Shoot 4 The Moon,: Voluntary Work

Amman Twestival '09 - The future of Social media in Arab World

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:03:00 GMT

100+ online fans rushed after Iftar time to join the 2nd Amman Twestival on the evening of 13th of September and at the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship. The event was co-organized by Malik Shishtawi and sponsored by Aramex.

A Twestival or Twitter-Festival is a global series of events organized by volunteers around the world under short timescales, which bring people offline for a great cause. Twestival is run 100% by volunteers and independently from any not-for-profit; although the organizing teams do work closely to outline an achievable and measurable fundraising target. Twestival also sets out to identify key skills of volunteers and match these with the needs of the cause; particularly communications strategy, tech integration and social media training.

Twestival this year took place in over 140 cities around the world, Amman was not just another hosting city, but the capital that produces the most prominent Arab entrepreneurs in the domain of social media.

The discussion about social media was very interesting. I started by introducing the panelists: Razan Khatib, Zeid Nasser, Laith Qasem and Laith Zraikat. after that we went into and open discussion about the current situation and the future of social media in Jordan & the Arab world.

Lina Shehadeh -CMO of Aramex- talked about the value of twitter for a big corporate like Aramex and how is it utilized by the customer service department when it comes to B2C services aiming to resolve any raising issue with customers in effective manner in order to vent frustration quickly.

Hana Ramli was there as well. Her story was about how social media (facebook) helped her to recruit over 3000 volunteers in her impressive initiative "Ketabak Ketabi" and it is now becoming a regional initiative for Palestinians in refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Co-founder of Nakhweh, Kamel Al Asmar, talked about how Nakhweh is utilizing social media in promoting volunteering opportunities announced at Nakhweh.com and how people trust social media leads over other means of marketing.

The active blogger Osama Romoh described his fan page on facebook as primary source of traffic to his blog. He also believes that twitter functionality is embedded in Facebook feed, and that makes him more excited to use facebook over twitter.

Sabri Hakim -the co-founder of Talasim- shared his story during Amman bombs and how his photo was featured on CNN. According to Sabri, Talasim is now utilizing twitter as an alert/reminder for latest updates on their portal and this creates more traffic & interactivity.

Mohammed Alzubi - the managing partner at Arab Seed Ventures, a venture capital fund focusing on seed stage investments in the Arab region & Silicon Valley - elaborated on what attracts Angel investors to invest in the business of social media in the Arab world and how web startups are becoming a sizzling opportunity for VCs and Angels specially after the Maktoob-Yahoo deal.

Majd Shwikeh -CEO of Orange- talked about her personal experience with twitter and how she became addicted to it! :). Generously, Majd promised to send a special iPhone offer to all participants of Amman Twestival. The offer is available here.

I was so glad to see the audience interacting by talks and tweets, which were displayed live on the big screen behind the panelists (check #AmmanTwestival). I think that setup kept everyone active until the last moment and even after that during the "Qatayef" (Ramadani Sweets) reception! :)

The last and most important portion of event was announcing the donation from Aramex to Al Aman Fund. The donation was followed by a mini-speech through which Maha Saqqa -Director of the Fund- invited attendees to volunteer their time to support & empower orphans in Jordan.

Enjoy this short video about the best tweets during the event.

I also recommend visiting the following interesting blog posts about the event:

IEEE Iftar '09.. Fun, Entertainment & Networking!

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:13:00 GMT

Last Tuesday, we were were invited to a special Iftar at the Princess Sumaya University for Technology organized by the IEEE Jordanian Student Branches.

The event was really very exciting and full of entertainment and fun activities. Members of DART -the student Entrepreneurship Society- joined the event and spent great time with others. The nice weather, dynamic audience and interactive program contributed to make it such a remarkable event! :).

The title of my potion was: "Your Path For Life". Basically, I talked about the choices you may have after graduation and what the best decision to take. The most interesting part was when I invited a jobless fresh graduate to share his daily life with the audience -with some sense of humor :-D.

As per the request of the audience I share the presentation here...

Few other photos are available here.

Interested to join IEEE or DART? drop me a comment here to guide you where to go!

Amman Twestival '09 Tweet. Meet. Give.

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:19:00 GMT

On behalf of the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship, It is my pleasure inviting you to join the 2nd Twestival event in Jordan Amman Twestival (Twitter + Festival). This time the discussion will be around Entrepreneurship and Social Media. The event is designed to be very interactive where your tweets will be displayed live (on the BIG screen) during the event, which will give the moderator and everyone -including the panelists- the chance to elaborate on your tweet either by talks (or maybe another tweet!) Thanks to @tweetDeck :) !

The Cause for this year's Twestival is to support: Al-Aman Fund for the Future of the Orphans

Al-Aman Fund for the Future of the Orphans is an independent non-governmental organization founded in 2006 by Her Majesty (@QueenRania) Al-Abdullah.

Time: September 13, 2009 from 9pm to 11pm

Host:Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (@QRCE)

Location: Al-Hashemeyyen Theatre, Royal Scientific Society

Location map:http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=109625758156428484728.00043e8954f270a9d9d7c

For more information about twestival, please visit: http://amman.twestival.com/

Stay tuned follow @AmmanTwestival !

أفطر مع الملائكة الصغار

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:48:00 GMT

It's a pleasure inviting you to this Iftar...

Solar Taxi.. the "Free" clean drive!

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 23:46:00 GMT

Yesterday, I was lucky to drive the SolarTaxi; a solar-powered car that travels around the world to promote the use of clean energy and fight against human actions that cause global warming.

Louis –the car driver and the tour director- expressed that the story has begun when he was a 15-year-old boy; his dream was simply to drive a car powered by solar energy and hence it consumes ZERO drops of patrol. But sadly, after 15 years his dream did not come true since it is not affordable now to buy such a car. That was not the end; he took the challenge and worked hard communicating with Swiss universities, research centers, private sector companies so that his dream would come true and accumulated the effort to build the first prototype for his dream car.

I look at this initiative as a wonderful evidence of cooperation between academia and industry in Switzerland, and I think Jordanian universities have to shake the hands of the private sector and work on similar R&D projects that would raise the quality of our education and contribute in the growth of vital local industrial sectors.

Oil will not continue to be the most affordable type of energy in the upcoming 10-20 years! If Arabs is not ready for such a day when other alternatives of energy would be more feasible for both human and industrial applications, they will be the biggest losers ever!!

On the other hand, This initiative rings the bell to take serious actions about the everlasting problem of global warming, and think of effective solutions that we can put into action today to rescue our planet and prevent further abuse of natural resources.

The interesting thing is that the car is equipped with GPS so that you can track it online, through its official website.

I invite you also to read the press release published at Alghad newspaper about the demonstration of the SolarTaxi at the Royal Scientific Society.

last but not least, make sure to watch this short video that I did take for the SolarTaxi...

Quotation of Today!

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:01:00 GMT

I love reading quotations so much!.. thus I would resume blogging by posting this inspiring one:

"I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some." --Herbert Rappaport

EnJoY!

Simply Amazing!

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:52:00 GMT

Salmu ALikom, Muslims around the world!

We belong to a global religion, which inspired and still inspires millions & millions of people in almost everywhere.

When Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), & his companion Abu Baker hid in Thaur Cave, along their way from Makka to Madina 1428 years ago, would any Muslim at that time -including Abu Baker, imagined he/she is part of a religion that will grow this BIG? I doubt that. And yet here we are today. Isn't that simply amazing!

Few days ago, I have met a group of highly educated professors from leading universities in USA, at the ACOR (American Center of Oriental Research), this meeting was the last slot in their fruitful program, through which they learned quite many issues about Islam and the Jordanian/Arabic culture.

I loved the way they were discussing issues related to unemployment, women labor, quality of education, and ambitions of Jordanian youth. On the other hand, we (the Jordanian youth) were curious to ask them about their feeling toward what is happening in Iraq and Palestine, and how their clear understanding of these issues -as Americans- could make a difference!

The youngest person present in that discussion was "Nujoud". Even if she is still at school, she was really very enthusiastic to present her emotions toward the message of Islam and the prophet Mohammad (PBUH). At the end of the meeting, "Nujoud" distributed out an English edition of the prophets last ceremony in Hajj, and highlighting on many parts of his ceremony that we do emphasize on we introduce Islam to non-Muslims.

During the same discussion, "Mariam", a young Jordanian lady stated: "An attitude I hate so much in both western people & extremists is that They want you to change to gain their respect", she said, "but I believe that we should respect each other as we are!, shouldn't we?". Most of the attendees agreed on Mariam's point of view, and considered this problem as a major barrier we have in mind when we talk to people from different cultures and backgrounds.

In the holy occasion of Hijra (The migration of the Prophet Mohammad from Makka to Madina)… there is a question pops up in my mind:

Khawaja.. Can not you make your life "simply amazing"?!

.... How about you (readers of this post)? What is your "simply amazing" story?

Don't you have things that you've underestimated when you started to work on, and now you are very proud of?

What are the initiatives you've taken in your life while just a "few" stood beside you and believed in you, thus, you started working hard (with confidence) till they become a "simply amazing" achievements.

The "Simply Amazing" story of Islam's early days injects courage in me, to be more persistent in life and meet challenges I face whenever I start something new.

Wish you a "simply amazing" happy new year!

Tags: Islam, Khawaja

Giving BlOOd!

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 20:03:00 GMT

Well... I'm not that much brave when it comes to blood and sugary :), but I decided to make it and donate a blood unit when the blood bank caravan landed 50 meters away from my office at Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship.

My workmate Basel was there too, we went to the clinic first to make the necessary blood test. The blood test was really painful :( (but I acted as "don’t care" مش فارقة). They've cut my finger (couchhhhhh!!!!) and pulled my blood out into 3 tubes containing special chemicals that indicate blood type and concentration of hemoglobin. My blood type is "O+" and I figured out that the concentration of hemoglobin is 16.6, which is considered to be very good.. hamdullah (touch the wood) :)

I moved to the caravan … laid on a cushioned bench and extended my arm. The doctor smiled, when I told him: "I'm a soft hearted person.. I hope you would reduce the pain as much as you can!", then he placed a cannula in my vein, and asked me to keep opening and closing my hand to help speed the blood withdrawal process… I felt the flux of blood :( for the first time!

Right after I've finished, I have been kindly asked to set down for a while drinking sweet juice… to recover back some of my energy…

I LOVED the experience:), even though I felt a little bit tired afterward. And I encourage you ALL to do it, not just because it is good for your health, but also to express your good intention to help people and rescue their lives… you have to feel it, when you donate blood ... really you do.

Make sure when you donate blood… you give it from the bottom of heart…

Successful event supporting Lebanon

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:43:00 GMT

Right before the before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, me and my wife rushed to attend a 3-day exhibition on the occasion of supporting Lebanese children during Ramadan.

The exhibition was full of nice exhibits; we personally purchased few staff for our new house. I was lucky to buy a fruitful book for the famous Jordanian book author: Nasim Smadi, called "Reasons before rewards", kindly, wait for a good review about it right after I finish reading it.

There were allotted time for the young poet Mohamad Tamam to present his own patriotic poems about Palestinians and Lebanese who were subjected to Genocide under the uncivilized Zionist attack. Tammam was lilting with his extra-nice poems attacking the attention of each and every person attending that evening.

This event were successful to solicit good sponsors, exhibitors, and the patronage of H.E. minister of culture. During the second and third days, there was philanthropically auctions to support Lebanon. I was lucky to administrate one of the auctions and sell one of the Cartoons of Emad HAjjaj with Almost 500 JDs :)

I want to hail all of those who organized that event with high morale and creativity. especially because this event was the practical component of the training course I have recently delivered, and the organization team has to apply themselves to make it a success.

Looking forward for more effective voluntary events. Ramadan Kareem!

More photos about this event are available here

Worried About your next BIG presentation?

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 21:25:00 GMT

I am an active member @ AYLA Toastmasters Club, Toastmasters aims to develop your ability to communicate through a very interesting learning-by-doing educational Program.

There are people who will evaluate you constructively; they evaluate your body language, eye contact vocal variety, and many many other important techniques required in a successful public speech.

Also, there are special evaluators counting your Ahhh's and hmmmm's!! and all these disturbing sounds that you may utter to fill gabs of your speech... so that you will learn to reduce them time-by-time.

There is be a timer (with colorful lights!) to notify you when to end you speech so that you will learn how to abide by time, and express what you want to say to your audience efficiently.

To understand how really effective it is ... simply, attend one meeting and I am sure you will stick with us forever ;-)

Feel free to contact me by email: khawaja@overscore.net.