Hello Seattle

As Seattleites planning to celebrate NetIP’s 20th anniversary at an exclusive conference in our dear hometowm, we pondered various ways to build hype/promote our unique metropolitan.  “Hang an obnoxious banner from the Space Needle?”  No.  “What about getting Ichiro Suzuki to replace his Mariners’ hat with a NetIP one?”  Not gonna happen.  So we went back to the drawing board, outlining the benefits of holding said conference in our city.  What we found was astounding, things we’d never thought of, things we realized set the Northwest corner of the country apart from everywhere else.

Many refer to Seattle as being  ‘metronatural’, the perfect blend of city and nature.  We prefer to think of Seattle in the summertime as the perfect mix of temperature and scenery.  While most parts of the country are slogging through the dog days of summer, Seattle is graced with clear skies and temperatures hovering in the pleasant mid-70s.  This pleasant setting extends to the balance of metro and environment, as Seattleites don’t just respect the environment, we embrace it.  Call us green, call us tree-huggers, we love Mother Nature.  This is another element we’ve melded into the conference, as we’ve made sure this conference is not just informative, but sustainable.  The hotel we’ve booked for our conference will employ a number of green practices, but specifically less paper being used for materials (as most collateral will be electronic).

Seattle in August is not just a destination, but an experience – a locale we encourage you arrive early to and leave late.  Bordered on three sides by breathtaking water views (Puget Sound to the West, Lake Washington to the East, Salmon Bay and Lake Union to the North), it’s hard to get bored with the landscape of our town.  Known for being extremely tourist-friendly, Seattle boasts a number of ‘must-sees’ within its city limits, from the infamous Space Needle and Pike Place Market to lesser-known landmarks such as the Experience Music Project and Queen Anne Hill.  If one chooses to venture outside of the city, to the east one can find Leavenworth (a traditional Bavarian village), and to the north, the 2010 Winter Olympics host, Vancouver, BC.

As the first NetIP conference to be held on the west coast in over 10 years, this year’s event, “unique.by.nature”, promises to be the most memorable.  Would you expect any less from a conference held near the home of Starbucks, Nordstorm, Amazon (Seattle), Microsoft and Nintendo (Redmond), and T-Mobile (Bellevue)?  The conference agenda is also set to include the topics of: sustainability (a Seattle favorite), the future of technology, healthcare, entrepreneurship, and much, much more.   This year, our Conference Chairs are also adding a new type of session–the “Interactive Skill Building Workshop”–with the promise that attendees leave the session with a new life skill.

This conference pledges to be Unique by Nature – due to the organization (NetIP), the host city (Seattle), and the mix of people that’ll make this conference NetIP’s best ever.  This is an EXCLUSIVE CONFERENCE, so attendance will be limited to the first 500 which sign up (last year’s conference hosted over 1000 attendees).  Stay tuned for more conference details at  www.netipconference.org, and drop us a line at conferenceinfo@netip.org.

See you August 20th,

NetIP Conference Team
conferenceinfo@netip.org
www.netipconference.org

NetSAP Boston Helps Community Boating,Inc. Prep for 2010 Sailing Season

Written by Teju Patel ~ NetSAP Boston Cultural Chair & Anisha Patel ~ NetSAP Boston Secretary

On Saturday, March 20^th from 10 am to 4pm volunteers  from the Network of South Asian Professionals Boston Chapter were on hand to get Community Boating, Inc.  ready for this year’s sailing season.    The boat house and surrounding structures are very typical of the New England area: a clash of new and old worlds.    Where else but Boston will you find a not-for-profit organization that is considered “.  .  .  the largest, oldest, and best public sailing program in the United States, and serves as a model program for many others.  .  .  “?

Generally speaking, March 20th is cold and snowy, and better suited for a little spring skiing.   This year the weather was unseasonably warm, with temperatures reaching up to 70 degrees by the early afternoon.   With no sailing skills required, the NetSAP volunteers came together to clear the docks and to ready the boats to set sail for the season!  As everyone set about their work it was clear that there was a lot to accomplish! The marina held a few boats, but the majority of the boats were still sitting on the dock in their winter resting places waiting for a little TLC.

The boats were laid in a manner reminiscent of a package of taco shells.   The boats were placed on their sides, fitting together so that the least amount of space was used for the maximum amount of storage.   Each Mercury weighed anywhere from 200-300lbs.   An assembly line quickly came together to place each into the water.   The eager volunteers, pumped up on coffee and munchkins, set out to flip, fix, and push the Mercury’s into the water.

So how does a group of 5 volunteers tip over a boat to make sure it’s right side up? Four people would stand at the back, and then one person would shimmy to the inside of the boat and step on the edge to tip it over.   This was referred to as “riding the rail”! Once the boat was flipped, it was gingerly placed on a wheeled dolly in order to be inspected.   Once all the bolts, life jackets, and the main mast were adequately fixed – the boat was heave-hoed into the chilly Charles River.   Despite the balmy weather, no one even dared accidentally falling into the frigid 40 degree waters! We split up into 4 groups and the work started moving along.  .  .

As the assembly line progressed, volunteers were finally able to see the dock, with most of the boats now bobbing in the water.   A clear indicator of the group’s success! Once this happened, the Community Boating folks wanted to thank all the volunteers for all their hard work by energizing them with a hearty barbecue lunch.   During lunch, the NetSAPpers sat with the organization’s executive director and chatted about the historic boat house.   We all learned that this boat house exists and operates solely on the generosity of energetic volunteers.   People that belong to this organization not only sail, but recruit their friends and family into their passion.   Community Boating, Inc.   caters to sailors of all ages and ability, as well as youngsters from the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.

At the end of the day the Network of South Asian Professionals, Boston gang took a picture on the dock with the beautiful skyline in the background.   Physically exhausted by the lifting, pushing, and pulling, the group reveled in their accomplishments and then headed home for a nap.

To learn more about NetSAP Boston please visit http://www.netsapboston.org/ and click HERE to visit their Facebook page.

www.NetIP.org

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