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I will be speaking at ForSE 2009 on October 23rd, so figured should post a short preview on it.
ForSE which stands for FORum for Social Entrepreneurs is an annual conference spearheaded by the TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Social Entrepreneurship SIG. The conference brings together social innovators, leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to facilitate the sharing of new technology and business ideas, and to foster informed discussion on new social venture concepts.
What is the topic about? Here is the blurb…
Are “Social Media” and “Social Entrepreneurship” compatible? Already Twitter, Facebook, and the rest are revolutionizing the business and marketing of social impact. Every day, it seems, another grassroots effort testifies to these platforms and their ability to spread a message to thousands, even millions. Followers become funders, messages become movements, and social networks beget social change. How does the speed and reach of social media alter the formulas for successful social impact? What happens when marketing evolves from broadcast to conversation, fundraising changes from large donors to micro-donations, or collaboration moves from sweaty basements to vast social networks?
While we’ll discuss more on the topic at ForSE and delve into the details, here are four basic tips for Social Entrepreneurs interested in leveraging social media:
“Social media” has become such a popular buzz word today… From board rooms to everyday conversations, you’ll not go without hearing those words several times. And yes that has also led to every organization jumping onto the bandwagon – creating groups on facebook, linkedin, twitter, posting videos on youtube, pictures on flickr, starting blogs and so on. However, the lack of strategy and design on part of organizations makes this entire experience chaotic and a sloppy implementation in most cases adds more burden for the marketing folks with no significant ROI in sight.
While big corporations shell out thousands if not millions to employ consultants who put both the plan and hopefully the implementation in place, non-profits and smaller enterprises with half-baked knowledge scramble to put something in place with hardly any success. This post will try to address both the plan and an easy implementation strategy for social media tools. Although I won’t go much into details, you can ping me for further clarifications or questions if any…
India School Fund (ISF), a startup from Harvard Business School, focuses on ensuring effective delivery of community-driven education to break the vicious cycle of poverty in rural areas of India. ISF achieves this goal by developing rural school infrastructure, creating innovative curriculum and training local teachers.
Over the years, ISF has made great progress in India and opened a second school last month. I first got involved with ISF in 2007, when I was the President of NetSAP Boston. Since then I have been advising the ISF team and more recently have been helping them manage the US operations.
The US operation helps in creating awareness, raising funds and providing strategic support necessary for running the organization and the schools in India. We are looking for volunteers who are passionate about this cause to get involved and help us. So reach out to me!
Meanwhile please help spread the word about the organization. Here are the links to our group on LinkedIn 
and page on Facebook 
!
The recent quarterly newsletter is posted below so you can learn more about what the organization has been up to…
Well, you often get to hear Industry leaders, but how many times do you actually get the opportunity to network and talk to them?
Semiconductor and Electronic Devices (SED) SIG (special interest group) at TiE-Boston, of which I am the Co-Chair, is hosting its summer networking mixer and happy hour at Lobby, one of the most trendiest venues’ in downtown Boston, on Thursday, September 3rd.
It is an awesome opportunity to get out of your shells and connect. Over drinks and hors d’oeuvres, interact with other professionals and industry leaders including most of our panelists from the past – some of whom included Sam Fuller, CTO of ADI, Pete Bannon, VP of PA Semi (Now Apple), Subhash Roy, CTO of AMCC, Alex Benik, Principal at Battery Ventures, Dan Button, President and CEO of QD Vision, Dr. Bart Riley Founder, CTO and VP of R&D of A123 Systems, and Aatish Salvi, VP of Nano Business Alliance.
Here’s an interview of me, when I was the President of NetSAP Boston, and Usha Govindarajulu (ex Theatrics & Cultural Chair, NetSAP Boston) on the show “Its all about Arts” hosted by Glenn Williams. The show on BNN Live, a prominent community TV channel in the Boston area, was broadcast sometime in early October 2008. Yes, its been a while and I finally got to upload the video now. We talk about NetSAP, primarily the cultural and arts side of the organization and how we provided a platform for professionals with different interests to come together!
Read more about my media interviews/mentions from the past >>
NetSAP-Boston was recently featured on India New England. I am glad to have been closely associated with building this organization… Click here to read more.
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