The Cancer is Colorblind (CiC) campaign seeks to raise awareness and funds for pediatric and adult cancer prevention and treatment, while honoring cancer survivors and fighters who have made an impact in the local community.

Goose Island Tour & Tasting w/ After Party

————————————
Friday, July 16th @ 6:30pm

Located in the heart of bustling Lincoln Park, Goose Island has consistently brewed Chicago’s finest hand-crafted ales and lagers. Sample their award-winning beers and get a behind the scenes tour of how they create their seasonal and specialty brews. After the tour, the festivities will continue at Y-Bar with a Belvedere Vodka hosted open bar party at Y-Bar 10:00 pm to 11:30pm!

Afternoon at Navy Pier
————————
Saturday, July 17th @ 11:30am

Enjoy all that Navy Pier has to offer! Bring out your inner child at Pier Park with the historic Ferris wheel, carousel and miniature golf (2 rides included). Take a stroll through the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows. Finally, cool down with a cold beverage and a good conversation with old friends and new at the Beer Garden.

Party on the Water (Boat Party)
—————————
Saturday, July 17th @ 7pm

Everything needed for an unforgettable night, encompassed in one unforgettable event. Join NetIP Chicago for a glamorous night aboard the Summer of George. Mix and mingle with other savvy professionals against the backdrop of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Afterward, join us at Crescendo for an exclusive after-party to keep the momentum going.

Sunday Walk/Lunch
———————
Sunday, July 18th @ 12pm

Savor the traditional and innovative fine Indian cuisine at Gaylord Restaurant. Don’t fall asleep just yet; take a stroll down the famous “Mag Mile” where shopping, the city sites, and the historic Water Tower await you.

******************ONLY WAY TO REGISTER FOR THE WEEKEND****************
Purchase a 3-day pass for an entire weekend of festivities
Members $90 http://bit.ly/cV7vCV
Non-member $110 http://bit.ly/axQyjT

A la carte tickets also available.

“HOLI COW” by NetIP LA-OC — A Beach Party Organized for the Haiti Relief Efforts

A fun Holi event to benefit Haiti

A spectacular afternoon at the Will Rogers State Beach, under the warm March sun, as NetIP LA-OC & AIF celebrate the “Ultimate Holi Beach Party of the Year” to benefit the AIF Haiti Relief Fund. You’ve all been wanting to help out with the Haiti relief efforts and this is your chance to do so in style and with tons of fun. Come as we celebrate our culture and heritage through vibrant colors, water, sand and games. Bring your family and friends to this joyous occasion and experience our hospitality through these festivities!!

Click here for NetIP LA-OC’s Holi Facebook event

——————————-

“HOLI HUNGAMA” by NetIP New York — An Evening of Fun, Fashion & Flair

Holi Hungama - An evening of fun, fashion and flair

A fashion show courtesy of BIBI Magazine, music by DJ Sammy J, performances by NYC Bhangra a lot more! Don’t miss this exciting evening by NetIP NY!

A percentage of the proceeds will go to support the Grameen Foundation.

Click here for NetIP NY’s Holi Facebook event

——————————-

The Sixth Annual Holi Hungama by NetSAP DC

NetSAP DC's Holi Hungama

Join NetSAP DC to celebrate Holi in the Park! Everyone is welcome to attend and this event is free to members and non-members.  Bring your own gulal (holi color) and picnic baskets and play holi with some new NetSAP DC friends! Gulal can be purchased at most South Asian stores in the metro area.

Given the recent devastation in Haiti, NetSAP DC will be collecting monetary donations for the Grameen Foundation’s Haiti Fund.  We will also be collecting nonperishables and toiletries for the Arlington Food Bank.

Click here for NetSAP DC’s Holi Facebook event

——————————-

“Holi Hai” by NetIP Dallas — Bid Goodbye to Winter and Embrace the Spring with Holi Festivities

Come join NetIP Dallas as we wave goodbye to WINTER and embrace the SPRING!! There’s no better way to kickoff this spring season with friends and family than smothering them with gulal (holi color). Just think of how much fun a snowball fight is.. and now imagine doing the same thing with colored powder! A limited amount of colors will be provided by NetIP Dallas, but it is recommended that you purchase your own at a local South Asian store (darker colors are more fun) =)

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.

# # #

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

(L-R) A new NetIP LA/OC Member, 2009 NetIP LA/OC President Vamshi Gumalapuram & NetIP LA/OC Technology Chair Aliz Raksi

The first 50 new members who signed up on the spot received 2 free drinks, a good way to give a “shot” of happiness to kick-start the new year. Even after all the free drink tickets were passed out, another 55 new members joined, giving NetIP LA-OC a record breaking 105 new members in just one night! To top it off, some members even won comedy tickets to Comedy Night at Comedy Zen and 10 free downloads of Bollywood tunes!

In total over 250 South Asian Professionals were enjoying themselves within two and a half hours of the doors opening! According to NetIP La-OC’s Communications Chair Kalina Angell “This is only the beginning of a bigger and better year to come in Los Angeles and Orange County, stay tuned!”

Edited by Latha Nehru, VP of External Affairs, NetIP NA

NetIP LA/OC 2010 Kick-off Event at O-Bar in Downtown LA

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

Nearly 250 guests attended the event, which led to almost 75 new memberships!  The NetIP LA-OC team generated an excitement and enthusiasm for the national conference that clearly resonated with attendees.

 

 

To learn more about NetIP LA-OC and to see more pictures from this event and others, visit www.netipla.org.

As President of NetIP LA-OC, Vamshi Gumalapuram has truly reinvigorated the chapter. His vision has resulted in a tremendous increase in membership and a roster of innovative events.  He has established relationships with a number of partner organizations.  He has also been instrumental in creating the new and improved LA-OC chapter website and newsletter which have received much praise from the chapter’s member base.  Vamshi has also taken it on himself to monitor and help execute the chapter events and this effort has been has translated to creating very high quality and high impact events for NetIP LA-OC.

NetIP North America congratulates Vamshi on his accomplishments and the leadership he has shown with NetIP LA-OC!