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!"