Getting Your MBA - Part Deux

So, the date has been set for June 22nd. The event is going to have a tight theme and provide you with vital insight and information to get your application considered!

We are jam-packed with speakers, so make sure to clear your calendars, from 6:45pm (registration and pre-event networking) to 10:00pm. We will start the discussion sharply at 7:15PM!

Do you have specific areas you want to see covered? We are determining the topics now, so send me your questions (professional@netsapboston.org).

The general areas we will focus on are:
a) Should I get an MBA?, and
b) What strategies and techniques do I need to employ to get into a top ranking school?

We have admissions and financial aid reps from local schools who have a lot to share - Brandeis, Babson and BC. It is unfortunate that HBS and Sloan reps could not join us. The reps will discuss methods of evaluation and provide strategies that are aligned with the criteria used. I would recommend you review the websites of these schools for basic information. This will allow you ask more penetrating questions at the event.

We also have recent alumni from HBS and BC. They will share their experiences with the application process and provide insights into what you should highlight throughout your application, including the essays. They will also tell you what they know now, ie after having completed their MBAs. What do the schools focus on? What kind of experiences do they want to provide their students (and therefore which areas would interest them in your candidacy).

We will round out this information with a discussion on writing essays - always a challenging part of the application. Sandy Kreisberg, a well-known expert in this area, will provide his insights. You can read more about him here: http://world.std.com/~edit/index.htm.

Registration will open in the first week of June. Please contact Jagjit at professional@netsapboston.org with any questions.

Press Release: NetSAP Comedy Mela - A Success!

May 17, 2006, Boston, MA--The Theatrics group at the Boston Chapter of the Network of South Asian Professionals (NetSAP-Boston) staged "Netsap Comedy Mela" at the Comedy Connection in Faneuil Hall in Boston on May 17. It was a successful event with just over 100 people in attendance (a great draw on a weekday nite)! The theatrics group, "Team Masti Boston", practiced for 2 months this spring to stage this event, and their hard work paid off!

The show was directed by Usha Govindarajulu, Theatrics Chair, NetSAP-Boston and produced by Vijay Darynani, Treasurer and Sports Director, NetSAP-Boston. The cast included: Prashanth Cherukuri, Pallavi Gupta, Sarbani Hazra, Raghu Kotrike, John Meehan, Ravi Shahani, and Corey Manning. The crew included: Rekha Chikka, Neesha Tandon, and Raghu Kotrike. Everyone including the director, cast, and crew put in a concerted effort to bring about this fortuitous event.

Corey Manning, a local area comedian, who had gotten a flavor of South Asian comedy earlier this year by performing in Rahul Siddharth's show, hosted the Comedy Mela. The host lead the show and kept the audience going in between skits and standup acts, by juicing up the show with his own standup comedy routines, especially an entertaining headliner with another standup comedian. There were six comedy skits, written by the director, which were spaced between standup pieces.

All acts were well received by the audience who laughed watching skits making fun of online dating, American Express, and airport security. Standup pieces were performed by newcomers to comedy, Masala Mami (Sarbani Hazra) and Roger and Pat (Prashanth Cherukuri and Ravi Shahani). Masala Mami paved a new path for desi female comedians and Roger and Pat gave an extended standup piece from the desi male perspective.

After last year's success of "Bend It Like Auntie", which Usha wrote and produced, she was very pleased by the success of the "Comedy Mela". Her experiment from a play with comedy into a show with comedy skits was a dream come true. She remarked, "All my life, I thought about writing comedy, but I never thought I would have a real opportunity to make this happen and the chance to write some material and stage it was exciting. The addition of standup pieces by the cast made it a solid show. I'm very proud of the cast and crew for their commitment and performance."

NetSAP-Boston was pleased by the success of the event. Vijay noted, "First a resoundingly successful play and now a wonderfully entertaining comedy mela...who could imagine that NetSAP Boston has come so far in such a short time..." Tushneem Dharmagadda, NetSAP Advisor and Web Director, stated "NetSAP Theatrics continued on the success of "Bend it Like Auntie" with a successful "Comedy Mela" this year. The event gave an opportunity to fellow South Asian Professionals to show their talent in standup comedy. We plan to make theatric events an annual feature to promote theater in the community and encourage interested people to join us in this endeavor."

Comedy Mela was sponsored by Kabob & Curry of Providence, Kashmir Foods & Spices and TiE-Boston.

Keep an eye out on their website, www.netsapboston.org, as NetSAP-Boston continues in its effort to support the South Asian theatrics community.

About NetSAP-Boston:
Founded in 1995, the Network of South Asian Professionals of Boston (NetSAP-Boston) is a professional, 501c(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving the professional, political, cultural and civic needs of the South Asian community in the Greater Boston area. We seek to unite South Asian professionals, nurture leadership, and build partnerships in the New England area through professional programs, networking events, and community service efforts. NetSAP-Boston is part of NetIP-NA, The Network of Indian Professionals, North America. For more information on events, membership and other initiatives, visit http://www.netsapboston.org/. To learn more about NetIP North America and other chapters in other cities, visit www.netip.org.

PaintBall Adventure with NetSAP !!!

Its almost summer and time to enjoy some outdoor sports! Join us for an adventurous day at a Paintball field in Tewksbury on Saturday June 3rd.

For those of you who haven't played paintball before, it is a more challenging, high-stakes version of tag, hide-and-seek, or capture the flag. It is a game where you shoot and get shot at and have loads of fun. It is kind of like Holi where you shoot water color using guns, but this is not a game where you will get wet.

Have never played Paintball before?? No problem. Players of all levels are welcome to join the NetSAP Paintball outing.

Throughout the day we will be playing lot of games like Road Kill, Mission Recon, Attack and Defend, and capture the flag. Don’t miss out a day of fun and excitement.

The fee includes Paint Gun, 50 rounds of Ammo (50 shots), Masks and Goggles, Free CO2 refill (to power up your gun) and ALL YOU CAN EAT BBQ!!!

Please RSVP by June 1, 2006

Date: Saturday June 3rd
Time: 8.30 am - 2.00 pm

Location: Action Paintball, Tewksbury MA (20mins from Boston)

Charge: For NetSAP Members: $25
For Non-members: $30

Buy tickets online at www.netsapboston.kintera.org/paintball or www.netsapboston.org/tickets

Please contact Swarupa Purandare at social@netsapboston.org for more information.

Getting Your MBA? Should You Fork Out the Big Bucks?

So, our business school seminar is right around the corner. Have you thought about getting your MBA?!? Should you shell out the big bucks for it? In my opinion, of course you should if you can! In today's highly competitive business world, the MBA can and will make all the difference in your career growth and your lifetime earnings. To state the obvious, some of my friends, who completed their degrees from Haas, HBS, BU, and Babson, talk about the boost the MBA has had on their careers - it matures your career (and paycheck) to another level immediately.

Should you do the full-time program or maximize and do it part-time while working 40 hours per week? Does that make any material difference? Are you after the degree or do you want to create the network too?

Some links for you to review:
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/studentlife/anu.php

http://management.monster.com/articles/mba/
"You no doubt know that having the degree will very likely increase your income over the life of your career, even after you factor in paying back whatever loans you end up taking out. The estimates vary tremendously, of course, but you can expect probably to increase your lifetime earnings by at least several million, even if you don't make it to the top of the corporate ladder."

http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/16/cz_05mba_business_schools_gain_calulator.html

The tentative date is June 22nd, to be confirmed soon, mark your calendars.

Tuhin and I are working to make sure your needs and desires are met (I hope you took that in the right way) as you pursue your career and educational goals, questions are answered, new ideas are generated, energy is created, and encouragement is provided!!

Plan to come by and meet everyone and be sure to say "hello" to us also!

Jagjit

Fireside Chat with Women Leaders Set the Example for Professional Events in 2006

In the past few weeks, several colleagues and friends of mine have asked me when the next Professional event would be...and if would it be similar to the Fireside Chat we had a few weeks ago with Indira Patel, CEO of New England Office Supply, Inc., and Shelley Chhabra, entrepreneur and owner of Shelley Chhabra Indian Bridal. After some contemplation, I realized that the Fireside Chat was a success due to the fact that we didn't target just Indian Professionals, or Indians in Boston (after all, aren't all desis professionals in some way or another..;), but instead we narrowed and targeted a select audience within our NETSAP affiliate..which would be women and minorities that have interest in entrepreneurship , starting their own business, or those that wish to follow through with their dreams...even with obstacles that they may face. In this regard, I see the Fireside Chat with Women Leaders to set the example or "Model the Way" for what I expect our Professional Events to encompass in 2006.

As I mentioned above, and in accordance with the audience that I saw, I would say there was a majority of women that attended, and perhaps a majority of those that recently started their own business, attend business school or come from an accounting/finance background, or have dreams to break away from their current discipline and pursue business. So, if I use this event as an example, here is what I saw. We had a perfect mix of business "entrepeneur types" with those that just were interested in hearing the women leaders' stories, as well as the right number of individuals that were genuinely interested to ask the right questions, keep the discussion moving, and provide entertainment to everyone in the attendance.

Contrary to a monthly happy hr, it wasn't loud, there was no hip-hop music, and the event did not end at last call. It was intimate, educational and enriching, and in slang terms.."chill". Even with the calm environment, networking continued prior to and after the event. There were many individuals that came out of the "woodworks" so to speak..and said "I don't normally come out to monthly HH, but saw this posting on Women Leaders, etc..and it sounded interesting..."
Delxi Fernandez commented "I went to the Fireside Chat meeting and loved it!... The knowledge I gained and respect for all entrepeneurs is priceless...Quote for the day:"Without passion or risk", you'll always wonder whatif".

So the Fireside Chat sets the example by first targeting a select audience, and second provides a special, unique, and different atmosphere to the Happy Hour atmosphere. Calm, relaxed, quiet contrary to loud and busy. There is one more distinction of why the Fireside Chat sets the example.

Well besides the obvious one, discussing a professional topic like business or entrepeneurship, the final particular feature from this event that really sets the example is the fact that there was someone to actually "set the example". 2 people to be exact. 2 Women Leaders led the discussion within a group of eager, inspired, young, desi professionals. By having someone to lead, then modeling the way naturally occurs...mentoring is emphasized....and simply enough, a story is told. Everyone loves stories!! We naturally want to hear of human struggles, trials and tribulations, and success over barriers. In this professional event, we have inherently incorporated mentoring, following a dream (doesn't this always start with a vision anyway??), and ...the big one...leadership.

So I would envision that with the Fireside Chat as an example, we make good use of audience, atmosphere, and leadership (which may be a mentor, a speaker, expert, or prominent figure in our professional society).

Be sure to keep updated with our events list for the rest of 2006. Jagjit and I expect to utilize these 3 features through the course of our upcoming Professional Events.

Tuhin