Less than 18 months after commencing a community-wide rebranding effort, NetIP Chicago earned top honors at NetIP’s 19th Annual National Conference in Seattle, Washington winning the coveted “Best Board” and “Best Chapter” awards. Twenty-four chapters under the NetIP umbrella vied for these awards throughout North America. Aasif Mandvi (comedian, actor, entertainer) and Vijay Amritraj (tennis legend) personally recognized and provided the awards to NetIP Chicago’s leadership.

The “Best Board” honor was based on the cohesiveness and unprecedented progress of the 36-person NetIP Chicago Board of Directors in 2010. The “Best Chapter” designation is the highest prize awarded to a NetIP chapter taking into account not only the organization’s leadership, but also chapter membership and community interest.

It is often considered a success for a volunteer organization to host one marquee event per year. Over the last 30 days, NetIP Chicago successfully hosted four major events, which received the participation and support of a broad segment of the Chicago community.

We kicked off the event spree July 15th with a sold out Professional Development Speaker Series Event featuring Ravi Baichwal, weekend co-anchor for ABC Channel 7 News and 2008 Emmy award winner. Fresh off the heels of the PD event, NetIP Chicago made history hosting the first leg of a 3-City Tour through NetIP Chicago, NetIP New York, and NetIP Los Angeles. The Chicago leg of the 3-City Tour sold out with the participation of over 200 guests from Chicago and beyond the weekend of July 16th. .

Only Chicago Ka Andaaz—NetIP Chicago’s First Annual Culture Show—could rival the 3-City Tour. The performances dazzled, the evening glittered and the 500+ audience was left mesmerized by the magical treat that was Chicago Ka Andaaz (“CKA”). Less than a week later, over 150 runners, survivors, and supporters participated in the First Annual “Race Against Cancer” 5K Run/Walk.

Taking the expression “no rest for the weary” to heart, NetIP Chicago will be following the July/August marquee event spree with a number of other major events including:

•  IACS Job Fair co-hosted by NetIP Chicago (Aug. 28)
  http://www.iacsjobfair.com

• Rock Your Match Social at Rock Bottom (Sept. 3 @ 6pm – 8pm)
  http://bit.ly/cicsocial

• "Drive For A Cause” Charity Golf Outing (Sept. 25) -
  http://bit.ly/cicgolf

•  Chicago’s First South Asian Film Festival (Oct. 1-3) -
  http://www.csaff.org

• Our much anticipated Annual Charity Gala benefitting CiC (Nov. 20)

As always, the ultimate success of NetIP Chicago is entirely dependent on our members’ active participation and feedback. Make a lasting impact today by joining the “Best Chapter” and “Best Board” in North America.

Best regards,

Ashwin Janakiram
2010 President
NetIP Chicago
(312) 834-4440
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We're on the eve of the most ambitious 30 days that NetIP Chicago has seen in years. You don't want to miss out!

We're kicking off with a sold out Professional Development event with Ravi Baichwal this evening.  Professional Development has been our fast growing pillar and it's clear that we've made our mark with a sold out event. If you would like to be notified of our next Professional Development event, email us This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Next up, the NetIP 3 City Tour is stopping in Chicago this weekend with an assortment of events:

Friday evening - A tour of Goose Island Brewery

Friday night - Open bar at Y-Bar

Saturday afternoon - Navy Pier Experience

Saturday evening - Boat Cruise (Open Bar + Food)

Saturday night - Party at Crescendo

Sunday afternoon - Lunch at Gaylord's

The excitement continues with the Chicago Ka Andaaz Culture Show on Saturday, July 31st! Learn more about the show at http://www.netipchicago.org/cultureshow. The team organizing the event has done an amazing job vetting great acts, so buy your ticket today!

Finally, we'll be closing off the cavalacade with our Cancer is Colorblind: Race Against Cancer 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, August 7th. You can register today at http://bit.ly/cancer5k! The Cancer is Colorblind campaign is the largest concerted community outreach effort in the history of NetIP Chicago, and it's success is dependant on you! Learn more about the campaign at http://www.canceriscolorblind.org.

NetIP 2.0 is in full gear and we want you to come enjoy the experience! Come find me at any of these events and let me know your thoughts!

Amit Varia
Co-VP of Technology
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I’m excited to get to address the NetIP community this month! To all our members and supporters, I hope you enjoyed our April events focused on outreach, philanthropy, and professional development.  From the Promote Yourself professional development workshop to working with the kids at Mount Sinai Hospital and All Stars Program to our first-of-the year Friday evening mixers, we had a blast hosting and appreciate your participation with NetIP and the community.

As Chicago gets ready to enjoy the summer months, the NetIP board gears up for another season of fun-filled events including a professional development cocktail reception with Raja Krishnamoorthi (May 12th), a boat cruise on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River (July 17th), a South Asian Cultural Show, putting the focus on the community (July 31st), and our soon to be launched Book-Club Series (June 3rd).

NetIP also launches our most aggressive campaign to raise money and awareness for our Cancer is Colorblind (CiC) Campaign to benefit cancer-related care and honor cancer survivors and fighters at Children’s Memorial and Sinai Health System. Stay tuned as we roll out our pre-gala events building momentum, raising awareness, and critical funds. (Make sure to create a fundraising page at http://www.canceriscolorblind.org)

We invite you to share the NetIP Board’s energy, enthusiasm, and creativity as we help kick-start the summer month.

Warm regards,
Shafohi Alamgir
2010 Executive Vice-President, NetIP Chicago

NetIP Chicago is making an impact. You should too.

We promised “upgrades” to reflect and further the ideals and pillars on which NetIP was founded two decades ago (community outreach, professional development, and cultural and political awareness). A quick browse of our April newsletter confirms we are delivering in a major way.

With respect to community outreach initiatives, last month we formed two major partnerships with Mount Sinai Hospital and the All Stars Project of Chicago (ASP). Many of the patients from Mount Sinai come from struggling socio-economic situations. Our proposed involvement with Sinai includes bridging opportunities for short term marketing projects, financial consulting, pro bono legal services, research support and volunteer commitments with patient-facing opportunities. We already have a number of volunteer opportunities setup for our members (see highlights inside this newsletter).

We are equally proud of our partnership with the All Stars Project of Chicago. ASP is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting human development through the use of an innovative performance-based model. ASP creates outside of school, educational and performing arts activities for thousands of poor and minority young people. As part of NetIP’s partnership with ASP, NetIP recently worked to identify ASP’s volunteer needs for a youth talent show. Various NetIP members attended a volunteer orientation at ASP’s downtown headquarters and spent a full day volunteering in connection with the talent show. We are now contemplating ways to expand our involvement with ASP in 2010 and beyond.

We have also teamed with a number of community organizations (outside of formal partnerships) to provide outreach opportunities to members. These opportunities include a 30-Hour Famine, National Rebuilding Day, and English-Speaking language lessons to help individuals in our local community and beyond. Additional details involving these opportunities and others can be found inside this newsletter.

Another key component of our “upgrade” is a renewed focus on Professional Development programming. We are excited to launch two dynamic professional development program series in 2010. Our Workshop Series kicks off this month and will include hands-on and interactive presentations from innovative practitioners on topics ranging from developing an “executive presence” to securing your business and identity. Our Speaker Series kicks off next month, and will provide NetIP members an opportunity to engage with high profile and inspirational business, political and thought leaders in a professional and relaxed setting. Upcoming contributors include Michael Popowits and Raja Krishnamoorthi.

In addition to these high-impact events, we are proud to announce that a critical mass of NetIP members and community volunteers are hard at work planning our signature year-end charity gala. The theme and title for this year’s gala is Cancer is Colorblind (CIC). Our vision entails mobilizing the Greater Chicago community and hosting over 400 attendees for an evening featuring cultures from across the globe and a formal dinner.

The purpose of the event is to raise funds for cancer-related programming and research, while honoring cancer survivors who have made an impact in the local community. Leading up to the CIC gala, we plan to host a number of events to further the cause and fundraising effort, including a 5K Run/Walk and a Community Pub Crawl. Proceeds will benefit Children’s Memorial Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital. If you’d like to volunteer, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

With our expanded and refocused community outreach and professional development programming, initiatives and events, there truly is something for everyone with NetIP Chicago. Sign-up for membership and make an impact today. 

Greetings,

Allow me to introduce “NetIP 2.0”: the new and improved NetIP-Chicago. The “upgrades” we are unfolding this year are part of our mission to become the premier networking organization in Chicago. The mission “specs” form the bases for our “rebranding effort” — a series of initiatives, programs and structural changes conducive to reflecting and furthering the ideals and pillars on which NetIP was founded two decades ago.

Our rebranding effort is geared towards energizing and mobilizing our membership and the local community. Starting with our 2009 partnership with Apna Ghar—to benefit victims of domestic violence—we observed an outpouring of support and personal commitments directed towards the success of our programming. The culmination of our efforts led to a charity gala with over 400 attendees and revenue exceeding $50,000 to support a worthy cause.

Leveraging our success from 2009, to kick-off 2010, we hosted a recruitment event to help assemble the 2010 NetIP-Chicago Board of Directors (“Board”). Over sixty individuals looking to make a difference attended the event. Given the overwhelming interest from the community, we conducted a two-week interview process, which resulted in 36 individual leaders of varying professional backgrounds joining our Board. (We continue to accept applications for Board positions in certain functional areas.)

In the midst of assembling our Board, we were also able to host a number of successful high-impact events this year, including our Haiti Relief Effort fundraiser (January) and Valentine Mixer to raise awareness for the American Heart Association and American Heart Month (February). Now with the benefit of a talented and dedicated Board, along with a formal operational structure and reporting protocols, 2010 promises to be a busy and exciting time to be part of NetIP-Chicago.

But the ultimate success of our rebranding effort is entirely dependent on our members’ active participation and feedback. Whether helping coordinate our culture show (June), professional development workshops (quarterly), or community outreach events related to our year-end banquet to benefit pediatric cancer patients at Children’s Memorial Hospital, it is time to get involved. With your help, the best is yet to come. Please join our efforts today.

Sincerely,
Ashwin Janakiram 2010
President, NetIP-Chicago