WORLD ZARATHUSHTI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
NORTH TEXAS CHAPTER
Report by:FIRDOSH MEHTA September26, 2009
The second meeting of our chapter was held on September 19, 2009, at the Schimelpfenig Library in Plano, Texas. We currently have a total membership of eleven.Twenty eight people, including Speakers,attended this meeting, with Yasmin and Rustom Engineer as our Special Guests, from Houston. With a welcome speech by the Chair, Firdosh Mehta, heacquainted the audience with the current status of the WZCC and the upcoming AGM during the World Congress in DUBAI. He introduced the book, THE FALL of EMPIRES, which deals with MANAGEMENT of large ancient kingdoms. He touched on the Youth Leadership Enhancement Program [YLEP], as a Legacy of the Dubai Congress and the participation of the North American Young Adult Zarathushtis. He observed the fortunate moment of having three WZCC International Board Members, all Texans, in the room together.
FirstMr. Eric Engineer explained the leveraging of on-line social and professional networks, such as LinkedIn, Face Book, Twitter, etc. In addition, he enlightened the audience on general selection processes of the effective use of these internet based avenues for keeping in touch and exponentially increasing our level of connectedness.Eric also introduced the YLEP project that he is heading, to assist potential employers and employees to keep in touch in these trying economic times.It was a very interactive and fast-paced discussion with many questions by the audience. The session ended with a discussion on safe aspects of usage of the electronic networking media for senior citizens and others not so familiar in their use.
Our second speaker, Mr. Sarosh Nayar from The Janus Group, shared his success story of his dream of entrepreneurship in how he developed a marketing strategy for a business group through its printing and graphic art venture called FASTSIGNS. He shared the importance of family support during the infant years of his venture. He invited his recent employee, Mr. Rehan Engineer, who walked us through the various design innovations that FASTSIGNS had come up for many businesses of repute. There was an informative discussion on branding strategies, market solutions and the session ended with a Q&A discussion. It was heart-warming to note the enthusiasm and zeal of our young businessmen.
Eric Engineer continued with a third session of his experiences as a Senior Associate with SEVIN ROSEN FUNDS of Dallas.He explained the nature of venture capital; what it is, how does it work and why it is important for the development of many high risk businesses, in the frontier and field of technological innovations and unique service oriented start-ups.
Firdosh and Jamshed Rivetna offered a token of our thanks to both the speakers with a gift from Barnes & Noble Bookstore.The meeting adjourned and all those who attended found all three sessions very interesting and educational. An excellent meeting for our Chapter, with the highest attendance ever.
Our next chapter meeting is scheduled for December 6th, 2009.
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