP Boston since January 2009. She has put her professional connections to great use and has been highly successful in increasing NetSAP Boston’s name and brand in new and different professional communities. In February, Rashi worked with the South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston (SABAGB) and Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE) to coordinate a Cultural event at Taj Boston. The event drew over 400 South Asian professionals. The program also allowed NetSAP Boston to network with Taj Boston (owned by Tata Group).
 
As a lawyer, Rashi has constantly served as a liaison between NetSAP Boston and SABAGB. SABAGB and SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) have partnered to organize an annual day of service day in October to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday. NetSAP Boston will be partnering with the two groups to spread the word about the event, and invite members to the event. This is a great opportunity for NetSAP to partner with SAALT for the very first time.

In July, Rashi organized the yearly NetSAP Boston MBA Panel.  While the event has become an annual event for the Boston chapter, Rashi was able to bring a new and refreshing perspective to it by asking three distinguished admissions officers from some of the top MBA programs (MIT, Babson, Boston University executive program), along with 3 MBA alums from top Business Schools (HBS, Chicago Booth School and MIT) to come to the panel. Rashi moderated the panel. The panel has assisted NetSAP Boston to create presence with MIT, Babson, Boston University and GMAT Manhattan.
 
Currently, Rashi is working on organizing a Seminar called “Out-of-the-box Careers”. The concept is to bring panelists who are not pursuing traditional career paths. In this economy, this panel is especially important because it will assist the members to explore and learn about alternative career paths.

Rashi is proactive and takes her responsibilities very seriously, always showing her support for events run by other chairs and often helping them with their tasks. Rashi has truly been an asset and a valued addition to the NetSAP Boston board.

If you love NetIP’s work, then tell the world! You have an exciting opportunity to help our organization make even more of a difference for the Indian community.  GreatNonprofits.org is a website where people can post their stories, experiences and reviews of various nonprofits that they have been associated with.  This Diwali, GreatNonprofits is hosting the InDiya Shine 2009 Awards to recognize the top rated nonprofits around the country that serve causes in India and Indian communities abroad.

Won’t you help us gain visibility by posting a review of your experience with NetIP?  All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes 3 minutes! Go to: http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/profile2/network-of-indian-professionals-of-north-america

The winning nonprofits – the ones with the most number of reviews - gets a special editorial recognition in LittleIndia – India’s largest oveseas publication.

With your help, we can gain greater visibility and attract more supporters.

Thank you!

Anita Ramakrishna
Marketing Communications Chair
NetIP North America

NetSAP DC

Winner of two Boscars at the Annual Conference

Best Large Chapter

NetSAP DC has performed at a level second to none in 2009. This year the NetSAP DC team reached an all-time historic high in many strategic areas, and benefited from double-digit growth, in categories including: annual membership, annual revenues, strategic relationships, event quantity and attendance, and leadership retention.
 
NetSAP DC has been successful in not only meeting, but exceeding all expectations set forth by the National Board for individual large chapters.  Additionally, NetSAP DC served as a “model chapter” in 2009 through their efforts to assist the development of other chapters across the country. NetSAP DC chapter partners include Dallas, Cincinnati, New York, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh. NetSAP DC has also been in attendance and has actively contributed to all major national initiatives including the Officer Leadership Conference in Phoenix, weekly and monthly scheduled conference calls, and this year’s conference in Toronto.
 
For the first time in the 11 year history of the organization, the Board was retained at an exceeding high percentage.  Approximately 85% of board members, volunteers, and general organizational affiliates remained on board from 2008 to 2009, contrasting significantly to preceeding years. To support this positive momentum and controlled growth, a 2010 transition team has already mobilized with an acting 2010 President, Vice-President, and full 2010 Executive Board and volunteer team. Specialization of efforts, coupled with a highly skilled volunteer group has led NetSAP DC to become lean, efficient, and effective, and reproducible.

“It is an honor for NetSAP DC to be recognized as the Best Large Chapter in 2009.  For over ten years our dedicated board and volunteer teams have worked hard to consistently produce events that further the achievement and advancement of South Asian professionals in the Greater Washington, DC area.  On behalf of the loyal supporters of NetSAP DC, thank you for this distinguished award.” - Suchin Adhlaka, President, NetSAP DC

Best Community Service Event
 
NetSAP DC founded the Second Saturday of Service in 2009 to provide a community approach to service for our members to commit, serve, and network during service events.  The Second Saturday of Service originated from President Obama’s call to action on www.serviceusa.org where he called on all Americans to do more than just offer a single day of service. Never has it been more important to come together in shared purpose to tackle the common challenges we face. “So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other”. - President Obama

Each NetSAP DC member was asked to commit their second Saturday each month; a commitment to become both a more engaged citizen and a more engaged member of the DC community. Members responded to the challenge to transform lives and expand their capacity to lead.

  
This year, NetSAP DC branded and marketed the community service event as the Second Saturday of Service. Leveraging the Third Thursday concept, they developed a consistent and memorable day for community service. Second Saturdays of Service provide members with a day to create their schedules around and an opportunity to network. The Second Saturday of Service is a monthly event and a NetSAP DC flagship series. 

“We ask each of our members to commit his/her second Saturday each month, a commitment to become both a more engaged citizen and a more engaged member of the NetSAP community. SS of S was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s quote:  A consciousness of service - “Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large”. ” - Kamana Sharma and Rohini Batra, NetSAP DC Community Service Pillar Co-chairs

NetIP Los Angeles-Orange County Chapter

Winner of two 2009 Boscars at the Annual Conference

Best Small Chapter: NetIP LA-OC

LA-OC Chapter Board Members with the award

A few months into the 2009 calendar year, the LA-OC chapter faced a major challenge with its core leadership resigning from their positions due to personal reasons. The board took action immediately and then secretary and membership director Vamshi Gulampuram stepped up into the role of chapter President. Under the new leadership, LA-OC began an effective campaign to increase the quality & impact of events. Not only did they increase attendance at events, they also increased membership.  Furthermore, they made improvements in their marketing through social networking with their chapter’s Facebook presence alone increasing from 75 to over 930 members!

NetIP LA-OC made community outreach a priority, with events designed to give back to the community. They have contributed sizable donations towards charities that have done substantial work at the ground level in India. Partnership with other organizations was another aim that the chapter had and was able to achieve. In addition to an administrative overhaul, the functionality of the organization was improved with a new website, better newsletters, packages to attract sponsors and much more.

Congratulations to NetIP LA-OC for a very well deserved Boscar!

Best Small Chapter President: Vamshi Gumalapuram, NetIP LA-OC

Vamshi Gumalapuram joined the LA-OC chapter as a member in 2008. He joined the board as a Secretary & Membership Director for the year 2009. He worked diligently at events to recruit a record number of members. Vamshi was elected chapter president a few months into 2009, when the chapter’s leadership resigned due to personal reasons. Assuming the new role, he re-energized the board to continue to build on the progress they had up till that point. He helped create a vibrant and dynamic organization. As President he has been very effective in providing a vision and roadmap effectively outlining the goals for the chapter.

He created a sponsorship package, and, more importantly, he established relationships with a number of partner organizations. He has been instrumental in creating the LA-OC chapter that we see today, evident in the content rich new website, new and improved newsletter and the incredible jump in membership numbers.

In addition to greatly improving the technological aspects of the organization, Vamshi also has also taken an active role in monitoring and executing chapter events, resulting in high quality and high impact programming.  Under his administration, LA-OC has grown to a large chapter with close to 200 members, the most so far in its history.

“I would like to thank Pankaj Rao (National Liaison) and Sapan Shah (Events Director). I couldn’t have achieved so much without them. My board has been very supportive and our members have been outstanding.” – Vamshi Gumalapuram

Prime Time with NetIP Presents a LIVE interview with Comedian Vidur Kapur

Join us September 28th, 7pm EST on Humdesi Radio.

Vidur Kapur’s stand-up comedy is based on the social commentary of a one-man culture clash. A South Asian raised in a conservative upper middle class family in New Delhi, an overachiever with a degree from The London School of Economics and Ph.D. coursework from the University of Chicago, a misfit in a family focused on arranged marriages and social status, a chic urban trend-crazy gay fashion victim in West Hollywood and Manhattan, a corporate executive from blue chip international firms, an immigrant to the US and a person horrified at being mistaken for a terrorist in a post 9/11 America.  Join in the laughter as we speak to Vidur about his struggles and his triumps in the big bad world of comedy.

For more info on Prime Time with NetIP, please click here.