NAACP HONORS DR. HUSAIN NAGAMIA OF TAMPA BAY WITH ‘UNSUNG HERO AWARD’
Dr. Husain Nagamia
At their annual function on Oct. 24, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), attended by more than 400 delegates, members and guests, which included Florida legislators, state and national representatives and many other local dignitaries, Hillsborough County Branch of NAACP recognized five “Unsung heroes” with recognition awards. Among this year’s recipients was the first Indian American to be given the prestigious honor.
Presenting the award to Dr. Husain Nagamia, the vice president of National NAACP said that it was being given for selfless services rendered by Nagamia to the poor residents of the Hillsborough County. Special mention was made of the 16 annual Charity Festivals hosted by the doctor and his community in the county for needy and deserving residents. Free food, clothing, shoes, toys, bicycles and medical tests are given out annually to about 3,000 recipients at an event that has become a hallmark charity event in the Tampa Bay area.
TiEcon Florida 2013 attracted 350 entrepreneurs across Tampa Bay
Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe,
center, is flanked by Parul Jain, left, and Kunal Jain
at TiECON Florida 2013.
TiE Tampa recently hosted TiECON Florida 2013 A Celebration of Entrepreneurship at the Safety Harbor Resort Spa. It attracted 350 entrepreneurs across Tampa Bay seeking funding advice, networking opportunities and mentoring from entrepreneurial leaders.
The one-day conference agenda provided of a mix of speaker presentations, expo hall with sponsors, a panel discussion, a fireside chat, and mentor roundtable discussions followed by a cocktail hour, dinner and live entertainment.
TiECON Florida Keynote speaker was Rob Wight, founder and CEO of myList, and former co-founder for Channel Intelligence, a company he sold to Google in early 2013 for $125 million. Wight spoke candidly to attendees about what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. To emphasize his message, he compared running your own company to preparing for an Ironman triathlon. He has competed in Arizona twice, Kona, Louisville and Texas.
Speaker highlights included a presentation on crowd funding by Eli Regalado of Mad Hatter Agency and a technology presentation on parallel computing using GPUs by Shanker Trivedi of Nvidia. The panel discussion with venture capitalists Richard Fox and Rurik Vandevenne and funds recipient Wight provided straightforward advice on what to do and not do when soliciting funds. Fox also revealed sources to find angel investors and resources for grants. Tim Reha, CEO of Investment Forum, Venture All Stars, spoke on the benefits and importance of having a digital strategy that includes video content in a firm’s marketing efforts.
After presentations, conference attendees networked and socialized during an open bar cocktail hour with fellow entrepreneurs, conference sponsors and speakers followed by dinner and an awards ceremony. The Awardees for Excellence in Entrepreneurship were Dr. R. Vijaynagar, Deepesh Oberai, Dr. Shyam Mahopatra, Ashok Kartham, David Wistocki and Chris Cate. Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe stated in his keynote that Indian community is truly giving back by adding diversity to local community. After-dinner entertainment was provided by Tampa native and entrepreneur DJ RaviDrums, who invented the concept of Live Re-Mix DJ’ing and drumming simultaneously.
The next TiE event will be a Q&A session with Santosh Govindaraju, CEO of Convergent Capital, at 6 p.m. on Nov. 7. He will address “Identifying your exit strategy when raising capital in real estate market” at Carrollwood Country Club, 13903 Clubhouse Drive, Tampa.
To learn more about TiE or for information about Tampa TiE membership, visit www.tampa.tie.org or call Kunal Jain at (727) 460-0419.