TiECON Chennai 2008 – A Memorable Event

First, a bit of a background. I had my first two startups in India (both in Chennai) and the next two in the USA. I spend roughly about half my time in Silicon Valley and the other half in Chennai. I attended several TiECON’s in Santa Clara but this was my first in India. I did not know what to expect. The one day, information packed event, was one of the most inspiring conferences I have been to. I can write long accounts of what happened, but I will leave it to better narrators than me.
Every one I talked to, echoed what I felt – it was one of the best learning experiences and one of the most inspiring events. It certainly was like drinking from a fire hose.

“The world is driven by knowledge”

said the Chief Minister, Dr.M.Karunanidhi. He urged all of us to:

Let common man be the focus of innovation.

Great work is inspired by  a great cause. I can’t think of a better cause than this.

Reach out to the down trodden since they do not know how to seek help. Take that extra effort to bring them into the fold and teach them how to improve their lives.

The highly energetic and ever smiling Smt. M K Kanimozhi, Member of Parliment, Tamilnadu. talked about the efforts we need to make to help people who are surprised and may even be suspicious, when some one reaches out to them. She epitomizes the young leadership, we so much need – smart, articulate, completely at ease and very interactive.

The idea of awarding entrepreneurs was a brilliant one. It was a privilege to be in the same room with these people, who do not take no for an answer, who had a vision and a dream and worked hard to make it happen.

Images of the struggles and achievements, painted vividly by various keynote speakers were some of the most awe inspiring moments during the day.

A great blend of keynotes and panels, a very interactive audience, and an event that ran like a well oiled machine, should make the organizers and volunteers proud.

Under the leadership of Gopal Srinivasan and Mr.Ramaraj, two of the most dynamic figures in the industry, TiE organization and all the volunteers did an outstanding job. This event easily compares and even beats some of the TiECON annual events in California. It  is, definitely, one of the best, and most memorable one for me.

With TiECON Chennai 2008, the TiE organization set a high bar for future events. I am glad I was there.

4 thoughts on “TiECON Chennai 2008 – A Memorable Event

  1. Dhanan,
    You are welcome. Is there a TiE chapter in Trivandrum? Do you guys have any professional meets? Do you want to start some thing similar to Chennai Open Coffee Club?

    Dorai

Comments are closed.