Washington Business Journal Minority Business Leaders Award 2014

In its 7th year, the Washington Business Journal recognizes the Washington region's top 25 minority business owners and leaders in the Minority Business Leader Awards. I was honored to be list for 2012 and here is my story.

• 2014 Minority Business Leader Awards

  When: Thursday, March 20, 2014,
  6:30pm-9:30pm Add to my calendar

Register here http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/event/97681

Here are this years 2014 Minority Business Leaders Honorees

Mario Acosta-Velez

Verizon

Brian E. Argrett 

City First Bank of D.C.

Andre Banks

Forest City Washingto

Alex Barron

Walmart U.S.

Kenneth J. Brewer Sr.

H Street Community Development Corp

Timothy Chi

WeddingWire Inc.

Kris Collo

MicroPact Inc.

Valarie  Dock

Bolana Enterprises Inc

Al Espinoza

Innotion Enterprises Inc.

Andres Gonzalez

Finesa Real Estate Group

Carl Hairston

M&T Bank

Randy Hayman

District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (D.C. Wate

Linnie Haynesworth

Northrop Grumman Corp.

Sonny Kakar

Sevatec Inc.

Clayton Lawrence

Lawrence Executive Alliance of Professionals (LEAP) LLC

Yoon-Young Lee

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Michael Marshall

Marshall Moya Design LLC

Bo Menkiti

The Menkiti Group & Keller Williams Capital Properties

Paola Moya

Marshall Moya Design LLC

Dolly Oberoi

C² Technologies Inc. 

Cassandra Pinkney

Eagle Academy PCS

Deborah Scott Thomas

Data Solutions & Technology Inc.

Venkat Subramanian

Angarai International Inc.

David Thomas

Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business

Joseph West

Minority Corporate Counsel Association Inc.

Location:

Ritz-Carlton Washington DC
1150 22nd St NW
Washington, DC 20037

Time:

6:30 PM - 9:30 PM

• Where: Ritz-Carlton DC
  1150 22nd Street NW Washington DC 20037

Who is the Microsoft CEO following on Twitter?

Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella promises to be more social. Soon after he took over as the CEO of Microsoft this week, his Twitter bio was immediately changed and he posted this updatre on Twitter" first commitment as CEO

first commitment as CEO...i won't wait 4 years between tweets!

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) February 5, 2014

According to the Twitter Counter blog Satya Nadella whose Twitter id is @SatyaNadellawent from 1,500 to 80,000 in less than 48 hours!. He has 119k followers at the time of writing this post.
Who is Satya Nadella following? What interests can we ascertain from the people Satya Nadella follows. We used a tool called Wordle (Wordle.net) pasting the profiles of the 29 people he is following and got this word cloud. Business, Technology, CEo, helping learn were the words that were top of mind for us on seeing this word cloud I created on Wordle.
As a business person who do you follow on social media. What do you think your world cloud shows.

America should be proud of Satya Nadella becoming the CEO of Microsoft

Today (Feb 5th 2014) Satya Nadella started as the CEO of Microsoft. 46 years old,  Nadella was born in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. We share the same roots, I was born in the same state and have lived all over the world. 

This is a triumph for America.  Satya Nadella made it by his inspiration and hard work. As long as he delivered no one cared about where he came from. I look at my own journey moving careers and then Soedning.almost 11 years in Network Solutions. I progressed  from Customer Service to Head of Social Media at Network Solutions and am now VP of Digital Marketing at Bozzuto . Every day I meet many entrepreneurs, many of them migrants  and watch them succeed through hard work, innovation and the will to succeed. That is what it takes to succeed in the US, not how you look or where you came from.

Congratulations! Satya Nadella.

Stay Positive. The World is Full of Good People : Photo Diary of the Emergency Landing of UA 3759

In brief : On Wednesday January 29th 2014 I was flying to Boston on United to attend an event at Bozzuto's  brand new apartment community in Boston Atmark Apartments.I  take a lot of photos chronicling interesting places, events, food and most things that are interesting to me and my audience. In this instance the flight (UA 3759) had issues and had to make an emergency landing in Wilmington,  Delaware. Taking photos and sharing was natural.

Here is my story in pictures (heads-up it's a long post)

1. Washington Dulles Airport: January 29th 08.32 a.m. I take this picture for my son who like me likes planes as we are taxiing to the runway.

2. Washington Dulles Airport  08.40 a.m : Since it is very cold we stop for the plane to get DeIced : 

3. Somewhere over Pennsylvania ( I am guessing) 9.26 a.m - There is a bang and the oxygen masks drop

4. 09.27 a.m - We don't grab the masks and I look around to see fellow passengers calm and composed and some also taking pictures. The crew make an announcement for us to put on the masks.

5. 09.28 a.m - I tell my colleague Kevin Fawley that we won't get an opportunity again so we take this now famous selfie.

6. 9.32 a.m The pilot announces that we will be returning to Washington and I take a photo of the ground just in case. 

7. 9.37 a,m  We notice smoke coming from the vents. By now the crew has told us that it is safe to remove the oxygen masks. You cannot make out from this picture due to light and there is a burning smell. We tell the crew who inform the captain. they come back again and see that more people are seeing the smoke. The cabin crew ( not the captain)  make an announcement that we will be making an emergency landing.

8. 9.38 a.m I tell Kevin we should take a selfie with a smile so that we can be remembered that way in case things went south. 

9. 9.41 a.m we passed a lot of water at which point I was worried that we may make a water landing ( I am thinking maybe so that we don't crash or land in a populated area) Now we are descending fast. I wish we get information on where we will be making the emergency landing. They ask us to put on the oxygen masks again. I have a Google Glass in my bag under the seat in front of me. I decide not to take it out and focus on getting out of the plane as quickly as possible.

10. 9.49 We land here, I don't know where but it does seem to be an airport with a runway. The crew lets us know we will be exiting through the door ( no slide) and not to take any bags with us. 

11. 9.50 a.m - After the plane lands, the doors open quickly  and I am the 6th out of the door. The co-pilot and the cabin crew are assisting passengers out of the door. I get down and call my wife saying first " I am safe" and then " We had to make an emergency landing in Delaware". The log of my Samsung Galaxy S3 shows I made that call at 09.50.The first person we see on the ground is a gentleman in a fire suit asking us if everything was Ok. it reminded me of the tailhook landing on the USS George HW Bush that I  experienced last November, courtesy of the US Navy.

12. 09.50 a.m  It seems like a long time. My first pictures after I call home and take my phone out again. The Fire marshal tells us we are in Wilmington, Delaware and medics go around asking if we are all OK. I call my boss Jamie Gorski ( SVP Marketing at Bozzuto) letting her know we are safe. I also post the photos on Twitter and start getting messages from friends who are glad that we are safe. @united asks me for the Flight number. 

13.  10.15 We help the crew get all the hand luggage down the steps. I help for some time and then as it is very cold let another fellow passenger take my spot. The National Guard brings two buses to take us to the terminal building. By now I have my Google Glass that I have been experimenting with and took this video.

14. 10.20 a.m The buses arrive at the terminal building of Wilmington Delware's New Castle airport.

15. 10.41 a.m . This is a small airport and United does not fly here. Only Frontier Airlines flies here. I know this from a friend on Twitter who also gives me the Airport's Twitter id @FlyWilmILG. Still no word from United. All of us look for power outlets and folks share their chargers with each other. There are only vending machines and once again people collaborate to share their change for the vending machines.

16. 11.11 a.m The aircraft is brought closer to the terminal but no word from anyone on what's next. @United Twitter id is also silent on that. Most people have their memebrs calling United and relaying the information back to us. 

17. The captain and the airport director come to the terminal to brief us. They tell us a relief plane is on its way and will arrive at 2 p.m to take us to Boston. The United crew cannot tell us if we will get lunch. The Wilmington Airport Director Stephen Williams steps in and says if United does not provide lunch , the airport will. 

Thank you @united captain for landing us safely. @FlyWilmILG Director in yellow jacket taking good care of us pic.twitter.com/xA57DsbfxV
— Shashi Bellamkonda (@shashib) January 29, 2014

18. 11.59 My friend Whitney Hoffman arrives at the Wilmington Airport  to see if I need a ride or other help.How wonderful is that. I am lucky to have friends like Whitney

@shashib I'm here. Where are you now?
— Whitney Hoffman (@LDpodcast) January 29, 2014

19. 12.29 David Wade from WBZ Boston interviews me by phone and tweets

Man on #Boston plane that made emergency landing in Delaware says he took selfie to "leave behind for loved ones." pic.twitter.com/S4A2Kc6oBs
— David Wade (@davidwade) January 29, 2014

That is picked up by Steve Garfield

@stevegarfield Yes. An adventure indeed. See you this evening at @AtmarkApts opening @davidwade
— Shashi Bellamkonda (@shashib) January 29, 2014

20. 1.24 p.m Wilmington Airport Director Stephen Williams treats us to Pizza

21. By this time I see that a lot of news outlets want to use the photograph, and I give them permission under Creative Commons. I learn that the photo made it to the Today Show the next day without any credit.

22. The reporters covering the story are very friendly and care.

@shashib glad you were finally able to take off!
— Amy Buckman (@AmyBuckman) January 29, 2014

@LDpodcast @shashib @ThaliaFOX29 Glad all is well enjoy your event tonight!
— Thalia Perez (@ThaliaFOX29) January 29, 2014

@Shashib I was the reporter who waved to you. Thanks for telling your story. Tweet me when you land. Check http://t.co/GoQEJzKoYC
— Pat Ciarrocchi (@PatCiarrocchi) January 29, 2014

23. 3.44 p.m We board another plane with the same flight number UA 3759 to take us to Boston

24. 5.31 p.m  @JoshbNECN takes this keepsake pic of a relieved Kevin Fawley and me at Boston Logan Airport

Relieved passengers @KevinFawley and @shashib after landing safely at @BostonLogan #unitedflight pic.twitter.com/RaDkShwahF
— Josh Brogadir (@joshbNECN) January 29, 2014

We arrive a little after 6 to the opening event at Bozzuto's Atmark Apartments to some great music by Boston's own YouTube Violinist Rhett Price

Thank you SteveGarfield for this Storify summary of the Atmark event and the day's happenings.

@davidwade @shashib @RobertCollins @DonnaRapado You've been quoted in my #Storify story "atmark Winter Wonderland" http://t.co/oOkJBjuwwl
— Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield) January 30, 2014

Here is my Storify story with other links

BItly's Interesting Experiments with Rt.ly and Real-Time Media Map

I love bit.ly and have been using it for a long time. Bit.ly has a lot of data scientists who help with innovation including my friend Hilary Mason who was with Bitly as a data scientist.

I was thrilled to discover two tools in the Bitly portfolio that seemed cool, useful and help us go through the overload of content that comes our way everyday.

1. RT.ly lets you see what are the most popular links that are being shared. You can search for keywords, topics, networks, location, domain and language. With such a lot of information flowing across the internet it helps to see what is popular in real-time. I use it to search for real time news and links being shared on the keywords Apartments or topic real estate or both

2. Bitly Real-Time Media Map : You can see which newspaper, Radio/TV, magazines and Online only media is popular by location and article. See which articles in the Economist are popular and find the states they are popular in.

Check both these tools, you may end up using both as your readers and for curating content.

Au Revoir 2013 - Looking forward to a great 2014 - 7 Memorable Events in 2013

What Pop Science says in this Tweet is applicable to everything in life

With science, every year is better than the last. So excited for 2014!
— Popular Science (@PopSci) December 31, 2013

2013 was amazing, a career change, visiting new lands, making new friends, learning about new technology and watching the success of friends.

1. Knowledge Not Shared Is Lost For Ever: My keynote at the Certificate Completion Ceremony at Georgetown University was a highlight. I spoke at the same lectern where Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffet had spoken a few weeks before me and many Heads of State and great speakers before them. I enjoy teaching as a adjunct at Georgetown (http://bit.ly/xcpd732)

2. Speaking in Warsaw, Poland and a trip to Krakow: I spoke at the Conference of Deans and Directors of MBA Universities in Warsaw Poland. I have never been to Poland and this was a great opportunity to see Warsaw. I was so happy to watch Yelp in action in Warsaw and a nice meeting with Karolina Yelp Warsaw's community Manager

I took the opportunity to visit Auschwitz. If there was a time when my mind went numb and my whole body fell silent, it was here on the tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau. It's a place that will be etched in my mind and visiting was a homage to the millions that fall prey to such unimaginable horror.

3. Career Change in a New Industry: In 2013 I moved  jobs. From over a decade at Network Solutions, I bid good bye to friends and colleagues to join Bozzuto - a real estate company that will be the best real estate company in America- as VP of Digital Marketing at their headquarters in Greenbelt. It was a great year to join Bozzuto in the year they celebrated  their 25th Anniversary. 

4. Tailhook Landing on an Aircraft Carrier in the Atlantic: There are times in life when exciting opportunities come very unexpectedly. I visited the US Navy's aircraft carrier USS George H.W Bush (CVN77) sailing in the Atlantic Ocean. Thank you to the Commander Navy Yard and wonderful women and men who serve in the armed forces and those that support them.

I got a first hand look at a day in the life of the ship and it's crew. It's almost like a university city and a combination of Star Trek. My view of the Navy now isn that its an organization geared for maintaining peace and preparation for humanitarian missions and fighting wars is only to prevent bad guys from disturbing peace. 

5. Visiting All the Southern States in India: The trip to India to attend my niece's wedding was also memorable. This time I visited all the 4 Southern States of India - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerela ( Where the wedding took place) and of course Andhra Pradesh (where my parents live)

My Alma Mater National Institute of Hotel Management in Chennai, celebrated the 50th anniversary since founding and I was happy to meet so many of my old friends and college mates. I can tell you the girls did not look a single day older than when I last saw them!

Thank you for this post by Vijaya Baskaran.

6. Facebook Futures Panel at the Vocus Demand Success 13: Speaking at the Vocus Demand13 conference was another great highlight of 2013

Photo : Courtesy Calvin Lee +Calvin Lee 

Vocus did a great job organizing an event at SXSW and for the holidays they thanked the speakers with this message and a brilliant branded holiday package

Thank you Geoff Livingston, Katya Andresen, Rebecca Davis and Angela Hausman for having me be part of the Facebook Futures Panel at Demand13. Geoff is a very good friend and it's been great to see him succeed including launching a new book Exodua in 2013. I am looking forward to Vocus Demand14.

7. A Fairy Tale Wedding in Boston: My good friends Steve and Ja Nae got married in 2013 and it was a fantastic occasion and I thoroughly enjoyed old friends and making new ones. Salute to Steve's Mom whom I met IRL for the first time. My Table 1 mates Jill Foster, Ann Handley, Jonathan Yarmis, Vahe Habeshian, Eileen Scully, Robert Collins, Jessie Newburn and Keith Casey, we had some unforgettable moments. This is a picture from the evening before.

This post is limited to 7 but life in 2013 had many more memorable moments. I believe every day in life is different and there are several things to rejoice everyday. Thankful to the wonderful support of all you  family, friends and new and former colleagues, I wish you a very Happy and Prosperous 2014.

Blogworld and Writing Software

As usual, 2014 will start off with a conference called the New Media Expo (NMX). This was formerly known as Blogworld and many people still refer to it as such. The conference lasts from January 4 to the 6^th.

This is a conference in Vegas about social media, especially blogging, and its uses for businesses. There are panels from bloggers, photographers and basically anyone who’s involved in social media. There’s also panels from businesses who use social media. Sometimes the businesses do the keynote speeches too and those are more like case studies on how social media helped their business in advertising and/or connecting with customers. There’s also an Expo where the latest services and tools for and about social media are showcased.

Speaking about tools for social media, let’s take a look at some minimalist writing software.

If you’re like me and get distracted by the rest of your computer when you sit down to write something like a blog article, perhaps you should look into minimalist writing software. MS Word, Open Office and other various heavy duty word processing software is great, but sometimes you want a full screen window to type in. The software below is simple and functional, which makes it easy to get the job done.

•          Ommwriter is one of the most popular minimalist writing programs out there. It’s for the Mac, PC and iPad. It offers a variety of backgrounds, music and typing sounds to help you focus on the words you’re trying to write. I, unfortunately, don’t have any experience with this program as it is a “pay however much you want software.” The website says they offer a basic version of Dana for free, but I can’t seem to find that version on their website.  Price determined by user
•          Q10 is a program for windows only. It is a black fullscreen window with orange text. It comes with a spell checker and word count built it. It also allows you to do timed writing exercises, so if you want to set a mini deadline for yourself with how many words you’re going to finish and x amount time, it’s great. I’m using it right now and although I couldn’t get the installable version, the website has a portable version that I’m using. It’s also nice because the portable version comes with the spell check and I can stick it on a USB and take it with me where ever I go.  Free
•          Writemonkey is also a windows only program. It also offers a fullscreen mode and it is also customizable. It may not be the best option for people like me who get distracted by customization capability. It offers CSS support and much more.  Free
•          WriteRoom is a Mac only software. Like all of the other programs on this list, it’s fullscreen. However, unlike many of the other programs, it autosaves your work. WriteRoom also uses Dropbox to sync your work across all your Apple devices. Free
•          Byword is a Mac only program. It offers many of the same features as WriteRoom. Free
•          FocusWriter is available for all the major platforms. The program has a hidden interface that you access by moving your mouse to the edge of the screen. Kinda like if you select the “hide taskbar” option in Windows.  It’s been translated into 20 languages so far, so if English isn’t your native language or you’d prefer working in a different one, this may be a good program for you.  Free, but there is a tip with download option
•          Writer is a browser based app that lets you write directly in your browser. No download necessary. It also has a fullscreen mode. It autosaves, but it uses cookies, so there is no sync feature available for the basic version. Free, Pro: $5 monthly, $45 yearly
•          DarkRoom is a windows version of WriteRoom. It runs on the .NET framework. Free

Do you have any writing programs you want to add to the list? Which ones work the best for you? Which ones don’t? Let’s discuss in the comments below. J