If you have read through some of my archives, you will know that I am very keen to become self-employed. Now whether that will make me an entrepreneur or just a freelancer does not matter. The very thought of the freedom associated with self-employment and the responsibilities and risks attached to it gives me a rush. As it does jitters. The reason I decided to test the waters, so to speak, volunteering with HeadStart, a nonprofit supporting the entrepreneur ecosystem, organizing Startup Saturdays in Bangalore, before taking the plunge. The last six months working with the SSB gang has been wonderful and fantastically educational. Of my own capabilities, nature, attitude, and a whole lot of other things that won’t be interesting to anyone else other than me. And before I start writing my autobiography, let me get to the point which is the theme of this month’s Startup Saturday “To be or not to be an entrepreneur”. To say that this SSB saw a high number of participants would be an understatement. It was the highest ever. Makes me feel proud to be part of the team that organized it. God, there I go again, writing my biography. The self-interest does creep in between the lines, doesn’t it? But hey, isn’t that what blogs are for? Argh, stop. Before you become more philosophical. That was for me btw. Goodness, I have two writing personalities? STOP.
To continue with SSB November, here’s what we wrote in our mailers and event introduction – “Many aspiring entrepreneurs are still stuck and not able to take the Plunge…. This month’s SSB will have a session on whether or not to be an entrepreneur by a three-time startup expert….”Perfect for me and others who have been loitering around in the lobby and twiddling our thumbs. The only problem was that it clashed with my daughter’s first ever fancy dress day at her playschool. Mommy or Boss? Which comes first? Father! Roped the guy in to make sure daughter’s dress up doesn’t suffer and went ahead with enlightened self-interest. Mommy will not miss this month’s Startup Saturday at any cost. So attend I did and came away with lot of notes. Not sure about that enlightenment. I still feel like loitering around. But that’s beside the point as always.
Just to ensure that those notes don’t go wasted, I sat and put in almost an entire half a day at office trying to write a very interesting, very educational, very enlightening post on the session for the HeadStart blog. It turned out like an essay that my final year college self would have written. But then I loved my college self. So here’s an excerpt of what she, I mean me, lets just say we wrote.
“Chaos and uncertainty – two things you must learn to live with if you want to be an entrepreneur” – started Surya, our presenter for the expert talk this Startup Saturday. One of the most awaited sessions, November’s Startup Saturday saw the highest number of participants in the history of SS Bangalore. Over 170 people assembled at the IIMB auditorium on this brisk Saturday morning eagerly waiting for some insights on entrepreneurship. While the event started with a series of the regular lightning pitches the audience waited eagerly for the key attraction of the day, the expert talk and discussion on “To be or not to be an Entrepreneur.”
“You have an idea or a maybe even a lot of them. But you don’t know where to start. You are confused.” continued Surya, adding “Then you can assume you are in the right place… you are fit to be an entrepreneur.” A huge collective sigh of relief spread through the audience. You could almost hear them thinking “thank god, am not alone.”
Dot. Dot. Dot.
The session concluded with Surya’s last slide which resonated with all of us long after the Saturday. It simply stated thus:
“Don’t be disappointed if the world refuses to help you out. Remember what Einstein said – I am thankful to all those that said No. It’s because of them that I did it myself.”
Yes.
Read the complete write up here. And SAY NO to me please.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Twestival India - A lot of attention from the media
Thanks to the Media industry for showering Twestival India with a whole lot of love and attention this time. For posterity’s sake, let me pull it all together in one place here. Most of these are pre-event features except for Times of India. There is still a lot of scope for detailed analysis of the Twestival scene at India – if anyone is interested, let me know.
We have also been covered by TV, primarily by the two channels TV9 and CNN IBN Network 18. We did speak with NDTV but I don’t think they covered any of the events live when they happened in the six cities between 10-13 Sep. We’ve recorded the TV9 telecast – will try to get @dhempe to put that on YouTube.
Meanwhile, enjoy the attention our friends have given us here:
Mainstream:
“This time, Twestival will be going local” DNA Bangalore – 25 August 2009
“Tweeting for a cause” LiveMint – 26 August 2009
“Tweet Dreams” TimeOut Bengaluru – 04 Sep 2009
“Twestival comes to Mumbai” Hindustan Times Mumbai – 4 Sep 2009
“Charity 2.0” Outlook Money – 09 Sep 2009
“Working for a cause the micro way” Times of India Chennai – 09 Sep 2009
“Local 'twestival' to be held at Bandra” DNA Mumbai – 09 Sep 2009
“An offline Twitter affair, for a cause” Times of India Bangalore – 10 Sep 2009
“Have fun at Twestival, but do volunteer” DNA Bangalore – 11 Sep 2009
“Tweeting for a social cause” The New Indian Express Chennai – 11 Sep 2009
“Party for a cause” The New Indian Express Bangalore – 12 Sep 2009
“Twestival Time” Indian Express – 12 Sep 2009
“Partying for a cause” The Hindu – 12 Sep 2009
“Bangalore Twitter users raise money for charity” Times of India Bangalore – 13 Sep 2009
Others/syndicated news:
“Twestival Time” Yahoo India News – 12 Sep 2009
“Twestival: 'Party for a Cause' this Saturday” MSN India – 10 Sep 2009
“TATA DOCOMO Sponsors Mumbai's Twitter Festival” India PR Wire – 10 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's 'Twitters' to help underprivileged children” Indian eNews – 11 Sep 2009
“Twestival (Twitter festival) Bangalore offers help to underprivileged children” Weeks Update – 11 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's 'Twitters' to help less privileged kids” Silicon India – 11 Sep 2009
“Twestival and Dream: A Dream arrange cultural show!” Duniya Live Bangalore – 12 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's IT hub to use 'Twitters' to help underprivileged kids” MyNews.in – 12 Sep 2009
“IT Hub Bangalore organizes Tweet Party for charity” UB News – 13 Sep 2009
"Bangalore Twitters rally to help needy children" Gulfnews.com - 11 Sep 2009
TV:
"Tweeting for a good cause" CNN IBN - 15 Sep 2009
I will be keeping this post updated as and when some news gets published on Twestival India. But if you come across any other feature or coverage that I've missed, do let me know and I will get this updated.
We have also been covered by TV, primarily by the two channels TV9 and CNN IBN Network 18. We did speak with NDTV but I don’t think they covered any of the events live when they happened in the six cities between 10-13 Sep. We’ve recorded the TV9 telecast – will try to get @dhempe to put that on YouTube.
Meanwhile, enjoy the attention our friends have given us here:
Mainstream:
“This time, Twestival will be going local” DNA Bangalore – 25 August 2009
“Tweeting for a cause” LiveMint – 26 August 2009
“Tweet Dreams” TimeOut Bengaluru – 04 Sep 2009
“Twestival comes to Mumbai” Hindustan Times Mumbai – 4 Sep 2009
“Charity 2.0” Outlook Money – 09 Sep 2009
“Working for a cause the micro way” Times of India Chennai – 09 Sep 2009
“Local 'twestival' to be held at Bandra” DNA Mumbai – 09 Sep 2009
“An offline Twitter affair, for a cause” Times of India Bangalore – 10 Sep 2009
“Have fun at Twestival, but do volunteer” DNA Bangalore – 11 Sep 2009
“Tweeting for a social cause” The New Indian Express Chennai – 11 Sep 2009
“Party for a cause” The New Indian Express Bangalore – 12 Sep 2009
“Twestival Time” Indian Express – 12 Sep 2009
“Partying for a cause” The Hindu – 12 Sep 2009
“Bangalore Twitter users raise money for charity” Times of India Bangalore – 13 Sep 2009
Others/syndicated news:
“Twestival Time” Yahoo India News – 12 Sep 2009
“Twestival: 'Party for a Cause' this Saturday” MSN India – 10 Sep 2009
“TATA DOCOMO Sponsors Mumbai's Twitter Festival” India PR Wire – 10 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's 'Twitters' to help underprivileged children” Indian eNews – 11 Sep 2009
“Twestival (Twitter festival) Bangalore offers help to underprivileged children” Weeks Update – 11 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's 'Twitters' to help less privileged kids” Silicon India – 11 Sep 2009
“Twestival and Dream: A Dream arrange cultural show!” Duniya Live Bangalore – 12 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's IT hub to use 'Twitters' to help underprivileged kids” MyNews.in – 12 Sep 2009
“IT Hub Bangalore organizes Tweet Party for charity” UB News – 13 Sep 2009
"Bangalore Twitters rally to help needy children" Gulfnews.com - 11 Sep 2009
TV:
"Tweeting for a good cause" CNN IBN - 15 Sep 2009
I will be keeping this post updated as and when some news gets published on Twestival India. But if you come across any other feature or coverage that I've missed, do let me know and I will get this updated.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Indian Non-profits on Twitter
Updated 29 Oct 2009
When I came across the list of Indian Brands & Businesses on Twitter by Santosh Maharshi , I found it very impressive. It was just the thing I was searching for when I was looking to connect with potential sponsors quickly for a fund-raising event. After some time , I got thinking. Won’t it be nice if we can similar lists for other things as well besides Brands and Businesses in India? For instance, a list of non-profits in India on Twitter?
So here's the list of tweeting non-profits/NGOs/volunteer organizations/initiatives that I could find (Thanks to Maya and others for their contribution to this list):
The TweepML quick reference list that will enable you to follow all of them or a selective few is here.
I will be updating this list frequently through the Twitter List feature here. May not on this blo though. So for the latest updated version, please check my Twitter Indian nonprofit list.
For now, am keeping the definition pretty simple - any organization that works for a social benefit without profit as their main motive. And there's very little/minimal due diligence that I do before adding them to this list - just relying on what their website/tweet says - but I realize that as this list grows, that will have to change. Obviously, we wouldn't want anybody to get a free ride in the name of non-profit. Mulling on that...
Meanwhile, iIf you would like to add any other non-profit to the above list or remove inappropriate ones, tweet me on @adropofwisdom or leave a comment below and I will update the list!
Lets make a difference, one step at a time.
When I came across the list of Indian Brands & Businesses on Twitter by Santosh Maharshi , I found it very impressive. It was just the thing I was searching for when I was looking to connect with potential sponsors quickly for a fund-raising event. After some time , I got thinking. Won’t it be nice if we can similar lists for other things as well besides Brands and Businesses in India? For instance, a list of non-profits in India on Twitter?
So here's the list of tweeting non-profits/NGOs/volunteer organizations/initiatives that I could find (Thanks to Maya and others for their contribution to this list):
- @Aashayein
- @Arch4HumanityND
- @bell_bajao
- @CRYIndia
- @CSOPartners
- @deepam_
- @dreamadreamind
- @fundacause
- @giveindia
- @grassroutes
- @greenpeaceindia
- @headstart
- @helpachildindia
- @ICICIFoundation *
- @ivolunteerindia
- @indianfolklore
- @indicorps
- @ishafoundation
- @iycn
- @lifevrindavan
- @mamMovies *
- @NanubhaiEF
- @prajnya
- @prathambooks
- @prathamindia
- @rangde
- @sangamindia
- @stir_e
- @teameverest
- @thebetterindia
- @toybank
- @udayancare
- @WildlifeSOS
- @yatn_Indian_NGO
- @ncsindia
- @RedRIndia
- @charity4india
The TweepML quick reference list that will enable you to follow all of them or a selective few is here.
I will be updating this list frequently through the Twitter List feature here. May not on this blo though. So for the latest updated version, please check my Twitter Indian nonprofit list.
For now, am keeping the definition pretty simple - any organization that works for a social benefit without profit as their main motive. And there's very little/minimal due diligence that I do before adding them to this list - just relying on what their website/tweet says - but I realize that as this list grows, that will have to change. Obviously, we wouldn't want anybody to get a free ride in the name of non-profit. Mulling on that...
Meanwhile, iIf you would like to add any other non-profit to the above list or remove inappropriate ones, tweet me on @adropofwisdom or leave a comment below and I will update the list!
Lets make a difference, one step at a time.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Making one difference at a time
When I got a chance to become the regional coordinator for India for Twestival, I had no clue how much I will enjoy taking on this role. But the past few weeks of running with the Twestival organizing in India (and sometime back for Middle East and Bangladesh too) has been nothing short of amazing. It has been absolutely satisfying and makes me feel like I am making some difference to this world. Loving it. Got to thank @amanda and @dhempe.
Meanwhile, here's some of the press that Twestival India has received:
DNA
Outlook Money
LiveMint
Hindustan Times
TimeOut Bengaluru
Twestival in India will be happening at Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad. Each of them are supporting a different cause. Check their blogs for more details. If you are in any of these cities, make sure you participate. Let's make one difference at a time.
Meanwhile, here's some of the press that Twestival India has received:
DNA
Outlook Money
LiveMint
Hindustan Times
TimeOut Bengaluru
Twestival in India will be happening at Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad. Each of them are supporting a different cause. Check their blogs for more details. If you are in any of these cities, make sure you participate. Let's make one difference at a time.
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