The City of Angels welcomes the Network of Indian Professionals

7th^th Annual Officers Leadership Conference

Celebrating 20 years of South Asian Empowerment

Los Angeles, CA, Feb 10^th 2010: The Network of Indian Professionals’ (NetIP) 7^th Officer’s Leadership Conference (OLC) was held Feb 5 to Feb 7, 2010 at the Wilshire Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles. The OLC served as the national kick-off for the 2010 NetIP calendar year. It provided an open forum for leadership to be recognized, for officers both new and returning to network and form good working relationships. The goal of the OLC has always been to provide an opportunity for NetIP chapter leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges, as well as to collaborate on leading practices as an organization. NetIP North America is the parent organization to its 24 chapters.

“The main goal of this leadership conference was to Inspire and Motivate all our chapter leaders from 24 cities. Based on the overwhelming response, I believe we surpassed our highest expectations. NetIP as an organization has incredible potential, and we’re on our way to becoming a household name, not just in the South Asian community but across North America.” -Shubha Rao, VP Internal Affairs, NetIP North America. Rao’s team put together and managed the conference and logistics in less than 8 weeks.

Attendees from NetIP’s 24 chapters, from coast to coast graced the conference to give feedback and learn about the goals and vision for the organization as a whole. Day one at the conference included a surprise live on-air segment with Brand Strategist Pooja Dhawan and NetIP’s media partner, Hum Desi Radio.

Sundip Arora, President, Network of Indian Professionals of North America was pleased with the conference and the performance of his board. “20 years on, NetIP has made unbelievable strides and leaders from chapters around the continent got a first-hand feel of our progress at our Officer’s Leadership Conference. My goal this year for the OLC was for Chapter Officer’s, new and returning, to Learn, Share, Inspire and Be Inspired. We achieved this through two days of intense collaborative sessions and workshops. NetIP North America is very proud to be part of the biggest OLC in our history and to have set another defining moment for our 20th anniversary.”

Along with ambitious plans to streamline technology across the 24 chapters and the North America parent Organization, NetIP revealed its new intranet which uses google collaboration to make internal communication and reporting seamless. The new VP of Technology, Anish Mistry, explained his efficient plan for the year ahead which included a revamped NetIP.org website and his goal to increase back-end content management efficiency.

Sri Narasimhan, NetIP North America’s VP of Finance and Administration, and his team went over legal, tax and financial reporting requirements for the incoming Chapter Officers. Latha Nehru, VP External Affairs, and her team explained NetIP’s Grameen Foundation initiative in Haiti as well as their plans to forge alliances with other non profits in an effort to raise visibility for NetIP.

The Los Angeles-Orange County (LA-OC) chapter of NetIP helped manage logistics and hosted the evening socials for the weekend. “I was very excited to see that months of hard work had culminated in a successful OLC. The conference setting and venues allowed chapter leaders to network and share ideas in a both professional and social environment.” -Sapan Shah, President, NetIP LA-OC. The Los Angeles – Orange County chapter of NetIP was the host for the conference.

Director of Operations, Santosh Perla, kept the momentum going right from the weeks before the conference with an eagle eye on deadlines. At the conference he kept attendees motivated and energized during a packed presentation schedule.

“More than a forum to share ideas, the OLC was a showcase of the many resources NetIP-NA provides to individual chapters seeking to make an impact in their respective communities.  Our chapter left the OLC with a greater understanding of the tools available to mobilize our membership and enhance the value of the NetIP brand locally.” Ashwin Janakiram, President NetIP Chicago

This year NetIP’s largest event, the Annual Conference is being held in Seattle on August 20-22, 2010. Conference Co-chairs Neha Sharma and Sarika Punjabi presented their conference strategy and theme “Unique by Nature”.

“This OLC was my first NetIP conference experience and I was blown away by the professionalism of the organization. The high caliber of the young professionals in leadership positions in NetIP was very inspiring. It was a great opportunity to connect with people across North America and share experiences. I hope to bring the insight, enthusiasm and strength of NetIP National and other local chapters back to NetIP San Francisco Bay Area. NetIP has great potential for national and local impact on the young professional South Asian community.” Purvi Patel, President NetIP San Francisco Bay Area.

At the conclusion of a weekend packed with valuable take-aways, action items and resources, NetIP and its chapters are uniquely positioned to forge ahead amongst its demographic. NetIP provides the only platform for South Asians in North America to network and grow in their professional and personal lives.

About NetIP

The Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP) is a professional, non-profit organization dedicated to the overall achievement and advancement of South Asian professionals. The primary focus of the organization is to foster a bond among South Asian professionals to unite and support each other locally, as well as to give back and contribute positively to the communities in which they live and work.

Today, the organization includes over 5,000 members and more than 40,000 subscribers in 24 cities across United States and Canada. NetIP has become a premier networking brand over the years. It is the unequivocal voice for an emerging group of South Asians, who excel in every aspect of western society, from business to politics to the arts. The rise of NetIP and its affiliated chapters reflects a general “Coming of Age” by South Asian professionals.

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If you’d like more information about this topic or to schedule an interview contact Pooja Dhawan, Brand Strategy for NetIP North America, by email at pooja@netip.org

Dear NetIP Family,

For more than a week now you have all seen the devastating images from Haiti and read heartbreaking accounts of surviors from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck one week ago today. While there has not been an official estimate of the tragic loss of life that has occurred, the figures appear to be in the tens of thousands.

According to the CIA World Factbook, roughly 80% of Haiti’s population lives below the poverty line, which further underscores the urgency of this crisis.

Our non-profit partner the Grameen Foundation has setup a fund to collect donations to support not only immediate disaster relief and much-needed humanitarian aid for Haiti, but also long term relief through micro-finance loans that will create jobs and help rebuild the city of Port-au-Prince. NetIP North America has pledged to assist in these fundraising efforts and we urge you to donate today. If every single one of our members donates just $15, we can raise over $150,000!

If you have already donated to this important cause, then Thank You! However, Haiti’s path to recovery can be further accelerated with your additional support and generosity. When the news cameras are gone and Haiti is no longer the cause of the moment, The Grameen Foundation will still be there providing long term sustainable development through micro-credit and micro-finance loans.
An important mission of the Network of Indian Professionals is to bring the South Asian community together in a common movement to support those in need during such catastrophic times. Again, please CLICK HERE to donate now .

To read about the work Grameen is doing in Haiti please visit their Blog

Thank you for making a difference,

The 2010 NetIP North America Team

www.NetIP.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_of_Indian_Professionals

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.