NetIP: Of speed dating and motivational speeches - Conference Coverage by Rediff & India Abroad

From speed dating to listening to thought provoking talks by professor Tarun Khanna of the Harvard Business School, over 800 members of the Network of Indian Professionals recently spent three days in Boston.

The 2008 Conference theme, 'Explore, Dream, Discover,' was aimed at inspiring and encouraging professionals to think and act beyond their perceived boundaries, conference leaders said. The conference sought to highlight the greater issues within the Indian Diaspora and in India, including the plight of malnourished children and the efforts of Akshay Patra to feed and empower them by ensuring that they stay in the schools.

The participants also heard a raft of entrepreneurs including Gururaj 'Desh' Deshpande who in recent years has passionately committed himself to social entrepreneurship even while continuing to start new businesses year after year.

They marveled at 29-year-old Abhi Shah who spurned the traditional Harvard MBA route to Wall Street and runs a legal outsourcing company that he founded two years ago and which today has over 300 attorneys, legal aids and other workers in America and India.

And they admired Vikram Akula, who despite the opposition of traditional moneylenders and political forces, apart from Naxalites, runs across India a for-profit micro-financing organisation that makes out small loans of about $100 to thousands of women each month.

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South Asians still few in law trades - NetIP Conference Article by India New England

By MARK CONNORS

When Judge Sabita Singh recently presided over a case tried by public defender Radha Natarajan, one of a small number of South Asian litigators in Massachusetts, Singh couldn’t help but feel the need to step in and help the attorney when law enforcement officials she was questioning became hostile.

“Look at [Natarajan], she’s tiny, and these [witnesses] were these big, broad guys who became borderline hostile, borderline disrespectful. And part of me wanted to step in and help her,” said Singh, who added that seeing powerful South Asian lawyers practicing in her courtroom is “an incredible experience.”

But Singh restrained herself. “I thought, what would that do to her credibility?” she said. “And so I didn’t do anything.”

Both Singh and Natarajan participated in the panel discussion, “South Asian Lawyers in the Public Eye,” as part of the 17th annual Network of Indian Professionals, or NetIP, conference, a national event held Aug. 29-31 at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel in Boston. Other panelists included: Manisha Bhatt, senior attorney for Greater Boston Legal Services; Tejal Mehta, assistant district attorney at the Middlesex County district attorney’s office; and Anuradha Yadav, a corporate attorney based in Atlanta.

Panelists agreed that South Asians are not well represented in the American legal community. “A lot of times when I walk into court, the first thing they ask me is if I’m the interpreter,” Natarajan said.

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2008 Conference Pictures are up on our website!

Pictures from the 2008 NetIP Conference in Boston are up on our conference website www.netipconference.org. Videos will be posted soon. Meanwhile if you want to share your own picture albums and/or videos you can do so on our conference forum. Discuss about Conference pictures and share your interesting, and funny moments at the conference!

Congratulations to our 2008 Boscar Winners

At the 17th Annual NetIP Conference this year, a new tradition was started. Boscar Awards were given as part of a red-carpet themed gala to recognize the remarkable achievements of our organization’s finest leaders and celebrate the true spirit of NetIP. Our chapter leaders often go unnoticed while tirelessly preparing events across North America and constructing NetIP’s reputation as a positive and meaningful organization. However, these chapter leaders are the primary reason for our success as a non-profit voluntary organization that has slowly and steadily expanded to have a presence in 23 cities across the US and Canada.

It was NetIP North America’s honor this year to realize the accomplishments of individuals that often times go unnoticed as we strive to be a united and high-performing community. This year, we brought the style, glamour and flair of Bollywood and the dignity, sophistication, and inspiration of the Oscars, and united them into one magnificent event: The BOSCARS.

As many of us have learned over the course of the 17th Annual Conference, if we can find time to develop our professional skills, build on important personal connections, and make a positive difference in our communities, we will find life much more exciting, and ultimately, more rewarding and fulfilling. The leaders and chapters recognized at this year’s first ever BOSCARS ceremony have demonstrated these important values.

Please join us in congratulating our 2008 BOSCAR winners:

• Best Community Service Event – Community Service Day by NetIP NY
• Best Overall Event – “Rape, Regret & Retribution”: a socio-cultural theatrical event by NetSAP Bosto
• Best Individual Officer (three-way tie): Purti Bali/NetSAP DC, Pallavi Chhabra/NetSAP Boston, Debashish Das/NetIP NY
• Best Large Chapter President – Seema Tejura & Samrat Kulkarni, Co-Presidents, NetIP NY
• Best Small Chapter President – Santosh Perla, President, NetIP Pittsburgh
• Best Officer Board - NetSAP DC
• Best Emerging Chapter – NetIP Phoenix
• Best Small Chapter – NetIP Pittsburgh (two-time consecutive winners of this award)
• Best Large Chapter – NetSAP Boston (three-time consecutive winners of this award)

The Many Firsts at the 2008 NetIP Conference

The 2008 NetIP conference showcased diversity and many firsts among South Asian organizations throughout North America.

The conference raised awareness about several causes in the community through a range of topics and speakers. One of the highlights of the conference was the Born Into Brothel - Kids with Cameras exhibition on Friday night (August 29th, 2008) for which NetIP raised over $1000 in just 2 hours. Apart from knowing about the conditions of children in the red light districts in India, supporting these children financially showed how serious the organization is about helping them.

Comments Rebecca Burton from Kids with Cameras, "Kids with Cameras was delighted to participate in the NetSAP Conference in Boston. It was a pleasure to see the attendees' response to the Calcutta Workshop exhibit and the Born Into Brothels screening. It was a pleasure to hear stories of the attendees' own relationship to India and to hear how the movie touched them. We are so appreciative that we were invited to participate in such a dynamic, organized and impactful conference. A special thanks goes out to Usha Govindarajulu for her organization of the event, to the conference committee for all of their help throughout the evening, and to all of the attendees who made a financial contribution."

Another volunteering event for hope foundation had over 100 conference attendees assembling toiletry kits for a local homeless shelter. Participation of over 8 non-profits at the alliance partner luncheon at the conference on Saturday, August 30th, signified the influential role of NetIP and NetSAP in bringing all these organizations together and its committment to the betterment of the community. Moreover keynote speakers and several panelists stressed on the importance of giving back to the community.

Gayathri, Associate Director of Development at The Immigrant Learning Center, who was attending a NetIP event after almost 10 years commented - "the weekend was a wonderful surprise- I felt a true sense of community and made new friends and re-connected with some old friends. What really struck me was how diverse a group the attendees all were and how many other artists I met, and how much of a focus on non-profits there was at the conference." Gayathri is now inspired to volunteer with NetSAP Boston and help grow the organization.

Movie screenings based on social issues and cultural chai chat panels on relationships, and identity brought many important issues to the fore. Attendees were engrossed, shared their personal stories and interacted with the panelists to learn their views. The conference was perhaps the first mainstream conference ever to bring awareness about the GLBT community. As Sarav Chitambaram, CEO of Mediafactory LLC and the first Gay to participate in an Indian Conference puts it "This is one more step towards achieving equality for the GLBT community and one more step closer to integration the Straight and GLBT South Asian communities."

Focus was also laid on mainstream topics such as finance, healthcare, law, politics, media and music which on the other hand also showed how certain speakers followed unconventional paths to follow their passion.

All these initiatives and several others at this conference have helped differentiate the 2008 Conference from the conferences in the past and have added value to the NetIP brand.

As Vivek Agrawal, another attendee from the conference says "NetIP just put on what will go down in Indian-American history as one of the seminal events of the early 21st century. The energy, professionalism, and networking, both social and professional, will inspire all other South Asian events in future!"

NetIP conference in Boston to draw industry stalwarts - Preview Article by Rediff

With the mantras 'Explore, Dream, Discover,' the 17th edition of the three-day Network of Indian Professionals in North America (NetIP) conference to be held in Boston offers to the 800 participants opportunities to hear industry leaders and stalwart professors, including Gururaj 'Desh' Deshpande of Sycamore Networks; Tarun Khanna, professor at Harvard University Business School; and Vikram Akula of SKS Microfinance.

The August 29-31 event also has a strong dose of cultural activities featuring stand-up comics, the screening of socially conscious films such as Vanaja (whose producer and director Rajneesh Domalpalli is attending the event) and Anita Jain, the author of the comical and life-affirming memoir, Marrying Anita.

The event is organized by The Network of South Asian Professionals of Boston (NetSAP) and the national body NetIP.

"One of the things the speakers and discussions will emphasize on this year is how one can be cross-functional," said Tushneem Dharmagadda, the president of NetSAP and the co-chairman of the convention.

Read more at: http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/aug/25net.htm

Acting Workshop: Become a Superstar

Watch out for an acting workshop for beginning actors who are looking for a fun tutorial in basic acting skills! It will be held during the conference on Sunday, August 31 from 2:30 - 4:30 pm. There will be 3 sessions held in parallel, each hosted by a different group or instructor: SAATh, SETU, and Naveen Naveen.

SAATh and SETU are both Boston-based South Asian theater groups who have each been in the area over 5 years putting on plays. Naveen Naveen is a professor of theater arts in Santa Monica, CA and has many years of theatre experience. Each group offers its own unique compilation of a beginner's acting workshop.

Each workshop can accomodate up to 16 people maximum so please check out the description of each on the website (www.netipconference.org) and decide which one fits you the best. Then come on Sunday as admittance to each workshop is on a first come, first serve basis. Don't miss out on your chance to become the next superstar!