Closing out the end of a great year!

2010 is at its end and I want to take some time to close it out and set the stage for the upcoming year.

Thank you to everyone who make this year great. I'd like to bid farewell and future success to our outgoing board members (Jen, Roxanne and Nancy) while welcoming our newest board members (Michael, Sherwin and Jenafer). Congratulations to David Eam and Hang Chen in their new Board roles. David is our VP of Operations, while Hang will take on a larger role as National Representative.

I would like to highlight some of the major accomplishments our organization (locally and nationally) delivered and it amazes me at the dedication and generosity of this community.

• Congratulations to the nominees and winners of our scholarships and NAAAP 100 awards and the committee selecting them. We gave $8000 in scholarships this year.
• Thanks to the NAAAP San Francisco Chapter and the convention planning team organized a stellar convention at The Palace Hotel with our first diamond sponsor, Macy's. Our inspiring keynote speakers included CIA Director Leon Panetta, banking executive Doreen Woo Ho, IT leader John Chen, fashion retailers executive Jenny Ming, and so many others.
• We partnered with great organizations that fosters diversity and leadership: the Executive Development Institute, NHSMBA, NBMBAA, Microsoft and State Farm among many others.
• We connected members and leadership opportunities and made a difference in our community.

In 2011, our team is coming up with exciting new programming and we'll roll out our plans soon. So please look out for our invitations.

With that, if you missed out, then catch up with NAAAP Seattle with this educational video created by our Marketing Committee led by Julie Pham. See you in 2011!



Best Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Conversations worth having

(L to R) Rachel Valdez, Beto Yarce, Murthy Kalkura, and Gil Gido

Last night at Tutta Bella on Stone way NAAAP Seattle and the National Society of Hispanic MBA's (NSHMBA) hosted a conversation with local entrepreneurs and members sharing the Secrets of Success.  I had a front row seat since I  had the priviledge of moderating.  On the panel were business owners: Beto Yarce of Cintli; Rachel Valdez of 16 Copenhagen; and Murthy Kalkura of 4AM Corp.
 
My overall experience from walking in the door to leaving can only be described as time well spent. Many who came either had a business or had an interest in knowing what it takes to start and run a business and this brings me to why I am writing - conversations. Conversations, I believe are key ingredients when it comes to running a business and even more so, leadership. Conversations can either be worth having or not having.  For me, those not worth having don't convey action. In fact, conversations lead to some result in business; for example, starting a business. They can end in no, maybe or what we would all like to hear, YES! It seems simple enough, but yeses move businesses; so as an entrepreneur, it's important to know when you are having a conversation that will lead to a yes. For example, yes, to a sale; yes, to accepting a new contract; and yes, to opportunity.
 
So what else can lead to a yes?  Well, I overheard and was engaged in many conversations last night and each had an element of authenticity, passion and free exchange of thought. There seemed to be no judgements or disinterest that I heard. As an entrepreneur, you get skilled in being authentic, passionate and inclusive and you start listening for opportunities that you can yourself use or pass onto your friends, clients and collegues. For me, it surely is a different experience when hearing, no, right?
 
Great! Since I want to provide you with short and timely information that you can use now, I'm going to end here. I know that I can't cover everything in this post. So, if you want to know more on having conversations that lead to yes, then you'll want to hear what Jack Canfield, a well-respected success coach, says, "it all starts with asking." http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=403944388995


With that, I want to give a special thanks to Christine Chen Velazquez of Chen Communications, Geraldine Rodriguez of NSHMBA and Hang Chen of NAAAP Seattle for organizing the event and giving folks an opportunity to have conversations worth having.
 
Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

The First 90 Days

I would like to congratulate the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors for completing the first 90 days of 2010 with a whole lot of enthusiasm and with a superior attitude for driving for results. As a volunteer Board with full time careers and families, I know of the challenges of balancing work, life and Board duties. I am proud of the leadership shown by this chapter for upholding the mission and vision for NAAAP.  On behalf of our membership, sponsors, and executive board, "Thank you."

As a summary, here are the results from the first 90 days of 2010:

• David Eam and Herbert Pang, Community Service and Membership Chairs, organized a community event to serve 80 families at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Washington among other community service events. (Note: Kevin Chang, will be the new Membership Chair replacing Herbert)

• Jenny Xu, Social Chair, coordinated the first Eastside social event with 80 people in attendance and a women networking event launching the Women in Naaap program locally.

• Andy Yip & Ki Kim, NAAAP Past presidents threw a volunteer appreciation event for last year’s volunteers.

• Lynn Huynh, Treasurer, reconciled our actual from budget and maintained chapter financial health.

• Casey Huang, Scholarship Chair, is launched on our first College scholarship to be awarded in the first half of 2010.

• Julie Pham, Marketing Chair and Marian Liu, VP of External affairs, are working to expand the reach of the NAAAP message while creating a positive brand to increase value for members and sponsors.

• Hang Chen, Professional Development Chair, worked with Kaplan to deliver an MBA Strategy Seminar.

• Rebecca Deng, Natl. Rep, & I, represented the Chapter at the NAAAP National Retreat in Connecticut.

• Amy Duong, Student Relations Chair, is working on creating relationships with student groups across the Puget Sound.

• Vivian Hauer, Newsletter Chair, has implemented an events calendar to be shared at our all of our events.

• Erik Kalinka, Technology Director, is working on updating our technology to the National Back Office.

• Liz Tran, Fundraising Chair, emceed our Haiti fundraising event and created a fundraising strategy.

• Roxanne Tam, Board at Large, led a committee in updating our chapter by-laws.

• Nancy Ko, Board at Large, planned and executed our chapter's Board Retreat resulting in a strategic plan for membership, professional development, social and community areas.

• Jen Phang, VP of Operations, recruited top professionals for election to the Board of Directors.

As you can see we're up to creating a vibrant and engaged community of professionals that improve our communities and create competitive professional advantages.

If you would like to know more about NAAAP Seattle and NAAAP and are thinking about joining our membership, please visit our website at http://seattle.naaap.org/Welcome.do or http://www.naaap.org/

Figure. NAAAP Board of Directors at the Haiti Relief event held in February. (l to r) Future Board Member, Kaiden Yip; Andy Yip, Ki Kim, David Eam, Tanatha P., Liz Tran, me, Amy Duong, Jen Phang, and Hang Chen.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President