OPEN Chicago takes a leap towards realizing the vision of entrepreneurship at its Annual Event

OPEN held its second annual event on Saturday, July 17th 2010 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. Over 110 members and guests attended this event which focused on the theme The Entrepreneur Within – From Vision to Reality.

The event kicked off with informal networking and opening remarks by Zia Bhatti, OPEN Chicago President and Rafiq Mohammadi, OPEN Chicago Charter Member.

The keynote speaker, Jim Moody, former U.S. Congressman and Director of Peace Corps (Pakistan) was the highlight of the event.  His analysis on the current state of Pakistan, his own experience in establishing the Peace Corps, and the challenges Pakistan currently faces kept the audience captivated. Mr. Moody has extensive experience in policy and human development of socially conscious organizations. His thoughts on the possible course of action to remedy the economic, political and foreign policy of Pakistan made for an interactive and engaged Q/A session.

Following a coffee break and opportunity to network with fellow attendees, the first social entrepreneurship panel discussion with focus on "The Power of Unreasonable People: Change makers Create Social Capital" commenced with Ruma Samdani as the moderator. The panel ranged from social venture fund manager to founders of nonprofit social enterprises. Panel answered questions about their own experiences in starting an entrepreneurship, identifying a social need and the defining path to put a vision in to an action plan. The panel session wrapped up with an open floor for questions.

The attendees got more networking opportunity with speakers during a long lunch break. Each table was assigned with a speaker and guests were given the opportunity to sign up to sit with a speaker of their choice. Following lunch, Nabeela Rasheed, OPEN Chicago charter member reconvened the event by introducing Henna Inam, Global Head of e-Innovations at Novartis to the podium.

Ms. Inam is involved in various non-profit organizations as a board member. She encouraged the audience to draft a clear vision statement for their lives and shared her personal moment of social awakening. Ms. Inam talked about the quality of authentic leadership and how choosing the right path matters much more than taking the path of least resistance. Following her interactive speech, Ms. Inam took questions from members and guests.

The second panel discussion focused on panelists who had success in start-ups and buyouts. The topic of discussion "From Vision to Reality: Paths to Entrepreneurship" was moderated by Asim Khan.  The panelists included entrepreneur in manufacturing, partner in a law firm and owners of successful IT start ups.  Each panelist described in detail what it takes to start a business, make it successful and sustain its growth over time. At the end of the panel discussion, audience was given a chance to ask questions from panel.

The final keynote address, "Carrying the Torch," by Mahmood Panjwani was not only entertaining but provided specific detail of what it takes to start a business. Mr. Panjwani, a successful business with over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and investor in Silicon Valley shared his own experience of starting companies and knowing the right time to move to the next opportunity. He emphasized the importance of having a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for every start up to differentiate it from its competitors. Mr. Panjwani took questions from the audience at the end of his address.

The closing remarks for the event were delivered by Zia Bhatt, OPEN Chicago President and Javaid Iqbal, OPEN Chicago Vice President.  They thanked the audience and volunteers for attending this annual event and making it successful. As a newest chapter of OPEN brand, the Chicago chapter has seen an increase in member support and volunteer participation. Mr. Iqbal also offered OPEN Chicago membership at a discounted rate to all the guests attending the event.

Guests had more opportunity to network with speakers and OPEN executive committee at the wrap up networking session.  The speaker diversity represented the wide reach and respect of OPEN Chicago as an emerging professional organization and a means of providing access to successful entrepreneurs to its members.

"I certainly did enjoy the entire [OPEN-Chicago] experience and was very impressed with the quality of all the speakers and the very valuable and practical information they shared with us" - Event Guest

By Rushna Jafarraza
Rushna is a Manager at Accenture in Revenue Transformation with focus on health care industry.