YJA Convention 2010 07 New Brunswick NJ Ninth

Author(s): Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA

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High School / College Sessions
East-West Masala
Who are we and what defines us? The Indian-American identity - defined by values (Indian and American), our understandings of ourselves (colonial, post-colonial, and now global), religion, and Bollywood. What others think of us still defines what we think of ourselves. What excites us? What bothers us? The opportunities, and the constitutional guarantees. The challenges. East and West - will the two ever meet? Us and them - they simply don't understand us! How do we overcome the challenges? How should the most educated and the most affluent ethnic group in America conduct itself? Come to this session and connect with your Indian-American Identity!
Speaker Biographies Session Descriptions &
Vinod K. Jain - Vinod Jain is professor of strategy and international business at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. He is also the President & CEO of the India-US World Affairs Institute, a non-profit organization building greater awareness for India in the U.S. and vice-versa. A Fulbright Scholar and true cosmopolitan, Vinod has lived and worked in India, the U.S., Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, and the Middle East. Vinod recently co-authored a major study on "How America Benefits from Business with India" for the India-US World Affairs Institute. He has designed and chaired thought-leadership symposia at international conferences and has conducted over 100 seminars in the last three decades. During the last eleven years, he has won and managed five federal grants with a budget of over $2 million. And, he has been honored by the Governors of both Ohio (2001) and Maryland (2004) for his services to their states.
Entrepreneurship aka How to have no life aka How to lose your shirt or get rich quick aka Doctor? Lawyer? What about starting your own company?
What does it mean to be an entrepreneur? How do you approach VCs or Angels to raise capital? How do you bootstrap your startup? What about careers in music, television, or fashion? This is the stuff dreams are made of, so let's talk about what you REALLY want out of life!
Gagan Palrecha - Gagan Palrecha has over 12 years of experience leading technology and entertainment companies (music & television), both domestically and abroad. He's also an avid record collector, musician, and all around loudmouth. Currently, Mr. Palrecha is the CEO of Chirply, a new and burgeoning payment platform for the Web. Previously, Gagan was CEO and President at The First Time Records, an independent record label distributed by Universal Music Group. He has held various leadership positions in product, engineering, and business development with Zattoo (VP, Business Development), Sennari (Director, Products), Oracle, Loudcloud/Opsware (acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6B), and Vontu (acquired by Symantec for $400M). Gagan holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
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Inspire. Connect. Do The Jain Thing.