One cannot deny that starting a business is indeed a journey, and the MIT Arab Business Plan Competition is definitely a milestone for every entrepreneur taking part in this journey. Nonetheless, though it is clearly delineated annually with a beginning and an end, a launching and a closing event, it is by no means the beginning of a business or its end. Businesses may have begun prior to the Competition and should most definitely continue after it. This newsletter sheds the light on 5 businesses that took part in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 Competitions and have had successful journeys since then. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for Events
Naked Bike Ride, Fremont Solstice Parade 2010
The Fremont Fair returns to celebrate community with a toast to summer!
Held annually in mid-June to coincide with the Summer Solstice, the event draws more than 100,000 people to shop, eat, drink, mingle, groove, and enjoy all manners of creative expression. Artistic highlights include the free-spirited Solstice Parade produced by the Fremont Arts Council.
Teams from Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen named 2010 winners by MIT Business Plan Competition, with $75,000 in hand to launch new venture
The Little Engineer from Lebanon is this year’s big winner and BioBusiness from Egypt is the first runner-up, while Arabic Coach from Yemen and EG-Bioinformatics from Egypt are named as second runner-ups at annual celebration of Arab entrepreneurship in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Company
The Little Engineer from Lebanon was recognized as one of the Middle East and North Africa’s most promising entrepreneurs and awarded with $50,000 as start-up capital at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Arab Business Plan Competition, hosted annually by the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Arab Region, in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Company.BioBusiness from Egypt was named first runner-up, with a $15,000 prize to help realize their business aspirations, presented at a glittering gala event in Cairo, Egypt. Arabic Coach from Yemen and EG-Bioinformatics from Egypt received $5000 each in start-up funding, with all teams receiving mentorship from international business consultants and some of the Middle East’s most prominent decision-makers throughout the competition process. Read the rest of this entry »
Questions-Reponses, Carlos Ghosn, Management en temps de crise
La session questions-reponses de la conference Management en temps de crise de Carlos Ghosn
Psychologue
Climat
Carlos Ghosn, Management en temps de crise
Carlos Ghosn, PDG de l’Alliance Renault-Nissan, a tenu une conférence sur le thème ‘Management en temps de crise’ au campus des sciences humaines de l’Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) de Beyrouth
La conférence a été organisée par l’USJ et l’École supérieure des affaires (ESA), en partenariat avec l’ambassade de France
Carlos Ghosn : Il faut savoir tirer profit des opportunités en temps de crise
le PDG de l’alliance Renault-Nissan a présenté les éléments nécessaires pour contourner les défis ; une sorte de « minimode d’emploi » à l’intention des chefs d’entreprise, des entrepreneurs et des élèves qui voudraient poursuivre une carrière de gestion.« Quand tout s’écroule, faire preuve de sang-froid et établir un diagnostic objectif », a suggéré Carlos Ghosn en expliquant que dans le cas de Nissan, cette étape a nécessité 3 mois. Suite à cette étape « d’auscultation », la construction d’une vision s’impose ; une vision qui, selon le PDG de Nissan-Renault, doit être « soutenue par un relais sûr de manière à gérer la phase de l’après-crise ». Cela nécessite une mobilisation autant des salariés que du « top management », c’est-à-dire des directeurs. Cette étape nécessite la mise en place d’un but précis : « les salariés doivent sentir que leur engagement a un sens », a explique M. Ghosn, qui assure la direction de quelque 350 000 salariés.Après avoir établi le diagnostic et décidé des objectifs à court terme et à long terme, l’expert du secteur automobile a insisté sur le fait de « choisir des priorités limitées ». Il présente ainsi l’exemple de Nissan qui a établi 3 objectifs :
- faire en sorte que la compagnie automobile soit profitable,
- obtenir en 3 ans une marge opérationnelle supérieure à 4,5 %, soit la moyenne du secteur automobile,
- et réduire sensiblement la dette.
2nd Mikati CSR Initiative seminar
The Olayan School of Business (OSB) at the American University of Beirut hosted its second seminar as part of the Mikati CSR Speaker Series and the CSR initiative sponsored by the Mikati Group.
Dr. Dima Jamali opening the seminar
Le 16e Festival du Film Européen à Sofil
34 European films, in addition to shorts films done by Lebanese students, are screened during the 16th edition of the European Film Festival, which is held until the 6th of December.
And the largest Tabbooleh dish goes to…
The world’s largest Tabbouleh dish was prepared today in Saifi Market, Beirut, and earned a new entry in the Guinness book world records, in a giant effort to confirm that “Hummus and Tabbouleh are Lebanese”
Was it fun? Totally.
Was it a priority? I would have preferred to have the public transportation improved, however, a big tabbooleh plate does not prevent the authorities rfom fixing our roads.
Was it worth it? A new entry in the Guiness book, walaw! And economical gain, resulting from the branding of Hummus and Tabbouleh as Lebanese.
TheCedarTree considers this food contest ridiculous, Rami thinks it is habal, Maya that it is pointless, adiamondinsunlight bizarre.
What did Fady Abboud, president of The Association of Lebanese Industrialists have to say?
“The record-breaking attempt hopes to lay claims to the dishes’ cultural heritage and dispel international belief that the dishes are Greek or Israeli in origin. A lot of countries are trying to dishonestly appropriate these dishes and this in turn results in colossal losses.”
Beirut distributing free compact florescent light bulbs!
YAY for the city of Beirut! In an unprecedented initiative to reduce global warming (and electricity bills), and since the Beirut Municipality care about its citizens and about the environment, the municipality gave away free compact florescent light bulbs at all Beirut Library branches this Saturday between noon and 4 p.m. The bulbs are provided as part of City Light’s Twist & Save program.
Finally, the public servants are doing some real work for the salaries we pay them!
Here is an excerpt for a Dailystar article that covered the event:
Beirut – Mayor Abdel Mounim Ariss joined community and business leaders today to launch Beirut Climate Action Now, a grassroots campaign to encourage everyone in Beirut to reduce global warming pollution at home, on the road and in their neighborhoods.
Sponsored by the city of Beirut with the support of community groups & nonprofit organizations, Beirut Climate Action Now (www.beirutcan.org) will help people make smart choices to protect the city and the planet from the threat of climate change. Using online resources and community events, the public awareness campaign will connect people across the street and across the city make a difference for the future of our environment.
Beirut is working to reach that goal by providing clean, renewable energy through City Light; encouraging the construction of energy-efficient commercial and residential buildings, promoting the use of alternative fuels; and making it easier and safer to walk, bike and take transit.
A centerpiece of Beirut Climate Action Now is a new web site – www.beirutcan.org – that will make it easy for everyone to get involved. It features simple steps that people can take to cut carbon emissions that are causing global warming. The site’s calendar and homepage will be a clearinghouse for information about climate-related events and activities across the city.The web site will also feature Zerofootprint Beirut, a first-of-its-kind climate-action planner that allows people to develop personalized actions plans for reducing their climate pollution. Zerofootprint Beirut also allows residents to see the effect of their actions individually, and it adds them up to show the community-wide benefit.
To good to be true?
This blog post about the issue of climate change on October 15th is part of the Blog Action Day annual event.
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Armigatus 
