by Pooja Dhawan, Brand Strategy Chair for NetIP North America
The Network of Indian Professionals North America launched its radio show in 2009 under the leadership of then VP External Affairs, Sundip Arora (2010 President, NetIP NA). It was marketed as a series of teleconferences and webinars to increase the value of NetIP’s paid membership. The idea behind the series, originally called “Chit-Chaat, all spices considered”, was to have guest speakers that were experts or prominent figures in the South Asian Community. Arora’s team member, Brand Strategist, Pooja Dhawan, stepped in to refine the concept and its impact. The series was re-named Prime Time with NetIP and the name struck a cord.
The first guest was relationship expert Jasbina Ahluwalia of Intersections matchmaking. Callers dialled in to learn effective ways to balance Professional, Social and Personal Demands with questions and answers with Ms. Ahluwalia. The teleconference received a positive response and along with requests for more teleconferences, the idea for a real radio show took root. In Q2 of 2009, HumDesi Radio, a division of World Band media (WBM) contacted NetIP for a possible alliance. Through strategic planning and foresight, NetIP and WBM began Q2 with a partnership (Click here for our press release).
The show debuted with Super Model Saira Mohan (the podcast can be heard here ) and we were off to a running start. During this regular show, leading business, financial, arts and media professionals discuss issues such as surviving the financial turmoil by leveraging South Asian roots, the political voice of South Asian, the face of the 21st century Indian American professional, struggling for the American dream, immigration, economics. and much more. As of the publication of this article, the show gets over 6000 listeners on the internet alone. Every show brings NetIP’s social networks to life with questions, comments, status updates and more. There is a huge marketing component to the show. NetIP has over 21,000 Facebook users and more than 1200 Twitter followers. We market the show aggressively on all our social platforms.
A wide range of South Asians honor us with their presence on the radio. Some of our previous guests have been Saira Mohan, economist Ravi Batra, NYT bestselling author Ramit Sethi, Maulik Pancholy, Comedian Vidhur Kapur, eBay’s founder of worldofgood.com Robert Chatwani, GM of eBay’s world of good Seema Shah. We spoke to Simran Sethi on Feb 17th, lauded as one of the top ten eco heros of the planet, an environmental specialist and Green Movement spokesperson on Oprah.com (Click here for our press release).
This March we have two great Primetime shows for you! We are talking to Naresh Vissa from CNN Radio on March 17th 7pm EST (click here for related Facebook event) and Fox Business News Reporter Shibani Joshi on March 31st 7pm EST (click here for related Facebook event). Join in the conversation, listen in live at www.HumDesiRadio.com.
Our media partner HumDesi radio is always coming up with innovative ways to increase their listenership with our help. They offer free HD radios in their broadcast cities for your car and much more. Their newest business opportunity is a strategy to launch in more cities. We are excited as this means our show Prime Time will get an even greater visibility. Click below for details
Hum Desi Radio is a division of World Band Media, North America’s first Ethnic Digital Radio Network.
Listen live on HD Radio on
New York – 98.7 FM (HD2)
Washington DC – 103.5 FM (HD2)
Chicago – 101.1 FM (HD2)
Los Angeles – 105.9 FM (HD2)
Or anywhere in the world via the internet, humdesiradio.com
Please join us for a live broadcast, call toll free 1-877-DESI-321 Ext 370 to ask questions during the show.
Email us at primetime@netip.org, Tweet us on www.twitter.com/netipna
www.NetIP.org
Edited by Latha Nehru, VP of External Affairs, NetIP NA
